Climate change is a critical issue all over the world, with many communities across the globe already experiencing its severe impacts.
To help vulnerable communities mitigate and better adapt to climate change as well as facilitate environmental research and innovation to foster resilience, donors are looking to fund projects and they are looking to individuals and organizations (especially NGOs) as the strongest means to reach out to affected communities.
Little wonder in recent times, there has been an increasing number of calls for proposals that are focused mostly on addressing climate change and global warming advertised by NGOs like climateaction.africa. This is an indication that the climate crisis, as well as climate conversations, have become part and parcel of our world today.
However, many NGOs find it challenging to develop proposals to address climate change and its surrounding issues, and this is because they are still far behind when it comes to equipping themselves with information on climate change and developing proposals to address these issues.
This could be due to their perception of the cause as being too scientific (of which some aspects are) or does not fall within their areas of interest.
Considering that for organizations to contribute successfully to climate conservation, they most certainly need funds to execute projects: conserve habitats or species, education materials, pay salaries, fund research, purchase equipment, engage with stakeholders, etc., it is essential to write that winning proposal to convince funders to back their plans.
How to write grant proposals
To craft that winning proposal to get the grants rolling, begin with the project background or rationale.
Your project background or rationale should convincingly convey your project’s importance in addressing climate change and show the analysis of the problem.
Ensure you use research-based data and concrete evidence of your findings during the course of your research. These sources will help us make the proposal more convincing.
Secondly, be clear on the cause you are trying to address. To be certain, delve deeply into the problem so that you don’t end up addressing the effects instead of the cause. This will help you better tackle the challenge.
The next step is defining your project goal and objectives as this helps you know what you are trying to achieve. You must bear in mind that your objectives need to be specific for you to make headway with your project.
After sorting out all of the above, you will need a strategy that builds up a plan of activities that you need to do to achieve the objectives.
Another thing to include is the expected result. Ensure you list them out as clearly as possible in your proposal. Don’t forget to clearly include the risks as well.
Finally, ensure sustainability as it allows for projects or project activities to continue even after the end of the grant.
