There Is No Outline?
Don't panic; a few RFPs don't come with outlines. The Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) grant offered by the federal government through several departments is one of them.
In these cases, request or look up on the Internet previous grantproposal submissions. Often, the contact person will fax or mail you a copy of a successful proposal and you can use its general outline as a guide for your proposal writing.
If you cannot locate or acquire a previous submission, base your response on the common elements of a grant proposal or a business plan. Discuss the need or potential market for a product. Describe the project or product. Talk about what remains to be done and how you expect to accomplish it. Develop a budget and explain how you derived the numbers you included. Discuss at length the qualifications of the organization and its staff to carry out the project plan.
Finally, discuss an evaluation of the project or product — what you hope to learn from it and what you'll do with the evaluation once it's complete. Be sure to use headings and subheadings. They will assist readers in navigating the document.
Sometimes you'll receive only review criteria without an outline. In these cases, you are expected to follow the review criteria as outlined in the RFP. Summarize the content of each criteria as your headings and subheadings, rather than writing out the entire statement. For instance, the following are review criteria for the first section, “Statement of Need.” You may use one or several subheadings within each criterion:
Review Criteria |
Suggested Subheadings |
The extent to which the applicant specifies the goals and objectives of the project and describes how implementation will fulfill the purposes of the Early Learning Opportunities Act (ELOA). The applicant must demonstrate a thorough understanding of the importance of early learning services and activities that help parents, caregivers, and childcare providers incorporate early learning into the daily lives of young children, as well as programs that directly provide early learning to young children. |
Goals and Objectives/Implementation Plan |
Review Criteria |
Suggested Subheadings |
The extent to which the applicant demonstrates the need for assistance, including identification and discussion of its needs and resources assessment concerning early learning services. Relevant data from the assessment should be included. Participant and beneficiary information must also be included. |
Need for Assistance/Target Population |
Review Criteria |
Suggested Subheadings |
The extent to which the applicant describes its resources assessment and the relevance of the results as the basis for determining its objectives and need for assistance. |
Needs Assessment |
Review Criteria |
Suggested Subheadings |
The extent to which the applicant demonstrates how it will give preference to supporting activities/projects that maximize the use of resources through collaboration with other early learning programs, provide continuity of services for young children across the age spectrum, and help parents and other caregivers promote early learning with their young children. The applicant must provide information about how decisions will be made about who will provide each early learning service and/or activity funded through this grant. |
Partners and Their Roles/Maximizing Resources |
Review Criteria |
Suggested Subheadings |
The extent to which the applicant demonstrates that it has worked with local education agencies to identify cognitive, social, emotional, and motordevelopmental abilities that are necessary to support children's readiness for school; that the programs, services, and activities assisted under this title will represent developmentally appropriate steps toward the acquisition of those abilities; and that the programs, services, and assisted activities provide benefits for children cared for in their own homes as well as children placed in the care of others. |
Review of Literature/Lessons Learned |
