What's the Deadline?
Plan backward from the deadline. The closer the deadline, the more you should call on your team to assist you. Work backward from the shipping date, not the deadline for arrival at the grantor's office, unless it's a local office where you can drop off the proposal.
Your schedule must include: meetings; time to write at least two drafts; draft-review times for team members; time to complete forms and get signatures; time to get and, sometimes, write support letters; and time for gathering attachments and copying and collating. A typical schedule that Maggie would provide a client looks like this:
Date |
Process/Activity |
Responsibility |
2/2 |
Complete draft 1 with questions and blanks for first review |
writer |
2/6-2/9 |
Return draft with suggestions for revisions |
team |
Meet to discuss issues/questions |
team and writer |
|
Week of 2/9 |
Revise draft |
writer |
Begin preliminary budget |
team |
|
Week of 2/16 |
Review draft 2 |
team |
Meet to discuss attachments, narrative, potential list of support letters, etc. |
team and writer |
|
Week of 2/23 |
Revise draft |
writer |
Request support letters, locate additional attachments |
team |
|
Finalize budget |
team and writer |
|
3/2 |
Finalize draft and attachments and submit for approval |
writer |
3/6 |
Compile completed narrative for final review, page allowance, attachments, and forms |
writer |
3/6-3/9 |
Outstanding forms, signatures, letters, etc. |
writer and team |
3/10 |
Ship date for arrival by 3/11 |
writer |
