Leadership and ManagementProposal and Grant Writing for Development Funding
Funding proposals are rejected for reasons that have little to do with the quality of the work proposed, most often because they answered a different question from the one the call asked. This course covers writing ones that get funded. Delegates work through reading a call for proposals properly, including the evaluation criteria and the weighting that tells you where to spend effort, aligning a proposal to a funder's stated priorities without misrepresenting what you do, and the intervention logic that assessors are trained to look for. Budget construction and its consistency with the narrative are covered, since inconsistency is a common rejection. Organisational capacity, partnerships and due diligence follow. The course closes on submission compliance and on learning from a rejection.
Course objectives
- Read a call for proposals and interpret its evaluation criteria
- Align to funder priorities without misrepresenting your organisation
- Present an intervention logic assessors can score
- Build a budget consistent with the narrative
- Evidence organisational capacity and manage partnerships
- Meet submission compliance requirements exactly
- Learn from a rejection and improve the next application
Who should attend
- Fundraising and proposal development staff
- Non governmental organisation directors and managers
- Researchers seeking grant funding
- Government and municipal staff applying for programme funds
- Consultants supporting funding applications
Course outline
- 01Answering a different question
- 02Reading the call and its criteria
- 03Evaluation weighting and where to spend effort
- 04Alignment without misrepresentation
- 05Intervention logic and scoring
- 06Budget construction and narrative consistency
- 07Capacity, partnerships and due diligence
- 08Submission compliance and learning from rejection
Scheduled sessions
| Dates | Venue | Format | Price | Register |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 to 4 December 2026 | Online | Online | R6,500 per delegate | Register Now |
| 7 to 9 December 2026 | Gaborone, Botswana | Classroom | R14,950 per delegate | Register Now |
| 25 to 27 January 2027 | Kigali, Rwanda | Classroom | USD 995 per delegate | Register Now |