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Seminar on Project Preparation

Link between LFA approach and Application Form

CHECKING THE PROJECT DESIGN

Natasa Gospodjinacki

Kiev, 3-4 September 2015


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Once you have a robust logframe, supported by various data that you have collected

and analysed, the process of completing the full grant application form should be quite

straight forward.

It is of paramount importance to follow every detail of the Call for Proposals documents.

This means that you MUST:

• ƒread ALL the details in the Guidelines and accompanying documents;

• ƒcomplete EVERY SECTION of the Application Form, following the guidelines

carefully. For example, if the guidelines suggest that one particular section should

only be a maximum of 3 pages, do not exceed 3 pages!;

• ƒcarefully follow the instructions regarding deadlines and how to make the

application. If the deadline is missed or if your application documents are not

complete, your application will not be considered.

Connecting the LFA with FA

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Look at the various headings of the application form.

1. Discuss what you have to do in order to live up to

the application requirements?

2. What would you include in the various chapters for

your own project?

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Exercise application form


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Grant Application Form (Part B) describes the Action in the following parts:

1. General information

• It mainly includes reference to the CfPs, title of the Action, location, and other

call-specific information.

It is suggested to fill in this part at the end, after having completed the other sections.

Include the country of operation in the title.

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Full Application Form


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2. The Action (from 2.1. to 2.4)

Description of the Action and its effectiveness (2.1.1)

• Elaborate of the expected results of the Action and the indicators used to

monitor achievement, making reference to the overall objective(s) and specific

objective of your Action;

• Elaborate on the activities to be undertaken to reach the expected results,

specifying the implementing body responsible for each activity or work

programme;

• Indicate how the action will improve the situation of the beneficiaries.

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Full Application Form (1)


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Methodology (2.1.2) - includes coordination, monitoring and role of partners;

Complete this section once the problem analysis has been carried out and the logframe matrix has been

taken shape.

• Elaborate on the most salient methodological aspects one by one and explain why you chose a

certain methodology among others;

• It is always good to show how the action proposed is linked to the work done previously by the

applicant organisation or implementing partners;

• Show how your project proposal fits with the development strategy of the region/country of

implementation;

• State and show how your organisation will participate to in country coordination of development

aid intervention and how your action will eventually integrate and support (and not duplicate!) other

organisations' efforts;

• Include general information about the monitoring and evaluation system you will put in place;

• Be sure to highlight the main elements and draw on the findings and conclusion of the stakeholder

analysis you conducted;

• Provide a short description of the management team in charge for the project, by providing details

on the resources that will be used;

• Include the communication and visibility plan you have budgeted.

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Duration and indicative plan (2.1.3)

• Always insert the project duration in months and not years (e.g. 36 months,

instead of 3 years).

• Use the action plan format as you find it, caring not to modify it too much

while adapting it to your necessities;

• It is suggested to clearly identify milestones and show the points of your

project action plan where the end of a specific activity may have an impact

(dependency) on the start/completion of another one.

Activities on this critical path shall be monitored carefully and cannot be delayed or

the whole project will be delayed, unless the loss of time can be offset somewhere

else later on the action plan.

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Sustainability (2.1.4)

• Link pre-conditions and assumptions to your project objectives and envisaged

results;

• Provide elements (quantified data) for the impact that your Action will have at

technical, economic, social and policy levels;

• Include a sound risk analysis with foreseen mitigation measures;

• Describe potential multiplier effects and any dissemination plan foreseen to

ensure the project's flow of benefits;

• Explain how sustainability will secured after completion of the action: financing

follow-up activities, sources of revenue for covering all future maintenance costs,

general services realised/reinforced, creation of community networks.

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Link the narrative description of the Application Form with the information in

the logframe and budget, caring of using the same terminology and cross-

checking the totals wherever resources and costs are quantified.

The rest of the Full Application Form (Part B) concerns the description and

experience of the applicant, co-applicant, affiliated entity(ies) if any.

As a major requirement, the applicant should demonstrate its capacity to

manage and implement actions.

Please note that where registration in PADOR is mandatory the applicant will not

have to fill in section 3.2 (Profile) and 3.3 (Capacity to manager and implement

actions) as this information is already contained in PADOR.

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• Logical Framework

• Budget, amount requested from the Contracting Authority and other expected

sources of funding.

If the action is implemented in partnership with other organisations, the following

information should be provided for co-applicant(s), affiliated entity(ies) together

with its main legal credentials:

• experience of similar actions, in relation to the role in the implementation of

the proposed action;

• history of cooperation with the applicant;

• role and involvement in preparing the proposed action;

• role and involvement in implementing the proposed action;

• partnership statement must be undersigned with each implementing partner.

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• Check list and statements (Signed Mandate by Co-Applicant(s), Signed

Declaration by the Applicant)

• PADOR registration of applicant, co-applicant and for affiliated entities (if

any) – (offline form, if applicable)

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BEFORE SENDING YOUR PROPOSAL, PLEASE CHECK THAT EACH OF THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA HAVE BEEN MET IN FULL AND TICK THEM OFF

Tick the items off below

Title of the Proposal: <indicate the title> Yes No

PART 1 (ADMINISTRATIVE) 1. The correct grant application form has been used.

2. The Declaration by the Applicant has been filled in and signed.

3. The proposal is typed and is in English.

4. One original and 2 copy(ies) are included

5. An electronic version of the proposal (CD-Rom) is enclosed

6. Each co-applicant has completed and signed the mandate and the mandate is included.

7. Each affiliated entity(ies) has completed and signed an affiliated entity(ies)'s statement and the statements are included.

8. The budget is enclosed, in balance, presented in the format requested, and stated in EUR.

9. The logical framework has been completed and is enclosed.

PART 2 (ELIGIBILITY) 10. The duration of the action is between 24 and 48 months (the minimum and maximum

allowed).

11. The requested contribution is between 500.000 EURO and 1.000.000 EURO (the minimum and maximum allowed).

12. The requested contribution is between 50 % and 90% of the estimated total eligible costs (minimum and maximum percentage allowed).

13. The total amount of financing requested on the basis of simplified cost options does not exceed EUR <60 000 /threshold in 2.1.4 of Guidelines> per each applicant.

14. The requested contribution has not been changed by more than 20 % compared to the amount requested at the concept note stage.


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• Strictly follow provided format;

• Hand written AFs will be rejected;

• No supplementary annexes are to be sent;

• Mark envelopes properly as per GfA.

• Only hand delivered or posted AFs accepted;

…and also

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SOME SUGGESTIONS AND TIPS

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Major reasons for rejection of Application

The application arrived after the deadline

• Respect the deadline. Rejection of late proposals is automatic and there will be

no exceptions!

• Once the launching date of Call for Proposal is known, prepare a work plan for

the completion of your proposal, where you list the essential activities to be

undertaken and the milestones to be achieved against a time schedule.

• Do not forget that printing and compiling stacks (and double checking printed

copies) of paper take at least a day or two, or that it takes some time to deliver

these. If you are even a minute past the deadline, your proposal will be

automatically rejected with 100% certainty.

60-90 days seems a lot of time, but be sure this feeling will change once you will be

preparing your proposal.

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Major reasons for rejection of Application (2)

The application failed to pass the administrative check

• The compulsory format of the Application Form was not

respected;

• Essential documents were missing (budget, logical

framework, etc.);

• Missing signatures and stamps on the assigned parts of

the documents;

• Project duration is longer than indicated in GfA;

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Major reasons for rejection of Application (3)

Partnership

Declaration not signed by all partners and/or main applicant;

Declaration is submitted in a different format from the one foreseen by the procedure;

One or more partners are not eligible!


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Major reasons for rejection of Application (4) Budget

Requested amount exceeds maximum or minimum value defined in the Guidelines;

Wrongly calculated budget lines what leads to incorrect amounts of expenses and consequently to incorrect total budget amount;

justification of the budget not filled in;

Parts of budget are missing in the electronic form;


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Common Application Errors Quality of the content

• The relevance of the project (to needs and constraints of the country/region and to those of the target

groups and final beneficiaries) is not convincing;

• Proposal shows no clear relation to the objectives of the Programme;

• Objectives, methodology and results are insufficiently elaborated and explained;

• The Description of the Action from Concept Notes is copy pasted and no additional information is

provided;

• Goals too ambitious and not reasonably substantiated by the proposed activities;

• Poor logic verification (internal logic, indicators, sources of verification);

• Not well elaborated core Activities and not properly correlated;

• Indicators are not quantifiable and measurable;

• Project tasks not properly defined;

• Distribution of tasks and responsibilities among project team and partners is not adequate;

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…and also

• Timeframe for the implementation is not realistic;

• Target groups and Final beneficiaries are not well defined (too wide);

• Sustainability and multiplier effect are not properly described;

• Added value inexistent or poorly described;

• The involvement of co-applicants and affiliated entities not well elaborated;

• Ownership not ensured– you may be awarded a grant, but then lose it through

poor implementation.

• Capacities for project implementations - own organistation was not presented

properly, as well as the resources.

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Quality elements of a proposal (1)

Relevance: proposals meets priorities and needs

• Good problems analysis, possible solutions and high level of consistency with

the needs;

• Key stakeholders, target groups, beneficiaries clearly identified;

• Problem needs and priorities of target groups properly addressed;

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Feasibility of the project design:

• Project intervention logic (e.g. overall objective, specific objective, results);

• Costs/benefits of the project resources assessed and clearly incorporated in the

project;

• Work plan (activities) clear and logical - address clearly identified needs;

• Monitoring and evaluations assessed and incorporated in the project design;

• Assumptions & risks assessed and appropriate risk management strategy

incorporated in the project design.

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Efficiency: how resources are converted into results;

Effectiveness: activity results compared to the energy spent to develop it;

Sustainability: continuity of the benefits produced by the intervention.

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• Collect as much information as you can about the problem your organisation

is intending to address.

The information must be valid and credible. You can use official reports and publications,

academic research papers, newspaper articles, and collect your own data through interviews

and surveys and other research techniques;

• Use tools such as ‘the problem tree’ and ‘objective tree’ to analyse the

problem and identify what is actually feasible given the size and nature of the

problem, the capacity of your organisation, and the context of the problem.

• You also need to ensure that both your organisation and the community which

it serves agree that the problem is a priority to be addressed. If no-one else

agrees it is a priority, you will find it difficult to implement a project;

• Actions should be designed to produce specific, measurable results in

response to identified problems;

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• Conduct a stakeholder analysis and gather the opinions and advice of as

many stakeholders and potential partners as you can.

The more allies you have for the design and implementation of your project, the

stronger your proposal will be.

• Ensure that your project preparation takes into consideration any special needs

and responds appropriately to challenges related to any forms of

discrimination or environmental impact issues.

• Remember that in many Calls for Proposals, there are specific criteria related to

actions involving gender, environmental, and ethnic minority issues.

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Keep it brief, simple and clear;

Explain how your project complements or builds on other ongoing initiatives;

Be realistic! Especially regarding:

• Commitment of key stakeholders;

• Expected results within timeframe;

• Ability to influence problem dynamics;

• The influence and capacity of the applicant, co-applicant(s) and target group(s).

Focus on impact :

• Explain concrete benefits and expected impact of the project, not just activities;

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Emphasize your experience. Mention your previous experience with the

proposed activities.

If this is the first time you’ll be undertaking such an activity, explain with concrete

steps how you’ll manage the activity in order to show the Evaluator/Assessor how

you’ll overcome your lack of experience and whether you can establish a balance

between your institutional strengths and weaknesses.

ƒƒInvolve your partners. Partners are not just for meeting the pre-conditions of a

CfP.

They’re a part of this process to bring different experiences and knowledge to the

table and they should add a substantial value to the proposed project. Explain how

they will reinforce your proposed action and how they have already contributed.

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Identify your activities carefully. An experienced Evaluator/Assessor can tell

whether the project is proposed so as to obtain finance for a certain activity, like

financing a festival or study tour, rather than achieving the proposed objective.

Correlate your activities with each need and explain how you will meet the needs

and thus reach your project objectives clearly. The activities must serve as a way of

achieving the project’s goals, not the other way around.

Pay more attention to monitoring and evaluation.

Show the Evaluator/Assessor that you have already thought about and planned the

monitoring and evaluation tools that you’ll use during project implementation;

ƒƒ

Give a strong argument on sustainability. Show the Evaluator/Assessor that

you have already given considerable thought about how you will ensure the

sustainability of your action. Make your argument realistic and do make it dependent

on external factors, but within your responsibility and capacity.

More tips from the experts (2):

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GOOD LUCK!

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