An Emotive Story With Structure

Back in 1999 (when online fundraising resources were still the stuff of Sci-Fi), I attended my first ever fundraising training workshop, facilitated by Claire Standring- Development Officer at the Migrant & Refugee Communities Forum (MRCF) in Ladbroke Grove. 

As the Project Coordinator of a local grassroots community group, I had done a bit of fundraising here and there (with little success), but the one day course would transform my fundraising approach and, without exaggeration, my whole life. I learnt one fundamental thing that day: however amazing my project ideas were, I had to convey an emotive story that was structured.

Any good fundraising proposal tells an emotive story to the potential funder and, as equally important, the proposal has to follow a structure recognised by funders. I, and the other lucky 9 course participants, were taught that a successful fundraising proposal tells the funder why your organisation is the right one to fund, what the need is for the project to be funded, how the project will address the need, and what positive changes the project will make.

Therefore, funders drool over the following basic headings within a proposal: Mission Statement or Background, Need for the Project, Project Aims & Objectives, Project Outcomes & Impact. Importantly, they also want to know how you know there's a need, and how you'll measure outcomes or success (but that's for another blog).

Everyone of us has there own style of writing proposals - creativity and uniqueness in proposal writing goes a long way. But I learnt, back in 1999, that an emotive story with structure is much more powerful than one without.

Rachid Choaibi, Bsc MisntF Cert