On Monday, 25th September 2024, GFMD hosted a pilot fundraising webinar for the Media Viability Accelerator (MVA) Solutions marketplace focused on one of the most crucial aspects of media viability: effective proposal writing and donor relationship management.
| 7. October 2024
This session, led by Michael Randall, author of the GFMD Media Fundraising Guide and an independent media consultant with over 20 years of experience designing, writing and evaluating proposals, provided participants with essential strategies for aligning proposals with donor expectations while fostering successful and sustainable projects.
Attendees also had the unique opportunity to hear from Ed Pittman, who joined us as a ‘mystery guest’ to provide additional insights into the donor perspective. With years of experience as a senior program officer for the independent journalism programme at the Open Society Foundations (OSF) and now working as an independent consultant, Ed’s insights highlighted the importance of showing donors that your project’s benefits can extend beyond the immediate target group, with potential for replication in other organisations. He stressed the need to align donor expectations with organisational goals for greater impact.
Randall highlighted the critical role of storytelling in proposal writing. He stressed that a well-crafted narrative and a clear structure can significantly boost the likelihood of securing funding. Proposals should effectively communicate project goals, activities, and outcomes while avoiding unnecessary details that could detract from the core message.
Randall recommended practical frameworks such as the Theory of Change and SMART objectives to help participants design projects with clarity and precision. These tools not only help articulate the intended impact but also provide a roadmap of measurable steps to achieve it. Proposals that are concise, free of repetition, and tailored to specific donor requirements stand out more clearly to reviewers.
In terms of alignment with donor expectations, Randall emphasised the importance of adhering to the terms of reference (ToR) provided by funding organisations. He advised participants to ensure their proposals align with the donor’s priorities, criteria, and preferred formats. Ignoring or deviating from the ToR can be detrimental to a proposal’s chances of success.
Additionally, Randall pointed out the significance of structuring proposals in a way that clearly demonstrates how the proposed project will contribute to the donor’s broader goals. He encouraged participants to focus on how the project addresses specific needs outlined in the call for proposals and to ensure that every section — from the problem statement to the budget — is relevant to the ToR.
A key takeaway from the session was the emphasis on the intervention logic approach to ensure that donor objectives are effectively translated into impactful outcomes. This approach involves working backwards from the desired impact, a method often overlooked in proposal design.
Focusing on a typical donor objective, such as strengthening public trust in the media through enhanced fact-checking capacities of journalists and editors, Randall demonstrated how this logic could be applied.
The process begins by defining the desired impact — in this case, strengthening public trust in the media. From there, the approach involves working backwards through the theory of change, identifying key outcomes and outputs. For example, a key outcome could be developing fact-checking resources for local media, and another could be fostering collaboration between media outlets with fact-checking capabilities.
Whether it’s building fact-checking capabilities or fostering collaboration among media outlets, aligning each step with the donor’s objectives ensures coherent, goal-driven project execution.
“Those are all the elements you need in order to design a project. And once you’ve got that mapped out, then, in my opinion, everything else cascades down. That should shape and govern everything you write thereafter because you have that in the back of your mind.”
Randall shared six tips journalists and media organisations could employ in writing funding proposals. This is to help media professionals effectively communicate their project’s value while avoiding common pitfalls in proposal writing. They are listed below:
This webinar marks the first in a series of capacity-building workshops for MVA users aimed at strengthening media viability. If you would like to benefit from these exclusive workshops, sign up for the MVA here.
Stay tuned for upcoming sessions that will continue to equip media professionals with essential tools for success!
For more information or to get involved, please reach out to our Director of Membership Services, Anne Marie Hammer.