How to Write a Convincing

Concept Note

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 How to Write a Convincing Concept Note

What will this module do for me?

This module is designed to give you information and skills you will need to write a short (3 –
7 page) concept note, describing a project for which you want to attract donor funding.
There are 12 different sections or activities; a series of texts, followed by exercises and
questions, so that you can test your understanding as you go.

After you have followed all 12 sections, you should be able to write up your project ideas in
a format suitable for sending to a donor to find out if they would be interested in funding
your work.

There are two preparatory topics. Because the basis for a good concept note is a well-
designed project, the exercise starts with a session on project design. Then there is a short
session that explains the interest of the development donors to whom you are likely to
submit your concept notes.

[Sometimes you will be asked by a donor to write a full proposal. A full proposal is longer,
and more detailed than a concept note. There is a separate self-learning module on “How
to Write a Convincing Proposal” that you can access if necessary. Another module, “How to
write persuasively for donors and the general public,” contains information on the writing
skills that can help you when preparing concept notes and full proposals.]

Topics:

Topic 1: Elements of Project Design

Topic 2: Development Donors, and how they operate
Topic 3: What is a Concept Note, and when should you use It?
Topic 4: Concept Note Formats
Topic 5: Preparing Good Objectives
Topic 6: Selecting Inputs
Topic 7: Describing Activities, Duration and Outputs
Topic 8: Writing about Beneficiaries and Impact
Topic 9: Explaining the Project Management
Topic 10: Preparing a Concept Note Budget
Topic 11: Writing the Background Section
Topic 12: Picking a Good Title

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Topic 1: Elements of Project Design (step 1)

Directions: Read the text below, and then answer the questions that follow.

What is a Project? The basis for a convincing concept note is a well-designed project. What
is a project?

You could say that a project is a combination of inputs, managed in a certain way, to
achieve one or more desired outputs in a specified period of time, and ultimately one or
more desired impacts. Here is a metaphor to help define a project:

Cooks are constantly designing and implementing projects. Ingredients (inputs) are
cooked (managed) according to a recipe (work plan) to achieve a warm, balanced
meal (output) and a happy feeling of fullness and well-being (impact).

All projects are undertaken to solve a problem. The problem for a development project
may be specific difficulties being faced by certain groups of people. The problem for a
research project may be the desire to test a hypothesis or to overcome a constraint or to
solve a research question.

Working with a Project Design Team: Designing a project is much easier and more
enjoyable if you work in a team. A group of 3 – 5 people makes a good project design team.
Research shows that you get more and better ideas if the backgrounds of the team are
varied, so try to include in your team people with different qualifications. For instance, you
may want to have an agronomist, and economist and a communications specialist on your
design team.

The First Step: Defining the Problem, Identifying the Goal and the Objectives: The first
step in designing a project is to define the problem. Supposing harvests are diminishing in
the north of your country, and politicians are asking your division to explain why. You and
your team now get together to define the problem. After a little discussion, you all agree
that the problem is lack of water, exacerbated by recurring droughts. As a result, many of
the poorest people in the North are suffering malnutrition and severe cuts in their incomes.
Can you think of a project to overcome this problem?

You and your team continue throwing out ideas, without regard to which may be the best.
[This activity is called ‘brainstorming’.] Should you try to give the people a major new
water supply? (Unlikely – irrigation systems are very expensive, and take a long time to
construct.) Could you introduce new crops, that need less water, or are even bred for
drought conditions? (The agronomist says there are several alternatives, but the economist
says that the market for these drought-resistant crops is weak, and suggests that farmers
will be reluctant to stop growing the subsistence food their families are used to.)
Eventually your team agrees that your institute, perhaps with the help of partners, would
like to test the possibility that the use by farmers of low-cost, low-maintenance
supplemental irrigation techniques, like rainwater harvesting structures and treadle pumps,
will make a real difference to nutrition levels and incomes. And now you have defined your
problem, and started to define your objectives and your goal:

Problem: What needs doing? (In this case -- finding a way to reduce food and income losses
in the North of the country)
Objectives: What specifically do you want to achieve? (In this case – to test the
effectiveness of certain low-cost simple supplementary irrigation techniques)
Goal: Why are you doing the project? (To counter the malnutrition and loss of income of
the poor people in the North)

Next -- Defining Inputs, Activities and Outputs: Now you and your team need to define
the other key elements of the project design. You need to answer the following questions:
• What will it take to achieve your objectives? (These are the inputs. Inputs will include the
time of various people, plus maybe travel costs, equipment, supplies and communications

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and training.)
• What will you do to achieve your objectives? (These are the activities. In a research
project these might also be the project methods or methodology. You explain exactly what
you intend to do, and for how long. )
• What will be in place when the project is over? (These are the outputs.)

As you brainstorm in your group, take notes and try to come to consensus on the answers to
these questions. Then move on to the next steps…

Identifying Beneficiaries and Predicting Impact: These are key elements of the project
design. Your team is trying to answer the following questions:

• Who are the people who will benefit from this project? (This is defining the beneficiaries
or end users)
• What will be benefits be? (How will the people be better off? Or maybe, how will the
environment be better protected? This is the impact of your project.)
• How soon might the benefits/impact be seen? (At the end of the project, or years later?)
• How can these benefits (the impact) be measured? (What sort of indicators will you look
for?)

The Final Step – Preparing the Budget: You need to know what your project will cost. To
find out, you put costs to all the things you have listed under inputs. You or someone in
your institute will need to find out the unit costs of all the things you will need to achieve
your objectives, including the time of any partners or consultants you may with to involve
in the project.

There will be many more details on all these aspects of project design in later sessions.

Topic 1: Elements of Project Design (step 2)

Questions on Topic 1: Please mark the following statements true or false, to test your
understanding of the elements of project design.
a. A well-designed project is needed to prepare a convincing concept note.

True False

b. A project is a set of activities undertaken by people from the same institute.

True False

c. It is quicker and easier to design a project alone than with other colleagues.

True False

d. The first step in designing a project is to estimate how much it will cost.

True False

e. The goal of the project defines exactly what you want to achieve.

True False

f. You need to think carefully about what your institute (with or without partners) can do
to address the problem you are trying to overcome.

True False

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Topic 2: Development Donors, and how they operate (step 1)

Directions: Read the text below, and then answer the questions that follow:

Who are the Development Donors? Although some international donors (such as Canada’s
International Development Research Council (IDRC) or the US National Science Foundation
(NSF)) are happy to receive and fund research projects, most are used to funding
development projects.

In a research project you may be interested in solving a research problem or addressing

research questions. Your project is designed to yield results. By contrast, in a development
project, implementers seek to improve the life conditions of all or part of the population in
the country in which they work. A development project seeks to yield development outputs
that in turn lead to impact on goals such as social equity, the role of women,
environmental improvement, etc.

Development donors can be divided into three types, based on their source of funds.
Bilateral donors are those that provide aid from a single country. I.e. All the funds
available for grants come from the tax-payers -- via their treasuries – of only one country.
Some examples of bilateral donors are:
- DfID ………the UK Department for International Development
- SIDA the Swedish International Development Agency
- CIDA the Canadian International Development Agency
- BMZ the aid agency of the Government of Germany
-USAID the US Agency for International Development

Multilateral donors are those that get their funds from many member countries.
Multilateral donors may fund projects in a single country, in a region, or covering a whole
continent. Examples of multilateral donors are:
- IBRD the World Bank
- AfDB the African Development Bank
- IFAD the International Fund for Agricultural Development
- EU the European Union

Foundations are donors whose funds come from endowments, usually from rich
industrialists. They spend a small proportion of their endowments in the form of grants
each year. Often their level of funding depends on the performance of the stock market in
their country of origin. Examples of foundations (and their country of origin) which
occasionally fund international agricultural research are:
- the Ford Foundation (US)
- the Kellog Foundation (US)
- the MacArthur Foundation (US)
- the Toyota Foundation (Japan)

You can find out about the goals and objectives of all these donors by looking them up on
the internet, or by visiting their offices in your capital city.

[Here’s a tip for when you start writing. Consult donor documents before you write. Note
the phrases and approaches that your target donor uses, and use those when writing your
concept notes and proposals.]

Approval Levels: Most donors have large head quarter (HQ) offices, and many small field
offices. Often the authority to approve some proposals and concept notes is delegated to
the field. Usually there is a dollar limit on how much can be approved in the field. You
need to find out what that level is, if you want to avoid the long delays that will be caused
if your proposal needs to go to the donor’s HQ.

Solicited vs. Unsolicited Proposals: When donors know the problems they want to address,
and a little about the way they’d like to see them tackled, they may issue a competitive
grants program. In such a program there will be a ‘call for proposals’ or ‘requests for

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expressions of interest’, or ‘request for applications’. No matter the title, the objective of
the donor is to get as many good proposals as possible, from which to select the very best.
Proposals received from a competitive grants program are said to be ‘solicited’ – meaning
‘asked for’. Donors also receive very many ‘unsolicited’ (i.e. unasked for) concept notes
and proposals. This self-learning module is mainly aimed at unsolicited proposals sent by
research scientists to development donors.

How do donors review proposals? In a competitive grant program, the review procedure
and evaluation criteria will be provided, so you are advised to read and follow the
instructions to the letter. Most likely specialists will be hired to read your proposal, and
they will strictly follow evaluation criteria. An unsolicited concept note will be read quickly
by one person, and then likely sent on to a more suitable person for more detailed review.

Development donors allocate funds on the basis of making people in poor countries better
off in some way. So, to attract their funds you must write convincingly about how the
results of your research will make specific groups of people (beneficiaries) better off, and
in what way.
Also, development donors tend to think in increments of three-year projects. However,
often, agricultural research takes longer. One solution is to break your research into
phases. You will need to design your project to deliver outputs and impact for each phase.

When a donor first reads an unsolicited concept note from a research organization, his first
thought is “What’s new?” You need to be sure to have an answer to that question early in
the summary or cover letter. Some donors will first look at your objectives, then the
bottom line! Some may take the bottom line and divide by the number of beneficiaries!

What sort of projects do donors like? Donors are looking for realistic, measurable impact
early on. They will like a team of partners, well-qualified and suited to implement the
objectives, as well as a good monitoring system, with milestones. Other things that donors
look for are Proof that beneficiaries want your project, and a realistic plan for managing
the project.

Some things can give you a real edge over other projects. For instance, choosing a hot,
topical subject (such as GM foods, intellectual property, environmental clean-up, climate
change). Or proposing something really new; maybe an innovative approach, a first-time
partner, or a new food. Donors will be attracted if you can cite a “name” researcher or
supporter, or if your project is closely parallel to their own interests.

Overall, donors are looking for projects with a low risk of failure, and a high likely of
significant impact.

Some things development donors definitely don’t like:

>Projects that do not quote past projects, especially those funded by the donor
>Projects that reinvent the wheel
>Over-ambitious projects, and/or projects with greedy budgets
>Projects they cannot understand. (You need to explain the science for lay readers)
>Poorly presented, poorly spelled submissions
>Overly glossy submissions (If you can afford a glossy concept note, do you really need the
donor’s money?

Please keep these thoughts in mind as you go through the topics that follow, all of which
are specifically about writing convincing concept notes.

To test your understanding of development donors, please answer the following questions:

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Topic 2: Development Donors, and how they operate (step 2)

Questions on Topic 2: To test your understanding of development donors, please answer

the following questions on a piece of paper and compare it with the explanations.

a. What is the difference between a bilateral and a multilateral donor?

Explanation:

A bilateral donor gets all its funding from the treasury of a single country. Thus the money
for all the grants made by ACIAR – the Australian Center for International Research – comes
from the tax-payers of Australia. A multilateral donor, such as the World Bank gets funds
from all its many dozen member countries.

b. Name at least two things you need to remember as a person submitting a concept note
for a research proposal to a development donor.

Explanation:

When sending a concept note for a research proposal to a development donor, you need to
remember (1) to cut into phases any project longer than 3 – 4 years, and, more important,
(2) to recognize that the donor is unlikely to be interested in your research results alone.
You will need to show how your research results can have a positive impact on one of the
donor’s most important goals to have a chance at securing that donor’s support.

c. List three things that a development donor really likes in a concept note.

Explanation:
Among the things that a donor really likes to see in an unsolicited concept note are projects
with

(1) the possibility of significant impact on one of their goals early on

(2) a good monitoring system
(3) a truly innovative idea or approach
(4) projects involving a consortium of well-qualified partners
(5) a project on a currently ‘hot’ topic, and
(6) a project with a high likelihood of making a real difference for poor people, while
having a low risk of failure.

d. List three things about a concept note that would likely turn off a development donor.

Explanation:
Donors will not be pleased with concept notes that are based on:
(1) projects that ignore past achievements and appear to reinvent the wheel
(2) Overly ambitious projects that cannot be achieved within the specified time or budget
(3) projects with inflated budgets
(4) sloppy submissions, where the author does not even bother to use his computer spell-
check
(5) projects that appear to have significant risk of achieving their outputs, and not having
any important effect on the project goals.

If your own explanations are the same as the explanations above, you may proceed by
clicking the next button otherwise you should redo the exercise by pressing this link.

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Topic 3: What is a Concept Note, and when should you use It? (step 1)

Directions: Read the text below, and then answer the questions that follow.

A concept note (sometimes also called a concept paper) is a short version of a proposal. It
is used to share ideas at a preliminary stage in the design of a project.

A concept note that is used to elicit interest and/or get approval within an organization can
be as short as one or two pages, since your colleagues and superiors already know a lot
about your subject. A concept note for discussion with partners outside your organization
(professional partners, clients, etc.) may need to be a little longer. A concept note for
submission to a donor is usually between three to seven pages long.

Sometime, if you are not seeking a large grant, or if your project is relatively simple, a
concept note may be all that a donor needs to fund your project. But often the concept
note will not be enough; the donor is interested, but wants to see more details, and you
will have to write a full proposal.
You should write a concept note if:

• You are submitting a sole source proposal, and

• You want to find out if a donor might be interested, or
• Your ideas are at a preliminary stage, and
• You think the donor would like to participate in the project design.

You should not write a concept note if:

• You are responding to a request (call) for proposals, or

• You are applying for a grant under a competitive grants program, or

A donor has already said that a full proposal would be welcome.

Topic 3: What is a Concept Note, and when should you use It? (step 2)

Questions on Topic 3: Mark the following statements true or false, to test your knowledge
of concept notes.

a. A concept note is used only for submitting proposals to donors.

True False

b. Donors usually like to receive proposals that are about 10 pages long.

True False

c. A concept note is useful when seeking funding from a competitive grants program.

True False

d. If a donor is likely to want to help with the design of your project, you should not
prepare a concept note.

True False

e. Partners will not need to see a concept note when your ideas are at a preliminary stage.

True False

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Topic 4: Concept Note Formats (step 1)

Directions: Please read the text, and then answer the questions.

Each organization will probably develop its own concept note format. Yours may already
have one. Some donors have a preferred concept note format. If in doubt, ask your contact
in the donor agency. [Note: you will already have the name of some person in the donor
agency you have already met, spoken to, or written to. If not, you must do this before
submitting a project idea – sending a concept note “cold”, i.e. to someone who has maybe
never heard of you is not a good idea. It will almost certainly not be read or funded.]

If your organization and donor do not already have a concept note format, you may want to
consider the one shown below. It comes in three versions, one each for internal review, for
discussion with external partners, and for submission to the donor.

1. First Draft Concept Note – use for internal review

First Draft Concept Note (for internal review)

• Project Title:……………………………………………
• Expected Budget and Duration:…………………….
• Potential Donor(s):…………………………………….
• Potential Partner(s):……………………………………
• Supervisor:………………………………………………
• Relation to other institute projects:…………………………….
……………………………………………………………..

Goal, Objectives and Activities

Goal

Objectives

Activities

Inputs and Project Management

Inputs

Project Management

Outputs, Beneficiaries and Impacts

Outputs

Beneficiaries

Impacts

2. Second Draft Concept Note – use for discussing projects with potential partners

Now take a look at a format you might want to use when trying to attract partners to work
with you on a project. Because your partner(s) will have their own ideas to contribute, you
will want to use the words “potential” and “possible” to show your willingness to modify
the project to accommodate their new ideas. Be sure to leave space for your partners to
indicate what inputs they feel they would need.

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Second Draft Concept Note (for discussion with partners)

• Project Title:……………………………………….
• Illustrative Budget and Duration:………………
• Potential donor(s)…………………………………
• Potential partner(s)……………………………….

Preliminary Goal, Objectives and Activities

Preliminary Goal

Preliminary Objectives

Preliminary Activities

Anticipated Inputs and Project Management

Our Inputs

Partner Inputs [To be discussed]

Possible Management Arrangements [To be discussed]

Possible Outputs, Beneficiaries and Impacts

Possible Outputs

Possible Beneficiaries

Possible Impacts

The cover letter to this draft should also convey to the NARS your willingness to amend all
and any sections of the concept, in discussion with your partner(s) ideas and requirements.

3. Third Draft Concept Note – use for submitting an unsolicited project idea to a donor

Notice that you have added some bullets at the beginning, such as providing details of the
location of your project. Also notice the line for “related donor projects”. If your target
donor has already funded projects in the same field, you should list those projects on your
concept note, to acknowledge that you know about this work, and that your proposed
project will build on what is already being done. You should expand on these projects, and
discuss those funded by others, in the section headed “What Has Already Been Done”. This
is explained in Topic 11.

Also notice that this draft of the concept note includes two sections that provide
justification or background for why you think the donor should fund this project. By using
the two headings – “The Problems and Why It Is Urgent”, and “What Has Already Been
Done” – you can be sure that everything you write will be of direct relevance. You should
keep these sections as short as possible.

Later topics in this module will give you guidance on specific sections of this draft of the
concept note.

Third Draft Concept Note (to elicit donor interest)

• Project Title:……………………………………………..
• Illustrative Budget and Duration:……………………..
• Implementing Partner(s):………………………………

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• Location and Sites:……………………………………..
• Related Donor Projects:……………………………….

The Problem and Why It Is Urgent

What Has Already Been Done

Goal, Objectives and Activities

Goal

Objectives

Activities

Inputs and Project Management

Inputs

Project Management

Outputs, Beneficiaries and Impacts

Outputs

Beneficiaries

Impacts

Budget

A Recommended Order for Preparing the Concept Note: Experience shows that if you
write the sections of the third draft concept note in the following order, you will find you
are designing your project in a useful sequence, and not getting bogged down in non-design
details. So, we recommend you prepare your concept note in the following sequence:

a. Objectives and Goal

b. Inputs
c. Activities and Duration
d. Outputs
e. Beneficiaries and Impacts
f. Project Management
g. Budget
h. Background
a. The problem and why it is urgent
b. What has already been done.

Topic 4: Concept Note Formats (step 2)

Questions on Topic 4: Are the following statements true or false?

a. You should add the word “anticipated” to many sections of the concept note that you
send to partners for their ideas and inputs.

True False

b. You need to have a budget attached to each draft of your concept note.

True False

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c. You need a section on outputs, beneficiaries and impacts in each draft of your concept
note.

True False

d. You should start the third draft of the concept note by writing the section on “The
Problem and Why It is Urgent”.

True False

e. Your draft for internal review needs to show how your project idea fits with other
projects and programs in your organization.

True False

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Topic 5: Preparing Good Objectives (step 1)

Directions: Read the text that follows and then do the exercise that follows.

Writing Your Objectives: As we mentioned in Topic 1, the objectives are the single most
important part of your project design. They tell the reader what it is you want to do. In a
project concept note or proposal, the objectives are the things that you promise to do with
the money, if your project is funded.

The objectives of a project are often one of the first parts of the concept note that your
reader will look at. You need to think carefully about your objectives before you start to
write.

To think through exactly what you want to do, you will want to assemble your design team
to brainstorm with you. Try to get colleagues from different disciples to enrich your
discussion. Throw out ideas, and record them on a flipchart. You are trying to get the
wording exactly right.

As we have said, project objectives should (a) relate to a core problem, (b) define the
strategy to overcome the problem and (c) contribute to the achievement of a higher-order
goal.

When formulating objectives, keep in mind that they should be SMART – i.e.:

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time-bound

Each objective should also specify the quantity and quality of achievement, and an
indication of the when the objectives will be achieved. This is the QQT test – i.e.

Quantity
Quality
Time

Topic 5: Preparing Good Objectives (step 2)

Exercise: Now, look at the objectives below, and decide if they pass the SMART and QQT
tests. Please write your answer on a piece of paper and compare it with the explanations.
a. To develop upland rice varieties adapted to an extensive cropping system with low
inputs, resistant to the main existing biotic and abiotic stresses and with a grain quality
corresponding to the demand.

Explanation:
Objective a. does give considerable Specificity. It specifies the farming system type it
wants to work with, the resistances it is looking for and the grain quality desired, but it is
not a Measurable objective, since we do not know if one new variety will be sought, or two,
or three. So we cannot readily tell if, at the end of the project, the objective has been a
success. The objective may be Realistic, and Achievable, but we can’t tell, because there
is no indication of Time. Because the objective does not specify quantity and time, it also
fails the QQT test.

This objective would be improved by simply adding the two elements, e.g. “In a three year
period to develop at least two upland rice varieties adapted to an extensive cropping
system with low inputs…..etc.”

b. To make available to farmers disease-free planting materials of potato, and thus limit
the importation of seed tubers.

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Explanation:
Objective b. is even more vague that Objective a. To be a SMART objective that passes
the QQT test, the objective should read something like this: “To make available up to five
tons of disease-free potato planting material in the coming 12 months, thereby reducing
the importation of seed tubers to the country by some $500,000.” [Note: the only people
who can judge whether this is a Realistic objective are readers who know the country, the
cost of seed tuber imports and the availability of planting material on the world market. If
the reader is likely not to have this information already, it must clearly be presented in the
concept note, as part of the discussion of the problem and what has already been done.]

c. To increase the incomes of small farmers in dry zones by increasing the productivity of
the millet and sorghum fields.

Explanation:
You can probably guess how Objective c. needs to be improved. We need to know by how
much the project seeks to increase productivity of sorghum and millet, and then by how
much they expect incomes to rise. The objective could be further strengthened by some
discussion of how the project intends to increase productivity: New varieties? New
practices? Better seed? Etc. Here’s one way the improved objective might read: “To
increase the target farmers’ incomes by at least 25% over a three year period, by intensive
extension visits designed to improve sorghum and millet farming practices and provide high
quality ICRISAT seed at the required planting time.”

If your own explanations are the same as the explanations above, you may proceed by
clicking the next button otherwise you should redo the exercise by pressing this link.

Topic 5: Preparing Good Objectives (step 3)

Directions: Now read the section part of the text on this topic. At the end are some
questions on both parts of the text.

Selecting Your Goal: Your goal is the reason why you are doing the project. There may be
many reasons, but we advise you to choose only one, or at most two, because the more
goals you choose, the more you will have to write about impact! We will explain this in the
Topic on impact.

It is a good idea to choose a goal that is important both to your own institute and your
target donor. Here are some development goals that are common to most donor agencies,
NGOs and NARS:

• alleviating poverty
• conserving biodiversity
• improving the health of the poor
• eradicating malnutrition
• enhancing food security

These goals are high-order things, that will be very, very, very difficult to achieve
anywhere in the world. They are similar to the Millennium goals chosen by the UN. You can
see that any project you might undertake could only contribute a tiny bit to big goals like
this. Remember that in a concept note or proposal, you promise to try to achieve your
objectives. But your project only promises to try to contribute to the goal.

Although your project can only contribute, you do need to specify how much, and the way
in which you will measure whether or not your contribution has been made. For instance, if
your project is going to contribute to poverty alleviation, in your proposal you will need to
say:
• how much your contribution will be… (say, 5% increase in household incomes)
• when you expect to observe this contribution (say in Year 5)
• how you will measure the contribution (perhaps a household survey in Year 5)

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Let’s take an example: Imagine a project to test the nutritional and economic advantages
for Malawian farm families with less than 1 ha of land of growing farmed tilapia in farm
ponds over a three year period

The project leader (perhaps the Principal Investigator) has brainstormed with his design
team and come up with the following list of potential goals:

• Increased household food security

• Increased household income
• Increased national food security
• Improved on-farm nutrition (women and children)
• Improved on-farm health (larger babies)
• Increased farm incomes
• Decreased urban migration

Here are some of the brainstormed questions the design team came up with when
considering just one of these goals:

Considering increased household food security

Were households insecure before?
What if the fish die?
Will the head of household sell the fish for cash, rather than leave all, some for
household consumption?
How could the increase be measured? (Would a pre- and post-project survey be needed?
If so, how many households would need to be included?)
How much additional food security could the project contribute to an average
household?
What other factors might contribute to increasing food security over the life of the project?

[Note: there will be more discussion of goals and objectives in other topics in this module,
and also in the module “How to Write a Convincing Proposal”.]

Topic 5: Preparing Good Objectives (step 4)

Questions on Topic 5: We suggest you try to mark these statements true or false to see if
you have understood about goals and objectives.
a. The more goals you choose for your project the better.

True False

b. The objectives of a project explain what you want to do; the goal you select for your
project provides the development reason why you want to do a project.

True False

c. When choosing a goal, you need to know the development goals of your own institute,
the government(s) of the countries in which you will work and of the target donor.

True False

d. You should choose your goal(s) before identifying your objectives.

True False

e. The following is a SMART objective: “To develop drought resistant animal feed for poor
herders in dry areas”.

True False

15
f. The following is an example of a development goal: “Increasing the weight of infants in
Benin by introducing vitamin-enhanced millet varieties.”

True False

16
Topic 6: Selecting Inputs (step 1)

Directions: Read the following text and then answer the questions that follow.

When selecting inputs, you need to list all the items will need to achieve your objectives.
For a research project, you are likely to need some or all of the following:

- People (i.e. the time of yourself, your colleagues, your partners)

- Travel (tickets, per diem)
- Vehicles (perhaps bikes, motorbikes, cars, vans, tractors)
- Equipment (perhaps tools, scientific equipment, office equipment like computers)
- Supplies (office supplies like paper, pens and field supplies like seed and fertilizer)
- Services (like phone, fax, email)
- Facilities (offices, library, training center, demonstration plots)

Some inputs may be given to the project by some of your partners, e.g. farmer groups,
individual farm families, NGOs, international organizations, donor groups, etc. If these
inputs are given without payment, you still need to mention them in your project.

You will need to give some details about which sort of people you are going to need to
implement your project. You need not give specific names, but you will need to describe
the type of person you will want, e.g. economist, water specialist, farm laborer, extension
worker, etc. (You can name people, if you wish. This is usually a good idea if a given
researcher or development worker is well-known or well-liked in your country.)

For all the inputs in your list you must carefully explain how much or how many of each you
will need. For instance, you will need to specify how many person days, person months or
person years of each type of specialist you will need. Again, you may need three round-trip
flights between your country and the other three involved in the project each year.
You need to quantify your inputs (a) so that the donor will know you have thought through
your input needs carefully and (b) so that you can prepare your budget, which is simply the
cost of each of your inputs.

Remember that the inputs needed by your partners are just as important to them as your
inputs are to you!
In a concept note to donors, you need not write a long narrative justifying your selection on
inputs, but you do need to include a list or chart summarizing what you will need. If you
want the reader to know that your input list is still tentative, you may say so, by using a
phrase like “tentative”, “preliminary”, or “illustrative”.

Topic 6: Selecting Inputs (step 2)

Questions on Topic 6: Are the following statements about the third draft concept note to
donors true or false?
a. You only need to include in a concept note those inputs which you are asking the donor
to pay for.

True False

b. All projects will need people, travel, vehicles, equipment, supplies, services and
facilities.

True False

c. You should put the names of the principal scientists who will implement the project in
your concept note.

True False

17
d. Because you are not proposing the pay the farmers who are going to participate in your
project for the time they spend, you need not list them as inputs.

True False

e. Your institute has only a few computers, and many of these are old and slow. You should
include the need for a computer in all projects you design to ensure that the level of
communication equipment improves quickly.

True False

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Topic 7: Describing Activities, Duration and Outputs (step 1)

Directions: Read the following text, then answer the questions.

Activities and Duration: In a concept note you need to summarize the activities that will
make up the project, noting how long each will take. Remember, most donors are used to
funding projects of between 2 – 4 years, with three years being the most usual. But if you
can achieve your objectives in a year or less, that is fine too.

Some tips on writing a good Activities section:

• Be brief and clear

• Be positive
• Use the active voice and the future tense (“will” not “would”)
• Do not use “we”, but specify which specialist (or group of people) will do what
[As we will discuss in the module “How to Write a Convincing Proposal”, in a full
proposal you will need a narrative section describing the activities. Each sentence
in that section should explain clearly who will do what, where, when and for how
long. Note that you do not explain why in the Activities section – this may be
discussed in a Background or Justification section.] In a short concept note you
need not provide a narrative, but you will need a time line showing all the
activities in a graph or chart, showing at a glance the duration of the activities and
who will be undertaking them. Below is an example of a small project time line.

Summary of Activities for Pilot Beans for Africa Project

Activities Time line

Surveys of farms (project economist

and households and farmers)
Introduction of (project
New Varieties agronomist, NGO
staff, extension
agent, farmers)
Evaluation of (agronomist,
New Varieties farmers,
consultant)
Preparation of (economist,
Report agronomist, project
manager)

J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D TIME

Year 1 Year 2

Methods or Methodology: In a research proposal you are often quite concerned about the
methods you are going to use in your work. Most development donors are not really
interested in the details of your methodology; they are more interested in the outputs and
impact. However, if you feel that it is important to communicate the nature of the
methodology of your project, then we recommend you include it as a separate sub-section
of the Activities part of your concept note.

Outputs: The outputs of a project are the results of the activities – those things which will
be in place once the project is over. The outputs of a project are directly related to the
project objectives.

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Outputs may include:

• Events, such as workshops or harvests

• Intangible things, like decisions
• Tangible things, like a new agricultural tool or technology
• Information, perhaps in the form of publications, or videos

Be sure to claim all the possible outputs that you can for your project. You may want to
brainstorm the outputs with your colleagues. In the concept note you can summarize the
outputs; in a full proposal you will need more description, as well as a brief justification as
to why you believe the outputs will be achieved on time.

Key outputs that are achieved at key times during the life of the project (e.g. at the end
of the first or second year) may be used as milestones to help you monitor the progress of
your project. Donors are always pleased to fund organizations that take both monitoring
and evaluation seriously. If your institute monitors projects regularly, it is more likely to
achieve its objectives on time and within budget. One way of showing how seriously you
take project monitoring is to include, and draw attention to some milestone achievements
at key points during the project, such as the end of the first and second years of a three
year project. It would be really helpful to have milestones every six months. In a full
proposal you might want to include a table listing the milestones, their expected due
dates, and the persons responsible for achieving them.

[Some people (including donors) use the word ‘outcomes’ to describe the effects or
consequences of outputs on people or the environment. The output of a good harvest
(caused by the use of new varieties introduced in a project) might have a number of
outcomes. For instance:

• More food available for poor households

• More money available to send children to school
• More work for farm laborers
• More food on the market, so the price goes down
• Better nutrition for nursing mothers

You may want to list the outcomes of your project as part of your thinking about the impact
it will have on your beneficiaries. We will talk more about this later in the module. ]

Topic 7: Describing Activities, Duration and Outputs (step 2)

Questions on Topic 7: Please answer the following questions with yes or no.
a. Can a change in public policy be a project output?

Yes No

b. If you are not sure about the details of some of the activities of the project, shouldn’t
you use the conditional tense (i.e. ‘could’ or ‘would’) to indicate uncertainty?

Yes No

c. Do you need to have a time line in a concept note?

Yes No

d. If you have four objectives for your project, should you have four outputs?

Yes No

20
e. Can you include a description of your research methods in the concept note?

Yes No

f. Even if you aren’t sure which persons are going to implement the project, should you
give the title or position of the person(s) who is going to undertake each activity?

Yes No

g. Do all the outputs come at the end of the project?

Yes No

Show results

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Topic 8: Writing about Beneficiaries and Impact (step 1)

Directions: Read the following text, then check your understanding by answering the
questions.

Beneficiaries: Donors are going to want to know exactly who is going to benefit from your
research. You need to be as inclusive as possible, and write a little about each group.
Describing the beneficiary groups gives you an opportunity to allow a little passion into your
concept note.

Because you want to claim as many beneficiaries as possible, brainstorm with colleagues in
your design team when you make your list. Here are some possible groups that would be of
interest to donors:

• Poor farm families

• AIDS orphans
• Urban (or rural) youth
• The very old and the very young
• Female heads of household
• Refugees
• War victims (veterans, disable people, etc)

Benefits may also accrue to richer groups, but these should not be highlighted, especially in
projects to development donors whose goal is poverty alleviation. Your organization and
other governmental and non-governmental groups may also benefit, but again, these
benefits should not be given prime attention, unless the project is specifically designed for
institutional capacity building.

You may wish to use the terms ‘intermediary users’ and ‘end users’ to describe your
beneficiaries. If your project has developed a new vaccine for preventing disease in goats,
the end users (or ultimate beneficiaries) are the people who own goats, and live on their
meat and milk. Intermediary users (or intermediary beneficiaries) may include the small
companies that begin to manufacture the vaccine, the extension agents and vets who go
out to inoculate the goats, and the scientists at the small ruminants workshop who learn
about the new vaccine, and get ideas for their own future work.

When describing the beneficiaries or end users, be sure to give enough details (quantity,
condition of living, etc) to make them come alive for the reader. These are the people for
whom the project is designed.

Impact: This is a critical section, because impact is what the donor wants to ‘buy’.
Impact usually happens some time after the outputs of a project, i.e. after the project has
been over for some years. In describing the potential impact of a project, therefore, you
need to:

• Describe the benefits you expect, how many of them can be expected, and when
and where they will occur.
• Present your reasoning for why you expect the impact to happen, perhaps by
stating the assumptions you are making.
• Explain how you will measure the impact of the project (e.g. by a separate impact
assessment project after the proposed project is complete).

It is a good idea to express the impact of a project in terms of the goals of the donor and
your own organization. As we noted earlier, the following goals are all topical and likely
to be of interest to most donors:

• Poverty alleviation or poverty eradication

• Food security

22
 • Preserving the environment
• Preserving biodiversity
• Improving nutrition, health and/or education

You might want to have a small file of possible impact items which you can consult each
time you design a project. Work on these items with colleagues, and add to your list over
time. Here are some possible impact items to get you started.

Will your project result in:

• Higher family incomes?

• Better health for poor families?
• Lessening of the drudgery of farm and house work for women and children?
• Enhanced community participation in development?
• New use of indigenous knowledge?
• Preservation of indigenous intellectual property?
• Improved performance by government extension workers?
• Better information for all farmers, no matter how poor, including women?
• More public sector accountability?
• Creation of new jobs?
• New food sources for the urban poor?
• New techniques for profitable peri-urban market gardening?
• Preservation of the environment and its natural resources?
• National import substitution?
• Improved child nutrition?
• Better qualified NARS scientists?

Remember that, like objectives, impact is more impressive if it is quantified. If you believe
your project will increase small farmer incomes by 30%, say so. This is much more
meaningful than just saying that incomes will rise.

Donors will be pleased if you can suggest some indicators to show how you will know if
impact has occurred. ‘Indicators’ are things to look for. Let’s go back to that project that
was wanting to introduce fish ponds on small farms. Suppose that your goal was improved
health of poor farm families, and part of the impact you expected was that children would
be stronger, bigger and healthier. Some of the indicators you might identify would be:

• Height and weight statistics from schools in the area

• Mortality of children under the age of 5.
• A pre- and post-project survey of children’s height, weight and general health
conducted by the project statistician, with help from medical personnel from
nearby hospitals
• Records of children’s visits to local clinics (fewer visits would probably indicate
improved health).

By citing one or two indicators you would use to measure impact, even in your concept
note, you can impress your donor with how seriously you take the whole impact issue.

Topic 8: Writing about Beneficiaries and Impact (step 2)

Questions on Topic 8: Are the following statements true or false?

a. It is wise to be cautious about claiming too many beneficiaries for your project.

True False

23
b. You should highlight ultimate beneficiaries (end users), such as poor farm families,
rather than intermediate beneficiaries, such as the personnel of NARS and NGOs.

True False

c. When designing a new project, you can consult your own list of potential beneficiaries to
ensure that you are not missing a particular group.

True False

d. The impact of a project is the sum of its outputs.

True False

e. Because it is difficult to claim credit for the impact of your project, you should not try
to quantify the difference it will make to the beneficiaries.

True False

f. You can discuss benefits to (or impact on) human health and the national economy, even
if your project is focused on agriculture.

True False

g. Listing some indicators that show how you plan to measure the impact of your project
will strengthen the quality of your concept note.

True False

24
Topic 9: Explaining the Project Management (step 1)

Directions: Read the text that follows, and answer the questions at the end.

The best objectives in the world can only achieve the desired outputs and impacts if the
project can be effectively managed. Your concept note needs to include brief mention of
the roles and responsibilities of the various people who will be implementing the project.
You may wish to do this in the form of a table.

In the full proposal you will need to provide considerable detail on this topic. In the
concept note you need to say who will lead the project, and who will be responsible for the
main project tasks. For a project of more than, say, 12 months, you will need to provide a
sentence or two on how the project will be monitored, and what level of supervision will be
provided. For a complex project, with many sites and many partners, it would be better
to provide a sentence or two about project meetings or other methods you will use to
coordinate people and activities. Here is an example of a table for a fairly simple project:

Roles and Responsibilities of Key Personnel for Project Management

Title Main Management Tasks

Project Manager (or Overall supervision of project; calls and chairs project meetings; main
Principal Investigator) liaison person with donor and government officials; signs off on all field-
reports based reports
Project Economist Designs and administers baseline and end-of project data collection for
impact assessment; supports PI in project monitoring
Project Agronomist Drafts field reports; main liaison person with extension agents and farm
families
Post-Doc Takes notes and drafts reports of all project meetings

Topic 9: Explaining the Project Management (step 2)

Questions on Topic 9: Please answer the following questions on a piece of paper and
compare it with the explanations.

a. What are the main topics on project management that need to be covered in a concept
note to donors?

Explanation:
In a concept note you need to mention (i) who (i.e. the title of the person who) will lead
the project, (ii) who will be responsible for the main project management tasks, and, (iii) a
sentence or two about how the project is going to be coordinated and monitored. You can
provide this information in sentences, or by preparing a table.

b. Do you need to mention project management if your project is shorter than 12 months?

Explanation:
Even in a short project that will take less than a year, you should explain who will lead the
project and who will be responsible for the main tasks, even if that is a single individual.
One or two sentences will be sufficient.

That was a short and easy activity. Now for something a bit more difficult!

If your own explanations are the same as the explanations above, you may proceed by
clicking the next button otherwise you should redo the exercise by pressing this link.

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Topic 10: Preparing a Concept Note Budget (step 1)

Directions: Read the text that follows, and then do the exercise.

Every concept note submitted to a donor should have a project summary budget attached.
This budget should show the main project costs for each year and totaled. The budget
should include all project costs – those of your organization and those of your partners, and
funds from all sources – a donor, your own institution, etc.

A good budget should be as easy to read as the text. To make your budget readable, make
sure that:

• Every line item is footnoted with unit costs

• Your budget has a title, and that the axes are labeled.
• You specify the currency of the budget, and, if it is not in a hard currency, give an
exchange rate into the donor’s currency.
• You round the figures to a reasonable number. In dollars, to the nearest
thousands, with one decimal place – e.g. $23,789 = $23.8
• You include an indirect cost line item, and perhaps a line item for inflation and/or
contingency
• You follow your institute’s project budget guidelines, and charge the same costs to
all donors.
• Your budget is reviewed by someone in your Finance Office.

Topic 10: Preparing a Concept Note Budget (step 2)

Exercise on Topic 10: Please answer the following questions on a piece of paper and
compare it with the explanation.

There are several weaknesses in the budget presented below. Looking at the above
text, list the changes you would make to convert it to a good, readable budget. List
five things that would improve the above budget.

Item of Expense Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

Personnel expenses
University research associate 42,480 42,480 42,480
Regular laborer 24,000 24,000 24,000
Lump sum for labor 4,000 4,000 4,000
Bonus 7,540 7,540 7,540
Honoraria of research leaders 17,000 17,500 17,000
Subtotal 95,020 95,020 95,020
Maintenance and operating expenses
Supplies and materials 15,500 10,000 8,000
Sundries 2,000 2,000 2,000
Travel 1,000 5,000 5,000
Subtotal 18,500 17,000 15,000
Repair/maintenance of motorcycle 15,000 5,000 __
Equipment 7,500 __ __
Administrative cost 12,352 12,202 12,202
Contingency cost 3,103 2,920 2,700
TOTAL 151,475 132,142 124,922

26
Explanation:

• Create a title – e.g. Summary Budget

• Specify the currency – e.g. US$
• Give a total for each line item – i.e. add a final column on the right
• Round the numbers to the nearest thousand with one decimal point
• Add footnotes giving unit costs

Additional improvements could be made – to make the subtotals easier to read, and
perhaps adding a line item for inflation.

27
Topic 11: Writing the Background Section (step 1)

Directions: Read the text that follows, then answer the questions.

In a concept note, background information should be kept to a minimum. Organize your

material under two sub-headings:

• The Problem, and Why It is Urgent

• What Has Already Been Done

Under the sub-head, “The Problem and Why it is Urgent”, discuss the project in terms of
such high order goals (held by many NARS, ARIs and donor agencies), as poverty alleviation,
food security, preservation of the environment, and nutrition and health. Provide statistics
and graphics if possible, citing your sources, and writing in a style that might be used in a
magazine like the Economist. You can allow a little passion in your writing – a few forceful
words to remind the reader of the importance and urgency of the problem. Urgency is
vital. If your problem is not important and immediately needed then a donor will rather
spend his money on a problem that is.

You may want to convey the urgency of the problem your project is addressing by
describing the difficulties the end users are having without the project. If nothing is done,
you can say, their plight will only get worse. Or you may want explain how much the
project could help improve their situation, once the impact started to take effect. Either
way, you need to try to make the readers of your concept note start to care about the
affected people.

Under the sub-head, “What Has Already Been Done” be sure to focus not only on what your
NARS has already been done, but also on the work of other scientific groups and
individuals. Be sure, too, to include any relevant projects that have been financed by the
donor to whom you are writing. If this is a follow-on project or second phase, describe the
outcomes of the earlier work in some detail. This section of the proposal is a little like a
literature review in a dissertation, but discusses related projects, not research papers. In a
concept note you need only brief mentions of related projects – in a full proposal you can
write more. The phrase ‘This project builds on the work of …..’ can usefully be used in this
section.

In the format of the concept note, the section immediately following What Has Already
Been Done is the section on Goals and Objectives. You should write the Already Done
section in such a way that the reader clearly understands that the objectives of your
project are the next logical thing that follows on from what has gone before.

Topic 11: Writing the Background Section (step 2)

Questions on Topic 11: Are the following statements true or false?

a. You should illustrate your background section with statistics, charts or pictures, and give
the source of such material.
True False

b. You should write in a factual, objective style, without emotion or fancy words.
True False

c. You need to mention the work of your partners as well as of your own institution.
True False

d. Donors already know about the projects they have supported, so there is no need to
mention them.
True False

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Topic 12: Picking a Good Title (step 1)

Directions: Read the following text, then try your hand on making up some good titles!

The title of your project is the first thing your reader will see when looking at your concept
note. A long, scientifically accurate title will not grab attention, or seem exciting to any
reader but another researcher. Catchy, informative and distinctive titles can attract and
hold the interest of a potential donor.

Try using a two-part title for your future projects. The first part should be short, snappy
and easy to remember. The second part can be longer, more serious and informative.

Here are two examples.

Fishes for the Future: identification and characterization of endangered aquatic species in
selected tropical sites

Why do the chickens die? Developing low-cost techniques for aflatoxin estimation in
poultry feeds.

Topic 12: Picking a Good Title (step 2)

Exercise on Topic 12: Try to find short, snappy first parts for the following two project
titles.
Write your answers on a piece of paper and compare it with the explanations.

a. Sustainable bean productivity in sub-Saharan Africa through germplasm enhancement

and input use efficiency

b. Assessment of past and expected impact of the work of ten NGOs in Africa
Explanation:
There are many possible answers to this exercise. Here are two that were used in actual
projects:

a. More Beans for Africa: sustainable production through germplasm enhancement and
input use efficiency
b. Did we make a difference? An assessment of past and expected impact of the work of
xxx in the 1990s

That’s the end of this interactive exercise. We hope you enjoyed it, and found it useful. It
is always available for you to consult if you want to refresh your memory about how to
write a convincing concept note!

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