Coached Program: Project Design and Winning Proposals: 14 October - 11 November 2025
Transform community needs into fundable projects and write compelling proposals that secure donor support.
Enroll NowCoached Learning Program
- Format: 5 Coached live sessions plus self-study
- Dates: 14 October - 11 November 2025
- Live Sessions: Tuesdays at 10:00-11:30 UTC
- Time Commitment: 4-5 hours per week over 5 weeks
- Investment: $495 (or $395 for limited budgets)
When Good Ideas Fail to Win Funding
In humanitarian and development work, even the best project ideas can fail to secure funding. This isn't because there's anything wrong with the concept—but because they're often poorly designed or poorly communicated to donors. When project design and proposal writing are weak, organizations face:
- Rejected funding applications despite addressing critical community needs
- Wasted time on proposals that never make it past initial review
- Missed opportunities to serve communities while waiting for funding
- Reduced community impact when funding delays stall critical programs
- Projects that never launch or fail to create meaningful change
This comprehensive coached program equips you with systematic approaches to design projects that deliver results for your beneficiaries and write proposals that resonate with donors. Learn the Logical Framework Approach used by major donors and develop clear, compelling writing skills. Through effective project design and proposal writing, you can:
- Transform community needs into fundable project designs
- Align your proposals with donor priorities and global frameworks
- Communicate complex concepts clearly and persuasively
- Increase proposal success rates
Who This Is For
This coached program is for people working in relief, development, or humanitarian contexts who design projects and write proposals. It's ideal for:
- Project managers and planners designing programs that align beneficiary needs and donor preferences
- Proposal writers seeking to improve success rates
- Program officers responsible for donor communications
- NGO staff transitioning into proposal writing roles
- Field staff aligning community needs with donor-funded projects
- Anyone whose projects depend on external funding
No prior experience needed—the course delivers clear, practical guidance for newcomers while providing strategic insights and advanced applications for seasoned practitioners.
Your Instructor
With over 25 years of expertise, Neil Kendrick, founder of ELD Impact, specializes in Professional Writing, Reporting Skills, Proposal Writing, Results-Based Management, and Monitoring & Evaluation. Originally from the UK and now based in Turkey, Neil has trained and coached humanitarian and development professionals across more than 20 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas.
Regularly praised for his ability to demystify complex topics, Neil makes challenging concepts accessible to practitioners at any level - from field staff in rural NGOs to program managers in multilateral organizations.
How You'll Learn
This coached program blends live group sessions with self-paced learning for deeper skill development:
- Weekly live sessions: Join 90-minute interactive sessions with maximum 8 participants. Work through real challenges, receive targeted coaching, and learn from peers' experiences. All sessions are recorded.
- Apply between sessions: Time between weekly meetings lets you practice new concepts in your actual work, then bring insights and questions back to the group.
- Self-paced materials: Access videos, exercises, templates and tools to work through between sessions. Submit questions and examples from your practice for inclusion in the live meeting.
- Peer exchange: Share approaches and challenges with your group throughout the program. Learn from diverse perspectives while building your professional network.
- Personalized feedback: At the end of the training, submit an assignment based on your context and receive detailed video feedback.
- Impact Community: Join the Project Management Impact Community after the course, to support you further in integrating the skills.
What You'll Learn
Week 1: Foundations of Writing and Project Design
Discover why most proposals fail and learn what makes a proposal resonate with donors. Learn the Logical Framework Approach, a four-step approach to writing that gets results, and use tools like the Fog Index to write with clarity.
Week 2: From Problems to Solutions
Learn to analyze root causes, not just symptoms, using problem tree methodology and context analysis. Build persuasive written arguments by organizing ideas strategically and creating paragraphs that convince donors to act.
Week 3: Strategic Design and Stakeholders
Set SMART objectives, map stakeholder interests, and select strategies that work. Learn to balance diverse needs while designing projects that deliver measurable results.
Week 4: Building Frameworks that Win Funding
Construct your complete logical framework with clear indicators and a results chain. Learn to plan complex proposals using mind mapping, and to draft and edit persuasive proposals.
Week 5: Apply and Perfect
In the final meeting, we explore any outstanding questions. You then have one week to submit your assignment for personalized feedback.
Impact Stories
9.3/10 Rating based on 156 reviews
"The course really improved my skills and now I will be able to independently develop proposals. Thank you!"
— UNFPA participant
"I wish I had taken this training sooner, as I have made a lot of errors in the past in writing proposals. But now - whether in writing a sentence, a report or a proposal - I have a magic skill!"
— Oxfam GB participant
"Through my education journey, I have always felt some emptiness due to the lack of specific skills... Dear Neil, you are a very good trainer, for once I now feel that my emptiness is gone and I am more prepared to explore new opportunities."
— J. Roosevelt Zayzay, Liberia
Course Details
Start: 14 October 2025
Duration: 5 weeks (4-5 hours per week: 90-minute live session + 3 hours self-study)
Investment: $495 (or $395 for limited budgets)
Group Size: Maximum 8 participants
Includes:
- Lifetime access to all course materials (videos, handouts, templates, transcripts)
- Five 90-minute live coaching sessions with expert facilitator
- Personalized video feedback on your proposal section (72-hour turnaround)
- End-of-module assessments
- Certificate of completion and letter of achievement
- Post-training access to Proposal Writing Impact Community
Payment Options: To enroll, pay by credit card below. Both options include identical training and materials - choose the standard fee or reduced fee based on your budget.
Get Started
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