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Supporting Applicants: Breaking Down Barriers to Success in the RFP Application Process
Kym Cole, Initiative Director, WEE-DiFine, BIGD
Jenna Grzeslo, PhD, Senior Program Manager, BRAC USA
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Survey Overview
85 respondents started our survey, and 56 completed it A majority of respondents found the proposal cover
letter, two-page CV, and letter of support easy to prepare
32% of respondents reported that the technical proposal and budget were either very difficult or difficult to complete
Participants requested more feedback and support in the proposal development process
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RFP 3: What’s new?
New resources! Office hours, coaching calls, instructional videos
Expanded geographies of focus! Proposals are now welcome from research contexts in Southeast Asia
Updated submission criteria! Longer technical proposal and PI CV page limits
Opportunities for feedback! All unsuccessful applicants will be offered an opportunity to receive feedback on their proposals
FR Pain point: I’m not
sure if my proposal is a good fit for
WEE-DiFine
Please be sure to read the white paper and RFP thoroughly!
Pro-tips:
• Proposals must address both DFS and WEE
• Proposals must address causal mechanisms with a clear theory of change
• Make sure your study meets design eligibility criteria
• Review project profiles on our website!
• Check out the resources tab on our website!
FR Pain point: Page and
word limits are too tight
The technical narrative limit has been extended to ten pages and the CV page limit has been extended to five pages!
Pro-tips:
• Delete the instructions in the technical narrative template to free up space
• Use footnotes or endnotes rather than in-text citations
• Ask a colleague to review your proposal and identify areas that can be articulated more concisely
FR Pain point: It’s hard
to budget given unknowns
Pro-tips:
• It’s ok to make assumptions – record them as you go
• Break down big expenses into component parts
• Play with different scenarios to see how they impact the budget
• In the case of multiple scenarios, which is most likely?
• Loop in your finance colleagues or data collection firm
• Sign up for a coaching call with Kym!
It is hard, but there are things we can do to make the process easier!
FR Pain point: It’s hard
to budget given unknowns
Start with what you know and build from there!
• How many surveys or interviews will you complete?
• How many surveys or interviews can one person complete in one day?
• Do you need to finish data collection within a certain time frame?
🡺 Calculate a daily productivity rate, team size, and structure
FR Pain point: I don’t
understand why my proposal was rejected
All unsuccessful applicants to RFP 3 will be offered an opportunity to receive feedback!
Please keep in mind that funds are highly competitive, and we receive many more fantastic submissions than
we can ultimately finance.
FR Pain point: I don’t
understand why my proposal was rejected
• Not a good fit for WEE-DiFine’s research agenda
• Not an impact evaluation
• Unclear causal identification strategy
• The proposal is unclear
• Study design does not meet high standards of rigor
• Requests for extension funds do not build on an existing study
• The budget raises a high level of concern
• Very low compliance with submissions criteria
FR Pain point: I don’t
understand why my proposal was rejected
Pro-tips:
• Be sure to review our white paper first to ensure that your work is a good fit for our highly specific agenda
• Read the RFP document very thoroughly
• Start the application process as early as you can
• Have a colleague who was not involved in the proposal drafting process review your work for anything unclear
• Be as specific and detailed as you can in the budget and accompanying narrative