Establishing a Project

Introduction

The aim of this module is to inspire National Associations of the Deaf to establish a project. Establishing a project is an alternative way to apply for funds, and to ensure economic empowerment. You should determine the purpose and objective(s) of the project. For example, a purpose can be to provide the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and its members with a sustained source of income, which will make them significantly self-dependent organisation and individuals. The objective can be for example providing employment to deaf people, ensuring them with predictable means to sustain their families, establishing a functional fundraising arm within NAD’s organizational structure, or demonstrating a workable project model that can be adapted by NAD chapters across urban sectors. You can also use the Sustainable Development Goals to back up your project proposal. For example, the Sustainable Development Goal # 8 (eight) is about promoting inclusive economic growth, full and productive employment allowing people with disabilities/Deaf persons and their organizations to fully access the job market as well as an obligation to give employment to Persons with disabilities/deaf people.

Establishing a project

Developing and carrying out a project tends to have three phases: Pre-Planning, Project Activities/Events and Follow Up.

Pre-planning

Before planning a project, do you have the following ready?

• Make sure your organization is registered with your government or the organization you work with is a registered organization.
• Research the issues or problems the project will improve or solve. Be ready to describe the problem. Collect data and numbers to show the problem more clearly. For example: Only 4 out of 17 deaf children in your village go to school.
• Think of the people who will benefit from this project, then contact the people from this group you want to be part of project activities. Have the people who will benefit from the project help with the planning.
• Reserve meeting locations, equipment, office, or training areas for the Project Planning Workshop.
• Complete a project proposal and search for funding.
• Get your organization ready for the project with board meetings, meetings with partners, hiring staff, etc.

You can consider establishing a project planning team, who will be responsible for the project planning. The team should consist of people with different skills covering the different needs of the project planning, e.g. organising, budgeting, proposal writing, or experiences with local or international projects.

Project activities

It is important for the project to have your activities running. The activities usually help achieving the goal of your project.

• Get funding for project activities/events.
• Hire workers and find volunteers for project activities/events.

You should pay attention to your relationship with your donors. During the project, it is desirable to develop mutual trust with donors. Organizations that deal directly with donor representatives should do in a straightforward and positive manner. Show them the successes and failures of your organization and the difficulties you are facing. If progress reports are specifically required, these should be sent on time. It is good practice to keep donors well informed through periodic progress reports. If possible, supplement written reports with photographs documenting project progress.

Follow up and report

At the end of the project, you should determine what to do next. You should also evaluate whether you have succeeded in achieving the goals you set up for the project.

Monitoring and evaluation

• Observe activities/events for success.
• Discuss with people at the activities/events who benefit from the project and record their feedback.
• Compare the results against your original goals.
• Report to funders and board about the success and challenges of the project.

Report

• As a minimum, the reporting should compare planned activities with how they have been realised. It is important to take advantage of the information collected during monitoring.
• Progress reports should be sent on time
• The purpose of the report is to keep your donors informed
• Show your donors successes and failures of your organisation and difficulties you are facing
• Supplement written reports with photos documenting project progress

Steps to make a project proposal

A project proposal will explain why, where, when and how the project will happen.

There are 6 basic parts in your project plan:

• Work Plan
• Timeline
• Budget
• Management Structure
• Monitoring & Evaluation
• Sustainability Plan

In addition, the proposed project should have a vision, joint conceptualization, and determination of prospects. Sub activities should be involved in the project formulation. Once this is accomplished an expert should be assigned to develop a concept note together with estimated costs of the proposed project. You should also determine the benefits or anticipated outcomes of the project. Those can be at the individual level, groups, and institutions. The below include examples:

At the individual level, deaf people who are recruited by the project will not only earn an income but also demonstrate to the public that they are equally endowed by different knacks that can be tapped for the social good. This can be another strategy for altitudinal change of stereotyped societal members who might think that deaf people are destined to live on charities.

At group level, the National Association of the Deaf might have another source of income for sustaining itself.

At an institutional level, the project can provide corporates and public institutions an opportunity to fulfil the social responsibility by hiring the service of deaf people. Realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), for example goal eight is about promoting inclusive economic growth, full and productive employment which will allow people with disabilities to fully access to the job market.

Making an application

• Find out who is responsible for making the decision(s)
• Find out about the donor current policies and priorities
• Find out what type of grant they give out and what they typically fund
• Find out how to apply – do you need an application form?
• Find out if there is an application deadline
• Allow at least a month to prepare your proposal

The project proposal

In all proposals, you must first consider who you are applying to and what their priorities and interests are. Do a research on donors.

• Personalize your proposal
• Find out how long the proposal should be?
• Make your proposal as clear and concise as possible. Use a word processor
• Keep it factual
• Show you will be effective and efficient in the use of their money. Provide a financial statement if required.
• Include cost estimates when possible.

Donors are typically interested in the following questions when considering a proposal:

• Is the proposed project compatible with the funding priorities of the donor?
• What is the proposed budget?
• Are the costs fully justified?
• Is the organisation trustworthy?
• What are the history and experience of the organisation?
• What is the problem, need or want addressed?
• What solution is being proposed by the applicant, and why it has been selected?
• Is the project operationally feasible?
• Are the costs and expertise needed?

A successful project contains of great ideas that meet real needs of the target group, which is participating and committed to the decision making processes in all the project’s phases. The project goals can be achieved within the budget and time frame of the project. There will be right people and resources available to implement the project, which is managed excellent by the project people. Finally, there is a plan on how to continue the activities after the project has come to an end or how the results will be sustainable.

Please make sure to include all necessary information in the proposal. Those can be background information; aim and objectives; the problem the project will address and your suggestions how to solve the problem; the target group; the project costs; sustainability and sets of accounts.

1. Background information

• Information on organization set up
• Description of organization
• Details of person responsible for the project
• Details of contact Persons (If different from the above)- address, tel, fax email
• Date organization was established, location and legal status of the organization
• What is your membership and describe functions of members (Board of Directors, Committees-even if volunteers etc)?

2. Aim and objective

• What you aim to achieve?
• What are objectives of the project?

3. The problem and the solution

• State problem to be addressed and your proposed solution (make sure this fits in with the donor own policies /interest)
• Time scale of activities
• What are the anticipated results?
• How will you monitor and evaluate your project? Give specific milestones and calculate results if possible.
• How will grant assist the problem?

4. The target group

• Describe the region and community where the project will be implemented, including the number of people living in areas.
• How many people will benefit?
• What is the desired impact of the project on beneficiaries, both socially and economically?
• What is the gender distribution?
• What is the level of unemployment among beneficiaries’ group? What is the main occupation?
• How has the target group been involved in the planning and implementation of the project?

5. The project costs

• Give total cost of project, include full breakdown of costs for individual components if relevant. If you need to purchase items, obtain written estimates, and include them with application.
• Give a funding plan, if the project has ongoing funding needs, describe future sources and who has supported you in the past.
• Make it very clear what component you are asking the donor for. If you have a list of requirements, include this list marking your own priorities and invite donors to select.

6. Sustainability

• How will the project be sustained after the proposed grant has been spent?  If ongoing funding is needed, describe future sources.
• What plans are in place for maintenance/repair costs (i.e. contribution from local community) and how will they be managed?

7. Sets of accounts

• Include if required by donor

In addition, if the prospective donor is not familiar with an organisation seeking for its assistance, it is useful to attach a description of the organisation, its goals and objectives, membership, activities undertaken and evidence for its credibility.

Gender-sensitive project preparation

This means that gender does not feature as a separate and additional consideration when planning projects but should be built into the organisations’ general way of thinking and working, starting from the knowledge that men and women differ in their roles and positions in society, and therefore have different needs within projects and organisations. For example, when a project is designed for a local community in a rural farming district in Uganda, will the women and men have the same needs? After all, they live in the same community, share the same cultural background and all make a living from agriculture.

You should keep in mind that specific steps may be required to involve women in preparing a project. It may not suffice to work only with the partner organisation’s leadership, since decision-making structures are often dominated by men.

• Have both men and women taken part in the preparations?
• Have they been able to affirm their gender specific needs and interests?
• How was the project idea conceived and how was the project developed?

Problem analysis

Greater female than male participation does not guarantee that the project will pursue the strategic interests of women more than those of men. Thus, you should consider how does the main problem identified affect men and women, respectively? How has the problem analysis considered the special needs, roles, interests and conditions of men and women (or boys or girls)?

Project objectives

How have the project’s objectives been designed to meet the needs and interests of both men and women?

Project results, activities, and period

You should consider how will the project ensure the inclusion of men, as well as women in the activities? The activities should be planned in cooperation with different target groups representing both men, women, boys and girls.

Target group

To create a project that includes men and women on an equal footing, it is important to understand all gender-specific needs and interests, as well as how to address them. How many men and women will take part in the activities? Do men and women have different needs and interests regarding participation in this project, and how will you ensure that these are taken into consideration?

Project strategy

• How will the project contribute to gender equality in terms of rights, access to resources and influence?
• Have you planned any activities only for men and / or only for women? What might be the advantages and disadvantages of this?
• Does the project and its implementation have different consequences for men and women?
• Could there be any negative consequences and if yes, how will you prevent them?

Division of responsibilities

Female leadership can help to boost the courage of women in general, by creating role models for young deaf girls. Are both men and women involved in the management of the project? How is the division of labour and responsibilities?

Case studies: Project examples
 

1. Deaf Women Economic Emancipation Program (DWEEP)

A project in South Africa empowers Deaf and hearing women to become self-employed. The main objective of the Women Economic Emancipation Program is to empower Deaf women and young women who aspire into becoming social entrepreneurs. It provides training in business management and planning, marketing, financial management, ICT skills, and more. Furthermore, the project mentors the 50 participating women. It is targeted at unemployed Deaf and hearing women.

2. Coalition Building to Prevent Gender-Based Violence (GBV)

One project in Kenya has helped service providers learn basic Kenyan Sign Language so they can communicate with Deaf women experiencing gender-based violence. This initiative is one part of a larger project to improve access to justice and services for deaf women who experience gender-based violence. An organization of women with disabilities in Kenya led the project. The organization, Women Challenged to Challenge, built a coalition with community leaders, police, nurses, people with disabilities, and others.

3. CEFA – TANZANIA

CEFA is an Italian NGO specialized in integrated rural development and urban poverty alleviation. Its projects include activities in the following fields: agriculture, agro-processing, rural electrification, water supply, vocational training, economic empowerment, inclusion of people with disabilities in the labour market.

The project idea emulates good practices demonstrated by other initiatives undertaken by CEFA -Tanzania in agriculture, agro-processing, rural electrification, water supply, vocational training, economic empowerment (e.g. Neema Art Crafts, Wonder Welders), inclusion of people with disabilities in the labour market in Njombe and Iringa Regions which is a good practice.

• https://www.cefaonlus.it/en/progetto/disability-and-integration/
• https://www.cefaonlus.it/en/progetto/thesmallproducersmarketindaressalaam-tanzania/

4. Gardening project

The gardening project intends to provide guidelines on how to run as an aesthetic kind of project through tending lawns, gardens, and shrubberies. The objective of this undertaking is to support the National Association of the Deaf in most developing countries and some of their individual members to be of service to the public and to earn income on a sustainable basis. This aesthetic business will include tending gardens, major hotels, individuals, and public owned gardens by mowing lawns and later arbour/horticulture in general on contractual terms.

Statement of needs

To sustain its services, the project should establish a seedling and soil production site, which will also serve as training for novice gardeners and other organizations interested to learn from the model. The project should be designed to be lean in terms of capital and recurrent expenditure. As such, the project’s start-up staff, activities and equipment should be minimal and for piloting. The first year will be dedicated for piloting, with lessons drawn therefrom informing future programming strategies. Project’s initial staffing includes a Project Manager and a driver for managerial and movement functions as well as several garden supervisors and gardeners (mainly deaf) depending on the number of gardening sites. As NAD’s fundraising arm, these staff will be under the organization’s employment policies.

Project Operation

Initially, the project should consist of five brigades each formed by three people. All brigades should be answerable to one command post. Each brigade should be assigned (by the commanding post) a particular garden to work on. Before the closing of a day’s work, every in-charge of a brigade will report the day’s performance to the commanding post and be re-assigned work for the next day depending on sizes and intensity of labour required. More brigades should be formed depending on the marketability prospects. Manure and other in-puts should be distributed by project pick-up van.

The mobilization of required basic tools and instruments will follow. These can include:

• Garden tools
• One pick up vehicle for transportation
• Garden implements (axes, cultivators and tillers, forks, grass shears, hand hedgers, hand shears, garden hoes, loppers, machetes, manual weeders, picks, pruners, rakes, saws, scissors, shovels, spades, trowels, slashers, gloves, wheelbarrows, horse pipes, sprinklers, and such like).

Core Activities

While gardening activities should constitute core project activities, more strategic activities should be considered as the project progresses. However, the first year of the implementation should involve the following main activities:

• Key staff recruitment and training
• Mobilization of key project equipment and tools
• Identification, solicitation and contracting of initial sites
• Identification of initial seedling and soil suppliers
• Preparations for the seedling garden