Putting together winning FCDO proposals is no easy feat. There are TONS of things to do and consider when putting together a good proposal. Below we list some tips to help you develop a well thought out (& hopefully winning!) proposal:
Ensure that you have enough human resources to complete the bidding process from start to finish. This includes available people with easy access to your organization’s compliance and qualifications information necessary to complete the Standard Selection Questionnaire (SSQ) process (don’t underestimate this task!) and a team with the necessary technical and commercial skills and time availability to develop and complete a solid Invitation to Tender (ITT) submission.
Develop a well-considered bid development plan. Treat your bid process as a military operation. Designate (and empower) a clear bid lead. Ensure your bid lead is proactive and plans enough time, with clearly allocated tasks/milestones, to complete the SSQ and ITT. Don’t leave things to the last minute and ensure that you have a ‘Red Review’ team available at the end of the process to cross-check that your proposal has clearly met the essential requirements set out in the TORs.
Do a good storyboard. We can’t stress this enough. A good storyboard (essentially a narrative framework – with sections – that clearly shapes how the work will be delivered and why your firm is best positioned to deliver the work) will incorporate FCDO’s evaluation criteria, your key value proposition(s), core strategic themes, your key project qualifications and any other points of emphasis. Spend a decent chunk of time developing your storyboard (using PowerPoint) and ensure that stakeholders (for example consortium partners) are closely involved in the process.
Structure and build a fantastic project delivery team. Ensure your project delivery model is lean, mean, and balanced. Don’t have too many unnecessary layers in your project delivery org chart. Every team role should deliver maximum value for money. This will help maximize efficiency, minimize overhead, and ensure focused and targeted execution. It goes without saying that your team (from Team Leader downwards) should be highly experienced in their respective technical area(s) and the general management/implementation of FCDO programmes. Seek out your experts on platforms such as Assortis.com and Jonusta.com. For projects based in-country, ensure you’ve got an in-country core supported by focused remotely based resources. Try and involve key members of your delivery team in developing the proposal. It will help build ownership of the process.
Invest time bringing out the best aspects of your project delivery team. This includes investing time in developing CVs – highlighting relevant experiences and discarding irrelevant experiences. CV narratives should be tightly worded, specific, and precise. Clearly highlight the person’s role on the programme and who they will be accountable to. Keep the bulk of your CVs limited to 2 pages max. You can stretch to 3 pages for the Team Leader but remember whoever is evaluating your proposal has many other proposals to review/shortlist. Make their job easy.
Don’t neglect key cross-cutting themes in your proposal. Cross-cutting themes change from time to time but some are constant. Spend time thinking through your approach to maximizing value for money, how will you deliver effective monitoring, evaluation, and learning on the programme, your approach to adaptive programme management (how will the programme react to changing conditions/assumptions), innovation, the leave no one behind (LNOB) agenda, mainstreaming gender and inclusion into your programme, your sustainable exit plan, building long-lasting national capacity and ownership and climate change.
Stay cost-competitive. The FCDO supplier market is tough in that you have one buyer, with many suppliers and relentless downward pressure on price and margins. Stay competitive by keeping your overheads and cost structures lean. Use technology to maximize programme/project efficiency and make your delivery teams more cost-effective. Don’t forget national tax considerations if implementing projects in the global south.
We hope you find these tips useful and don’t hesitate to connect to our fantastic group of FCDO business development specialists and other international development freelancers on Jonusta.com.