Stating the need and the goal

A proposal's statement of need distinguishes the problem from a possible solution, while its goal identifies the change the project will seek. Mapping effects and causes can clarify both, and a six-step method can turn a vague ambition into a measurable goal with a deadline and cost.

Needs and possible solutions

Inadequately defining the need is a common reason for proposal rejection; writers may describe superficial wants or items that would meet a need rather than the need itself. ¹ For example, a van for after-school tutoring is part of a solution: the need is the students' learning, and the proposal should explain how transport to tutoring would improve it. ² Likewise, a hospital with many skateboarding injuries may need timely diagnostic imaging rather than a particular fast MRI scanner; the scanner's cost-effectiveness must still be established against other possible solutions, such as local skateboarding restrictions. ²

A proposal should specify the gap between what its beneficiaries have and what they need, whether specific knowledge or changed circumstances in a population or location. ² Factual descriptions and a brief review of relevant research can establish that the need exists and show its history or the change that caused it. ² Brainstorming causes and effects helps keep the problem distinct from a preferred solution. ²

Mapping effects and causes

A statement of need examines effects: a logical or mind map can name the problem's consequences and show why it deserves to be addressed. ² A goal statement examines causes: mapping why the effects occur and what changed can identify an underlying cause that an intervention must target. ³ With several causes, an intervention should target what is feasible within available time and resources while showing understanding of the larger causal chain and why the selected target offers a practical prospect of improvement. ³

The maps can supply an introduction identifying the need, who is affected and how severely, when it began and how long it has persisted. ³ The argument should establish the importance of the effects before explaining how a project will solve or mitigate the problem. ³ In research, this means establishing the consequences of missing knowledge or the potential benefits of gaining it, then stating the goal and explaining how the methods will validly test a specific hypothesis. ³

Logical mapping and the six-step goal method are applicable to education and small foundation grants; they can help with more complex applications but may not be sufficient. ¹ A clear, specific need and a succinct goal that responds to the request for proposals can make the application more appealing to funders. ⁴

A measurable goal

A goal statement hypothesises how much of what kind of change will occur, in which area or population, within what time and at what cost. ³ The six-step method recommends:

1. Identify the areas in which results are needed.
2. Specify measurable indicators that show progress toward those results.
3. Set performance standards defining how much change counts as success.
4. Specify a timeframe and treat it as a deadline.
5. Determine the project's cost range, optionally identifying how many beneficiaries will be served for that cost.
6. State the goal as an action, a measurement indicator, a performance standard, a deadline, and a maximum cost.

⁵

For a project addressing sepsis in surgical patients at a free inner-city clinic, the measure might be a test result or clinical outcome, and the success standard might be a model clinic's sepsis rate. ⁶ The standard should be attainable and worth the money and effort: most clinicians and funding agencies would not consider a 3% reduction worth funding and might see it as random change, while a 100% reduction would be unrealistic. ⁶ Costs should neither be inflated nor underestimated and must allow the change to be made or the hypothesis tested; specifying benefit for the cost can help evaluators compare likely returns. ⁶

A worked goal is to test whether radiofrequency thermal coagulation denervation reduces pain by at least 40% on a ten-point patient-reported scale in 50 people with back pain lasting more than one year, with relief expected to last at least six months, within a one-year project costing $800,000. ⁵ The comprehensive goal may never appear verbatim in the proposal, but nearly all the proposal's information is based on it. ^{6, 5}

Basic science goals

Applied research changes physical or social outcomes, whereas basic science changes the knowledge available for later application. ⁷ A basic science need can therefore be missing knowledge that impedes understanding of disease or environmental mechanisms; mapping effects without finding causes may indicate a need to investigate possible causal connections. ⁷

Where applications cannot be foreseen, a proposal should focus on the accepted benefits of expanding knowledge: nuclear fission, for example, led to both nuclear weapons and nuclear power. ⁷ Mapping offers limited help when effects and causes are unknown, but the six-step method can still describe the amount and kind of change sought in the knowledge available for future application. ^{7, 8}