School Your Team in
Proposal Excellence

From opportunity identification to after-action reviews, my comprehensive curriculum equips your team with the skills to excel at every stage of the proposal lifecycle—creating sustainable capabilities that generate funding success for years to come.

Welcome to the Proposal School!

Continuous learning is essential to win funding in today’s competitive landscape. As a trainer who has equipped over 1,500 professionals with proposal development skills and helped organizations secure billions in funding, I offer tailored curricula that provide teams with practical knowledge and actionable strategies for success—whether you’re pursuing international development opportunities or focusing on domestic social impact.

I offer two distinct curricula that address challenges specific to your funding environment, providing practical knowledge that transforms overwhelming processes into strategic approaches your team can implement immediately. These two complementary formats can be paired for maximum impact:

  • Proposal Lifecycle Seminars are comprehensive examinations of broad topics with no homework. Using adult learning methodologies, they introduce concepts through classroom lecture and reinforce learning through in-class activities, including small group work, discussion, and quizzes. All participants receive an accompanying guidance document and toolkit to apply approaches in day-to-day settings. Sessions typically last 2.5 hours and are available live online or on-demand.
  • Proposal Practicum Workshops allow participants to practice learnings from Seminars through guided application in smaller groups, enabling deeper exploration and ample participation. Each session pairs concept review with real-life applications and practical exercises. All participants receive a concept ‘cheat sheet’ and take-home assignment, which I review offline with written feedback. Sessions typically last 60-90 minutes plus 1-2 hours of homework and are held live online. 

Federal and International Curriculum

These courses are designed specifically for organizations pursuing federal government funding or working in international development. The curriculum features 23 comprehensive seminars and 9 hands-on workshops tailored to the unique requirements and competitive landscape of these funding streams. Expand the titles below to see the specific learning objectives for each session.

Seminars

Explore insights from two decades of winning proposals for mission-driven organizations and discover the four key elements of proposal success. This session serves as an overview and introduction for organizations partnering for delivery of the entire series.

  • Recognize key goals of market analysis
  • Explain how bid tracking periods can help organize eventual capture
  • List sources that can help you identify upcoming USG-funded procurements
  • State ways to determine if an incumbent is vulnerable
  • Describe practices that allow you to productively meet with clients and understand their priorities and exchange ideas
  • Identify factors to consider when graduating a bid for decision
  • Explain a basic definition of competitive analysis and identify its components
  • Recognize the role that competitive analysis should play in each phase
  • Describe how all-of-organization information gathering works
  • Recall examples of information for each competitive analysis component
  • Discuss how marketing and communications can strengthen growth efforts
  • Define the differences between relationships of consequence and convenience
  • Describe the role of a bid tree in making a bid decision
  • Define each of the factors analyzed in the bid decision trees
  • Use the Broad Context, Standard, Strategic, and Unsolicited bid trees to support strong bid decisions
  • Describe the key components of the overall capture process
  • Explain key differences in capturing different kinds of bids
  • Recognize and define the key milestones organizations use to measure capture progress
  • Recognize the key steps to plan, prepare for, and conduct a scoping trip
  • List key considerations for having successful meetings with donors, beneficiaries, and stakeholders
  • Define USG regulations that ensure integrity in business development, and explain how they apply to scoping trips
  • Recognize key questions that can be used to analyze the client, competition, your organization, and implementation context
  • Define what a win theme is
  • Describe how to create win themes and apply them to your proposal
  • Define the key parts of the Strategic Path and explain how they work together
  • Create basic Strategic Paths linking challenges, root causes, strategies, and approaches
  • Identify the anatomy of a strong activity
  • State the three pillars of a management approach
  • List key considerations when structuring and assigning project roles and responsibilities
  • Identify questions that will help to plan for strong finance and administration
  • Describe key considerations for setting a mobilization and transition approach
  • Recognize management plan graphics that follow strong practices
  • Articulate good practices for assembling a competitive team
  • Define the different types of partners on a proposal, and explain how and when you engage each type
  • List ways to ensure strong collaboration with partners
  • Identify steps that promote strong pre-emptive recruiting
  • State ways you can engage proposed personnel in the proposal design process
  • Describe a plan to highlight your strong past performance
  • Recognize the importance of a back-of-the-envelope estimate, thinking in terms of best value, and documenting cost share
  • Recognize USG’s definition of “localization” and locally led development
  • Explain the different types of “local” eligibility
  • List ways that new localization programs are different from traditional development programs
  • Recognize challenges for local organizations acting as prime implementers
  • Identify challenges for international implementing partners acting in sub roles
  • Describe practices to help both types of actors work well in unfamiliar roles
  • Recognize the difference between a procurement mechanism and a procurement process
  • List the important considerations when assembling a team to participate in co-creation, concept notes, or presentations
  • Explain what makes concept notes unique and how to approach them
  • Recognize presentations that use good approaches that promote clarity and retention
  • Recognize the key proposal milestones that allow you to maintain quality
  • List key practices that support strong proposal processes during the first 48 hours, including for calendar creation and launch
  • Articulate characteristics of effective client questions
  • Identify key practices that support strong processes from the middle through submission
  • Apply good practices to tell stories while writing background sections and General Approaches (experienced writers)
  • Identify background sections and General Approaches that apply good practices (newer writers)
  • Apply the N.O.S.E. approach to activity writing (experienced writers)
  • Recognize the four parts of the N.O.S.E. approach in an activity and explain the approach to people unfamiliar with its use (newer writers)
  • Increase your confidence to write technicals by recognizing good behaviors aligned to tips from pros (newer writers)
  • Apply good practices for writing technicals that are aligned to tips from pros (experienced writers)
  • Increase your confidence to manage proposals by recognizing good behaviors aligned to tips from pros (newer proposal managers)
  • Identify and apply good practices for proposal management that are aligned to tips from pros (experienced proposal managers)
  • Describe how reviews can demonstrate a good growth culture
  • Identify reviewer and proposal team behaviors that produce strong reviews
  • Recognize the level of changes appropriate to propose based on the proposal calendar
  • Explain the difference between making something better and making something perfect
  • Outline key nuts and bolts practices for good reviews
  • List key things to look for in each section
  • Describe what it means to outline to art and science (newer writers)
  • Explain how to integrate evaluation criteria and instructions into an outline (newer writers)
  • Demonstrate how to integrate evaluation criteria and instructions into an outline (experienced writers)
  • Use the art and science approach to integrate key parts of your message into a responsive outline (experienced writers)
  • Recognize strong practices across each section (less experienced writers)
  • Apply strong practices across each section (more experienced writers):
    • Executive summaries
    • Management plans
    • Personnel sections and CVs
    • Past performance sections
    • Best value sections
    • Monitoring, evaluation, and learning
  • Identify the key moments of interaction between the cost and overall proposal strategy
  • Define the cost implications of various aspects of project design (management and technical)
  • List key mechanisms for communication and alignment across the technical and cost preparation teams
  • Articulate specific post-submission steps that pave the way for future competition
  • Describe the goals of an after-action review and how it differs from staff feedback
  • State important actions to take immediately upon entering a new competition round
  • Outline the most important practices for writing good responses to questions
  • Explain the key elements of pre-award and post-award notifications and debriefs
  • Recall the basic differences between protest types
  • Identify key actions that support strong handover to a project team

Workshops

  • List reasons why creating a responsive outline is essential to your success
  • Explain the basic concepts of how you use evaluation criteria, instructions, and a scope of work to craft a responsive outline
  • Apply the concepts in the practice exercise
  • Review the key concepts required to write strong background sections and strategies
  • Identify the key concepts in action through the examples
  • Apply the concepts in your own writing
  • Review the definitions of an approach and the role it plays in outlining a plan to achieve results
  • Understand the key components of a strong approach
  • Apply the concepts in your own writing to give an example of an approach
  • Review the definitions of guiding principles and mini-management plans, and discuss the role they play in outlining a plan to achieve results
  • Understand the key elements of writing effective guiding principles
  • Name topics often found in mini-management plans
  • Apply the concepts in your own writing to give an example of guiding principles and a mini-management plan
  • Understand the roles of good activities in writing a detailed approach
  • Review the role and functions of each part of the N.O.S.E. format
  • Explore various examples of activities written in N.O.S.E.
  • Apply the concepts by writing two strong activities using N.O.S.E. in your proposal
  • Review the role and functions of a win theme
  • List the key qualities of a well-written win theme
  • Identify key elements and qualities within example win themes
  • Apply the practices while writing your own example win themes
  • Articulate the roles of strong activities to inform readers
  • List the best uses of text boxes
  • Recognize text boxes that use benefits, not only features
  • Name the golden rules for text boxes
  • Apply the concepts by writing two text boxes for your proposal
  • Name the three pillars of a management approach
  • Explain the What, Why, and How approach for management plan paragraphs
  • Recognize paragraphs that effectively use the approach
  • Apply the concepts by writing three example paragraphs for your proposal
  • Review the key elements of well-written past performance
  • Recognize past performance paragraphs that effectively use these elements
  • Apply the concepts by writing a past performance example for your proposal

Domestic Impact Curriculum

These courses equip organizations seeking diverse non-federal funding with the skills to secure support for local and regional initiatives within the United States. It features 13 focused seminars and 6 practical workshops that address the distinct challenges and opportunities in foundation, corporate, state, municipal, and private donor environments.

Seminars

Explore insights from two decades of winning proposals for mission-driven organizations and discover the four key elements of proposal success. This session serves as an overview and introduction for organizations partnering for delivery of the entire series.

  • Describe the role of a bid tree in making a bid decision
  • Define each of the factors analyzed in the bid decision trees
  • Use the Broad Context, Standard, Strategic, and Unsolicited bid trees to support strong bid decisions
  • Describe the key components of the overall capture process
  • Explain key differences in capturing different kinds of bids
  • Recognize and define the key milestones organizations use to measure capture progress
  • Recognize key questions that can be used to analyze the client, competition, your organization, and implementation context
  • Define what a win theme is
  • Describe how to create win themes and apply them to your proposal
  • Define the key parts of the Strategic Path and explain how they work together
  • Create basic Strategic Paths linking challenges, root causes, strategies, and approaches
  • Identify the anatomy of a strong activity
  • Articulate good practices for assembling a competitive team
  • Define the different types of partners on a proposal, and explain how and when you engage each type
  • List ways to ensure strong collaboration with partners
  • Recognize the key proposal milestones that allow you to maintain quality
  • List key practices that support strong proposal processes during the first 48 hours, including for calendar creation and launch
  • Articulate characteristics of effective client questions
  • Identify key practices that support strong processes from the middle through submission
  • Apply good practices to tell stories while writing background sections and General Approaches (experienced writers)
  • Identify background sections and General Approaches that apply good practices (newer writers)
  • Apply the N.O.S.E. approach to activity writing (experienced writers)
  • Recognize the four parts of the N.O.S.E. approach in an activity and explain the approach to people unfamiliar with its use (newer writers)
  • Increase your confidence to write technicals by recognizing good behaviors aligned to tips from pros (newer writers)
  • Apply good practices for writing technicals that are aligned to tips from pros (experienced writers)
  • Increase your confidence to manage proposals by recognizing good behaviors aligned to tips from pros (newer proposal managers)
  • Identify and apply good practices for proposal management that are aligned to tips from pros (experienced proposal managers)
  • Describe how reviews can demonstrate a good growth culture
  • Identify reviewer and proposal team behaviors that produce strong reviews
  • Recognize the level of changes appropriate to propose based on the proposal calendar
  • Explain the difference between making something better and making something perfect
  • Outline key nuts and bolts practices for good reviews
  • List key things to look for in each section
  • Describe what it means to outline to art and science (newer writers)
  • Explain how to integrate evaluation criteria and instructions into an outline (newer writers)
  • Demonstrate how to integrate evaluation criteria and instructions into an outline (experienced writers)
  • Use the art and science approach to integrate key parts of your message into a responsive outline (experienced writers)

Workshops

  • List reasons why creating a responsive outline is essential to your success
  • Explain the basic concepts of how you use evaluation criteria, instructions, and a scope of work to craft a responsive outline
  • Apply the concepts in the practice exercise
  • Review the key concepts required to write strong background sections and strategies
  • Identify the key concepts in action through the examples
  • Apply the concepts in your own writing
  • Review the definitions of an approach and the role it plays in outlining a plan to achieve results
  • Understand the key components of a strong approach
  • Apply the concepts in your own writing to give an example of an approach
  • Understand the roles of good activities in writing a detailed approach
  • Review the role and functions of each part of the N.O.S.E. format
  • Explore various examples of activities written in N.O.S.E.
  • Apply the concepts by writing two strong activities using N.O.S.E. in your proposal
  • Review the role and functions of a win theme
  • List the key qualities of a well-written win theme
  • Identify key elements and qualities within example win themes
  • Apply the practices while writing your own example win themes
  • Articulate the roles of strong activities to inform readers
  • List the best uses of text boxes
  • Recognize text boxes that use benefits, not only features
  • Name the golden rules for text boxes
  • Apply the concepts by writing two text boxes for your proposal

More on Delivery Methods

My trainings offer flexibility for diverse organizational needs. My philosophy: learning should be specific, time-efficient, and provide practical insights that lead to winning. Whether delivered live online with interaction or on-demand for self-paced learning, every session focuses on proven approaches that deliver results.

Live Online

Live online sessions provide an interactive experience tailored to a single organization's specific needs. Participants engage directly with me during instruction, ask questions, and participate in real-time discussions and exercises. Your organization retains soft copies of all materials, including slides and toolkits, plus recording rights to replay sessions for anyone in your organization or even re-deliver the training independently.

On-Demand (Coming soon!)

On-demand sessions offer flexibility for individual learners to access recorded instruction at their own pace. Participants receives ongoing access to the session recording and all accompanying materials. The package includes a complimentary 30-minute consultation call with me to answer specific questions, clarify concepts, or discuss application to your specific proposal challenges.

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