Assign 2 Capstone Week 1

You must have an APA formatted title page with every application.

Capstone Proposal Project

Section 1 – Project Summary (The final section for week 7)

1. Date Project was submitted for review:

2. Name of project:

3. Total dollar request based upon budget:

4. Name of Principal Project Writer:

5. Name of principal(s) implementing the project including a brief statement of their expertise:

6. Brief summary description of the project and its intended outcomes:

7. List potential funders for this project and the amounts you hope to secure from them:

8. For each funding source, identify the funders mission statement and the profile description for the area within which you would seek funding. That is, each funder will identify their areas of funding interest and will provide potential applicants with a description of the initiatives they are funding. Your proposal must match one of those initiatives.

Section 2 – Project Introduction/Overview/ (week 3)

What is the big picture idea for your project? Be sure to describe the links between the project and the context that demonstrate your full understanding of how these two are connected by your project. If this project is aligned with your specialization, then indicate how it is aligned. If it is not aligned with your specialization, then why did you choose a project outside of your specialization? Identify an actual foundation from the list of sources provided in this course or use one of your own. (You might have access to private funding from your organization, a venture capital firm, or a government agency.) Include a description of how your proposal fits within their mission and funding guidelines. Include language from their statement of mission and specific language from their website, annual report, or other published documents to show the linkage.

Section 3 – Statement of Need (week 3)

Who do you intend to serve and why? What need is your project intended to fulfill? How big is the problem–what is its size and scope? How many people are affected by this problem? What is the source of the problem as you see it? What evidence do you have that a problem exists? Use your understanding of the literature and other source materials (reports, memoranda, census data, government publications, etc.) to present a strong and clear understanding of the need for your project. The focus here is on the need for your project and nothing else. What is your niche or target market?

Be very specific and do not simply say something like "children" or "families." If you intend to serve children through your project, then describe them so that an uninformed reader is able to picture clearly the circumstances facing these children. Describe such things as specific age groups, living conditions, or other characteristics that help to describe the needs of these children. If you are describing a product or other service, be sure to describe their characteristics and why they cannot live without your product or service. How many people are you intending to sell products to or to serve? Use demographic data to help describe your intended participants or customers. What is the demand for your services or products? Where are they located? Census and market data will be useful here.

You may use charts, tables, graphs, and figures to help the reader understand the dynamics of the circumstances described through your Statement of Need. Be sure to insert all of these within the body of your proposal.

Section 4 – Strategies and Initiatives for Solving the Problem (week 4)

Thoroughly describe how you intend to solve the problem. Why did you choose the strategies or initiatives you intend to deploy? What have you learned from the literature that supports the actions you intend to take or the need for your products and services? What exactly do you intend to do or offer? If you are providing a product or service, identify what it is and how it fulfills the needs of those you are trying to serve or intend to reach and who will benefit from your project.

Section 5 – Intended Outcomes (week 4)

What are the specific and measurable outcomes you intend by implementing your project? How will people benefit by what you have to offer? Be specific detailed with your outcome measures.

Section 6 – Project Goals and Objectives (week 5)

List the project goals and objectives. If the duration of the project is longer than one year, then only list the goals for the years the project will be in operation.

Section 7 – Time Line (week 5)

Create a detailed time line for the major activities outlined in your proposal. This can be by day, week, or month. You can identify the periods numerically by 1, 2, 3, etc. and do not have to indicate specific dates or times.

Section 8 – Evaluation (week 5)

How will you measure success? What specific evaluation methods will you use to identify the success your project will have in meeting its intended outcomes?

Section 9 – Competitors or Others in the Marketplace (week 6)

Who else is doing what you intend to do with your project? What is their experience? How long have they been in business? What are the collaboration possibilities for you or your organization to maximize resources and increase the impact of your project?

Section 10 – SWOT Analysis (week 6)

Strengths

What are your strengths? In business parlance, strengths are your competitive advantages. They provide a unique edge because of what you or your organization brings to the environment in order to solve problems, meet needs, and to provide unique services or products.

Weaknesses

What makes you vulnerable in terms of others being more capable than you to meet particular needs or services? This provides competitive advantages to those who also do what you intend to do with your project. It could be that your project is designed to help your organization do something more effectively or to have a larger impact. It could be that no one has the current capacity to do what you are trying to do which makes you a pioneer.

Opportunities

What opportunities exist for your organization or the communities you wish to serve by your project that can be leveraged to help you to successfully implement your project?

Threats

What are the threats to your organization or to the communities you intend to serve if your project is not implemented?

Section 11 – Case Statement (week 6)

Present a clear case statement about why you or your organization is best positioned to meet the challenges outlined in your Statement of Need. What qualifications do you have that make you uniquely qualified to implement this project successfully? What products or services are you offering or what strategies are you intending to employ that will meet the needs of those you are trying to serve or with whom you intend to work? What is your service area or territory? How long have you been in business?

If this is a startup, how do you intend to support business operations beyond the life of this grant? Is this a pilot study or project? If so, what is the large scope you intend if your pilot is successful? If this is a new program or product, how does it fit within your current operation? What is your track record for implementing new programs, services, or products?

Section 12 – Cost to Participants or Consumers (week 7)

How much does your product cost to the participant or consumer? Describe the cost structure. Is the participant or consumer paying the full cost for your product or service? If not, what percentage of the cost are they paying and how is the true cost being subsidized? If there is no cost to the participant or consumer, explain why this is the case.

Section 13 – Budget (week 7)

How much does the project cost to implement? Be sure to calculate in all costs. The budget should include such categories as salaries and rates of pay, bonuses (if applicable), taxes and benefits, printing and copying, office supplies and equipment, facilities leases, insurance (cover age accidents to participants, directors and officers, liability, other), telephones, transportation, conference fees, direct product costs, cost of goods sold, etc. Once you have calculated all costs, identify what portion of the cost is attributed to the funding request.

Calculate the revenue generated by this project. Be sure to identify how much is from participant fees, sales, merchandizing, fundraising (including categories for fundraising if applicable) etc. How much is anticipated from other funding sources including foundations, corporate gifts, venture capital, loans, owner equity, etc. Be sure to identify sources.

In this section, provide a summary of all major budget categories. Include three columns. Column A should be labeled "Total Project," Column B should be labeled "Total Proposal," and Column C should be labeled "Total Other Sources." Place revenue sources on top and expenses on the bottom. Subtract the expenses from the revenues to show the bottom line.

Example:

Line Item	Total Project	Total Proposal	Total Other Sources
Revenue
Participant Fees
Merchandizing
Total Revenue
Expenses
Salaries
Benefits
Facility Lease
Equipment Rent
Total Expenses
Total Profit (Surplus)
Loss

Section 14 – Resumes of Project Principals (week 7)

Provide a list of the primary individuals including their titles, a brief description of their positions, and the amounts they will be paid for those you intend to fund through the implementation of this project.

Section 15 – Cited References (ongoing from weeks 3-7)

Provide a list of cited references using APA formatting.

Section 16 – Annotated Bibliography (ongoing from weeks 3-6)

Provide a list of references along with the annotations (see instructions in Doc Sharing if you need a reminder) you used during this course. You will begin including your annotated bibliographies (5 at a time) starting in week three. You will add five different annotated bibliographies each week for at least a total of 20 different sources.

Section 17 – Appendices

Attach other data sources, surveys, or other materials that support your proposal. Do not include copies of articles or other such material. Identify each document as a separate Appendix.