Proposal

This page shares all important information about the proposal.

Back to the Cohort Hub

Overview

Thank you for developing your 10-year proposal for systems change in Edinburgh. This process has been co-designed with residents and aims to be supportive, transparent, and accessible. Please read the guidance on page 2 of the document before submitting your proposal.

Your proposal submission includes three parts (for more information on each, see Your Submission):

1. Written proposal

2. Top-line budget

3. Three Horizons map

RFF will provide facilitated support sessions for each part of the proposal. These are marked in green on the Monthly Cohort Calendar. We encourage you to attend these sessions to get help, share ideas, and strengthen your submission. These sessions will not be recorded but we will upload summaries of the most important information on this hub, and will notify you about this by email and on Slack.

Download proposal Word document

Process & Timeline

We will shortly share more information about the process, plus a proposal submission and assessment window calendar with dates from January to April.

To help us confirm this timeline, please let us know by 14th October if you would prefer to have a proposal review session in December or January. You can let us know by voting on this poll on Slack, or you can message Aala and Mairi on Slack.

Your Submission

Your proposal submission includes three parts:

1. Written proposal (Word document)

2. Top-line budget (RFF template - shared soon)

3. Three Horizons map (The format is up to you)

1. Written Proposal

For your written proposal, please type straight into the Word document provided by RFF (see above in Overview).

You may use bullet points or write in sentences - whichever is clearer.

For support with the written proposal:

  • Join our online proposal support sessions (marked in green on the Monthly Cohort Calendar).

  • Read page 2 of the proposal for guidance on language and length (including the word count for each section).

  • Read meeting minutes from our online proposal support sessions (Mairi will upload these as they happen).

2. Top-Line Budget

We will shortly provide a template for your top-line budget.

For support with the top-line budget:

  • Join the online 10-Year Budget support session on Wednesday 12th November (time TBC), marked in green on the Monthly Cohort Calendar.

  • Use the template provided by RFF (shared soon).

3. Three Horizons Map

Submit a Three Horizons map about the system you are working in and how your project will work to change it. The format for this is up to you; it could be an image, PDF, video, voice note, Word document - or something else.

Please note that as well as submitting your map, you must also answer the questions asked in the written proposal Word document. Your answers here will provide supporting information to your map.

For support with the Three Horizons map:

  • Join our in-person Three Horizons Mapping support session on Friday 24th October (marked in pink on the Monthly Cohort Calendar). The aim is for at least one member of your project team to attend so they are able to support your team to develop the map to submit. If you are unable to join, let us know through the RSVP form. If enough people can’t make it, we will try our best to run another session.

  • Explore resources recommended by the RFF team and the cohort.

  • Ask others in the cohort what they are planning to do and for support on Slack.

General Guidance

For general guidance, please see page 2 of the proposal Word document. Here are some more tips, which we will update as we go:

  • We have an access fund to help make the proposal submission and process accessible to you. Message Aala and/or Mairi on Slack or over email with any access requests and we will do our best to support you.

  • If a question feels redundant to you, don’t feel you have to answer it twice. You can point the reader to another section where you have answered a question previously. Aim for a clear and succinct proposal - not extra words.

Meeting Minutes

Here we share an archive of meeting minutes related to the proposal.

Proposal FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

If you have a question, please read the proposal and the information on this page, and check this list before messaging the team. We’ll keep this list updated.

  • We will shortly share more information including a proposal submission window and assessment window calendar with calendar dates from January to April. Check back on the proposal process section for updates.

  • We have an access fund available. Please get in touch with Aala and Mairi directly on Slack or by email about the specific support you need.

  • Aala will provide guidance about structure, length, language and readability, rather than input on content/your ideas. She will support you to make your proposal as clear as possible for the residents who will review each proposal.

  • Your proposal submission includes three parts. See Your Submission for more details.

  • For the section on Three Horizons, please (1) answer the questions in the Word document as well as (2) submitting your Three Horizons map alongside the Word document (this could be an image, a PDF, a Word document, a video - you can decide on the format for this). Find more information in Your Submission.

  • If possible, we recommend having at least one person from your team join the session - so they can bring back the learnings to your team to develop further together for the proposal. If nobody can attend, let us know through the RSVP form. If enough people can’t make it, we will try our best to run another session. We have also shared recommended resources to help you do this exercise.iption

  • This is possible but not required. Please do whatever is best for your project and communities. What will support you and your project to be sustainable and most effective?

  • Yes, we are happy to fund the continuation of existing work if it aligns with the values of this fund.

  • The maximum amount of money you can apply for is £100,000 per year. You can apply for less. You can note in your proposal Word document if your budget is flexible (e.g. if you would do a smaller version of your project with less money).

  • For example, if you are a collective, you may be working with staff or volunteers across 3 different organisations. This is about the team developing the project and proposal - not just the delivery of the project (which will likely include more people and is covered later in the proposal). Your answer to this question may be short - that is okay.

  • Yes, please share a list or table of all your funders. Don’t worry if this is over the word count for this section.

Have a question about the proposal?

Ask the RFF team and the cohort (we encourage you to help each other) on the #rff_general_questions channel on Slack. You can message Aala and/or Mairi directly if your question is private.

Or, you can ask a question anonymously.

Please also check the Monthly Cohort Calendar to see if there is a session on a topic related to your question.