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

Book your proposal review session with Aala

You can now book your 1-hour proposal review session with Aala in December (9-12th) or January (12-16th). This session is mandatory and will be held online; it will focus on language and clarity. You must book your session by Wednesday 19th November.

If possible, please email your proposal to Aala a couple of days before. The deadline to submit your proposal is 18th January 2026.

Book your session

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.

The residents have created a guide on language and length to support you to write your proposal clearly.

Download the guide

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 the detailed guide on language and length created by the residents.

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

  • Read through this information on what we mean by ‘activities and outputs’ and ‘goals and outcomes’ (after the budget template)

2. Top-Line Budget

Download the template

We ask you to fill in and submit this 10-year budget template as part of your proposal submission in January 2026. This is a simple outline of how you think you might use the grant over time to deliver the systems change project you are putting forward.

For support with the top-line budget:

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:

  • Read the meeting minutes from our in-person Three Horizons Mapping support session on Friday 24th October, which includes maps created on the day.

  • Read the Three Horizons guide which includes a list of example systems you may be working to change.

  • 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.

  • You can include a glossary or ‘terms’ sheet with your proposal detailing concepts that are hard. There is information about this in the guide created by the residents. We recommend sharing your proposal with someone in your community to read over and check if it is able to be understood by people not working in the third sector. Aala will have a highlighter on hand for the proposal review session to flag any words that the residents may not understand.

Meeting Minutes

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

Featured
Budget & Activity/Output & Goal/Outcome
Proposal Language & Length
Proposal Walk-Through and Q&A

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.

  • Yes, you can include a glossary or ‘terms’ sheet with your proposal detailing concepts that are hard. There is information about this in the guide created by the residents.

  • We recommend sharing your proposal with someone in your community to read over and check if it is able to be understood by people not working in the third sector. Aala will have a highlighter on hand for the proposal review session to flag any words that the residents may not understand.

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.