Project description for a youth digital skills programme
Who wrote it
Sanad Youth Centre in Zarqa wants to train 60 young people to earn from digital work. This is the project description section of its grant proposal.
The writer and every detail about them are fictional.
What went into the template
- Goal and objectives
- Help young people in Zarqa earn from digital work. Objectives: train 60; 45 complete the course; 25 earning from digital work within six months of graduating
- Main activities
- Outreach and selection (month 1)
16 weeks of training, three evenings a week: web basics, design tools, freelancing platforms and English for clients
Mentoring: each trainee paired with a working freelancer, meeting every two weeks
A first paid project for each graduate with partner businesses
Follow-up for six months after graduation: a monthly call, help with proposals and pricing - Participants, and how they are selected
- 60 young people aged 18 to 29 from Zarqa, at least half of them women; selected by need (no current income), a short aptitude test and an interview; five places kept for people with disabilities; evening sessions so that people who work in the day can join
- Duration and timeline
- 12 months: selection in month 1, training in months 2 to 5, first projects in month 6, follow-up in months 7 to 12
- Team and partners
- Two trainers (a web developer and a designer); 15 volunteer mentors from Zarqa’s freelancers; 12 local businesses that have agreed to offer first projects
The writer’s facts, as typed into the template’s form. The example uses nothing else.
The example
Project description: Grant proposal
Numbered notes in the margin explain each choice.
Goal and objectives
The project will help young people in Zarqa earn an income from digital work. It has three objectives: to train 60 young people, to see at least 45 of them complete the course, and to have at least 25 earning from digital work within six months of graduating1.
Goal and objectives
Note 1: The last objective measures income, not attendance. Funders increasingly want outcomes, not outputs.
Activities
Outreach and selection take place in the first month. Training then runs for 16 weeks, three evenings a week, and covers web basics, design tools, freelancing platforms and English for working with clients; this serves the first two objectives2. Each trainee is paired with a working freelancer from Zarqa who meets them every two weeks, so that skills turn into habits. In the sixth month, each graduate completes a first paid project with one of 12 partner businesses, which gives them a real review and a first income, the bridge to the third objective3. For six months after graduation, the centre follows up with every graduate by phone each month and helps with proposals and pricing.
Activities, tied to objectives
Note 2: Each activity is explicitly linked to the objective it serves.
Note 3: The paid first project is explained as the step from training to income, which is the hardest part to believe.
Participants
The programme is open to 60 young people aged 18 to 29 who live in Zarqa, at least half of them women. Applicants are selected by need, meaning they have no current income4, together with a short aptitude test and an interview. Five places are kept for young people with disabilities, and all sessions are held in the evening so that those who work during the day can take part5.
Who takes part, and how
Note 4: Selection criteria are stated plainly, so the reviewer sees the project reaches the people it targets.
Note 5: Inclusion shown through a practical decision, not a slogan.
Timeline and team
The project lasts twelve months: selection in month 1, training in months 2 to 5, first projects in month 6, and follow-up in months 7 to 12. It is delivered by two trainers, a web developer and a designer, with 15 volunteer mentors drawn from Zarqa’s freelancers and 12 local businesses that have agreed to offer first projects6.
Timeline and team
Note 6: Partners are named by what they have agreed to do. Nothing is promised on their behalf.
Structure
How it is built
Each part in order, with its share of the words.
Checklist
Before you send
Go through your own draft line by line.
Before and after
Common mistakes and how to fix them
Lines like these turn up in many drafts by Arabic speakers. Each fix keeps the meaning and changes only the English.
The project targets the marginalized youth to improve their situation.
The programme is open to 60 young people aged 18 to 29 who live in Zarqa, at least half of them women.
Activities: trainings, workshops, mentoring, follow up.
Training runs for 16 weeks, three evenings a week, and covers web basics, design tools, freelancing platforms and English for working with clients.
The beneficiaries will benefit from the project.
Each graduate completes a first paid project with one of 12 partner businesses, which gives them a real review and a first income.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between a goal and an objective?
The goal is the change you want to contribute to, in one sentence. Objectives are the measurable steps the project itself will achieve, with numbers and dates. Keep two to four objectives.
How do I link activities to objectives?
For each activity, say which objective it serves and why it is needed. If an activity serves none, cut it or explain it; reviewers notice activities that lead nowhere.
How should I describe participants?
As people who take part and make choices, with their age, number, place and how they are selected. Avoid words that reduce them to their need, such as “the poor” or “the marginalized”.
Every writer in this library is fictional, and so is every detail about them. Universities and companies appear only as places someone applies to; the professors, papers and facts mentioned around them are invented for teaching. Use the examples to learn the moves, never as text to copy: committees notice, and your own facts are stronger.