Abilis Foundation has published two manuals to help with project planning and project proposal writing.

1. Planning for Success: Participatory Project Planning

This manual has practical exercises and examples of disability projects that will help disability groups, and other non-disability groups, to go from great ideas to equally great projects. The aim is that Abilis and many other aid agencies will want to give their full support to your projects.

A project proposal should answer the following questions:

• Who? … should be involved in planning
• Why? … do you need a project
• What? … do you hope to achieve
• Where? … will you have your planning meetings
• When? … will planning activities take place and when are the dead-lines
• How? … will you carry out the project planning

This booklet will help you go from these questions to organising your group and creating a successful plan – using participatory methods. Organizing is key to empowering people with disabilities (and other groups that are left out of decision-making), an expectation of all projects is that they strengthen the group in charge. That is why participation is key – right from project planning through to the evaluation of the results. The exercises in this book will help you answer the questions above in a participatory way – and then creating a successful plan.

2. Project Proposal Writing

The purpose of this manual is to assist community action groups of disabled people and other non-disability groups to successfully carry out their projects. There are lots of great ideas for projects among small and large groups of people with disabilities

A good project is built on

• great ideas that meet real needs
• goals that can be achieved
• the right people and resources to carry out the project
• strong commitment and participation – including in making decisions
• excellent management
• plans for future continuation and self-support of the activity

This booklet will help you in putting all this on paper for Abilis or for other funders. By producing this manual, Abilis hopes to help community action groups to go from great ideas to equally great projects.