About the Author: Innovarum
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Do you have a disruptive idea? A ground-breaking technology that can change how things are done in an industrial sector? Have you developed a prototype and its performance iis promising? This is a step of utmost importance, but still you need resources to develop it and reach maturity for market launching.
Therefore, you decide to apply for EU Funding. But, how can you make sure that your project gets funded? Our team of experts presents a list of tips that will to help you put together an amazing proposal and increase your odds of moving forward your idea.
#1 Assess the state of your project
The first thing that you need to do is evaluate in which development state your project is and what are the steps that you will need to follow in the short and medium term. What do you need to do? How long will it take? How much will it cost?
When you have the answer to these questions, you will be able to choose the call that it best appropriate for your project’s needs.
#2 Understand the call
There are many different EU calls, each one with different objectives. A successful proposal writer has to understand correctly the goals of his chosen call as well as the goals of his own project. In that way, you will be able to align both of them on the proposal, justifying why the European Commission should invest on your project. It’s great if you can support your project’s goal with an EU’s sustainability goal or regulation, for example
#3 Put yourself in the evaluator’s shoes
If you were the evaluator, what would you want to know about the project? Don’t forget that the evaluators receive hundreds of proposals, so you need to make it easy for them to decide to choose your project for funding. You have to believe in your proposal and transmit this emotion to the evaluator.
#4 Take care of your writing
In line with the previous tip, writing style is also quite important. You need to make your proposal easy to read, therefore you will need to use simple and concise language. Use formal language but no too formal: don’t forget you also need to convince.
Whenever possible, try to back your statements with objective data: this will add credibility and quality to your proposal. Also, try to support the text with visual representation: graphs, charts tables and images are great to help the evaluator in the reading, draw interest and get him to engage in the proposal.
#5 Get stakeholders’ support
If possible, try to get relevant stakeholders of your project to back your idea: potential clients, suppliers, sector associations… Retrieve from them letters that show their support and interest in your solution. This will not only show that there are companies that already on board and willing to engage in the project, but also shows a higher level of commitment from yourself.
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