Project Design

---
name: project-design
description: Draft the project description, approach, methods, goals and objectives, activities, timeline, or work plan section of a grant proposal. Covers writing SMART objectives, distinguishing outputs from outcomes, building a logic model, and tying every activity to a stated need and measurable result.
---

# Project Design

## Overview

Reviewers are checking whether this plan could actually happen and whether it
would produce the claimed results. Vagueness reads as "they have not thought
this through", which is the most common reason a well-motivated proposal loses.

## When to Use

Drafting a project description, approach, methodology, work plan, goals and
objectives, or implementation timeline.

## Instructions

### The chain that must hold

Every proposal is one chain, and reviewers test each link:

```
need  ->  goal  ->  objectives  ->  activities  ->  outputs  ->  outcomes
```

Any activity that does not trace back to a documented need is scope creep. Any
outcome not produced by a stated activity is a promise you cannot keep.

### Goals vs. objectives

- **Goal** — the broad condition you are working toward. One or two, aspirational,
  not directly measurable.
- **Objectives** — measurable steps toward the goal. SMART:
  - *Specific*: who does what
  - *Measurable*: a number and an instrument
  - *Achievable*: defensible given the budget and timeline
  - *Relevant*: tied to a stated need
  - *Time-bound*: by a date

Weak: "Improve student literacy outcomes."
Strong: "By June 2027, 70% of the 240 enrolled third-graders will gain at
least one reading level as measured by the district's fall-to-spring DIBELS
assessment, up from a 41% baseline in 2025-26."

### Outputs vs. outcomes

Outputs are what you produce (sessions held, people served). Outcomes are what
changes as a result (skills gained, health improved). Funders fund outcomes.
State both, and never present an output as though it were an outcome.

### Activities

For each: what happens, who delivers it, how often, for how long, to how many
people, and where. If an evidence-based model or curriculum is used, name it
and cite the evidence. If the approach is adapted, say what was changed and
why.

### Timeline

A table by quarter or month, listing activity, responsible party, and
milestone. Include start-up time — hiring, procurement, and IRB review are
real and reviewers notice when they are missing.

### Risks

Name the two or three most likely threats to implementation and the specific
mitigation for each. Acknowledging risk credibly reads as competence, not
weakness.

## Rules

- Every number in this section must reconcile with the budget and the
  evaluation plan. Participant counts are the most common inconsistency.
- No unnamed staff roles doing undefined work.
- Do not claim an evidence base for a model you cannot cite.
- Unknown capacity, cost, or partner commitment becomes
  `[NEEDS INPUT: <question>]`, never a plausible guess.
- Confirm length with `measure_text` before finishing.