The proposal engine

The proposal engine needs Org plan.

A proposal is drafted from the organisation’s profile and its projects, against a specific call. The engine addresses the initial drafting stage rather than the submission: its output is a first draft for revision, not a finished application.

Starting a proposal

New proposal opens a four-step wizard — Mode → Format → Context → Review — rather than a blank document.

Step one — how you want the AI to work with youOpen /a/proposals/new in the app

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Step 1 — mode

Both modes generate a first draft. They differ in what follows:

Mode	What it does	Suits
Full AI generation	Produces a complete draft, opened in review mode for revision	A known funder, a short deadline, or iteration by editing
Step-by-step builder	Produces a skeleton, then proceeds section by section	A new funder, complex scope, or where section-level control is required

The builder is appropriate where the funder’s expectations are not yet established. Full generation is appropriate where they are, and revision is faster than specification.

Step 2 — format

Six formats, which are not interchangeable:

Format	What it is
Outreach letter	Initial approach to a funder. Short, relationship-building, containing no request
Letter of Intent (LOI)	Semi-formal signal you intend to apply. Usually a paragraph or two
Expression of Interest (EOI)	Preliminary response to a call. Lighter than a concept note
Concept note	A 4–8 section brief. The first formal submission, once the funder shows interest
Full proposal	The complete submission — workplan, budget, logframe and risk. Sent on invitation
Revision response	A reply to a funder who asked for changes

Selecting the wrong format is readily apparent to a reader: an outreach letter opening with a request, or a concept note written at full-proposal length, both indicate the guidelines were not followed.

Step 3 — context

This step determines the register of the draft, and records four attributes:

Relationship	Cold, warm, or post-meeting. A first approach differs from a follow-up
Formality	Formal, semi-formal or conversational
Funder type	Foundation, government, bilateral, multilateral, corporate, UN agency, EC programme, trust, or other
Funder archetype	EU Institutional, Nordic Bilateral, Anglophone Foundation, US Foundation, UN Agency, Francophone Bilateral, German Bilateral, Community Foundation, Crowdfunding Narrative

The archetype is the most consequential of the four. Funding traditions differ in what they require and in what order. An EU institutional application and a US foundation letter are structurally different documents rather than variants of one, so the archetype determines more than formatting.

A free-text field for additional context records anything the structured fields cannot express: a prior conversation, a named programme officer, or a known constraint.

Step 4 — review

A final review before generation. Nothing is written until the wizard is completed.

Starting from an existing record

The wizard accepts an opportunity or a brief as its starting point, so a proposal can begin from a call already identified or from funder intelligence already generated.

Two properties of the wizard:

Each step requires a selection. Continue remains disabled until one is made, so a decision cannot be deferred.

Save & exit is available. A partially completed wizard can be resumed, which is relevant at the Context step where required information may not be immediately available.

Status and outcome are separate fields

Most comparable tools combine the two, which is a common source of confusion.

Status records the state of the document: draft or submitted.

Outcome records the result: pending, funded, declined or withdrawn. A submitted proposal remains pending until an outcome is recorded.

A proposal may therefore be submitted and pending for an extended period, which is the normal case. The two fields record different facts.

Both are set on the draft after the event: marking a proposal submitted records the submission date, and the outcome is recorded when the funder responds. Drafts can be deleted in bulk.

Recording outcomes is frequently omitted and is required for reporting. Win rate and conversion on the funder intelligence pipeline are computed from these outcomes. Proposals left as pending produce no figures.

ProposalsFunding → Proposals