RESOURCES IN THIS SECTION

There are TWO extra videos as follows:

• "How To Mind Map" where Tony Buzan explains the theory and principles of Mind Mapping
• "Getting Started With Mind Manager" outlines the base functions you can use when using Mindjet's Mind Manager software (link below)

Please note that the extra videos are hosted on YouTube and cannot be downloaded directly.

Extra documents in this section include:

• A short guide to using Mind Manager from London South Bank University
• A longer "Mind Manager for Dummies" book for those who want to explore in more depth
• The complete IDP Mind Map in Mind Manager (mmap) and PDF format
• Proposal template Mind Map in Mind Manager (mmap) and PDF format

A 30-day trial version of Mind Manager can be downloaded from: https://www.mindjet.com/

So your proposal needs to do three important things.

• The first is you have to persuade and convince your reader that there is a problem that needs to be addressed - one that needs to be solved, something that is in line with their interests and within your capacity and with your mandate and that solving that problem will bring value.
• You also have to show that there is a solution
• The third is to convince the reader that you have this capacity, this advantage, this ability to make that change a reality.

So to convince your donor that there is a problem to be solved, there is a solution and that you have the capacity to do that, we need to have a good structure, a good plan for our proposal.

If you have a template you are working from, this is a good time to take that template and deconstruct it as you saw in the video. This is a mind map and we will talk about mind mapping very shortly.

The map begins with the background, which came from your initial context analysis, the initial environment that the project will take place in. All donors need to know this.

Most important is the problem analysis. When you present that core problem, that problem statement, you describe its effects and the causes, then you have gone a long way towards getting your donor interested in your particular proposal.

As we move on through the project description, we communicate how things could be, the goal, the impact and the outcome that the project will deliver and how that is going to be done, the different outputs and the activities.

We demonstrate our ability to manage the project well by:

• Describing our monitoring and evaluation
• Describing how that project is actually going to be staffed and managed
• Explaining the budget
• Describing our own capacity, our own organizational background. Why us? Why should we be the ones who do this project?

We have mentioned mind mapping several times during this course and you have seen quite a number of mind maps at different places. You may have wondered what this is all about and where it came from. Mind maps are diagrams, based around a central key idea or concept and they radiate outwards. We can use them for things such as brainstorming, for making our thinking visual, giving structure to our thinking, classifying our ideas and more.

They are also extremely versatile, flexible and creative. If you search online for mind mapping and look at some of the images, you will see that mind maps can come in all different shapes and all different designs. Tony Buzan, who was the creator of mind mapping, has made this short video which you can see below.

The mind maps that you see in this course have all been made using Mind Manager software. It is something we have used for writing books, planning training courses, planning meetings, planning travel, writing proposals, writing reports and so on. It is extremely versatile and we recommend that you download the trial version which you can see in the link in the introduction to this page.

If you cannot afford to buy Mind Manager, that is okay. There is a lot of free mind mapping software available also. Just do an internet search for free mind mapping software. But we suggest hat you download Mind Manager (if you have not done so already) and use it for the remainder of this course.

Of course, if you are going to use Mind Manager software, you are going to need to know how it works. When you download it, you can access a tutorial and it is also very intuitive. It is very simple to use and you will pick it up quickly. And for you to get to grips with Mind Manager, to get the basics, there is a short video also below, "Getting Started with Mind Manager". This will explain to you a lot of the basic functions so that you can get started with it right away.

So before we move on, let me recommend that you do the following things:

• Watch the Tony Buzan video, learn a little bit about what mind mapping is and what it can do.
• Download Mind Manager. Download the trial version and play around with it a little bit. Get a feel for how it works.
• Watch the video Getting Started with Mind Manager.