A Texarkana government agency is interested in partnering with the university on a grant project.  If they are successful in obtaining the grant, they will need a third party (e.g., the university) to conduct evaluations of program progress.  As the evaluator, the university would be able to bill the grant recipient for expenses and overhead associated with the conduct of these evaluations. 

In proposing an initial exploratory focus group study, let's assume initial fees of $400 per day for IDI/focus group facility rental (a room on our campus to include the cost of a security person) and $15 per qualified respondent for recruiting fees.  We could perhaps offer services involving a Ph.D. professor at billable rates of $500 per day or $100 per hour, trained student interns at billable rates of $20 to $30 per hour, and general university staff support at billable rates of $25 per hour.  Note that even when providing not-for-profit, grant-subsidized services through the university, we would still want to build in a twenty percent margin to cover unexpected events and overhead to ensure that a project does not go below break-even.

If our client was willing to pay a reasonable fee to our school for the conduct of a focus group study, what would we promise with regard to deliverables, what would be the timeline that we would provide, and what would be a reasonable fee for our services?  Below is a proposal that could be sent to our client. 

1. Complete the parts entitled "Costs and Deliverables" and "Project Timeline."  Submit your formal copy of the entire letter which includes your addition of these two sections.  An example of a proposal is here.

2. Attach a copy of a Gantt table and Gantt chart that would be used internally to guide these activities and ensure that the project stays on time and on budget. 

3. Attach a copy of your budget worksheet that would be used internally to estimate the billables in your proposal.  In working out the budget, we need to receive $100 per hour whenever a Ph.D. professor meets with a client or conducts research.  For work that is conducted behind closed doors by you as a student intern, we need to receive an hourly rate that equals your raw score on Quiz 1.  (E.g, if you earned 27 questions correct out of 30 on Quiz 1, then bill at a rate of $27 to cover our costs of employing you inclusive of wages [half of this fee], benefits, taxes, tuition reimbursements, and such.)  Given that the study population includes people who are in low income brackets, an honorarium of $25 would probably provide enough incentive to attract participants.  Assume that our client would be responsible for transporting study participants to our facility.  On your internal budget worksheet, be sure that you CLEARLY indicate your assumptions regarding what work would be conducted by a Ph.D. professor and what work would be conducted by a student intern.

Although you are only submitting two sections of the proposal, note that your proposed timeline and budget is for the entire project from start to finish.  Note that this is an individual assignment.

Dear Ms. Capp,

Thank you for considering our consulting services.  This letter serves as an initial proposal for the conduct of the focus group research that we had discussed. 

Project Background and Objectives

Your department expects to be involved in redevelopment of distressed housing developments.  The plan includes a new sustainable mixed-income community, including both market-rate and subsidized rental and for-sale units, commercial/retail development opportunities, recreational/community/educational facilities, and infrastructure improvements to be developed on the public housing sites and in the surrounding neighborhood.  The program must be grounded in a results-oriented, outcomes-based philosophy with established goals for service outputs and resident outcomes.  Services might include child care assistance, employment preparation and training, senior services, youth programs, etc.  Services will be provided based on the needs of residents.

The present study would be an initial exploration into current residents' concerns surrounding these issues.  This would be the first step toward constructing a baseline to which future outcomes would be compared.  That is, from the issues that are found in this qualitative study, a more formal quantitative survey instrument could be constructed that would be used throughout the period of your grant project.

Methodology

Our proposal is to sample at least 48 current project residents (six focus groups of eight people).  We would over-recruit to ensure that we achieve this number of shows for the focus group sessions; our total number of participants could therefore be as high as 56.  Each session would include at least one person who is head of a single parent household, at least one who is elderly, and at least one who is disabled.

Focus Group Topic Areas

Recommended discussion flow is as follows:

1. Questions regarding participants' problems and concerns with child care assistance.  Probes regarding the availability and accessibility of youth programs and activities.

2. Questions regarding employment needs and opportunities.  Probes regarding the availability and accessibility of employment preparation and training.

3. Questions regarding the need for senior services.  Probes regarding the availability and accessibility of senior services.

4. Questions regarding the need for health and medical services.  Probes regarding the availability and accessibility of health and medical services.

Costs and Deliverables

We will provide you with a topline report summarizing the results of and conclusions from these sessions.  We will also provide you with a presentation of results and conclusions at our facility.

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Project Timeline

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Ms. Capp, I think that about sums up our initial thoughts about your project.  We appreciate your consideration and want you to feel free to contact us if this proposal needs any modifications in order to best suit your needs.

Cordially,

Mark Etingclass