Initial Proposal

Overview of Proposal for a Weekend Retreat

Initial Proposal A clear and comprehensive proposal can allay concerns that critics may have about organizing a weekend cancer support group.
Click here for an example proposal.

Helpful hints

  1. Try to discuss your proposal with as many key parties as possible prior to writing the first draft.  These folks may provide you with solutions which you can include in the first proposal.
  2. Send the first draft to a wide audience.  Make sure to include anyone who provides any type of psychosocial care on the list.  You may want to ask them to co-facilitate the weekend.  Hopefully they will refer patients to you.  Include the administrators, your boss and everyone who will participate in any way.
  3. The initial proposal needs to cover the major logistics – budget, registration, weekend content, evaluation
  4. Send out your proposal as early as possible (e.g. five months prior to the event) and ask for feedback by a specific date – if people don’t respond you can interpret that as no concerns on their behalf.

Although you may experience some resistance most people will recognize the benefits of support groups and will support what’s best for the patients.

An example BUDGET is included in the Initial Proposal
-I suggest you offer lunch and snacks on the weekend to the participants – it provides them more time to connect. Lodging can be very expensive so we usually haven’t offered it to participants (this fact that we’re not offering free lodgings should be clearly stated in the introductory letter to the participants – see registration package)

Sources of Revenue
-Pharmaceutical companies and large corporations.  For drug companies it’s helpful to have a physician ask for money. You can also promise the sponsors that their logo can go on the flyer and that you will credit them with any media exposure.

If you offer a bursary for child-care have them arrange it themselves.  Agree upon the amount prior to the weekend and write them a cheque at the end of the weekend. Note that we rarely have people ask for a bursary at the end of the weekend.

Even if you offer this weekend free I suggest have people pay a reasonable deposit. You can return it to them – and don’t give it back to them till the end of the weekend (at that point they may want to donate it towards another weekend).  We have had a no-show rate up to 20% when we didn’t have people leave a deposit.  Those who can’t afford it don’t need to pay a deposit.