Promising Practice Profiles

FAQs - Filling out your proposal form

Please refer to the Form Guide for specific information on completing your Promising Practice Profile form.

My program covers a broad range of activities and practices. Will I lose out if I focus on a particular part?

No. It is preferable if a profile focuses on a particular practice that is part of the overall project.  You can include a broad overview of the  project in Questions 7 and 8, and Question 9 can emphasise particular parts.

There are lots of promising parts to my program. Can I provide more than one proposal?

If your project has several promising practices, you can submit multiple profiles. 

We have a number of anticipated outcomes, but it's too soon to determine if they are effective. How can I answer question 12?

Objectives state hoped outcomes. It is often difficult to establish if objectives have been met early on and to attribute outcomes directly to your particular practice. If you think that based on preliminary outcomes that your practice is effective, it helps to be specific, modest and upfront about limitations on measures of effectiveness. 

Talk about actual outcomes rather than what you hoped to achieve or what you anticipate to achieve in the long run. It is fine to suggest that you are yet to have full evidence.

Should I use bullet-points and headings?

It is up to you how you structure your responses. Bullet points, headings and subheadings can be particularly helpful in structuring concise responses to the criteria.

We have an evaluation report or interim evaluation report. Can this be included?

Yes this can be included as an attachment.  However please bear in mind that the Review Panel are reviewing a number of proposals and may not have the time to read through the whole Evaluation Report.  It is preferable that direct referrals to particular relevant parts/sections/pages of the Report are made in the proposal so that the Review Panel can quickly refer to the relevant section for more detail/explanation. You could also include a summary of parts of the report that are most relevant to your practice proposal.

What data should I include to verify and support the practice outcomes?

You can draw on a range of data and data sources, including the Evaluation Report of your project (if there is one available), analysis of feedback forms, before and after studies, minutes of meetings, agency records that contain records of outcomes, testimonials from program participants, community members, funders, media write- ups, internal reviews and assessments, feedback from other service providers, etc.

Some proposals have included photos as part of their suite of evidence.  Photos have been used to support other evidence of practice outcomes rather than as stand alone evidence.

It is most important that the information and evidence you provide relates specifically to the claims you make.  Specific examples, such as case studies, can help demonstrate your outcomes, and should be linked back to your findings.

A good approach for Question 12 is to list the outcomes provided in Question 11 and bring together the information you have to support these in turn. Sometimes it is difficult to separate your findings as they may be intricately connected. In this case, it may be helpful to cluster your outcomes together. This structure has been used in the Promising Practice Profile Proposal example, Panyappi, available on this website.

I have used The Round 1 Submission Form. Can I submit in this format for round 4?

No.  The form on which submissions are to be made for Round 4 is based on the final Promising Practice Profile format.

I have drafted a proposal but would like some feedback prior to submitting. Is this possible?

Yes. We encourage you to engage with the CAFCA staff regarding your proposal. We can provide feedback on ideas, drafts and ways of presenting information. 

I'm having trouble with sourcing literature. Is there help available?

Yes. CAFCA library and research staff are trained in sourcing relevant literature, including specific information that may be relevant to your proposal. If you would like to use this service, please contact us. If you have narrowed down your focus for the proposal, this will help in sourcing the most relevant literature.

How long does it take to prepare a profile?

The time to prepare a profile depends on the availability of materials and documents that you need –  for example, evidence to support your claims. Based on an informal survey from a number of Local Evaluators and Project Managers it has taken about 1-2 days to complete a profile.

What's in it for me?

A profile of your project up on the web is a great way to share working in the field of early childhood intervention and community development. The profiles that appear on the web have undergone an independent review process and have been assessed as being of high quality.  Profiles could be used as evidence to support further funding applications.

You will also improve exposure for your project.  The Promising Practice Profile webpages are hosted on the AIFS website, which is widely accessed not only by researchers, academics and students but by policy makers, service providers and the general community both nationally and internationally. 

Feedback from those who have submitted profiles indicates that preparing the profile gave them the opportunity to pause and reflect on their practice and what makes it work.  It has also encouraged projects to be more proactive in the collection of different kinds of evidence to support claims about effective aspects of their practice.


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