Interview: trainer Lisa Lucas on our funding proposals course

In 2026, civil society organisations face unprecedented challenges, not least in the area of funding. In June, INTRAC’s course developing strong, collaborative funding proposals returns. Here, Andy Johnson speaks with trainer Lisa Lucas – who is taking over the course – about what participants can learn to prepare them to face the current funding context.

LL: I have worked in this sector for over 30 years and have seen it from a number of very different perspectives having worked at the British Council and Saferworld, two very different organisations, but also as a freelance consultant, working with over 30 different national and international NGOs. I have collaborated on proposals across a broad spectrum of funding environments – from small and large grant proposals to multi-million-pound commercial contracts, as well as exploring opportunities for impact investment and other types of financing.

Capacity strengthening, training and mentoring support, both to organisations and individuals, has been a key part of my work in all my roles and I have run numerous workshops on proposal writing and management, particularly for FCDO and EU grants and contracts, across the globe. This has included in person and remote assignments, including the delivery of training workshops as an Associate for Humentum for organisations in Asia and Africa.

LL: Throughout my time working in this sector, I have always been aware of INTRAC as a very well-regarded organisation supporting civil society organisations (CSOs) in development practice, but I have had limited opportunities to interact with the organisation, so it’s a real privilege to become part of the training team.

With my commercial experience I’m hoping that I can add a broader dimension to the business development and proposal writing offer and I am looking forward to finding out more about the participants’ needs and experiences in this area.

LL: The funding environment is certainly very challenging right now and it’s important that we address these challenges head on during the course.  We’ll be helping participants to confront this by covering important issues such as:

• Diversification – helping participants to look at funding opportunities more broadly, both in terms of different donors and funders, but also different funding modalities. We’ll be looking at the implications for this on proposal writing skills and techniques throughout the course.
• Locally-led development – this will be a key theme running through the course as we discuss decolonisation in funding partnerships and look at how we reflect these principles in proposals, challenging the power dynamics in funding processes.
• We’ll also look at how we can maximise the advantages of new technology to make the proposal writing process more efficient by considering the appropriate use of AI as a cross-cutting theme.

LL: I am not somebody that likes to ‘talk at’ people for any length of time so this will be a very participative learning experience, aiming to feed off the collective experiences of the group and also practicing learning by doing. The course will be designed around a ‘facilitated learning approach’, encouraging participants to develop their own insights based on shared discussions and resources while also allowing them to actively shape the course to meet their needs. We will utilize a blend of learning strategies that may include problem-based and project-based group tasks to encourage critical thinking and collaboration, case study discussions for real-world application and reflection, and facilitated conversations to explore diverse perspectives.

The individual coaching/mentoring session(s) will also provide an excellent opportunity for participants to receive more tailored guidance that fits with their own proposal development schedules. Participants will also have the chance to interact with each other through the platform discussion forum.

LL: Yes definitely. For me this is a two-way process. Hopefully I can share with participants the knowledge and experience that I have gained over the past 30 years, but I am also looking forward to learning and understanding more about the opportunities and challenges that participants are facing in this fast-changing environment. In the area of AI, in particular, I am sure that others will have plenty to share on this topic and I look forward to learning of new ideas and developments.