I've stressed before the importance of reading, re-reading and re-reading the RFP/RFA that you are responding to. Reading it once is certainly not enough, and re-reading it 10 times may not be enough either. Many RFPs/RFAs are so chock full of details and information that it's often impossible to remember all of it. Whenever you're working on a proposal, your RFP should always be within reach so that you can re-read and refer to appropriate sections and instuctions as you're going along.
When my current client first started working on his proposal, he didn't bother to read some of the important information contained in the RFP. As a result, he wasted valuable time in writing some sections that did not conform to what was asked for in the RFP. Additionally, he began preparing his project budget without looking at the specific forms and formats that the RFP required. Had I not called these problems to his attention, he would have run the risk that his proposal would be thrown out because it was non-responsive. As it is, he has had to spend a lot of time redoing these things -- time that he really needed to spend on other parts of the proposal.
You may think that re-reading an RFA/RFA a thousand times is a waste. But it's not. It's an absolute imperative if you want to win a contract or grant. After all, if the reviewers see that you can't follow the instructions contained in an RFP, they may also have good reason to believe that you can't perform the project you are bidding on.
So read, read, and read some more.
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