A Note on the Candlestick approach to writing Project Proposals

I was talking to my supervisor today about the structure of the perfect project proposal, in our case for a grant, but it would probably apply to any kind. A fairly standard view is the funnel approach, which is where you start with the broad background, and then gradually hone in on your precise aims, objectives, issues of interest etc. However, this misses something, we mused. What you also need, to finish it off, is to provide the applications for the work, to enable the reader/reviewer to really see why the work is necessary/important/relevant. The sort of stuff you can't put in the scope, as it's a bit vague or ill-defined. Hence the candlestick approach. You start with the scope of the project, narrow down to the aims, objectives, deliverables, issues of interest, etc., before finishing with a summary of the aims, and the broad implications/applications of the work as the base of the candlestick.