Edit Right AdvisorsModel 2B of Grant Gearbox. Fund it right.
Review Ramp
Review Ramp is Edit Right Advisors' staged proposal review model. It places reviews at six points as a proposal matures: bid strategy, annotated outline, technical draft, final quality review, submission authorization, and learning and funder feedback. Reviewers are never the writers, and a compliance check is complete before submission is authorized.
What is Review Ramp?
Review Ramp is Edit Right Advisors’ staged proposal review model. A weak strategy found at the outline stage costs hours to fix. Found the night before the deadline, the same weakness can cost the bid. Review Ramp spreads the reviews across the life of the proposal, so problems are caught while they are still easy to fix.
When should you use Review Ramp?
Use it if your team usually reviews a proposal once, at the end, when there is no time left to fix what the review finds.
In your words: “We only find the problems the night before the deadline.”
How does Review Ramp work?
The ramp steps down from the moment an opportunity is released to the lessons that follow submission. Each step is a review point.
- Opportunity released (start): The funding opportunity is published and the work begins.
- Bid strategy (01): The case for the bid and the key messages, tested before writing.
- Annotated outline (02): The outline, checked against every evaluation criterion before drafting.
- Technical draft (03): The full draft, reviewed the way the funder will read it.
- Final quality review (04): The final draft, checked against the five Quality Quotient levels.
- Submission authorization (05): Your written approval to submit, given only after the compliance check is closed.
- Learning and funder feedback (06): Lessons and any funder feedback, recorded for the next bid.
What you get
- Outputs: review notes, a prioritized fix list after each review, and a lessons record.
- Result: weaknesses are fixed early, the final proposal reads as one clear case, and each bid improves the next.
Delivered through SS-02 Grant Writing and Resource Mobilization.
What we need from you
- Each stage of the proposal, from bid strategy and outline to full draft
- The funder’s evaluation criteria
- A reviewer who did not write the draft
Who it is for
- NGOs and community-based and similar organizations: catch problems early through staged reviews.
- Funders: receive proposals reviewed the way they will read them.
- Government: receive drafts checked before submission.
- Researchers: get structured review of technical drafts.
Illustrative example
Illustrative example only. This is a generic scenario, not a client result.
A team has six weeks to write a large technical proposal. Under Review Ramp, a reviewer who is not one of the writers tests the bid strategy before drafting, then checks the annotated outline against every evaluation criterion. A gap in the sustainability section is found at the outline stage, when it takes hours to fix rather than days. After submission, lessons and any funder feedback are recorded for the next bid.
Recognized practice behind Review Ramp
- Staged proposal reviews. Review Ramp follows the staged review practice described by Shipley Associates and APMP, where outlines are reviewed before drafting and near-final drafts are read as an evaluator would read them.
- Independent review. Reviewers are independent of the writers, as that practice recommends.
- Lessons learned. Step 06 reflects the win or loss analysis that closes the APMP cycle.
Edit Right models are our own structured adaptations of established practice. Naming a benchmark, author, or institution does not imply accreditation, membership, or endorsement.
How Review Ramp connects
2A Grant Gauge
Explore the model2C Compliance Compass
Explore the model4C Proof Pyramid
Explore the modelParent framework: Grant Gearbox
Back to the frameworkFrequently asked questions
Why should reviewers not be the writers?
Writers know what they meant to say, so they miss what the page does not say. An independent reviewer reads the draft the way the funder will.
What is an annotated outline?
It is a section by section plan of the proposal, with notes on what each section must cover. It is checked against every evaluation criterion before drafting begins.
Can you review a grant proposal our team has already written?
Yes. Proposal reviews are part of SS-02. We size the review to the bid, so a short letter of inquiry needs fewer review points than a large technical proposal.
Key terms
- Staged review: Reviews placed at several points as a proposal develops, rather than once at the end.
- Evaluation criteria: The scoring criteria a funder uses to rate proposals.
- Submission authorization: Your written approval to submit, given after the compliance check is closed.
- Quality Quotient (QQ): Our five quality levels: compliant, accurate, aligned, insightful, and useful.
Find funders that fit your mission.
Email hello@editright.io or call +1 314 998 0221.
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