Not quite sure exactly which part you're unhappy with, but basically, within large organisations, different departments (sections, divisions, etc.) often have to make (internal) requests or applications for the amount of money (= funding) they forecast they will need to run heir department --- their 'budget allocation'

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Note added at 49 mins (2005-10-22 13:13:47 GMT)
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We more often think of 'bid' in terms of things like an offer of a certain price in an auction sale, or in tendering for the awarding of a contract. It can also work 'the other way round' (as is the case here), where you are bidding for something you want

In a more figurative use, it has a meaning of ask / request or even sometimes attempt: "X makes news bid to climb Everest" --- remember that the etymological origins of the ver 'to bid' basically just mean 'to ask'.

Here's the NS OED definition for the noun 'bid':

bid n.
L18. [f. the vb.]
1 The offer of a price, esp. at an auction; an offer made at a stated price, a tender. L18.

2 (Cards). A proposal to win a specified minimum number of tricks (in Bridge, the number in excess of six) or points, usu. with a specified trump-suit or in no-trumps; a player’s turn to bid. L19.

3 fig. An attempt to obtain something; a try, an effort. L19.

Examples:

3
Punch: Britain’s Bid for War-Plane Supremacy.
J. VAN DRUTEN: That’s not a bid for pity, it’s just telling you why I feel this way.

make a bid for = try to secure.

Comb.: bid price the price at which a market-maker or institution, esp. a unit trust, will buy back shares or units (cf. offer price).