11.3 Proposals
A Proposal is a persuasive document that aims to convince others to take specific action(s). A proposal may convince a supervisor or a customer to approve a project or convince someone to implement an idea. The idea maybe a start of a new project or asking for funding towards equipment or supplies.
Proposals and reports are some of the most common types of written work you will likely compose in the workplace. Proposals are especially common in grant-driven fields, such as academia and public health.
Most businesses rely on effective proposal writing to ensure the successful continuation of their businesses and to get new contracts. In a proposal, the writer tries to convince the reader about the following:
- The proposed plan or project is worth the time, energy, and expense necessary to implement or see through.
- The author represents the best candidates for implementing the idea.
- The proposed project or plan will result in tangible benefits for the reader.
Example scenarios where a proposal might be called for are listed below:
Examples
- A company has a scientific or technical problem or wants to make some sort of improvement. The company sends out a request for proposals; you receive the request and respond with a proposal. You offer to come in, investigate, interview, make recommendations, and present all this information in the form of a report.
- An organization wants a seminar in your expertise. You write a proposal to give the seminar and provide a guide or handbook that the people attending the seminar will receive.
- An agency has just started using a new online data system, but the user’s manual is technically complex and difficult to read. You receive a request from this agency for proposals to write a simplified guide or startup guide.
This section is derived from “Introduction to Proposals” in Howdy or Hello? Technical and Professional Communication – Simple Book Publishing Copyright © 2022 by Matt McKinney, Kalani Pattison, Sarah LeMire, Kathy Anders, and Nicole Hagstrom-Schmidt licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
