11.5 Common Parts of Proposals
Successful proposals have several elements, which we list below. Use the example shown in Table 11.2 as a guideline because depending upon the proposal, certain sections may not be useful.
| Section Name | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Executive Summary | Cover all essential information in the proposal, either to encourage your audience to continue to read the full proposal, or for the convenience of a specific audience who does not have the time or need to read the whole document. Since the writer has not yet begun the project, they would most likely use a pure summary here. This type of summary ascribes equal weight to all sections of the proposal. In a proposal, this includes methods of data collection, which enables the writer to present their project design persuasively. |
| Introduction/Background | Clearly and fully define the problem or opportunity addressed by the proposal and briefly describe how the project will address that need. Convinces the reader (consider persuasive writing strategies) that there is a clear need and a clear benefit to the proposed idea. This content should incorporate some outside research. |
| Project Description | Describes the project in detail and explains how the project will improve the situation: 1. Confirms feasibility (is it doable?) with consideration to time. What makes the project realistically achievable? 2. Explains the specific benefits of implementing the project and the consequences of not doing it. 3. Give a detailed description or explanation of your proposed project plan or methodology and the resources needed to achieve goals. 4. Addresses potential obstacles or objections. |
| Market Analysis | Contains information regarding what currently exists in the marketplace. You could include competing products or services and explain how your solution compares. |
| Credentials | Establish writer’s qualifications, experience, and authority to lead this project. What is your connection to the problem or opportunity? |
| Timeline | Provide a detailed timeline for completion of the project. Use a method to indicate when each stage of the project will be completed. |
| Marketing Plan Delivery | Often the greatest challenge for online services—how will people learn about you? If you are bidding on a gross lot of food service supplies, this may not apply to you, but if an audience is required for success, you will need a marketing plan. |
| Budget | Provides an itemized budget for completing the proposed project. |
| Conclusion | Conclude with a final pitch that summarizes and emphasizes the benefits of implementing your proposed idea—but without sounding like an advertisement. You may also incorporate possible issues with the solution to be upfront about possible delays and concerns. Benefits should outweigh the possible problems. |
| References | List your research sources to document and credit appropriately; this clarifies and authenticates the project’s work and avoids fallout of plagiarism. |
This section is derived from Designing and Formatting 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.
