Proposals

You need a clear sense of your goals so you don't compromise your organization's mission or your own values and priorities.

Review the RFP carefully; don't submit the proposal if its requirements can't be reconciled with your priorities and mission.

Make sure that your immediate goals are in synch with your long-term goals and values and that the project and its goals offer synergies with other projects and goals.

Determine what costs/risks are involved in this proposal, including time as well as human and physical resources.

Remember that proposals exist in a rich context of other projects, people, and goals; they are not isolated and cannot by themselves achieve their goals.

Learn as much as you can about prospective readers through published guidelines, RFPs, examples of proposals previously funded, and direct consultation with readers.

You need to convince readers that there is a match between your goals and theirs, and you need to provide evidence that you can achieve your stated goals, that your ideas are virtuous as well as practical, and that your project is a good investment.

Simplify your document to make it easier reading for harried business readers by providing a proposal summary and by using redundant road maps and traffic signals.

Answer the readers' likely questions about the essential issues:
what can be done
the costs and risks involved
resulting benefits
and your ability to do what you propose

Show that you understand the situation as your readers do.

Discuss only plausible alternatives.

Provide detailed financial information, defining the areas of uncertainty in your analyses and projections.

Discuss risks to help readers get a realistic sense of possible problems and your plans for managing them.

Consider resources and constraints to show readers that you have the resources and strengths to do what you propose to do.

Include a careful inventory of your resources and constraints on them in view of what you propose to accomplish.

Consider what resources might be available elsewhere as well as what your readers might provide.

Clarify what should be done by whom and how.

Provide a vision of the goals and benefits that are likely to result from the proposed action.

Show that your plan is not only feasible but the most plausible of the alternatives.

Provide any elements required by the RFP:
resumes of key people
financial statements and projections
details about equipment or the physical plant
approvals for human subjects research
performance bonds
support letters

Consider using a conventional problem/solution/rationale organization:
discuss alternatives, constraints, costs, and resources
explain plans, processes, and a timeline for achieving your proposed solution.

Include all of the conventional elements of proposals:
cover and binding
cover letter
executive summary and table of contents
appendix
formatting
typographical elements and graphics

Be clear and direct.

Use any specialized or technical language appropriate for readers.

Follow exactly the conventions of grammar, spelling, and usage.

Express your interest in the problems and issues of the proposal and your commitment to solving them.

Decide whether
it's a high ethos situation, calling for vivid presentation of your personal engagement in the project
or a low ethos context, requiring that you mute personal engagement and stress technical details and competence

For questions and suggestions, please e-mail us at kilbornj@stcloudstate.edu or rinkster@stcloudstate.edu.

The print version of the Instructor's Manual for The Writing of Business
was written by Robert P. Inkster and Judith M. Kilborn for Allyn and Bacon.
This web version of the manual was coded by Judith M. Kilborn.