Proposal Writing

Lecture # 20 & 21
 Write about the “Brilliant Idea” and provide a
“Rationale” for it.
A proposal is a method of persuading the reader
Proposals to agree to the writer’s view point or accept his
suggestion.
It is a systematic, factual, formal and persuasive
description of a course of action or a set of
recommendations/suggestions.
 Reports are not read from cover-to-cover by
one person.
For example, a manager may read only the
FEASIBILITY synopsis or abstract and act on the advice it
contains while a technical officer may read only
REPORTS the section that explains how things work.
 On the other hand, a worker may look at only
the conclusions and recommendations that
directly affect his/her working area.
 The Feasibility Reports discuss the practicality, and
possibly the suitability and compatibility of a given
project, both in physical and economic terms.
They also discuss the desirability of the proposed
FEASIBILITY project from the viewpoint of those who would be
REPORTS affected by it.
Report writers must come to a Conclusion, and must
Recommend that some action is taken or is not taken
and/or that some choice is adopted or is rejected.
 The general outline of the proposal should be
Common adapted and modified according to the needs of
the readers and the demand of the topic proposed.
Sections in
For example, long complicated proposals might
Proposals
contain all the following sections. In contrast,
shorter or simpler proposals might contain only
some of the sections or the main ones.
  Title page
 Table of contents
Parts of a  Abstract
Formal  Introduction
Proposal
 Procedure/Methodology
 Analysis
 Proposed Budget
 Proposed Plan and Schedule
 Advantages/Disadvantages
 Conclusion
 Recommendations
 References (details of sources used/in
alphabetical order)
 Appendices (diagrams, charts, graphs, maps)
***********************
 Specific formats for title pages vary from one proposal to
another but most include the following:
The title of the proposal ( as short as informative as
Title page possible)
A reference number for the proposal
The name of the potential funder ( the recipient of the
proposal)
The proposal's date of submission
The signature of the project director and responsible
administrator(s ) in the proposer`s institution or
 The table of contents lists the sections and
Table of subsections of the proposal and their page numbers.
Contents Proposals should list all major parts and divisions
including lists of illustrations, tables and appendices.
 The Abstract is a very important part of the proposal
because it provides a short overview and summary of
the entire proposal.
The Abstract of the proposal is short, often 200
words or less.
Abstract In a long proposal, the Abstract will usually occupy a
page by itself following the Title page.
The Abstract should briefly define the problem and
its importance, the objectives of the project, the
method of evaluation, and the potential impact of the
project.
 The introduction sets the tone of the proposal.
 The introduction outlines the goals of the project,
1. Introduction how long it will take, and give enough background to
enable the reviewers (who might not be experts in
1.1: Aim your field) of a particular project in a context of
1.2: Scope common knowledge.
1.3:Background Find one brief motivating statement that will
encourage the recipient to read on and to consider
doing the project.
Give an overview of the contents of the proposal.
  2.1: Data Collection Method
2: Procedure  2.2: Literature Review
(reports, research papers, journals, articles,
books)
 Discussions of work done by others gives the
reviewers the impression of how this project will
Review of build upon what has already been done by others.
Literature The literature will also highlight how the proposed
project is different and unique from other projects.
 Often occurring just after the introduction. The background
section discusses what has brought about the need for the
project—what problem, what opportunity there is for
improving things, what the basic situation is.
It's true that the audience of the proposal may know the
Background problem very well, in which case this section might not be
needed.
Writing the background section still might be useful,
however, in demonstrating your particular view of the
problem.
And, if the proposal is unsolicited, a background section is
almost a requirement—you will probably need to convince
the audience that the problem or opportunity exists and that
it should be addressed.
  In most proposals, you'll want to explain how you'll go
about doing the proposed work, if approved to do it.
 Also, it serves as the other form of background some
Method, proposals need.
theory  Remember that the background section (the one
discussed above) focused on the problem or need
that brings about the proposal.
 However, in this section, you discuss the technical
background relating to the procedures or technology
you plan to use in the proposed work.
 Description of the proposed work (results of the
project)
Most proposals must describe the finished
product of the proposed project.
3: Analysis of
 In this course, that means describing the
Data written document you propose to write,
 its audience and purpose;
 providing an outline;
 and discussing such things as its length,
graphics, and so on.
 Goals and objectives are different and are clearly
separated in the proposal.
The goal of the project is what one hopes to
Project Goals accomplish as a result of the project.
and Objectives
 Objectives are statements of precise outcomes that
can be measured in support of the goals.
  Most proposals also contain a section detailing the costs of
the project, whether internal or external.
 With external projects, you may need to list your hourly
Costs, rates, projected hours, costs of equipment and supplies, and
so forth, and then calculate the total cost of the complete
resources project.
required  With internal projects, there probably won't be a fee, but
you should still list the project costs: for example, hours you
will need to complete the project, equipment and supplies
you'll be using, assistance from other people in the
organization, and so on
  Most proposals discuss the advantages or benefits

Benefits and of doing the proposed project.

feasibility of the  This acts as an argument in favor of approving the
proposed project project.
 Also, some proposals discuss the likelihood of the
project's success.
  Most proposals contain a section that shows not
only the projected completion date but also key
milestones for the project.
Schedule  If you are doing a large project spreading over
many months, the timeline would also show dates
on which you would deliver progress reports.
 And if you can't cite specific dates, cite amounts of
time or time spans for each phase of the project.
 The final paragraph or section of the proposal should
bring readers back to a focus on the positive aspects of
the project (you've just showed them the costs).
Conclusions In the final section, you can end by urging them to get
in touch to work out the details of the project, to
remind them of the benefits of doing the project, and
maybe to put in one last plug for you or your
organization as the right choice for the project.
 Feasibility: whether a project is feasible or not.
Recommendation: compares two or more
alternatives and recommends one
Types of Evaluation :studies something in terms of its worth
Technical or value
Reports Primary Research Report: work done in a
laboratory
Technical Specifications: discusses a new product
design in terms of its construction, material,
functions, features and market potential.
  You have the following options for the format and
packaging of your proposal.
Format of  It does not matter which you use as long as you use
Proposals the memorandum format for internal proposals
and the business-letter format for external
proposals
 In this format, you write a brief "cover" letter and
1. Cover letter attach the proposal proper after it.
with separate The cover letter briefly announces that a
proposal proposal follows and outlines the contents of it.
In fact, the contents of the cover letter are pretty
much the same as the introduction.
 In this format, you write a brief "cover" memo
2. Cover memo and attach the proposal proper after it.
with separate
proposal The cover memo briefly announces that a
proposal follows and outlines the contents of it.
 In this format, you put the entire proposal within
3. Memo a standard office memorandum.
proposal You include headings and other special
formatting elements as if it were a report.