This chapter focuses on the proposal—the kind of document that gets you or your organization approved or hired to do a project. In this course, you will write a research proposal—a proposal to conduct research and provide a report detailing the results of your research. Then you’ll write a progress report updating your audience on your progress while you are engaged in conducting the research, and finally you will write the report itself (also called the project deliverable). Reports are covered later in the course. For now, let’s look at the first step: the proposal.

Preliminary research is essential when writing proposals.

Some Preliminaries

A proposal is an offer or bid to do a project. Proposals may contain other elements—technical background, recommendations, results of surveys, information about feasibility, and so on. But what makes a proposal a proposal is that it asks the audience to approve, fund, or grant permission to do the proposed project.

The proposal assignment in this course offers practice writing a proposal directed to a specific organization of your choosing. (The organization can be fictitious or real.) Your proposal should address a problem or opportunity faced by the organization (your audience), and should focus on conducting research on the problem or opportunity and preparing a report on the results of your research. After your proposal is approved, you will conduct the research and write the report, based on your research findings, that puts forth a possible solution to the problem or offers a suggestion for taking advantage of the opportunity.

A proposal should contain information that will enable your audience to decide whether to approve the project and hire you to do the work. To write a successful proposal, put yourself in the place of your audience—the recipient of the proposal—and think about what information that audience needs to feel confident having you do the project.

It is easy to get confused about proposals. Imagine that you have a terrific idea for installing some new technology where you work and you write up a document explaining how the technology works and why it would benefit the company, urging management to go for it. Is that a proposal? No, it’s not. It’s more like a feasibility or recommendation report, which studies the merits of a project and then recommends for or against it. Certainly, some proposals must sell the projects they offer to do, but in all cases proposals must sell the writer (or the writer’s organization) as the one to do the project.

Types of proposals

Consider the situations in which proposals occur. A company may send out a public announcement requesting proposals for a specific project. This public announcement—called a request for proposals (RFP)—could be issued through newspapers, trade journals, websites, or email. Firms or individuals interested in the project then write proposals in which they summarize their qualifications, estimate costs, create schedules, and discuss their approach to the project. The recipient of all these proposals evaluates them, selects the best candidate, and enters into an agreement with the organization or individual who submitted the proposal. This type of proposal is a solicited, external proposal.

But proposals can come about much less formally. Imagine that you are interested in doing a project at work (for example, investigating the merits of bringing in some new technology to increase productivity). Imagine that you visit your supervisor and try to convince her of this. She might respond by saying, “Write me a proposal and I’ll present it to upper management.” This type of proposal is an unsolicited, internal proposal.

Internal Proposal vs. External Proposal

An external proposal is written from one separate, independent organization or individual to another such entity. The typical example is the independent consultant proposing to do a project for another firm.  A proposal submitted by someone who works for an organization, as in the second scenario, is an internal proposal. Internal proposals may not require as much detail or information as external proposals since your audience might already know your qualifications and may be familiar with the situation you are proposing to address.

Solicited Proposals vs. Unsolicited Proposals

A solicited proposal is one in which the recipient has requested the proposal, such as in the case where a Request for Proposals was sent out. In the example above involving the boss who asks for a proposal that offers to do a formal study of your idea about new technology for the company, the proposal might be seen as unsolicited since you came up with the idea and approached your boss about it, but it is in a sense also solicited since your boss asked you to write up the formal document.  Figure 1, below, shows the logistics of proposals.

Figure 1. Types of Proposals. (Image author-created)

Few proposals are truly unsolicited, as the time and expense of writing a proposal makes people reluctant to undertake them without some assurance that there is a sincere audience for the proposal. And unsolicited proposals in particular must make a strong argument in the proposal introduction to persuade the recipient that a problem or opportunity exists and research is worth the investment.

Research Proposals vs. Goods-and-Services Proposals

There are two major types of proposals: the research proposal, and the goods-and-services proposal. We are concerned here with the research proposal, in which you propose to conduct research on a problem or opportunity for an organization. After your proposal is approved, you will conduct the research and write a report that provides the results of your research and your conclusions about your research. Your report is called the deliverable (the analytical information you will deliver.) The other category of deliverable, goods and services, results when a person or company proposes to supply a product other than information—such as a fleet of jets or a new bridge—or a service, such as janitorial services for an airport or maintenance for that new bridge.

Typical Scenarios for the Proposal

It gets a bit tricky dreaming up a good technical report project and then creating a proposal that seeks approval to conduct the research and write that report. Here are some ideas:

• Imagine that a nonprofit organization focused on a particular issue wants an expert consultant to write a brochure or guide for its membership. This document will present information on the issue in a way that the members can understand. You submit a proposal to write the brochure/guide.

• Imagine that a company has some sort of problem or wants to make some sort of improvement. It sends out a request for proposals; you receive one and respond with a proposal. You offer to research, investigate, interview, and make recommendations—and present it all in the form of a report.

• Imagine that an organization wants a seminar in your area of expertise. You write a proposal to give the seminar—included in the package deal is a guide or handbook that the people attending the seminar will receive.

Though you may have written academic research proposals, technical writing proposals differ considerably from those. Technical writing proposals focus on real-world scenarios and should not address legal issues (such as proposing to change a law), religious beliefs or personal values, or strictly academic subjects, such as history or literature. You may well use academic information sources in conducting research and writing your report, but the report should focus on a real-world situation involving a company or organization. (You can create a fictitious company or organization for your proposal.)

Common Sections in Proposals

Though proposals may vary a great deal from one organization to another, they generally follow a common format that includes specific kinds of information. When referring to your proposal assignment, you may discover that other kinds of information not mentioned here must be included in your particular proposal. At a minimum, your research proposal should include each of the sections described below. Check with your instructor for details regarding your particular proposal assignment.

Introduction. Plan the introduction to your proposal carefully. Make sure it does all of the following:

• Indicates that the document is a proposal

• Refers to the problem or opportunity that you will research and address in your report
• Includes a motivating statement to convince the recipient to read your proposal and consider giving approval for you to do the research and write the report
• Gives an overview of the contents of the report you will write if your proposal is accepted

Background on the problem or opportunity. Discuss the need for the project—what problem or opportunity exists at the organization. For example:

• The owner of a resort may be trying to boost his business but feel uncertain of how to go about it.
• A veterinarian may be using outdated X-ray equipment in her clinic.

• A taxi service may be considering replacing its fleet of cars with hybrid models to try to cut fuel costs.

The audience of the proposal may know the problem very well, in which case this section might not be lengthy. But the background section should demonstrate your particular view of the problem and convince the audience that conducting the proposed research to address the problem or opportunity merits the organization’s investment of time and/or money.

Program Description. This section is where you explain the proposed work: what you plan to do and how you will achieve your end result—the deliverable. This includes describing the document you are proposing to write; specifying its audience and purpose; and discussing such things as its length, graphics, binding, and so forth. In the scenario you create for your project, there may be other work such as conducting training seminars or providing an ongoing service. Also discuss the benefits of doing the proposed project. This acts as an argument in favor of approving the proposal. Include your preliminary research, quoting and citing sources, to justify your plan of action.

In the resort proposal listed above, you could  propose that the resort owner consider the costs and benefits of updating the amusement options for guests, such as adding windsurfing  or some other option on the resort’s private lake. For the veterinarian, you might propose to research the costs and benefits of purchasing new X-ray equipment and write a report with the results of your research and a recommendation regarding which are the top three models to consider. In an unsolicited proposal, this section is particularly important—you are trying to convince the audience that the project can benefit them and that conducting the research is worth the cost.

Procedure. In this section you’ll explain how you will do the proposed work. This acts as an additional persuasive element; it shows the audience you have a sound, well-thought-out approach to the project. Also, it serves as the other form of background some proposals need. Remember that the background section (the one discussed above) focused on the problem or need that brings about the proposal. In this section, you discuss the technical background relating to the procedures or technology you plan to use in the proposed work. For example, in the X-ray proposal, the writer gives a bit of background on how X-rays are used in the veterinarian’s office and the impact that using outdated equipment has on the employees, the animals, the clients, and the practice itself. Once again, this gives you—the proposal writer—a chance to show that you know what you are talking about and to show your audience why they should approve your proposal. You should include a list of specific tasks that you will undertake in conducting your research.

Schedule. This section should show not only the projected completion date but also key milestones for the project. In creating your schedule, refer to the Procedure section and link tasks to specific dates. Let your audience know when you will complete tasks. Some of these tasks may overlap. If you are doing a large project spreading over many months, the timeline would also show dates on which you would deliver progress reports. One effective way to display the schedule is to use a Gantt Chart or similar graphic that visually links each proposed task to a specific date or time period. (See the annotated research proposal link in the Proposal Format section below for details.)

Qualifications/Experience. This section should include a brief summary of your education and experience. a mini-résumé focused on the experience you have that is relevant to the project. This section, too, is an opportunity to persuade your audience that you are qualified to do the work.

Budget. Whether the proposal is internal or external, the budget should detail the costs of the project. For external projects, you may need to list your hourly rates, projected hours, costs of equipment and supplies, and so forth, and then calculate the total cost of the complete project. Internal projects of course are not free, and you should still list the project costs: for example, hours you will need to conduct the research, equipment and supplies you’ll be using, assistance from other people in the organization, travel expenses, and so on.

Conclusion. The final section of the proposal should bring readers back to a focus on the positive aspects of the project. End by reminding your audience of the benefits of the project, and perhaps add a detail or two about why you or your organization are the best candidates for the job.

Appendix. Remember that the preceding sections are typical in written proposals, but ask yourself what else your audience might need to understand the project, the need for it, the benefits arising from it, your role in it, and your qualifications. If you are planning to circulate a survey as part of your project, you could include a copy of the actual survey in this section. At the minimum, this section should include a sufficiently detailed outline for the report you will write at the conclusion of your research.

References/Works Cited. Typically, you will need to conduct preliminary research in order to write a persuasive proposal. Your references page should include citations for all outside sources quoted in your proposal. Format your citations in either MLA or APA format.

ORGANIZATION OF PROPOSALS

Notice the overall logic of the movement through these sections: you generate interest about a problem or opportunity, then you explain how you’ll fix the problem or help the organization take advantage of the opportunity, and then you show them what good qualifications you have. Finally, you discuss the costs—but come right back around to the good points about the project and how it will benefit your audience.

PROPOSAL FORMAT

Consolidated memo proposal: In this format, you consolidate the entire proposal in a memo. Include headings and other special formatting elements as if it were a report. To see an example of a research proposal in the consolidated memo format, click on the document link below:

Proposal-Annotated – EmployeeWellnessProgram

Special Assignment Requirements

Remember that, in a technical writing course, the proposal assignment serves several purposes: (1) to give you some experience writing a proposal; (2) to get you started planning your major paper for the course; (3) to give your instructor a chance to work with you on your report project to ensure you’ve got something workable.

Here’s a checklist of what to include somewhere in the proposal:

• Audience: Describe the audience of the proposal and the proposed report in terms of the organization they work for, their titles and jobs, their technical background, their ability to understand the report you propose to write.
• Purpose: Describe the situation you are proposing to research and write a report about. What is the problem or opportunity and how will you address it?
• Report type: Explain what type of report you intend to write: is it a recommendation report? A feasibility report? Provide enough explanation so that your instructor can see that you understand the type of report you are proposing to write.
• Information sources: List at least three information sources you will use in conducting your research; make sure there is adequate, reliable information for your topic; list specific books, articles, reference works, or other suitable sources that you will quote and cite in your report.
• Graphics: List graphics you think your report will need according to their type and content. (If you can’t think of any your report would need, you may not have a good topic—do some brainstorming with your instructor.)
• Outline: Include an outline of the topics and subtopics you plan to cover in your report.