Overview

Very little money is spent in this world without a proposal of some sort first laying out a project and then justifying why it is worth the cost.

Whether you are obtaining funding for your work, suggesting changes where you work, selling a project, or bidding for a project, you must be writing a proposal. Proposals attempt to persuade the audience to take direct action. They are an important part of planning, research, and sales.

They are also very often highly technical, even though they may not be written for an audience of professional specialists. If a proposal is pitched to executives who are primarily non-specialists, they will likely refer the sections beyond their expertise to specialists in the various areas for verification.

Any time something very large is going to be constructed, a detailed proposal is in the works somewhere around it. This style of writing is very important for civil engineers, mechanical engineers, architects, and others who build big expensive things.

Not all proposals build things, however. In the field of philanthropy and research, a common convention is to put out an RFP, or Request for Proposal for certain types of research or other scholarly projects. The philanthropic organization will have some money to give away and will have a focused need or niche they would like the proposal to fill. Proposal writers who respond to specific RFPs must study the request carefully and conform to the requirements of the grant.

Proposals take great care to write. You need to know your audience and be informed about the subject matter to write a successful proposal. Furthermore, many proposals have an oral presentation component as well, what might well be called 'The Pitch.' The recipient of the proposal would be given a formal, paper copy, but then an individual or a team presentation would be made (often with PowerPoint) to make the final persuasion, to win approval for the project. This happens more in fields like advertising or Web design, where a mock-up or a design is prepared for a client, and then the concept is taken out and 'pitched' to the client for approval.

Proposals are also subject to legal and ethical considerations because misleading proposal claims can subject the writer to legal action.