Writing a Proposal for

Feasibility Study
Real proposals.To begin planning a
proposal, remember the basic definition: a
proposal is an offer or bid to do a certain
project for someone.
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.
If you are planning to be a consultant or
run your own business, written proposals
may be one of your most important tools
for bringing in business. And, if you want
to work for a government agency,
nonprofit organization, or a large
corporation, the proposal can be a
valuable tool for initiating projects that
benefit the organization or you the
employee-proposer (and usually both).
A proposal should contain information
that would enable the audience of that
proposal to decide whether to approve the
project, to approve or hire you to do the
work, or both. To write a successful
proposal, put yourself in the place of your
audience—the recipient of the proposal—
and think about what sorts of information
that person would need to feel confident
having you 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, Chamber of
Commerce channels, or individual letters. Firms or
individuals interested in the project would then
write proposals in which they summarize their
qualifications, project schedules and costs, and
discuss their approach to the project. The recipient
of all these proposals would then evaluate them,
select the best candidate, and then work up a
contract.
Internal, external. If you write a proposal to
someone within your organization (a
business, a government agency, etc.), it is an
internal proposal. With internal proposals,
you may not have to include certain sections
(such as qualifications), or you may not have
to include as much information in them. An
external proposal is one 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.
Solicited,unsolicited. If a proposal is solicited, the
recipient of the proposal in some way requested the
proposal. Typically, a company will send out requests
for proposals (RFPs) through the mail or publish them
in some news source. But proposals can be solicited on
a very local level: for example, you could be explaining
to your boss what a great thing it would be to install a
new technology in the office; your boss might get
interested and ask you to write up a proposal that
offered to do a formal study of the idea. Unsolicited
proposals are those in which the recipient has not
requested proposals. With unsolicited proposals, you
sometimes must convince the recipient that a problem or
need exists before you can begin the main part of the
proposal.
Common Sections in Proposals
Introduction. Plan the introduction to your proposal carefully.
Make sure it does all of the following things (but not necessarily
in this order) that apply to your particular proposal:
Indicate that the document to follow is a proposal.
Refer to some previous contact with the recipient of the
proposal or to your source of information about the project.
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.
Now remember: you may not need all of these elements, and
some of them can combine neatly into single sentences. The
introduction ought to be brisk and to the point and not feel as
though it is trudging laboriously through each of these elements.
Take a look at the introductions in the first two example
proposals listed at the beginning of this chapter, and try to
identify these elements.
Background on the problem, opportunity, or situation. 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. For example, management of a chain of daycare
centers may need to ensure that all employees know CPR (maybe
new state guidelines have been enacted about CPR certification). An
owner of pine timber land in east Texas may want to get the land
productive of saleable timber without destroying the ecology. (The
section entitled "Need for a Wellness Program," in example proposal
1 (listed at the beginning of this chapter) is a good example of this.)
It's true that the audience of the proposal may know the 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 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.
Benefits and feasibility of the proposed project.
Most proposals discuss the advantages or benefits of
doing the proposed project. This acts as an argument in
favor of approving the project. Also, some proposals
discuss the likelihood of the project's success. In the
forestry proposal, the proposer is recommending that
the landowner make an investment; at the end of the
proposal, he explores the question of what return there
will be on that investment, how likely those returns
are. In the unsolicited proposal, this section is
particularly important—you are trying to "sell" the
audience on the project.
Schematic view of proposals. Remember
that is a typical or common model for the
contents and organization—many others
are possible.
 Remember too that each of the specific
sections shown here may not be necessary
in your proposal and that the order shown
here may not be entirely right for your
proposal.
Description of the proposed work (results of
the project). Most proposals must describe the
finished product of the proposed project. In this
course, that means describing the written
document you propose to write, its audience and
purpose; providing an outline; and discussing
such things as its length, graphics, binding, and
so forth.) In the scenario you define, there may
be other work such as conducting training
seminars or providing an ongoing service. Add
that too.
Method, procedure, theory. In most proposals, you'll
want to explain how you'll go about doing the proposed
work, if approved to do it. 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. However, 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 forestry proposal, the writer
gives a bit of background on how timber management is
done. Once again, this gives you the proposal writer a
chance to show that you know what you are talking about,
and build confidence in the audience that you are a good
choice to do the project.
Schedule. Most proposals contain a section
that shows not only the projected
completion date but also key milestones for
the project. 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.
(See the examples of the schedule section in
the examples proposals listed at the
beginning of this chapter.
Qualifications. Most proposals contain a summary
of the proposing individual's or organization's
qualifications to do the proposed work. It's like a
mini-resume contained in the proposal. The
proposal audience uses it to decide whether you
are suited for the project. Therefore, this section
lists work experience, similar projects, references,
training, and education that shows familiarity with
the project. (See the examples of the qualifications
section in the examples proposals listed at the
beginning of this chapter.)
Costs, resources required. 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 rates, projected
hours, costs of equipment and supplies, and so forth,
and then calculate the total cost of the complete
project. 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.
Conclusions. 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). 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.
Special project-specific sections. Remember that
the preceding sections are typical or common in
written proposals, not absolute requirements.
Similarly, some proposals may require other sections
not discussed above. Don't let your proposal
planning be dictated by the preceding discussion.
Always ask yourself what else might my audience
need to understand the project, the need for it, the
benefits arising from it, my role in it, my
qualifications to it What else might my readers need
to be convinced to allow me to do the project? What
else do they need to see in order to approve the
project and to approve me to do the project?