Did you see what I did there? Everyone loves to set aside some quiet time to start a puzzle, and when the last piece of the puzzle is finally put in to place after hours or days of focused arranging and organizing, the experience is all the more rewarding. Writing a professional proposal may not be as relaxing as a puzzle, but it will provide you with a sense of accomplishment… or maybe even a promotion. This blog post will provide you with a foundational knowledge of what a proposal is, why it is necessary, and finally, what components and information to include in a proposal to make it successful.
The Proposal: The Basics
To continue the analogy, the proposal itself is somewhat like a puzzle. It has various components and pieces that must be organized and composed effectively in order to provide a complete and comprehensive picture. Joe Moxley provides a fantastic classification of what a proposal in the professional contexts in his article featured in Writing Commons:
· Proposals are persuasive texts that articulate ways to solve a problem, conduct needed research, or provide a service.
I have included screenshots of a proposal I completed earlier this year. This proposal was written for the purposes of providing a service in response to a project description.
Joe Moxley also provides this description of what exactly a proposal is:
· Proposals are arguments that seek particular outcomes from the readers of the proposals. Proposals can offer to trade services for money or goods, proposals can seek funding to conduct research, and proposals might present a call for action.
Reasoning from this definition enlightens readers of the multifaceted and complex nature of the proposal and the limitless purposes that a proposal serves. An important takeaway derived from this specific article is that the proposal is written, structured, and organized in a way that is tailored to a specific audience, but retains and encompasses the style and individuality of the writer. Writing a proposal requires an immense amount of prep work with regards to extensive research and organization of information, and a proposal template may prove helpful. However, the writer of the proposal must employ techniques and skills that will be representative in their writings and beyond that will accomplish a clearly defined goal. That is, writing a proposal requires a writerthat is just as adaptive, amalgamated, and personalized as the proposal. On the same note, you may find yourself writing a proposal for yourself or on behalf of a client, business, or other corporate entity. No matter the situation, there are certain constituents of the proposal that should be included in order to classify as a proposal. Nonetheless, the format and placement of the components are under the discretion of the writer, and prove to be equally as important as the context itself. The goal of the proposal is to unabashedly, almost, scream “pick me!”. I like to think that the proposal should embody a meaningful quote from the movie The Help:
You [the proposal] is smart
You [the proposal] is kind
You [the proposal] is important
What Constitutes an Effective Proposal?
As mentioned earlier, the proposal will be intuitively read, perceived, and evaluated by individuals who will determine the fate of your proposal, or, whether or not the predetermined goal can or will be achieved. This signifies further the crucial role of personality and passion within the contents of the proposal, but this is not to be confused with the proclamation of personal beliefs within your writing. Rather, in order to effectively convey the value and implications of your proposal, sufficient research and
solid evidence should provide substantial support and promotion of, as well as interconnect with, the respective validation of the urgency, importance, and/or consequences of your proposal. A YouTube production from Georgia State University’s Center for Instructional Innovation explains that a proposal should answer five important questions:
1) What are you going to do?
2) Why is this work important/significant?
3) How are you going to complete the project?
4) How long will it take?
5) What are the outcomes/intended results?
To provide a detailed synopsis of the elements of a proposal, I found this blog post from Elite Essay Writers that lists the steps of how to write successful proposal in any context. I have provided a brief summation of the main headers:
§ Begin with a solid introduction:attract your audience and draw their attention the issue at hand
§ Assert the issue:What is the problem?
§ Suggest Solutions:Here is what I proposethat we (I) do to solve the problem
§ Add a calendar and a financial plan:Identify required tasksand the timeline of each.
§ Conclude your proposal:reiteratethe problem, why it is important, and what the proposed solutions are.
Conclusion
The task of writing a proposal is unsurprisingly daunting. The overwhelming nature of the work, however, may be combated through dedicated research and meticulous organization of information prior to and during the drafting of the document. Whoever the audience and no matter the purpose, the proposal must be clear, concise, factual, and relevant.