How to Write an Advertising or Marketing Business Proposal

Do you specialize in developing marketing plans for products? Or perhaps you’re a graphic design expert who works in the field of advertising. Or maybe you sell ads on radio or television.

Whether you specialize in advertising or in the larger world of marketing in general, you know that the success of your business depends on keeping a steady stream of satisfied clients. Mass mailing brochures or networking at meetings in person can help you identify potential clients, but to land a contract, you will probably need to write targeted proposals for specific projects.

If you’re not a writer, the prospect of writing a business proposal can sound a little intimidating. This article will show you that it’s not as difficult as you may imagine. First of all, you know your business and what you have to offer, so you know how to talk about your services. Now, all you have to do is put yourself in the potential client’s place, and write your information in an easy to follow sequence.

No matter what type of goods or services you are pitching to a potential client, every proposal should use the following four-part structure: 1) an introduction, 2) a client-centered section, 3) a detailed description of what you propose to do, and finally, 4) a section that’s all about your expertise and experience. Your proposal may be five pages long or twenty, and the content in the last three sections will vary according to your business and the project you are proposing, but the order of information will remain the same.

Let’s look at each of these four parts in a little more detail. The introduction should include a Cover Letter, which briefly explains who you are and why you are submitting the proposal, states what you’d like the reader to do next, and provides all your contact information. At the top of the proposal itself you should create a Title Page, which contains a name for your proposal. Keep that simple and descriptive, using titles like “S&T Design Services Proposal to Maxxwell, Inc. for New Corporate Branding Campaign” or “Proposed Marketing Plan for the RT5 Product Line.” For a simple business proposal, that might be all you need in the way of introduction. But if your proposal is more complex, you may want to include also an Executive Summary of your most important points and a Table of Contents to help readers find the sections they want.

The client-centered section often makes the difference between a successful proposal and one that ends up in the slush pile. In this section, your goal is to prove that you understand what your potential client needs and wants. You also want to discuss any concerns you’re aware of. For example, a client might be worried about a specific competitor, connecting with their target market, repeating past mistakes, spending too much money, or not meeting important deadlines. Discuss all of that here. If you need to call the potential client and ask questions about the organization or the proposed project, do it. Doing a little research to show you listen to your client can pay off in a big way.

Even for a short straightforward project, you’ll want a Needs page or Requirements page here to list the specifics for the project. For a more involved project, you may need separate topic pages for Specifications, Schedule, Budget, Deadlines, and other areas you want to describe in detail. It’s not time yet to talk about what you can do for your client; this section is all about the client and proving you have listened to their needs.

After you have finished describing the needs and concerns of your client, move on to the next section, the description of your goods and services. Here, you will describe exactly what you propose to do for the project, how your ideas will meet the needs laid out in the previous section, how this will benefit the client, and what it will cost.

For a simple proposal, you might need only a Solutions or Services Provided page and a Price List or Cost Summary. For a longer proposal, you may want to include topics like Options, Packages, Schedule, Market Study, Venues, Subcontractors, Teamwork, Market and Audience, Sales Plan, Marketing Plan, Promotion, Advertising, Demographics, Publicity, Packaging, Brand Development, and so forth - it all depends on the project. Your objective in this section is to describe in detail what you plan to do and explain how your ideas will provide the solution to the client's needs. Be as specific as possible.

Last but never least is the all-about-you section. This is where you need to include all the information you have that will persuade the potential client that you are the best pick to accomplish their project. You’ll want to include topic pages like About Us or Company History, perhaps a page named Staff, Personnel, or Teams, pages that describe relevant Experience or list Clients you’ve done similar work for, and lists of successful Projects you’ve accomplished. If you have Awards, special Certifications or Training, or Testimonials from satisfied clients, you’ll want to include those, too.

There you have it—at this point, you have created the first draft of your proposal. Now take the time to perfect it. Use a good proofreader or editor to make sure all pages are error-free, and format the pages well so they are visually appealing, too. You might want to add design elements such as special fonts or bullet points, or add color or your own corporate logo.

Then print your proposal or bundle it into a PDF file, and deliver it to your client by whatever method is likely to make the best impression (email, upload to your web site, print and deliver, etc.).

Did you know that you can buy specialized products to help you write business proposals quickly and efficiently? Proposal Kit is the best—it has topic templates (hundreds, including those listed above), sample proposals (dozens), basic contracts, and of course, instructions for use. Each template page includes suggestions and examples, so you’ll never sit staring at a blank page, wondering what to put on it. The sample proposals will show you what a wide variety of finished business proposals might look like.

There’s optional wizard software, too, to help you put a lengthy proposal together. You can choose from a variety of graphic designs to give your proposal a professional look, or you can adapt all the pages to your own designs and logo. The product is a great buy for producing reports and studies, too; you’ll want to use it for all your office projects.

How to Write a Grant Funding Proposal

To secure the funding you need to launch your project, you’ll want to apply for a grant.

There are government grants, private grants, foundations offering grants to support causes of various kinds, grants for nonprofits, and grants for businesses.

But each grant organization has limited funds to give away, so they must select the most worthy applicants. How do you prove that you are worthy? By writing a dynamite proposal.

If you are new to proposal writing, the prospect of creating a grant proposal may sound intimidating. However, there’s no need to fret. It doesn’t matter what sort of organization you represent, or whether your project is starting a small family business, seeking funding for an education program, or creating a nonprofit agency to do charitable work. You already know the information you need to present: the particulars of the project you are proposing, what your organization can do, the benefits to the community you will serve, and so forth. All you need to learn is the best way to present that information.

Your goal is not to brag about yourself or your organization, but to demonstrate that you are professional, have a good understanding of what is needed and required to succeed, have a detailed business plan in place, and that you can be trusted to use the grant monies to fulfill your promises.

Begin your proposal writing project by imagining that you are on the committee that awards the grants. What does that committee want to see? What are their requirements and restrictions? Do they have specific forms that must be filled out, or a list of questions that must be answered in your proposal? Find out as much as possible about the grant organization. Do they have a mission statement? Do they have a particular focus for their grants (such as small business startups, education, environmental, charitable, faith-based, or community-health-oriented projects)? Have they funded projects like yours in the past? Make sure you understand who your proposal readers will be. It will pay off in the long run to do some research up front if you need to.

All grant proposals share the same basic structure: introduction, a section that acknowledges the requirements of the grant committee and explains the needs of the community your project will serve, a section that describes in detail how your project will meet those requirements and needs and what it will cost, and a final section describing why you are qualified to manage this project and make it a success.

Now, keeping your readers always in the forefront of your thoughts, begin your proposal writing project. The introduction section is the shortest. It should include a Cover Letter, which is not actually a page within the proposal, but should always accompany the proposal and be the first page that a reader would see. Keep your cover letter short—simply explain who you are, why you are applying for this grant at this time, and what you hope to do next (schedule a meeting, receive notification that you’ve been approved, etc.). Be sure to provide all your contact information in the cover letter.

Next, create a Title Page. Simply name your proposal in a descriptive way: “Request for Funding to Start a Sustainable Farming Project in Zaire,” “A Plan for a Teen Club in the Baker Neighborhood,” or “New Johnson Furniture Manufacturing Plant Will Bring Jobs to Our Area,” for example. If your proposal is complex, you may need to add a Table of Contents and an Executive Summary (a list of the most important points) next, but you can come back and do that later. Otherwise, a Cover Letter and Title Page are all that are required for the introduction section.

Moving on to the section where you describe needs and requirements, carefully consider the point of view of your proposal readers. First of all, they want to know about the needs your project will fulfill, whether those needs are commercial or charitable. At the very least you will want a Needs Assessment page, but you may also want to include topic pages like Project Background, Importance, Challenges, Present Situation, Market Demand, or Opportunities. It’s also helpful to think about how your project will benefit the grant organization, and include topics such as Benefits, Social Responsibility, Community, Constituency, Demographics, Strategic Alliances, Social Media, or Publicity to describe how your project will reflect positively on your supporters and give them greater visibility.

After you have described the need for and the benefits of your project, you will explain in detail how you plan to meet those needs and accomplish your project and what it will cost. Depending on the nature of your project, the topics in this section may vary widely. You’ll need at least a Project Plan page and a Cost Summary page. For a small business startup, this project-centered section might also contain pages like Schedule, Materials, Staff, Milestones, Resource Management, Facilities, Equipment, and Marketing Plan, just to name a few possibilities. For an education project, you might need specific pages like Tutoring, Mentoring, Assessment, Accountability, Classes, and so forth. For a charitable project, you might include topics like Approach, Training Plan, Responsibilities, Use of Funds, Oversight, Supervision, Candidates, and so forth. Use all the topics you need to thoroughly explain your plan. The more specific you can be, the more credibility you will have. If your project will be ongoing, the grant committee will want to see a Return on Investment, Future Potential, or Sustainability topic to understand your plan for the future.

In the final section, your goal is to convince the proposal readers that you can be trusted to carry out your plan and deliver on the promises you have made. You’ll need pages like About Us, Company History, Experience, Capabilities or Successes to show how you’ve carried out similar projects in the past, and topics like Achievements, Awards, Referrals, References, Expertise, Certifications, and so forth to demonstrate that you are an expert in your field.

You might want to include lists of Team Members or Personnel to showcase the skills of the staff who will work on the project. Include all the topics that are likely to persuade your readers that you can successfully complete the project. Finally, wrap up your proposal with a Funding Request page, where you ask for the funds you need for your project.

That’s all there is to writing a proposal. But you’re not quite finished yet. You want the proposal to be as professional as possible, so take some time to edit and proofread all the wording. It’s easy to miss mistakes in your own work, so it’s usually best to enlist someone who is not familiar with your project to do the final pass. Make the pages look neat and attractive, too. Using interesting graphic images on pages, splashes of color in headings, or distinctive bullet points can add visual interest and make your proposal more appealing. When all your pages sound and look perfect, it’s time to submit your grant proposal in print or PDF format to the supporting organization.

Writing a grant proposal will be easier if you do not start from scratch. A dedicated product like Proposal Kit can make your writing projects much efficient. Proposal Kit contains templates for all the topic pages mentioned above, as well as hundreds more. Each template contains instructions and examples of the type of information to include on that topic page. There are also dozens of sample project proposals that you can use for inspiration.

Proposal Kit includes instructions and helpful articles, and even basic contracts you can adapt for your own use. You can choose special graphic design packs and automated wizard assembly options, too. Using Proposal Kit can give you a jump start on your first grant proposal, and you’ll quickly see how you can use the product over and over again to efficiently produce all sorts of proposals, reports, studies, and a wide variety of business documents.

How to Use the Records Management Toolkit

The Records Management Toolkit (RMTK) is designed to accelerate planning and significantly reduce the time spent creating documentation for the development of a Records and Information Management Program. 

The Records Management Toolkit uses a standard methodology of the six phases in the Records Management (RM) process to guide the professional when to use the Records Management Toolkit templates throughout the complete program life cycle. 

Developing a Records or Information Management Program is a process that can be planned before deciding on a RM software platform or used for improving business processes and making changes to existing Records Management Programs.  The templates and sample documents in the Records Management Toolkit are the same phases that the larger corporations use but can be scaled to fit your business needs.
  
The Six Phases of an Information Management Program

The six phases include all the elements found in a Records or Information Management (RIM) Program. Each phase builds on the knowledge gained from previous phases and can be used to answer critical decision making questions about the direction and scope of your Enterprise Content Management (ECM) initiative.

1.    Current State Analysis Phase – The review and identification of all existing policies and procedures and business processes that generate content. The Current State Analysis looks at where the organization is at with Records Management and identifies gaps in the current process. Use the Records Management Toolkit templates and sample documents to define the as-is state:

• Make the initiative known with the Records Management Topic Template to gain awareness and support from upper management for a RIM or ECM program. 
• Use the Records Management Program Analysis Document to take a critical look at the current as-is state and define the goals of the RM Program.  The analysis will shed light on the gaps in the current policies and procedures and draw attention to regulatory and compliance risks.  The analysis may also be used to identify if the organization needs large scale Records Management software or a well-organized network file share.  The analysis will define the benefits from an Information Management Program and the critical areas to start managing records and content.

2.    Justification Phase – The Business Case for moving forward and developing the records management program.  Use the Business Case for Records Management and Records Management Return on Investment Calculator to scope the project, identify resources, and determine the return on investment.  The Justification Phase can also help identify if the professional can “do it yourself“or hire external resources.

3.    Discovery Phase – Before developing or making changes to a file plan an inventory of documents should be performed for the identification and analysis of content throughout the enterprise.  The inventory tells us what records are important and need to be managed as well as the volume and growth rate of content thought the organization.

Use the Records Inventory Worksheet Questionnaire for Business Units and or Records Management Pre-Inventory Survey to help scope the program, identify content, stakeholders, and champions for the program.  For some businesses the survey and questionnaire may provide enough information to start developing policies, procedures, and organizational changes for the management of content. 

For larger projects the professional should follow up with a detailed physical inventory using the Records Inventory Worksheet.   The detailed inventory worksheet includes the use of metadata and common vocabulary for searching content, the identification of vital and non-vital records as well as the location of content and the potential for migration to a central repository.  The Records Survey and Inventory Analysis document guides the professional to the next steps for developing an information management strategy for designing Content Management applications or file systems based on the inventory results.

4.    Governance Phase – Addresses how a Records Management Program will be managed.  A governance plan identifies the operational tools to govern and the individuals or committees that make decisions and own the content.  The Records Management Governance Plan lays the foundation and groundwork for users to comply with legal requirements and improved operations. 

5.    Initiate Phase – Start building the framework for the Information Management Program by documenting and updating policies, procedures, and standardizing on taxonomy and metadata. Use the RM Program Analysis Document, Business Case for RM, Records Survey and Inventory Analysis, and RM Governance Plan to correct the gaps in the current process, update policies and procedures and RM software system design.  Use the following forms and worksheets for rapid application development of departmental or enterprise information management software applications and provide the tools to allow users to act in accordance with the new program and provide guidance.

• Records Management Policies and Procedures – Defines the polices and functions of the Records Program.  This document includes compliance and regulation plans for the organization. 
• Records Access Security Plan – Identifies where security is needed, who needs access and who is responsible. 
• Records Management Metadata Model – Documents the sources of metadata search criteria for content.
• Records Management Taxonomy Topic Template – Classification scheme for content.
• Records Management File Plan Template – Organizes documents and records using a controlled vocabulary or taxonomy for the management of content throughout the document’s life cycle.
• Records Management Expanded File Plan Template - Detailed File Plan for larger scoped Information Management Programs.
• Application for Records Retention Form – Policy and Procedure Form for adding records to be managed as part of the program. 
• Authorization for Records Destruction Form - Policy and Procedure Form for authorizing destruction of records.
• Formal Record Hold Investigation Form - Policy and Procedure Form for requesting content for a legal hold.
• Formal Record Hold Notice Form - Policy and Procedure Form notifying users of a legal hold.
• Release of Legal Hold Notice Form - Policy and Procedure Form notifying users of the release of the legal hold.
• Record Retention Schedule Change Form - Policy and Procedure Form notifying users of a change in retention schedules.
• Legal Hold and Discovery Log - Policy and Procedure log for tracking legal holds.
• Records Disposition Log - Policy and Procedure log for tracking destroyed records.
• Physical Content Management Box Label - Policy and Procedure Form for tracking physical records.

Evaluation Phase– the Information Management Program is not a static part of business. The program will evolve and change with business requirements and technology and should be revised and reviewed on a regular basis.  The Information Management Program will need to be maintained and the Records Management Governance Plan should include a schedule to periodically review the program documents to make sure they are still relevant and in compliance.

Record Management Toolkit is part of the Proposal Kit Professional product available only from Proposal Kit.

How to Setup Your Records Management Program

Why Does a Small Business Need a Records Management Program?

The need to manage large volumes of records is not just for big businesses. There are many types of small businesses that must retain paper and digital records for legal reasons for extended periods of time.  Accountants, lawyers, contractors and medical professionals are just some of those types of businesses.

A well-defined process of how to handle and dispose of your records must be put into place before problems occur that require producing documents to support a case and to ensure you follow required regulations.

The Successful Business

Successful companies recognize that organizing content gives them a competitive advantaged and that Content Management positions them better for growth. In the past, the benefits of Content Management have been leveraged by larger companies based on efficiencies more than cost savings.

This has been a leading reason why most average sized businesses have not developed Records Management Programs.  However, Information Management or Enterprise Records Management (ERM) is now more assessable than ever as software applications integrate records management functionality bringing cost savings to the forefront of the benefits of ERM. 

With low cost options such as SharePoint the adoption of Content Management relies on the average company having the same tools and knowledge as the large corporations to develop and design Records and Information Management (RIM) Programs.  

Information Management

Developing a Records or Information Management Program is a process that can be planned before deciding on a Records Management (RM) software platform or used for improving business processes and making changes to existing Records Management Programs.

The six phases in the RM process for Program Management are the same phases that the larger corporations use but can be scaled to fit your business needs. 
The Information Management Program is not a static part of business.  The program will evolve and change with business requirements and technology and should be revised and reviewed on a regular basis. 

Figure 1 Phases of an Information Management Program

                                                       

The Six Phases of an Information Management Program

Each phase builds on the knowledge gained from previous phases and can be used to answer critical decision making questions about the direction and  scope of your Enterprise Content Management (ECM) initiative.  

Current State Analysis Phase – The review and identification of all existing policies and procedures and business processes that generate content.  The Current State Analysis looks at where the organization is at with Records Management and identifies gaps in the current process.  This helps answer the questions:

• Do I need Records Management software or a well-organized network file share?
• What are the gaps in policies and procedures?
• Is there a low or high risk of litigation?
• Is the company in compliance?
• Can the organization benefit from Content Management?
• Where are the critical areas to start managing records and content?

Justification Phase – The Business Case for moving forward and developing the records management program.   The Business Case answers the questions:

• How big is this project? 
• When will I get a return on investment? 
• What are my resources?
• Can I do it myself?

Discovery  Phase – The identification and analysis of content throughout the enterprise tells us:

• What records are important and need to be managed.
• The volume and growth rate of content thought the organization.
• Metadata and common vocabulary that should be used to search for content.
• The location of content and potential for migration to a central repository.
• How long to keep records and non-vital content.

Governance Phase– Addresses how a Records Management Program will be managed:

• Who will make decisions and own the content?
• Who authorizes the destruction of records?
• Who is the authority in legal circumstances and how to manage the situation?
• Define the required audits and controls for tracking content.

Initiate Phase – Start building the foundation of the Information Management Program by documenting and updating policies, procedures, and standardizing on taxonomy and metadata.  Then using the information gathered from the As-Is analysis, Business Case, and Inventory Analysis a comprehensive program can be developed to include: 

• Up to date policies and procedures.
• Records Management Software Application selection and development.
• Departmental or Enterprise File Plan with retention schedules.
• Access and Control plan for document security.

Evaluation Phase- Ongoing review and maintenance of the program:

• Plan for the future.
• Make sure the program is relevant.
• Measure your success.
• Modify to meet your business needs.

The practice of Records Management can seem to be regimented to non-industry professionals taking a deep dive into the world of Records and Information Management (RIM). 

Someone researching Content Management for the first time might quickly become overwhelmed and decide that RIM is too complex to achieve good results.  This is because understanding just the concepts and phases of developing and managing a Records Program is not enough. 

You need the tools to be able to take action and take advantage of the standards and best practices that large corporations pay consultants thousands of dollars for.  Now, for the first time, the tools of the trade are available for individuals and companies looking to save significant amounts money and time deploying Records Management. 

The Records Management Toolkit is a set of templates, spreadsheets, detailed examples and calculators that can be used to jump starts your Information Management Program.

With these tools the same successes and benefits of large corporations can be leveraged by IT Professionals, Project Managers, Program Managers, Records Clerks, and Entrepreneurs by taking advantage of cost and efficiency benefits of a well-planned Information Management Program.

Records Management Toolkit is part of the Proposal Kit Professional product - available only from Proposal Kit.

How to Write a Home Care Services Proposal

Do you run a lawn care, landscaping, pest control, pool cleaning or other type of home care company? In these days of expense cutbacks and job layoffs, you may be experiencing diminished demand as more homeowners and small business owners do their own work at their homes and businesses. There are probably a lot of other business types planning to jump into your work category, too, so your competition is likely to be growing.

What's your plan for getting new customers and gaining market share in your area? You could go door to door and hand out cards or brochures, or take out ads in the local publications. Those strategies might get you some name recognition, but they're not likely to win you long-term contracts. To get those, you'll probably need to write a proposal.

Right now you may be thinking: Uh-oh, I know my business, but I know nothing about proposal writing. Not to worry—knowing your business means that you already have most of the information you need to put into a proposal. Now you need to learn the proper structure for a proposal.

Proposals should have basic four-part sequence:  introduction,  an all-about-the-customer section,  an all-about-what-you're-offering section, and finally,  an all-about-why-you're-the-best section.
The topic pages in every proposal will be a bit different, because each customer, company, and proposed project will be different. Your proposal might be four pages or forty pages long, but for maximum success, it should still follow this basic structure.

And here's another tip about proposal writing: you don't need to start from scratch unless you really want to. You can make your life easier and write your proposal faster if you start with a product like Proposal Kit, which includes templates for hundreds of proposal topics, each with instructions and examples to help you get the appropriate information on the page.

And there are sample proposals in the Proposal Kit products, too, so you can see what finished proposals might look like (and copy ideas from them).  Proposal Kit even has templates for contracts, too, if you need those.

Now, let's discuss that four-part structure mentioned above in a bit more depth. The introduction section will be the shortest—just write a Cover Letter that explains who you are and why you're writing and provides your contact information. Then follow the Cover Letter with a Title Page, which is simply the title for your proposal.

This is likely to be something like "Proposal for Landscape Care for the Martinson Home" or "Maintenance Plan for the XYZ Condominium Complex." If your proposal is simple, that's it for the introduction section. If your proposal is lengthy, you might want to include a summary page of important points (called a Client Summary or Executive Summary) and/or a Table of Contents to help readers find their way around.

In the all-about-the-customer section, describe your understanding of what your prospective customer wants and needs, as well as any concerns and requirements that the customer has. Topic pages that might go in this section have names like Needs, Budget, Objectives, Requirements, and so forth.

You probably already know this information from a preliminary conversation or perhaps even from a request for proposal (RFP). If you don't know all this, it's worth your time to do some research, because proving that you know your client will make your proposal much more likely to be accepted.

In the all-about-what-you're-offering section, describe how what you're proposing to do will meet those needs and follow those requirements. Explain exactly what you propose to do, what it will cost, and how your services will benefit the customer.

Topic pages in this section might have names like Services Provided, Cost of Services, Benefits, Schedule, Guarantee, What to Expect, and so forth. Depending on your business, you might also need to include specialty pages, like an Environmental page for discussing how waste will be handled, an Equipment page to describe what sort of machinery you'll use, and so forth. Stick to the facts in this section; save any bragging for the wrap-up, which comes next.

After you've described exactly what you propose to do, it's time to explain to your customer why you should get the job. This is the all-about-why-you're-best section, where you will include topic pages about your Experience, your Credentials or Certifications, your Personnel, your Company History, etc. If you've won Awards, received Referrals, or have Testimonials from existing clients, you'll definitely want to include those, too.

And in the very last page of your proposal, insert your request for the reader to take the next step—call your office, set up an appointment, sign the enclosed contract; whatever you want to happen next. This is what is known as a Call to Action.

(By the way, Proposal Kit includes all the topic pages mentioned here, and you can customize any topic page for your own needs, too, because each proposal should be tailored for a specific client and project.)

After you have all the words done for your proposal, take a little time to make it look nice, because it's human nature to favor the best-looking proposal. You could add visual interest with colored borders on your pages, use special bullets or different fonts, or include your company logo. Proposal Kit can help here, too, with specialty packs designed to present a professional appearance and a graphic theme.

Last but certainly not least, it's vital to proofread each page. If spelling and grammar are not your strengths, you might want to hire a professional proofreader to perfect your text, because a proposal that does not seem professional might cause the reader to believe your business practices will fall short of perfection, too. 

Send out your proposal in whatever manner is most likely to impress your prospective client: a PDF file sent via email, or a printed copy delivered by messenger, mail service, or by hand.

That's it! Not so hard, was it? Of course, you've still got to write the proposal, but now you understand that every proposal has a basic structure for you to fill in. If you want a big head start toward the finish line, head on over to ProposalKit.com and check out what their products can do for you.

How to Write a Graphic Design Project Proposal

If you're a freelance graphic designer, odds are that many of your projects will be pretty short. So you continually need to establish relationships with new clients and land new contracts. How are you going to get the jobs you want? You need to master the art of writing a proposal.

But you're a graphic designer, you protest, not a writer. That's okay: you already know what you can do for your clients, what it will cost, and you can explain to them why you're the best choice for the job. And that's the bulk of the information that goes into a proposal.

Graphic design can encompass a lot of different services—company logos, web sites, product packaging, book design, printing—you name it. That variety means that the specific topics in your proposal will be a bit different than someone else's. But no matter what your specialty is or what the project might be, there is a basic structure that every proposal should follow.

Here it is: introduction, a section about your client, a section describing your goods or services, and then a section about why your company can be trusted to deliver on your promises. That doesn't sound so hard, does it?

You don't need to start off with a blank page, either. You can use a product like Proposal Kit to take a giant stride forward toward the finish line. Proposal Kit has hundreds of proposal topic templates with instructions and examples to help you get the right information down on each page. There are sample proposals in there, too, including one on corporate branding and one on marketing—these will give you great ideas on what your finished proposal might look like. And Proposal Kit also offers contract templates for graphic designer services, which can save you more time and legal fees.

But for now, let's work through that proposal structure from the beginning. The introduction is the shortest section—generally just a cover letter followed by a title page. The cover letter should explain who you are, why you're writing, and provide your contact information. The title page simply names your proposal. The title should say exactly what the proposal is, like "Corporate Branding Design Services for XYZ Corporation" or "Design and Print Proposal for Your Christmas Catalog."

If your proposal is relatively simple, you're done with the introduction. If it's complex, you might need to add a Client Summary of important points, or insert a table of contents here when you're finished writing the proposal.

The next section should be all about your prospective clients' needs, goals, and requirements. It's important to show that you understand their point of view, so ask yourself—what do they need from me? What are the objectives they want to accomplish? Are there any restrictions, such as budget, schedule, interfacing with other parties, and so forth?

Don't insert your ideas yet; in this section, you should show that you know what the clients are looking for. If you don't know much about the clients or the project, then you need to do your research before you start writing. A good proposal is never all about you; focusing on the clients' needs is what separates successful proposals from proposals that end up in the recycle bin.

Next comes the section where you explain how you can meet the clients' objectives and follow those requirements that you just described. No bragging yet—just explain in detail what you propose to do, how much it will cost, and how the clients will benefit from your solutions.

The pages in this section will vary from proposal to proposal, because projects and services differ. For example, you might need to include a topic on Packaging or Prototyping, while another graphic design company might need to include a topic about Printing.

In the final section, it's time to tell the prospective client why you're the best. You'll add pages like Company History, Experience, Credentials, Education, Projects, Case Study and so forth, to show that you have the experience and know-how the client needs.

And it always looks better when you can add compliments from others, so insert pages like Awards, Referrals, Testimonials, and so forth—use all the ammunition you have to support your claim that you're the right pick for the job. The very last page should be a Call to Action, requesting the proposal readers to take the next step—contact you for a meeting, send in the contract, whatever it is that you want them to do next.

Now you have the structure filled in with the topics you need. But you still have two tasks to complete before you send out the proposal. First, make it look good—you're a graphic designer! Add splashes of color with page borders or logos or other style elements; use special bullets or fonts.  Second, proofread every page to make sure your proposal sounds professional; if your proposal seems carelessly thrown together, your potential client might assume your design work will be sloppy, too.

Finally, deliver the proposal. You might attach it to email as a PDF, or print it and deliver it by mail service or by hand. Use the method that you believe will most impress your client.

That's all you need to know about writing a proposal. You'll use a lot of the same pages in all your proposals because you're describing your organization and your services, but each proposal will be a little different from the next, because it will be tailored to a specific client and project.

Using Proposal Kit will make your proposal projects faster and more complete. And if you don't want to spend time on your own page designs, Proposal Kit comes with professionally designed packs that give a special "look" to your proposal pages. But no matter whether the pages are stylized or plain text to begin with, each Proposal Kit product includes the same topic templates with examples and instructions, and the same sample proposals to give you great ideas.

How to Write a Mining Industry Business Proposal

The price of minerals is up all over the world, and mining is a growth business right now. Everyone wants to jump in. There are all sorts of aspects to the mining industry you may want to take advantage of. Maybe you want approval from a government agency to open a new mining operation.

Maybe you want to expand an existing operation or revive an old one. Perhaps you hope to interest investors in a mining project, sell equipment and machinery, or sell services such as safety training or environmental cleanup to the mining industry.

So how are you going to go about pitching your ideas to the people that need to hear them? You could try a direct mail or email campaign, but it's not likely that either of those would be persuasive enough. To get the attention of the appropriate decision-makers and prove that you know what you're talking about, you need to write a proposal.

Sure, you could hire a professional proposal writer. But you're going to have to supply a writer all the information for the proposal, so why not write it yourself? You can always hire an editor to fix grammar and punctuation errors before you send out the final version.

So what should go into a proposal? Each proposal will contain different topics because of the endless possible combinations of businesses and situations, but this article will explain the basic structure that you should follow to create a successful proposal. You don't need to start from scratch, either, unless you want to. You can speed up the process with a package like Proposal Kit and start your project with pre-designed templates, instructions, and sample proposals in hand.

Here's the basic structure for any sort of business proposal:  Introduce yourself and your proposal, show that you understand the proposal reader's needs, explain how your ideas, goods, or services will meet those needs and what they will cost, and convince the proposal reader that you are the right party for the job.

The secret to a successful proposal lies in part 2, showing that you understand the proposal reader's needs. Because, although of course you want to get whatever you're seeking—the loan, the approval, or the contract—a proposal should never be all about you. Each proposal needs to be tailored to the party who is going to read it.

Think about your proposal readers first. What do they want? What do they need? What will they want to know about you and your ideas? If you need to, do some research about your potential clients, customers, or investors so you can prove to them that you understand their concerns; the extra effort will pay off in the long run.

Now that you understand the basic structure and the secret, let's fill in some more details, starting at the beginning.

Part 1, the introduction, should consist of a brief cover letter that tells your reader who you are and what you're seeking from them, and provides all your contact information. The cover letter should also include a mention of what you'd like the reader to do after considering your proposal (approve the project, sign the contract, give you the funding, etc.—this is your "call to action").

Following the cover letter, create a title page that introduces your proposal (for example, "Proposal to Open a Silver Mine in the XYZ Basin," "Environmental Cleanup of the XYZ Mines," or "Proposal to Lease Heavy Equipment to the XYZ Mining Company").

If your proposal is complex, you may need to follow the title page with what is called an Executive Summary or a Client Summary—a page that lists your most important points. This sort of summary page is generally included for high-level decision makers, who may read only this page and leave the details of your proposal for their subordinates to analyze.

Again, if your proposal is long or complex, you may want to follow this summary page with a table of contents (TOC). You may not be able to generate a TOC until you're done with the body of your proposal (Proposal Kit can create one for you, by the way), but this is where the table of contents belongs in the structure.

On to the all-important Part 2: demonstrating that you understand the needs and concerns of your proposal readers. Obviously the topics in this section will vary depending on your audience, but you'll probably want to include topic pages with titles like Needs, Requirements, and Opportunities.

You might want to include discussions of issues like Challenges and Risks to show you understand the big picture, too. Remember, this section is not about selling yourself, but about showing your readers that you understand their interests and concerns.

In Part 3, you describe exactly what you're proposing, what it will cost, and how it will benefit your potential clients, investors, or the community or market in general. Remember that this section is still not about why you are the best pick, but about how your ideas, products, or services can benefit the proposal reader's organization.

The topics you include here will depend on exactly what you're proposing to do. You might need topic pages for Environmental issues, Equipment, Safety, Training, Transportation, Security, or Marketing, just to name a few. Include details and costs of what you're offering, topics like Products, Services Offered, Price List, Cost of Goods, Benefits, and so forth.

Finally, in Part 4, it's your turn to describe why you're the best choice to receive the funding, approval, and/or the contract. Include topics like your Company History, Projects, Experience, Personnel, Education, Certifications, and so forth. It's always more impressive to readers if others sing your praises, so be sure to add topics like Awards, Referrals, and Case Studies that showcase successes you've had in the past.
At the very end of Part 4, you should conclude the proposal with a Call to Action, specifically asking for whatever it is you want your reader to do next—set up a meeting, sign a contract, give you approval or funding, and so forth.

At this point, you have written the basic draft of your proposal. Now, before you send it out, you have two more tasks to complete. First, hire that editor if you need to, but proofread every single page—if you send out an unprofessional-sounding proposal, odds are the recipients will think your business practices are sloppy, too.

Second, as well as sounding professional, your proposal needs to look professional. So make the pages look good, and consider adding splashes of color and graphic touches with your company logo, special bullets, interesting fonts, etc. Proposal Kit can help here, too, because the company offers a variety of professionally designed proposal packages you can choose from—you get all the same ingredients, but you can choose different graphic "looks" to represent your business.

When your proposal is as polished as it can be, send it out, attached to email as a PDF file or as a printed copy sent via mail or delivered by hand. Choose the delivery method that makes sense for you and your recipients, always keeping in mind that you want to impress them.

So now you can see that anyone who has great ideas or products or services to offer can put together a business proposal, whether it's for a mining project or any other. Writing a proposal doesn't need to be an intimidating project. You can do it. And remember that Proposal Kit can give you a giant head start. Why not begin ten steps ahead with professional topic templates, instructions, and sample proposals?

How to Write a Project Proposal

So, you have a great idea for a project. As we all know, a "project" could be almost anything. You might be thinking of a neighborhood project, like creating a club where kids can safely hang out after school; an in-house corporate project like teaching employees how to use a new document management system; or a project for a client, such as creating a new commercial website. No matter what sort of project you're planning, the odds are that you need to convince others to approve your ideas and give you the job. That means that you need to write a project proposal.

Don't worry—writing a project proposal is not nearly as difficult as it may sound. You probably already know most of the information you need to put in a proposal. And you don't need to start off by staring at a blank computer screen, either. There are great products available, like Proposal Kit, that give you templates, instructions, and samples to work with—that's a huge head start.

There's also a basic structure you should follow when writing any project proposal. No matter the type of project, you need to: introduce yourself and your project, describe the need and how the project will meet that need, provide the details of what you propose to do and explain the costs, and persuade your proposal readers that you are the perfect choice to successfully complete the project. Finally, you should end with a "call to action," requesting readers to take the next step—setting up a meeting, signing a contract, voting for your ideas; whatever makes sense for your project.

The most important goal of your proposal is to convince the people reading it to approve your ideas and support and fund your project. This means that you have to prove you understand the issues and plan to meet the needs of others. So a good project proposal should never be all about you. Start off by imagining yourself as the proposal reader. What do you already know about the project and the proposal writer? What would you want to know?

First of all, any proposal reader will want to know why you are proposing the project to them. So gather all the information you have about your readers, and do research if you need to fill in some gaps. You need to convince the readers that it's in their best interest to support your project. You need to persuade them that your project will benefit them.

In other words, you need to write not a one-size-fits-all proposal, but a customized proposal. Depending on how many people need to approve your project, you may need to include information tailored to each type of person involved in the approval process. Easy to digest summaries for executives, staffing and resources information for managers and technical or logistics details for project leads.

But this doesn't mean that you need to start from scratch each time. You'll find that most of the basic information stays the same, even though you are addressing a particular reader and or group of readers in each tailored proposal section. You may simply restructure the same information in a couple different ways (bullet points for one person, expanded details for another).
Let's work through the proposal structure in order. Start your proposal with a Cover Letter, which should be a brief personal introduction of yourself and your project, along with a mention of the action you want them to take after reading your proposal. Be sure to include your contact information, so readers can easily find you if they have questions. Next, create a Title Page with the title of your specific proposal (for example, "Streamlining Our Order Process," “Rehabilitating the Parkview Playground,” or “Converting XYZ's Corporate Fleet to Hybrid Vehicles.”

If your project is long and detailed, you'll add a Table of Contents next. This is where Proposal Kit can really help, because the library of topics it includes is extensive enough to cover all types of specialized proposals. Each Proposal Kit template will become a topic page, which will then be listed in your Table of Contents. You can't compile a Table of Contents until you have written the proposal, but remember that your TOC should be placed right after the title page.

Now you have completed the introduction section. Next comes the section where you describe the project needs, goals, and objectives, always keeping the readers' point of view in mind. For an internal company proposal or a complex corporate proposal, you will probably need to start off this section with an Executive Summary, which is basically a list of your most important points. Keep in mind that an upper-level decision maker may read only this Executive Summary. 

Next, outline all the need for the project. You might include pages like Needs Analysis, Project Background, Goals and Objectives, and other details that explain the current need or opportunity.

Next, explain what you propose to do and the benefits your project will provide. Of course, given the variety of the thousands of potential projects, each project proposal will differ dramatically from the next one. The complexity of the project will determine the length of the proposal: your proposal might be only 5 pages long, or more than 50. This is where the topics included in Proposal Kit's extensive library will be incredibly useful. Odds are that you will find a pre-written template for every project detail. There are hundreds of topic templates, so there's no way to list them here. The names shown below are only a few of the most commonly used topics.

For general project information, you can use topics such as Opportunities, Benefits, Project Plan, Project Methods, and so on.

Depending on the type of project, you might need pages like Project Management, Volunteering, Personnel, Supervision, Outsourcing, Facilities, Production Plan, and Schedule topic pages.

You might need evaluation topics such as Expected Results, Evaluation, Acceptance Criteria, Measures of Success, or summary topics such as Project Summary and Recommendations.

If your project is very complex or technical, you may need detail pages such as Documentation, Diagrams, Definitions, Schematics, and Studies.

Any project has costs, so you will probably add financial pages like Budget, Project Cost Summary, Cost/Benefit Analysis, and so on.

To show that you have considered all aspects, think about adding topics such as Assumptions, Risk Analysis, Contingency Planning, Coordination, Project Oversight, and Accountability.

After you've provided all the details for your project, it's time to persuade your readers that you're right for the job. Add topics to describe your Qualifications, Credentials, Company History, and Experience, and be sure to include any Referrals, Testimonials, or Awards you've received. Finally, conclude with a Call to Action, specifically asking readers to take the next step in approving your project.

Those are all the basic steps for writing your proposal. Now you should take some time to make the proposal look good by adding your company logo, choosing special fonts or bullets, or using colored borders on your pages. Be sure to match the style of your proposal to the style of your organization and the type of project, and keep in mind your relationship with your readers.

Spell-check and proof every page before you send the proposal out. It's never a good idea to proofread your own work, so try to find someone else to do the final proofreading pass.

Finally, print the proposal or save it as a PDF file—whatever seems appropriate for your project and your readers. Then deliver it using the method that's customary for your organization. It's common to email PDF files, but these days many people receive so much email that a PDF attachment might be easy to overlook. If you decide to print a complex proposal, make sure the pages are easy to flip through, and add tabs if needed. For an internal company project, you might be sharing editable Word versions using collaboration software.

You can see now how the content of each project proposal will vary widely because of the variety of organizations and types of projects. But you can also see that all project proposals should follow the same basic structure.

Want to speed up the process of creating a proposal? Then use Proposal Kit. Its pre-designed templates contain easy-to-understand instructions and examples that will guide you to add appropriate content to each proposal page. The product includes a variety of sample project proposals, too; studying these can give you great ideas on what to include and how to format your own proposal. And if you need a contract to seal the deal, Proposal Kit offers those, too.

How to Write a Faith-Based Business Proposal

A faith-based proposal, typically written by a church or church council, is essentially the same as a non-profit proposal. However, faith-based proposals tend to be for targeted situations related to helping those in need either locally or abroad.

You probably know your church’s operations inside and out, but you might be new to proposal writing. The task of creating a faith-based business proposal might seem daunting, but don't panic: there are ways to make your job easier. Plenty of resources exist that will show you how to introduce yourself, highlight your organization, outline your needs, and help potential supporters and funders understand that you and your cause deserve their support. Here's the key: you don't have to start from nothing, staring at a blank computer screen. Beginning with pre-written topics and reviewing similar sample proposals can help you write your own winning proposal quickly and efficiently.

It doesn’t matter if you are involved in education, helping the homeless, providing shelter, improving medical access, or gathering food and toys for the holidays. The general structure of a faith-based proposal will always remain the same.

If you are taking the time to write a detailed proposal, it's a good bet that the funding or support request is for a substantial amount and your proposal will be delivered to a foundation or other large organization.  So your proposal should appear professional and business-like.

New proposal writers sometimes make the mistake of talking too much about themselves and not focusing enough on the organization they are requesting support from. Don't do that. Simply asking for support or talking about your organization is only one part of a proposal. Keep in mind that the purpose of a non-profit proposal is to persuade another party to give you their money or material support. To succeed, you must gain the trust of the decision makers and make them understand that you can effectively deliver the goods and services to those in need.

One benefit that a faith-based non-profit organization comes with is an implicit sense of trust. Building trust is a key component (if not the most important) of a business deal.  While you will still need to include topics to instill that sense of trust in your project and organization, this task will be easier for a faith-based organization.

A few foundations and companies will provide support and funding without any strings attached or expectations of anything in return, but with others, you may need to think in terms of asking for support or funding as a marketing avenue. In other words, your proposal will be more persuasive when you describe benefits you can bring to the supporting organization.

To describe those benefits, you would include topics such as your Constituency, Community, Demographics, and so on. Combine these with topics showing a Marketing Plan and Benefits, and show how the funding organization would benefit from giving you their support. Consider adding topics such as Social Responsibility and Philanthropy to outline how supporting your organization will raise the visibility of that organization in the community and give their reputation a positive boost.  You not only want to show off your organization and sing the praises of what you have to offer, but also demonstrate how beneficial the association would be to the funding company.

As a general rule to prepare for writing a non-profit proposal, your first step should be to collect enough information about the potential funding organization to present a proposal that is tailored to that funder. Yes, this research might take some extra work, but that work is much more likely to pay off in crafting a winning proposal. You are in this to get the support your program needs, and you must show that money or material support will be effectively used. Established organizations that provide funding usually have an organizational culture, a donation strategy, and selection and participation rules already in place.  If you know how they operate and the types of projects and needs they prefer to support, you can tailor your support request accordingly. 

Consider the interests of the funding organization you are approaching. Small local businesses are more likely to be willing to provide support for a local community project. A multi-national company will be more likely to support an international outreach program.  A medical supply company will be more likely to support a project to provide medical care. A construction company will be more likely to support a project to build a shelter.  Learning about the backgrounds of the funding companies will help you align the message in your proposal to the values and mission statements of those you approach for support.

After you've gathered information on your prospective supporter, writing the proposal is a reasonably straightforward process. That's because most proposals seeking funding or support follow a similar structure: first comes your introduction, then a summary of the needs that you are addressing, followed by descriptions of the services you will provide or the project you are proposing, as well as all the associated details and costs. Provide information to help the funder understand how they would benefit from supporting your cause and what you can provide to them in exchange. Then, conclude the proposal with information about your organization, such as History, relevant Experience, Credentials, and Capabilities, Vision, Mission Statement and so on.

Proposal Pack Spiritual #1

The introduction section should include a Cover Letter and a Title Page. In the Cover Letter, simply deliver a personal introduction, provide your organization’s contact information, and state your request. The Title Page should introduce your tailored proposal and give a clear message about the project or scope of services you are proposing. Some examples might be "Christmas Toy and Food Drive Needs Your Help," "Send a Student Abroad for the Summer," "Rosemont Church Needs Support for Homeless Shelter," or “Support for Children’s Vaccination Program in Guatemala.”

After your Cover Letter and Title Page, add topic pages that detail the issues faced by the cause you support and explain the support needed. In this section, add topics like Executive Summary, Needs Assessment, Goals and Objectives, Implementation Plan, and Project Background.

After you've described your cause, add pages to show that you understand the organization you are requesting support or funding from. This is where you would outline what they would receive for supporting you, using topics such as Benefits, Philanthropy, Social Responsibility, and so on.

After the sections for the needs and the funder comes your turn to explain what you will do. Include topics like Project Management, Project Methods, and Personnel.  Then include topics to generate trust in your organization, using topics such as Evaluation, Resources, Sources of Funds, Use of Funds, Sustainability, Future Potential, Supporters, Partnerships, Mission Statement, Tax Status, Legal Structure, Experience, Credentials, Capabilities, Programs and Activities, and Awards and Achievements. In other words, include all the topics you need to convince the supporter that you can be trusted to effectively deliver the services and make the best use of their support, that you have the resources to deliver on your promises, and (if needed) that you have a plan for the longevity of the program. Wrap up your proposal with a call to action: include a Funding Request, ask for other support, or request a meeting for further discussion.

After you have all the information written for your proposal, focus on making your proposal look good. Add a splash of color and graphics by incorporating your church's or organization's logo and a matching title page cover. Consider using colored borders and selecting custom bullet points and fonts that match your organization's style.

Proofread and spell-check every page. You should have someone who is unfamiliar with your proposal proof it as well, because it's all too easy to overlook your own mistakes.

Finally, save your proposal as a PDF file or print it, and then deliver it to the potential supporter. The best delivery method will depend on your organization and your relationship with the funder. Emailing PDF files to others is common but a nicely printed, hand-delivered proposal may impress the receiving party more, because it shows you're willing to make a personal effort.

Obviously, each faith-based proposal will vary in details because of variations in organizations and projects. The good news is that faith-based proposals follow a similar format and structure, and you can find all the pre-written topic pages you need in Proposal Kit. The topic templates contain explanations of details those particular pages should contain; they will guide you to write and format appropriate information for your proposal sections. Proposal Kit also contains a wide variety of sample non-profit proposals, including faith-based proposals. These samples will give you great ideas and help you get a jump start on writing your own winning proposal.

How to Write a Proposal for a Non-Profit Organization

It’s hard enough when times are good to get people to fund non-profit projects. When times are tough, deserving organizations have to compete for fewer and fewer resources. People who typically fund non-profits are stretched to their limits, and you need to put together a solid presentation to get their support.

You probably know your organization inside and out, but you might be new to proposal writing. Don't panic. Creating a non-profit business proposal might seem like a daunting task, but there are ways to make your job easier. Plenty of resources exist that will show you how to introduce yourself, highlight your organization, outline your needs, and help donors and supporters understand that you and your cause are worthy of support. Here's the key: you don't have to start by staring a blank computer screen. Using a product that includes pre-written topics and similar sample proposals can help you efficiently create your own winning proposal.

It doesn’t matter if you are involved in retraining, education, helping the homeless, providing shelter, saving the environment, improving medical access, recruiting volunteers, or gathering goods for the holidays. The general structure of a non-profit proposal is the same.

New proposal writers sometimes make the mistake of talking too much about themselves and not focusing on the company or organization they are asking for support from. Don't do that. Simply asking for funding or talking about your organization is only part of the challenge. You write a non-profit proposal to persuade another party to give you their money or material support. This means you must gain the trust of the decision makers and convince them that you can effectively deliver the goods and services to those that need them.

In today's competitive environment, you may also have to do more than just show you have a worthy cause. While there are foundations and companies that will provide support and funding without strings attached or expectations of anything in return, you may have to think of asking for support or funding in terms of a potential marketing avenue for the donor. Your proposal will be more persuasive when you can outline all of the benefits you can provide to the supporting organization.

So you would benefit from including topics such as your Constituency, Market and Audience, Demographics, and so on. Combine these with a Marketing Plan and list of Benefits to show how the funding company would benefit from supporting your cause. Use topics such as Social Responsibility and Philanthropy to explain how supporting your organization will raise the visibility of the company in the community and show them in a positive light.  You not only want to highlight your organization and what you have to offer, but also describe how beneficial the association of the two parties would be to the funding company.

As a general rule to prepare for writing your non-profit proposal, your first step should be to do research and gather information about the potential funding company so that you can present a proposal that is tailored to that funder. Yes, that might take some extra work, but the effort will pay off by making your proposal more likely to be accepted. You don’t win in a competitive market by doing things half-way. Established organizations that provide funding usually have an established culture, strategy, and rules for accepting or rejecting requests.  If you understand how those organizations operate and the types of projects they typically support, you can tailor your request accordingly. 

After you've gathered information about your prospective funder, writing the proposal should be a reasonably straightforward process. That's because most proposals seeking funding or support follow a similar structure: an introduction, then a summary of the needs that are not currently being met which you are addressing, followed by descriptions of the services you will provide or the project you are proposing, as well as details and costs. Next, provide information to help the funder understand how their organization would benefit from supporting your cause. Explain the benefits you can provide to them in exchange for their support. Finally, the proposal should conclude with information about your organization, such as History, relevant Experience, Credentials, and Capabilities, Vision, Mission Statement, and so on.

The introduction section is usually only a Cover Letter and a Title Page. The Cover Letter should deliver a personal introduction, provide your organization’s contact information, and state your request. The Title Page is just what it sounds like: a name for your proposal that indicates the project or scope of services you will provide. Some examples might be "Northridge Community Center Needs 100 Bed Expansion," "South Sound Wildlife Refuge Needs Cleanup Volunteers," "HIV Awareness Tour," or “Healthy Moms, Healthy Children.” 

Next, add topic pages to show the issues faced by the cause you support. Describe the financial and political support that you need and explain your goals.  In this section, you would add pages with titles like Executive Summary, Needs Assessment, Goals and Objectives, Implementation Plan, Project Background, and so on.

After your cause is covered, add topic pages to show that you understand the organization you are requesting support or funding from. This is where you would outline what they would receive for supporting you: the pages here would have titles like Benefits, Philanthropy, Marketing Plan, and Social Responsibility.

After the sections describing the needs and showing the benefits to the funder comes your turn to talk about what you can do. Include topics like Project Management, Project Methods, and Personnel. The final section should be all about generating trust in your organization. This is where you will put topics describing your organization, such as Evaluation, Resources, Sources of Funds, Use of Funds, Sustainability, Future Potential, Supporters, Partnerships, Mission Statement, Tax Status, Legal Structure, Credentials, Capabilities, Programs and Activities, Awards and Achievements and so on. In other words, include everything you need to convince the funder that you can be trusted to deliver on your promises, that you have the resources to deliver, and (if needed) that you have a plan for the longevity of the program. Conclude your proposal with a call to action. You can use the Funding Request template to specifically ask for the funding, request other support such as Volunteering, or ask to schedule a meeting for further discussion.

After you have all the information written for your proposal, it's time to focus on making your proposal visually appealing by adding color and graphics. Incorporate your company logo and use a matching title page cover. Consider colored page borders and or adding custom bullet points and fonts that match your business style.

Once you feel your proposal information and formatting is complete, carefully proofread and spell-check all the pages. You should have someone who is unfamiliar with your proposal proof it as well, because it's very common to miss mistakes in your own work.

Finally, save your proposal as a PDF file or print it and then deliver it to the potential funder. The best delivery method will depend on your organization and your relationship with the funder. You might want to email a PDF file to your potential funder, but keep in mind that a printed and hand-delivered proposal might prove that you value the relationship enough to make a personal effort.

As you can see, a non-profit proposal will vary in details for each organization and project. But it's nice to know that non-profit proposals follow a similar format and structure, and you can find all the topic pages you need in Proposal Kit. These template pages contain explanations of the information that particular proposal pages should contain, and they will guide you in writing and formatting your proposal sections. To further help you out, Proposal Kit also contains a wide variety of sample non-profit proposals. Perusing these will spark your creativity and help you quickly craft your own winning nonprofit proposal.

How to Write a Sponsorship Proposal

What do you do when you want to set up a high visibility endeavor that normally wouldn’t bring in enough income through selling products or services?  You find sponsors and offer them a mutually beneficial arrangement. Most sponsorship deals are essentially marketing deals. One party offers material support and the other offers a marketing service. The best way to find a mutually beneficial sponsorship arrangement is to describe what you can do for each other in a business proposal.

You know your field and what your organization has to offer, but you might be new to proposal writing. Not to worry. Creating a sponsorship business proposal is not as intimidating as it might sound. You simply need to introduce yourself, describe your market, outline your needs, and help potential sponsors understand that you and your endeavor deserve their support. Doesn't sound so hard, does it? And you don't have to start off with a blank page on your computer, either. Using pre-written topics and reviewing samples of similar proposals can give you a giant stride toward finishing your own effective proposal.

It doesn’t matter what you are trying to get a sponsor for (a sports team, an educational program, an expedition, etc.). The general structure of a sponsorship proposal will always be the same.

Inexperienced proposal writers often make the mistake of writing too much about themselves and not focusing enough on the company they are asking for support from. You do not want to do that. Asking for sponsorship support or talking up your organization is only part of the challenge you have to meet. A sponsorship proposal is a document intended to persuade another party to give you their money or material support. To be successful, you must gain the trust of the decision makers and make them understand that you can effectively showcase their products or services in a way that will provide them as much value as they are providing you in sponsorship support.

In today's competitive environment, you have to do more than just show you have a worthy endeavor. Odds are that you won’t find companies willing to provide sponsorship support or funding without strings attached or expectations of something in return. Put yourself in the sponsor's shoes, and think in terms of sponsorship support as a marketing strategy for the sponsor. Your proposal will be more persuasive when you outline all of the benefits you can provide the sponsoring organization.

To describe these benefits, you would include topics such as your Constituency, Market and Audience, Demographics, and so on. You might combine this with a Marketing Plan, and Opportunities and Benefits pages to show how the funding company would benefit from supporting you.  You not only want to show off your organization and describe what you have to offer, but also explain how beneficial the relationship will be to the sponsor.

The first step in creating your proposal should be to collect information about the potential sponsoring company so that you can present a proposal that is tailored to that sponsor. Yes, this research might take some extra work, but this work will make your proposal much more likely to be accepted. You are in this to win. Established organizations that provide sponsorships usually have a culture, strategy, and rules already in place.  Knowing how they operate and the types of endeavors they like to support can help you tailor your request and marketing plan accordingly.  Try to find matching demographics and markets.

After you've gathered data on your prospective sponsor, you're ready to write your proposal. Most proposals seeking sponsorships follow a similar structure: first comes your introduction, then a summary of the endeavor you are seeking sponsorship for, followed by the benefits you have to offer in exchange for the sponsorship. The proposal should conclude with persuasive information about your organization, such as your history, relevant experience, credentials, and capabilities, core values, mission statement and so on.

So, for the introduction section, start out with a Cover Letter and a Title Page. In the Cover Letter, simply write a personal introduction, supply your organization’s contact information, and make your request for sponsorship. The Title Page is precisely that: a page with a title that introduces your tailored proposal and sends a clear message about the endeavor you are seeking sponsorship for. Some examples might be "Increase Local Visibility by Sponsoring Derby Days," "Freemont Youth Club Needs Your Sponsorship," or "Reach More of Your Demographics by Sponsoring Our Team."

After your Cover Letter and Title Page, add topic pages to describe the endeavor you are seeking sponsorship for, as well as what support is needed and why. This is where you would add topics such as an Executive Summary, Needs Analysis, Goals, and Objectives pages, a Sponsorship page, and so on.

After your cause is covered, add pages to demonstrate your understanding of the organization you are requesting sponsorship from. Outline the benefits they would receive for supporting you, using pages with titles such as Benefits, Community, Demographics, Market and Audience, Marketing Plan, and so on.

Include details of all the avenues the sponsor will be promoted in: posters, magazines, television spots, radio spots, flyers, logos displayed on team equipment, etc.  Tell the sponsor how many people will see and hear about them through this sponsorship and explain how beneficial this will be as a marketing campaign. Highlight the fact that you will handle all the details (an extra benefit for which the sponsoring company doesn’t have to expend resources).

After the sections describing the endeavor and the benefits to the potential sponsor comes your turn. The next section should be all about generating trust in your organization. This is where you will put topics such as Use of Funds, Supporters, Partnerships, Alignment, Vision, Principles, Mission Statement, Credentials, Capabilities, Awards, and Achievements and so on; in other words, include everything you need to convince the potential sponsor that you can be trusted to deliver, that you have the resources to deliver, and that your core values and demographics match. End with a call to action, asking for funding or other support, or requesting a meeting for further discussion.

If you are the party who wants to offer a sponsorship deal, you simply flip the information around. The proposal structure, marketing, demographics, and so on are still the same; all you do is pitch the deal from the sponsor's side.

After you have all the writing done, it's time to focus on making your proposal visually appealing by adding some color and graphics. Incorporate your organization's logo; use a matching title page cover. Consider using colored page borders and selecting custom bullet points and fonts that match your organization's style.

Once you feel your proposal is complete, carefully proofread and spell-check all the pages. You should enlist someone who is unfamiliar with your proposal to do the final proof, because it's very common to overlook mistakes in your own work.

Finally, save your proposal as a PDF file or print it. Then deliver it to the potential sponsor. The best delivery method will depend on your relationship with the potential sponsor. Would they prefer a PDF file attached to email? Or would they be more impressed with a printed, hand-delivered proposal? The latter might prove you value the relationship enough to put in some extra personal effort.

As you can see, the content of a sponsorship proposal will vary, depending on the endeavor and the organizations involved. But all sponsorship proposals follow a similar format and structure, and you can find all the pre-written topics you need in Proposal Kit. The topic pages, or templates, contain explanations and examples of the information you should include in those particular pages, and they will guide you in writing and formatting the content for your sponsorship proposal sections. Proposal Kit also contains sample sponsorship proposals that will give you great ideas and help you get a jump start on writing your own winning proposal.