How to Write a Project Proposal

The sole purpose of a project proposal is to convince the reader or the authority that the project is viable, and can be completed in a stipulated time. Most of you might have already written one for thesis or research during college days.

This process generally involves an argument that you must support with proof, clarification, justification, analysis, and factual data.

A non-convincing and non-comprehensive proposal is generally rejected, as it shows lack of planning on part of the applicant. So, it is important to draft a good project proposal for every task at hand, be it a business proposal, a research proposal, or a funding proposal.

Given is a template that shows the general structure of a project proposal.

You must provide the reader with primary information about the proposal such as the title of the proposal, name of the applicant individual or a company, date of presenting the proposal, etc.

Executive summary includes the overall information about the project in brief. It should not be more than 1000 words, and should look like an introduction.

In this section you must write the need and scope of the project. You must also include how you came up with the idea.

Here you must present the aims and objectives, expected outcome, and the measurable goals that you want to achieve through the project. This helps the reader to identify the short term and long term goals involved in your planning.

In this section, you must give all the details about how you plan to execute the entire project. Comprehensive information about the methods and ideas you are planning to use should be mentioned here. You must also write about the available resources, and how you will use them, etc.

This is one of the most important aspects of any project proposal. You must present the details of budget allotted to each activity involved. A budget should be categorized properly such as compensations, salaries, supplies, equipment, etc.

In this section, you are supposed to summarize all the details. The summary should also reflect your professionalism, planning, readiness, and passion towards a project.

The aim of such a proposal should be to convince and inspire the donor to donate something for the cause. For this, it should be emotionally appealing to the donor, apart from being professional. Given is a sample template.

Primary Information Executive Summary Background Information Project Details Execution Budget Help Evaluation

Title: Fundraising Proposal for Orphanage
Name of the Organization: Mary's Kids Orphanage, California
Date: October 22, 2010

In this section a brief introduction about the organization should be given. For example, when the organization was started, the mission, and vision statement of the organization, and brief introduction to the project, etc. For example, say you are planning a 3-day education tour for the children, but do not have the resources.

In this section you must mention information about how your program is going to be beneficial for the kids. For example, an educational tour would be a constructive recreation for the kids, and expose them to new scientific things in the world. It will add to their knowledge and help in academics as well, etc.

Here you must give all the details of the trip that you are organizing. For example, the venue, how long the journey would be, how many children are going, their food and lodging arrangements, etc.

Here you must mention how many people are going to monitor the trip, how many personnel are appointed, their duties and responsibilities, etc.

In this section, you must present the entire budget for the trip, and should categorize it in travel expenses, lodging expenses, food expenses, etc. Once you present the budget you must also mention how much contribution you can make, and how much you expect from the donor.

Since it is a project proposal for funding you must request for the necessary funds. You may ask for the cash or help in other form, for example, personnel or free lodging arrangements, etc.

Again you need to summarize the complete trip activity, and how it would help the children in the orphanage.

In short, a proposal should include who is planning the project, where is it taking place, what is it all about, why you are planning it, what purpose it will serve, when will it be completed, how you plan to complete it, etc. A proposal is like a blue print of the project.

With this example, you are sure to have a clear idea about writing a project proposal. You can personalize this example as per your requirements.