I’ve worked as an industrial engineer and lean management consultant, and I’ve probably written hundreds of project proposals. The trick to writing a winning proposal? Define clear objectives, outline a realistic timeline, and establish a reasonable budget.
In this post, I’ll outline a five-step strategy that you can use to write proposals that people say “yes” to. You’ll learn how to organize your through, communicate your strategy, and persuade decision makers that your project is worthwhile.
Understanding the Purpose and Structure of a Project Proposal
The essential components of a great proposal are an executive summary, project background, objectives, scope, timeline, budget, and evaluation metrics. Each of these pieces should fit together to create a complete story about your project.
Proposals are different from project plans because of their purpose and level of detail. The proposal outlines why stakeholders should approve your project while the plan outlines how you will actually execute it.
The typical stakeholders of your project proposal are:
- Senior management
- Project sponsors
- Funding committees
- Clients or customers
- Technical experts
- Department heads
Understanding your audience is one of the most important aspects of writing a proposal. You must structure your proposal to answer their specific questions and demonstrate to them why they should approve and support your project.
One of the things I’ve learned from experience is that how you structure a proposal can literally make or break a project’s chances of success. It’s not just about sharing information, but sharing it in a way that resonates with the stakeholders.
Crafting an Impactful Executive Summary
The executive summary is your proposal’s elevator pitch. It’s often the first (and sometimes only) section executives will read. Therefore, your objective is to capture their attention and communicate the project’s value.
Write an executive summary that outlines the project’s value to the company executives. Keep it short and sweet while still delivering the project’s value. To maximize its efficacy, keep it to one to two pages in length.
Include the following key information in your executive summary:
- Project purpose and goals
- Key deliverables
- Project timeline
- Budget high-level overview
- Expected outcomes and value
Executives don’t spend much time reading proposals, so you need content that immediately captures their attention and prompts them to take action. I’ve seen a carefully crafted executive summary significantly increase the likelihood of a proposal’s approval.
Don’t forget to write the executive summary last. This strategy ensures you don’t overlook any critical details from the full proposal. It also maintains consistency between the executive summary and the detailed sections.
Detailing the Project Background and Context
Explain the project’s history, how it originated, and why the project is the best solution to the problem at hand. For example, did you receive customer feedback? Is it a strategic project?
Use any relevant research or data that supports the project. This can be market trends, customer surveys, industry reports, and so on. These details add credibility to the proposal and demonstrate that you did your research.
Why is the project relevant and why is it urgent? Why is now the right time to complete this project? Are there external considerations or deadlines that make the project urgent?
Many proposals don’t make the cut because the author doesn’t do a good job of explaining how relevant the project is. Your goal is to create a sense of urgency and relevance for the decision maker.
Defining Clear Project Objectives and Deliverables
Defining clear goals is essential to any project’s success. Goals give the project direction and allow you to measure its success. Use the SMART framework to define your project goals:
- Specific: Clearly state what you’re trying to achieve.
- Measurable: Determine the tangible way to measure the goal.
- Achievable: Can the goal actually be achieved with the resources you have?
- Relevant: Does the goal align with higher level business objectives?
- Time-bound: What is the deadline for achieving the goal?
For example, the goal of the project isn’t “Make customers more satisfied.” A SMART goal would be “Increase customer satisfaction ratings by 15% within 6 months of completing the project.”
Deliverables are the concrete results that the project produces. They should be specific, measurable, and clearly tied to the project goals. The deliverables from your project might be:
- A new piece of software
- A marketing campaign
- A training course
- A research report
Defining your project goals and deliverables sets the right expectations and criteria you can use to evaluate whether the project was successful.
Outlining the Project Scope and Methodology
Define what the project will produce and what it will not produce to avoid any misconceptions or scope creep later.
Define your project’s methodology. Will it be agile, waterfall, or a hybrid of both? Why is this the best methodology for your project?
Discuss scope creep in your proposal. How will you handle change requests or scope creep? Discussing this ahead of time demonstrates that you’ve thought about it.
A clearly defined scope is essential because it sets the right expectations with stakeholders and keeps the project on track. It’s easy to overpromise, but setting realistic boundaries creates more successful projects.
Creating a Realistic Project Timeline
An organized timeline is crucial for project planning and execution. It outlines a plan for your team and sets stakeholder expectations.
Divide the project into stages or milestones to make it more digestible and enable easier milestone tracking.
Key components of a project timeline include:
- Start and end dates of the project
- Key milestones or deliverables
- Task durations and dependencies
- Who is doing the work
- Review and approval cycles
When estimating timelines, be generous. Consider potential resource constraints, delays, and dependencies. It’s better to slightly overestimate than set false expectations.
Build some buffer time into your timeline so a slight delay in a task doesn’t derail the entire project timeline.
Developing a Comprehensive Budget
A comprehensive budget is essential to get the project approved and ensure successful execution. The budget should encompass all aspects of the project from start to finish.
The main elements of a project budget are:
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Labor costs | Salaries, contractor fees |
| Materials | Supplies, equipment |
| Overhead | Office space, utilities |
| Travel | Transportation, lodging |
| Software/licenses | Project management tools, specialized software |
| Contingency | Buffer for unexpected costs |
When forecasting costs, rely on historical data, industry benchmarks, and expert input. Be as accurate as possible when predicting costs, and build in a contingency budget for unexpected expenses.
Use tables or charts to clearly present your budget details. Break costs down by project phase or category so that the audience has a holistic understanding of the costs.
Discuss how you will prevent the project from going over budget in your proposal. Outline your strategy for managing costs, and demonstrate your dedication to not exceeding the budget.
Identifying and Managing Project Risks
To begin, identify potential risks to the project. These might be:
- Resource constraints
- Technology roadblocks
- Market shifts
- Legal hurdles
- Stakeholder pushback
For each risk, evaluate the likelihood that it will occur and the potential impact. Then, discuss how you can mitigate or manage the risk.
Present this information in an easy-to-understand format. A risk matrix or table is a good way to condense the information.
I’ve also found that addressing these potential risks in the proposal can sometimes even increase stakeholder confidence. It shows that you’ve considered potential roadblocks and have a plan to solve for them.
Describing the Project Team and Resources
Your project team is a key selling point of your ability to execute the project. Use this section to discuss the expertise and experience of the individuals who will move the project forward.
Discuss the project team structure, including who will be working on the project, what their roles and responsibilities will be, and who they will report to. This information helps stakeholders understand how the project will be managed.
Key details to mention about team members:
- Name and title
- Their role on the project
- Relevant qualifications or experience
- Time commitment to the project
Discuss the resources needed to execute the project. This might include any equipment, facilities, or specialized tools or software.
Discuss any resource constraints, such as equipment or facilities. If you need something specific to execute the project and don’t currently have access to it, discuss how you will solve that problem.
I’ve found that a strong team description can significantly increase stakeholders’ confidence in your entire proposal, as it assures them that you have the right people and resources to get the job done.
Outlining the Evaluation and Reporting Process
Establish specific success criteria for your project. These should directly tie back to your objectives and be something you can measure. For example, if your objective is to make a process more efficient, you might measure lower processing times or reduced errors.
How will you report on the project? Will you send weekly updates in a document form, give monthly presentations, or set up a project dashboard?
Different project types require different ways to evaluate if you were successful. For a software project, you might look at user adoption and how the system is performing. For a marketing campaign, you might look at reach, engagement, and conversion rates.
A clearly defined evaluation process is also something that I’ve found helps not only track progress but also makes it easier to continuously improve throughout the project.
Formatting and Presenting Your Proposal
The design of your project proposal matters just as much as the information it contains. A well-formatted, visually appealing document is more likely to capture and hold the attention of your key decision makers.
Use descriptive headings and subheadings to logically structure your proposal. This will make your proposal easy to read and navigate.
Include visuals to help the audience understand your proposal. Charts, graphs, and other visual assets allow you to convey a lot of information in a format decision makers can understand.
Write in a style and tone of voice your audience will appreciate. In most cases, a friendly, yet professional tone of voice works well. Avoid using technical jargon unless you’re positive your audience will understand it.
Common formatting mistakes include:
- Inconsistent font selections and formatting
- Paragraphs that are too long
- Not enough white space
- Low-quality images or visuals
- Spelling and grammar mistakes
The Project Management Institute published a paper from the PMI Global Congress by Francis McNamara, depicting four underlying reasons why project proposals get rejected.
- The proposal is not aligned with the company’s goals.
- The project benefits are not clearly and credibly explained.
- The project proposal itself is ineffective and lacks clarity and persuasion.
One of the main reasons many project proposals fail is due to poor presentation. Keep in mind, your project proposal is often your first impression. Make it a good one.
In Closing
I’ve written many project proposals in my career. The secret to success? A structured document that effectively communicates the value of your project. Just be sure to adjust the proposal to your audience. Emphasize the benefits and tie them back to organizational goals. A detailed, yet brief, proposal will help you win approval. Continue to improve your proposal writing skills. It’s a skill that will serve you well in any profession.
