How to Write a Project Proposal (Examples & Template Included)

What Is a Project Proposal?

A undertaking proposal is a undertaking administration doc that’s used to outline the targets and necessities of a undertaking. It helps organizations and exterior undertaking stakeholders agree on an preliminary undertaking planning framework.

The essential function of a undertaking proposal is to get buy-in from decision-makers. That’s why a undertaking proposal outlines your undertaking’s core worth proposition. It sells worth to each inside and exterior undertaking stakeholders. The intent of the proposal is to seize stakeholder and undertaking sponsor consideration. Once you’ve folks’s consideration, the following step is getting them excited concerning the undertaking abstract.

Getting into the heads of the viewers you might be writing the undertaking proposal for is significant: you want to assume just like the undertaking’s stakeholders to ship a proposal that meets their wants.

We have created a free undertaking proposal template for Word to assist construction paperwork, so that you don’t have to keep in mind the method every time.

Types of Project Proposals

In phrases of kinds of undertaking proposals, you possibly can have one that’s formally or informally solicited or a continuation. There will also be renewal and supplemental proposals. Here’s a transient description of every of them.

• Solicited Project Proposal: A solicited undertaking proposal is distributed as a response to a request for proposal (RFP). Here you’ll want to adhere to the RFP pointers of the undertaking proprietor.
• Unsolicited Project Proposal: You can ship undertaking proposals with out having obtained a request for a proposal. This can occur in open bids for development tasks, the place a undertaking proprietor receives unsolicited undertaking proposals from many contractors.
• Informal Project Proposal: This sort of undertaking proposal is created when a consumer asks for an off-the-cuff proposal, with out an RFP.
• Renewal Project Proposal: You can use a renewal undertaking proposal when you find yourself reaching out to previous prospects. The benefit is you could spotlight previous constructive outcomes and future advantages.
• Continuation Project Proposal: Sent to traders and stakeholders to talk undertaking progress.
• Supplemental Project Proposal: This proposal is distributed to traders to ask for extra sources through the undertaking execution part.

Project Proposal vs. Project Charter

A undertaking proposal is a detailed doc that’s used to persuade the undertaking sponsor that the undertaking being proposed is well worth the time, cash and energy to ship it. This is finished by exhibiting how the undertaking will deal with a enterprise drawback or alternative. It additionally outlines the work that will probably be completed and the way will probably be completed.

A undertaking constitution can look like the identical factor as a undertaking proposal. It additionally defines the undertaking in a doc. It identifies the undertaking targets, scope, objectives, stakeholders and group. But it’s completed after the undertaking has been agreed up by all stakeholders and the undertaking has been accepted. The undertaking constitution authorizes the undertaking and paperwork its necessities to meet stakeholders’ wants.

Project Proposal vs. Business Case

A enterprise case is used to clarify why the proposed undertaking is justified. It reveals that the undertaking is well worth the funding of money and time. It is extra generally utilized in bigger firms within the decision-making course of when prioritizing one undertaking over one other.

The enterprise case solutions the questions: what’s the undertaking, why ought to it’s taken up, who will probably be concerned and the way a lot will it price. It is due to this fact associated to a undertaking proposal, however the undertaking proposal comes earlier than the enterprise case and is normally a part of the bigger proposal.

Project Proposal vs. Project Plan

Again, the undertaking proposal and the undertaking plan on this case are very comparable paperwork. It’s comprehensible that there can be some confusion between these two undertaking phrases. They each present how the undertaking will probably be run and what the outcomes will probably be. However, they’re not the identical.

The undertaking proposal is a doc that’s wanting to get a undertaking authorized and funded. It is used to persuade stakeholders of the viability of the undertaking and their funding. The undertaking plan, then again, is made through the planning part of the undertaking, as soon as it’s been authorized. It is a detailed define of how the undertaking will probably be applied, together with schedule, funds, sources and extra.

Project Proposal Outline

There are a number of key operational and strategic questions to contemplate, together with:

• Executive Summary: This is the elevator pitch. It outlines the undertaking being proposed and why it makes enterprise sense. While it additionally touches on the knowledge that can comply with within the undertaking proposal, the chief abstract ought to be transient and to the purpose.
• Project Background: This is one other brief a part of the proposal, normally just one web page, which explains the issue you’ll resolve or the chance you’re benefiting from with the proposed undertaking. Also, present a brief historical past of the enterprise to put the corporate in context to the undertaking and why it’s a good match.
• Project Vision & Success Criteria: State the purpose of the undertaking and the way it aligns with the objectives of the corporate. Be particular. Also, be aware the metrics used to measure the success of the undertaking.
• Potential Risks and Mitigation Strategies: There are at all times dangers. Detail them right here and what methods you’ll make use of to mitigate any damaging influence in addition to make the most of any constructive threat.
• Project Scope & Deliverables: Define the undertaking scope, which is all of the work that has to be completed and the way will probably be completed. Also, element the varied deliverables that the undertaking may have.
• Set SMART Goals: When setting objectives, be SMART. That is an acronym for particular, measurable, achievable, related and time-bound. All your objectives can be outlined by these 5 issues.
• Project Approach: Define the strategy you’ll use for the contract. There are a number of several types of contracts utilized in development, for instance, comparable to lump sum, price plus, time and supplies, and so forth. This can also be a good place to describe the supply methodology you’ll use.
• Expected Benefits: Outline the advantages that can come from the profitable completion of the undertaking.
• Project Resource Requirements: List the sources, comparable to labor, supplies, gear, and so forth., that you simply’ll want to execute the undertaking if authorized.
• Project Costs & Budget: Detail all the prices, together with sources, that will probably be required to full the undertaking and arrange a funds to present how these prices will probably be spent over the course of the undertaking.
• Project Timeline: Lay out the undertaking timeline, which is able to present the undertaking from begin to end, together with the period of every part and the duties inside it, milestones, and so forth.

In addition to these components, it’s advisable to use a cowl letter, which is a one-page doc that helps you introduce your undertaking proposal and seize the eye of potential purchasers and stakeholders.

How to Write a Project Proposal

In order to make the very best proposal attainable, you’ll need to be thorough and hit on all of the factors we’ve listed above. Here is a step-by-step information to writing a persuasive precedence proposal.

1. Write an Executive Summary

The govt abstract offers a fast overview of the principle components of your undertaking proposal, comparable to your undertaking background, undertaking targets, undertaking deliverables, amongst different issues. The purpose is to seize the eye of your viewers and get them excited concerning the undertaking you’re proposing. It’s primarily the “elevator pitch” for the undertaking life cycle. It ought to be brief and to the purpose.

The govt abstract ought to be descriptive, and paint a image of what undertaking success seems to be like for the consumer. Most importantly, it ought to inspire the undertaking consumer; in any case, the purpose is getting them to signal on the dotted line to get the undertaking shifting!

2. Provide a Project Background

The undertaking background is a one-page part of your undertaking proposal that explains the issue that your undertaking will resolve. You ought to clarify when this concern began, its present state and the way your undertaking would be the superb answer.

• Historic Data: The historical past part outlines beforehand profitable tasks. It additionally outlines people who may have run extra easily. By doing so, this part establishes precedents. Namely, how the following undertaking may be more practical utilizing data from earlier tasks.
• Solution: The answer part addresses how your undertaking will resolve the consumer’s drawback. Accordingly, this part contains any undertaking administration methods, expertise and procedures your group will use to work effectively.

3. Establish a Project Vision & Success Criteria

You’ll want to outline your undertaking imaginative and prescient. This is finest completed with a imaginative and prescient assertion, which is able to act because the north star to your undertaking. It’s not particular as a lot because it’s a manner to describe the influence your organization plans to make with the undertaking.

It’s additionally necessary to arrange success standards to present that the undertaking is in truth doing what it’s proposed to do. Three apparent undertaking success standards being the triple constraint of price, scope and time. But you’ll want to arrange a manner to measure these metrics and reply to them in the event that they’re not assembly together with your plan.

4. Identify Potential Risks and Mitigation Strategies

To cut back the influence of threat in your undertaking, you want to establish what these dangers is likely to be and develop a plan to mitigate them. List all of the dangers, prioritize them, describe what you’ll do to mitigate or make the most of them and who on the group is answerable for preserving an eye fixed out for them and resolving them.

5. Define Your Project Scope and Project Deliverables

The undertaking scope refers to all of the work that will probably be executed. It defines the work gadgets, work packages and deliverables that will probably be delivered through the execution part of your undertaking life cycle. It’s necessary to use a work breakdown construction (WBS) to outline your duties, subtasks and prioritize them.

6. Set SMART Goals for Your Project Proposal

The finest mindset when growing objectives and targets to your undertaking proposal is to use the SMART system:
Specific – Make certain your objectives and targets are clear, concise and particular to the duty at hand.

• Measurable – Make certain your objectives and targets are measurable so it’s apparent to see when issues are on monitor and going properly, and conversely, when issues are off monitor and points want to be addressed. Measurable objectives make it simple to develop the milestones you’ll use to monitor the progress of the undertaking and establish a affordable date for completion and/or closure.
• Attainable – It’s necessary each undertaking has a “reach” purpose. Hitting this purpose would imply an impressive undertaking that goes properly above and past expectations. However, it’s necessary the undertaking’s core purpose is attainable, so morale stays excessive and the job will get completed with time and sources to spare.
• Relevant – Make certain all your objectives are straight related to the undertaking and deal with the scope inside which you’re working.
• Time-Based – Timelines and particular dates ought to be on the core of all objectives and targets. This helps maintain the undertaking on monitor and ensures all undertaking group members can handle the work that’s forward of them.

7. Explain What’s Your Project Approach

Your undertaking strategy defines the undertaking administration methodology, instruments and governance to your undertaking. In easy phrases, it permits undertaking managers to clarify to stakeholders how the undertaking will probably be deliberate, executed and managed efficiently.

8. Outline The Expected Benefits of Your Project Proposal

If you need to persuade inside stakeholders and exterior traders, you’ll want to present them what are the monetary advantages that your undertaking may deliver to their group. You can use cost-benefit evaluation and projected monetary statements to display why your undertaking is worthwhile.

9. Identify Project Resource Requirements

Project sources are essential for the execution of your undertaking. The undertaking proposal briefly describes what sources are wanted and the way they’ll be used. Later, through the planning part, you’ll want to create a useful resource administration plan that will probably be an necessary aspect of your undertaking plan. Project necessities are the gadgets, supplies and sources wanted for the undertaking. This part ought to cowl each inside and exterior wants.

10. Estimate Project Costs and Project Budget

All the sources that you simply’ll want to your undertaking may have a price ticket. That’s why you want to estimate these prices and create a undertaking funds. The undertaking funds will want to cowl all of your undertaking bills, and as a undertaking supervisor, you’ll want to just be sure you adhere to it.

11. Define a Project Timeline

Once you’ve outlined your undertaking scope, you’ll want to estimate the period of every activity to create a undertaking timeline. Later through the undertaking planning part, you’ll want to create a schedule baseline, which estimates the entire size of your undertaking. Once the undertaking begins, you’ll examine your precise undertaking schedule to the schedule baseline to monitor progress.

Project Proposal Example

Now let’s discover some undertaking proposal examples to get a higher understanding of how a undertaking proposal would work in the true world. For this instance, let’s think about a metropolis that’s about to construct a speedy transit system. The metropolis authorities has the funds to spend money on it, however lacks the technical experience and sources which might be wanted to construct it, so it points a request for proposal (RFP) doc and sends it to potential builders.

Then, the development firms which might be enthusiastic about executing this speedy transit undertaking, will put together a undertaking proposal for town authorities. Here are a number of the key components they need to embody.

• Project Background: The development agency will present an evidence of the challenges that the undertaking presents from a technical perspective, together with historic information from comparable tasks which were accomplished efficiently by the corporate.
• Project Vision & Success Criteria: Write a imaginative and prescient assertion and clarify the way you’ll monitor the triple constraint to guarantee profitable supply of the undertaking.
• Potential Risks and Mitigation Strategies: List all dangers and the way they’ll be mitigated, make certain to prioritize them.
• Project Scope & Deliverables: The work that will probably be completed is printed within the scope, together with all of the deliverables that will probably be accomplished over the life cycle of the undertaking.
• Set SMART Goals: Use the SMART approach to outline your undertaking objectives by whether or not they’re particular, measurable, achievable, related and time-bound.
• Project Approach: Define the methodology that the undertaking supervisor will make use of to handle the undertaking. Also, determine what sort of contract will probably be used to outline the undertaking.
• Expected Benefits: Show how the undertaking will ship benefits to the corporate and outline what these advantages are in a quantifiable manner.
• Project Resource Requirements: List all of the sources, comparable to labor, supplies, gear, and so forth., wanted to execute the undertaking.
• Project Costs & Budget: Estimate the price of the undertaking and lay that out in a undertaking funds that covers all the things from begin to end.
• Project Timeline: Outline the undertaking schedule, together with phases, milestones, duties period on a visible timeline.

Project Proposal Tips

Whatever undertaking proposal you’re engaged on, there are a few ideas that apply as finest practices for all. While above we urged a undertaking proposal template that might have a desk of contents, that means it might be many pages lengthy, the best-case state of affairs is preserving the proposal to one or two pages max. Remember, you’re attempting to win over stakeholders, not bore them.

Speaking of undertaking stakeholders, do the analysis. You need to deal with the suitable ones. There’s no level in doing all of the work essential to write a nice proposal solely to have it directed to the fallacious audience. Whoever goes to learn it, although, they need to have the option to comprehend the proposal. Keep the language easy and direct.

When it comes to writing, get a skilled. Even a enterprise doc like a undertaking proposal, enterprise case or govt abstract will endure if it’s poorly constructed or has typos. If you don’t need to rent a skilled enterprise author, be sure you get somebody in your undertaking group to copy, edit and proof the doc. The extra eyes on it, the much less seemingly errors will make it to the ultimate version.

While you need to maintain the proposal brief and candy, it helps to sweeten the pot by including buyer testimonials to the attachments. Nothing sells a undertaking plan higher than a buyer base in search of your services or products.

ProjectSupervisor & Project Proposals

ProjectSupervisor permits you to plan proposals inside our software program. You can replace duties for the undertaking proposal to signify the place issues stand, and what’s left to be completed. The columns permit you to manage your proposal by part, creating a work breakdown construction (WBS) of kinds.

When constructing a undertaking proposal, it’s important to keep in mind your audience. Your viewers contains those that are excited concerning the undertaking, and see completion as a achieve for his or her group. Conversely, others in your viewers will see the undertaking as a ache, and one thing to which they aren’t wanting ahead. To maintain each events glad, it’s important to maintain language factual and concise.

Our kanban boards assist you to assume by that language and collaborate on it successfully with different group members, if essential. Each card reveals the share accomplished so everybody within the undertaking administration group is conscious of the work completed, and what’s left to be completed.

As you possibly can see from the kanban board above, work has begun on the Executive Summary. The Introduction, Table of Contents and Company Role sections are accomplished, and there’s a good begin on the Explain the Problem and Recommend a Solution activity.

A PDF is then connected to the cardboard, and everybody added to the duty receives an e-mail notifying them of the change. This identical course of can be utilized all through the life-cycle of the undertaking to maintain the group up to date, collaborating, and producing a first-class undertaking proposal.

Project proposals are simply step one within the undertaking planning course of. Once your undertaking is authorized, you’ll have to solidify the plan, allocate and handle sources, monitor the undertaking, and at last hand in your deliverables. This course of requires a versatile, dynamic and strong undertaking administration software program package deal. ProjectSupervisor is a cloud-based undertaking administration software program that helps all of your group members collaborate and handle this course of in real-time. Try our award-winning software program with this free 30-day trial.