Project proposals are a great way to kick off an initiative. They show a clear path of execution and inform stakeholders of costs and benefits. They can also convince a team or manager to make a change or show a client what services and solutions you can provide.
You can write a project proposal for just about anything: to build a new tool, to create a way to improve team workflows, or to design a new website. An effective project proposal format summarizes and contributes to successful project planning, project management, project execution, and project risk management.
This article explains what a project proposal is, discusses the different types of project proposals, and explains the differences between them. It also summarizes the key benefits of well-crafted project proposals and offers guidance on making a professional, informative, and persuasive proposal.
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What is a project proposal?
A project proposal is a detailed description of activities intended to solve a specific problem or achieve a particular goal for your business. It previews a project to planned and desired participants, anticipated stakeholders, and influential decision-makers to secure funding, approval, or support.
Every project proposal you create will become foundational to your project management plans and efforts. To deliver maximum value, include the following elements in a project proposal:
- Specific goals: What problem or opportunity do you propose to solve or pursue? How will you achieve this goal?
- Project timeline: Create a detailed timeline of all significant project management milestones, including execution and post-execution assessment
- Detailed budget: What will your project cost, where will the funds come from, and what returns do you expect?
- Specific objectives: How will you decide if your project has achieved its goals? What metrics will you use to measure success?
Draft your project proposal so that it clearly speaks to your intended audience. Think carefully about who you’re talking to (your client? your boss?) and what they care about. Consider their goals, such as driving more leads or increasing employee productivity. What factors are important to them? How do they balance and prioritize those factors? How can your project proposal echo and align closely with your audience’s goals and priorities?
Think about how your primary audience prefers to receive information. Do they focus on the big picture, small details, or both? Would they prefer chart and graph visualizations or a short list of bullet points? Or would they find a concise, compelling story more engaging and persuasive?
Use this information to tailor your proposal for your specific audience. The more relatable your proposal is, the more likely your audience will understand and support your project.
Types of project proposals
There are four primary types of project proposals. Some projects may require more than one type of proposal.
- Solicited proposal: This type of proposal responds to a specific invitation issued to you or your colleagues.
- Unsolicited proposal: This is any proposal created proactively by an individual or team to seek support for a specific initiative.
- Internal proposal: This is any proposal created exclusively by and for constituents within your company.
- External proposal: This is any proposal issued by or for constituents at one or more companies outside your own.
Project proposals vs. project charters
Project proposals focus on justifying the project and aim to secure funding or approval. They include detailed plans, budgets, and schedules.
A project charter defines the project at a high level to establish the project’s existence and authority. A project charter typically includes the project’s objectives, scope, and key stakeholders.
Project proposals vs. business cases
Project proposals focus on how you will execute the project. They include detailed plans and strategies for implementation.
Business cases concentrate on why the project exists. They focus on the benefits, costs, and risks associated with the project.
Benefits of a project proposal
A well-crafted project proposal offers significant benefits to your team, stakeholders, and business:
- It clearly defines project goals, scope, and objectives. These should be consistently expressed in terms familiar to the audience and focused on alignment with business goals and needs.
- It provides a detailed roadmap of tasks, responsibilities, and timelines. The proposal should include specific individuals and role titles wherever appropriate, for greater reader familiarity and engagement.
- The proposal helps identify and allocate resources. Beyond budget, it should delineate what other company resources will be needed and what departments of teams are expected to provide them.
- It promotes proactive problem-solving and innovation. The proposal should identify any known issues and challenges and explicitly encourage readers to offer suggested solutions or sources of relevant knowledge.
- The proposal facilitates clear communication among all involved parties. It must be written in clear, jargon-free language and should include any charts, images, or other visual content that can help to engage readers.
How to write a proposal for a project
Now that you understand the value and benefits of a good project proposal, you can create one yourself. Here is how to make a proposal in a few simple steps:
Provide an overview of the project
- Introduce your project idea.
- Highlight the problem, need, or opportunity your project addresses.
- Summarize your proposed solution and its benefits.
- Identify key deliverables, goals, needed resources, and stakeholders.
- Briefly share the best- and worst-case scenarios in a single paragraph or a few bullet points. This shows the range of expected outcomes.
- Summarize the key points of your proposal, such as the estimated goal and outcomes with costs.
Give context to the project
- Give context and explain why the project is necessary.
- Detail the problem or opportunity that prompted the project.
- Provide relevant historical information and details of previous attempts to address the issue.
- Include data, research findings, or case studies that support the project’s business value.
Establish a solution for the project
- Clearly articulate the proposed solution and how it addresses the problem or opportunity.
- Describe the solution in detail, including its scope and key components.
- Explain how the solution is innovative or superior to alternatives, especially the alternative of doing nothing.
- Provide evidence for why you expect this solution to succeed.
Determine project deliverables
- Define what the project aims to achieve and what your team will produce or deliver.
- List specific deliverables.
- Align deliverables and goals with the overall project purpose and stakeholders’ expectations.
- Set clear, measurable SMART goals and objectives to define what a successful outcome looks like:
- Specific: Clearly define the goal.
- Measurable: Quantify the goal and make it easy to mark as complete when appropriate.
- Achievable: Stretch goals are fine, but avoid the impossible.
- Relevant: The project delivers a benefit to stakeholders.
- Time-bound: The proposal includes a clear timeframe or deadline for success.
If it’s hard to predict what outcomes and metrics to expect, show best-, mid-, and worst-case scenarios. Your best case should show a very optimistic goal of what you can achieve if everything goes as planned. Your mid-case goal should allow for a few hiccups along the way. Your worst-case scenario includes the minimum of what you think is possible, even if many things go wrong.
Identify project resources
- Outline the resources needed to complete the project.
- Human resources: Include any required consultants or others from outside your company.
- Physical resources: This includes anything and everything that isn’t software, money, or intellectual property, from equipment and vehicles to factories, offices, and storage spaces.
- Financial resources: Detail access to lines of credit, authorized credit accounts, and limited amounts of cash if needed. Include advice and expertise as well.
- Technology resources: Describe any required purpose-specific software or cloud-based services.
- Specialty resources: List any additional resources necessary to execute the project successfully.
Define a project timeline
- Provide a clear, detailed schedule for project milestones and completion.
Presenting your project proposal
If you intend to present the proposal during a call or in person, rehearse your talking points and presentation. Don’t simply read the project proposal to your audience.
Show your enthusiasm and personality to sell the project. Share why you care about the initiative and what motivates you to make it happen.
If you’re not a comfortable or experienced public speaker, remember that you’re representing and promoting ideas that can benefit your company materially and you and your team professionally. Your drive, passion, and the right tools will position your project proposal for success.
Unlock your project’s full potential
You now have the essential information to create clear, engaging, and successful project proposals. The right tools can help you and your business take full advantage of every project’s information, expertise, experience, and opportunities.
Confluence brings everyone together in a connected workspace to move projects forward. Teams can create, edit, and share project proposals in a centralized platform, allowing everyone to see updates in real-time. Confluence offers digital whiteboards, pages, spaces, and other features that ease speed and encourage collaboration.Thanks to multiple available templates, Confluence’s features quickly translate into business benefits. Create a free project proposal template in Confluence to start your journey to better project proposals.