A project proposal is a written document outlining everything stakeholders should know about a

project, including the timeline, budget, objectives, and goals. Your project proposal should
summarize your project details and sell your idea so stakeholders buy in to the initiative.

What is a project proposal?

A project proposal is a written document outlining everything stakeholders should know about a
project, including the timeline, budget, objectives, and goals. Your project proposal should
summarize your project details and sell your idea so stakeholders feel inclined to get involved in the
initiative.

The goal of your project proposal is to:

 Secure external funding

 Allocate company resources to your project

 Gain stakeholder buy-in

 Build momentum and excitement

How to write a project proposal

1. Write an executive summary

The executive summary serves as the introduction to your project proposal. Similar to a report
abstract or an essay introduction, this section should summarize what’s coming and persuade the
stakeholder to continue reading. Depending on the complexity of your project, your executive
summary may be one paragraph or a few paragraphs.

Your executive summary should include:

 The problem your project plans to solve

 The solution your project provides for that problem

 The impact your project will have

You should only address these items briefly in your executive summary because you’ll discuss these
topics in more detail later in your proposal.

2. Explain the project background

In this section, you’ll go into the background of the project. Use references and statistics to convince
your reader that the problem you’re addressing is worthwhile.

Some questions to include are:

 What is already known about this problem?

 Who has addressed this problem before/what research is there?

 Why is past research insufficient at addressing this problem?

You can also use this section to explain how the problem you hope to solve directly relates to your
organization.

3. Present a solution

You just presented a problem in the project background section, so the next logical step in proposal
writing is to present a solution. This section is your opportunity to outline your project approach in
greater detail.

Some items to include are:

 Your vision statement for the project

 Your project schedule, including important milestones

 Project team roles and responsibilities

 A risk register showing how you’ll mitigate risk

 The project deliverables

 Reporting tools you’ll use throughout the project

You may not have all these items in your proposal format, but you can decide what to include based
on the project scope. This section will likely be the longest and most detailed section of your
proposal, as you’ll discuss everything involved in achieving your proposed solution.

4. Define project deliverables and goals

Defining your project deliverables is a crucial step in writing your project proposal. Stakeholders
want to know what you’re going to produce at the end of your project, whether that’s a product, a
program, an upgrade in technology, or something else. As the stakeholder reads through your vision,
this will be the section where they say, “Aha, this is what they’ll use my resources for.”

When defining your deliverables, you should include:

 The end product or final objective of your project

 A project timeline for when deliverables will be ready

 SMART goals that align with the deliverables you’re producing

While it’s important to show the problem and solution to your project, it’s often easier for
stakeholders to visualize the project when you can define the deliverables.
5. List what resources you need

Now that you’ve outlined your problem, approach, solution, and deliverables, you can go into detail
about what resources you need to accomplish your initiative.

In this section, you’ll include:

 Project budget: The project budget involves everything from the supplies you’ll need to
create a product to ad pricing and team salaries. You should include any budget items you
need to deliver the project here.

 Breakdown of costs: This section should include research on why you need specific resources
for your project; that way, stakeholders can understand what their buy-in is being used for.
This breakdown can also help you mitigate unexpected costs.

 Resource allocation plan: You should include an overview of your resource allocation plan
outlining where you plan to use the specific resources you need. For example, if you
determine you need $50,000 to complete the project, do you plan to allocate this money to
salaries, technology, materials, etc.

Hopefully, by this point in the proposal, you’ve convinced the stakeholders to get on board with your
proposed project, which is why saving the required resources for the end of the document is a smart
strategic move.

6. State your conclusion

Finally, wrap up your project proposal with a persuasive and confident conclusion. Like the executive
summary, the conclusion should briefly summarize the problem your project addresses and your
solution for solving that problem. You can emphasize the impact of your project in the conclusion
but keep this section relevant, just like you would in a traditional essay.

Tips for writing an effective project proposal

Know your audience

As you write your proposal, keep your audience (i.e. the stakeholders) in mind at all times.
Remember that the goal of the proposal is to win your audience over, not just to present your
project details. For example, if you’re creating a new editing tool for a children’s publishing house,
can you determine whether your stakeholders are parents and appeal to their emotional side when
persuading them to buy in to your product?

Be persuasive

Persuasion is important in a project proposal because you’re hoping your audience will read your
proposal and do something for you in return. If your reader isn’t intrigued by your project, they
won’t feel inclined to help you. If you describe your editing tool but don’t mention the many
features it will offer, how it will benefit clients, and its positive impact in the industry, your audience
will wonder, “Why should I care about this project?”

Keep it simple

While you should go into detail on your problem, approach, and solution, you shouldn’t make your
project proposal overly complex. This means you can discuss the project plan for your proposed
editing tool without discussing what codes the engineers will use to make each feature work.

Do your research
A successful project proposal includes thorough research. Be prepared to back up your problem—
and solution—with reputable sources, case studies, statistics, or charts so you don’t leave your
audience with questions. When writing your proposal, put yourself in the reader’s shoes and ask:

 Why is this a problem?

 How is this a solution to the problem?

 Has anyone addressed this problem before?

 What are the project costs?

If you can answer these questions, then you’ve likely done enough research to support your
proposed initiative.