Understanding Proposals

A proposal is a formal document that contains the essential information needed to persuade someone else. It includes such topics as objectives, justification for the project and its purpose, funding sources sought, outcomes expected from undertaking this project or program of action; detailed budget plans; other pertinent data on how it will be carried out, or some plan with that information in mind. In this module, we will explore the proposal writing process and the most common types of proposals. Note that we only provide an overview of the four major types; there are many variations on these types and more specialized categories.