Needs For The Proposals Writing

Contents

What is a proposal letter?. 2

Pre-Proposal 2

Solicited Proposal 2

Renewal and Continuation Proposals. 3

Limited Solicitations. 3

Revised Budgets. 4

Writing an Informal Proposal 5

Sample Proposal Letter.. 6

Proposal writing

What is a proposal letter?

A proposal is a request for support of sponsored research, training or other creative activity submitted in accordance with the funding sponsor's instructions. Proposals are written when people need to ask permission to make a purchase, do a project, or write a paper; the proposal is a formal way of putting forth an idea and asking for action to be taken on that idea.

Types of proposal

Pre-Proposal
Solicited Proposal
Renewal and Continuation Proposals
Limited Submissions
Revised Budgets

Pre-Proposal

This type of proposal is requested when a sponsor wishes to minimize an applicant’s effort in preparing a full proposal. They are usually in the form of a letter of intent or a brief abstract of what the PI plans to do, how the PI will conduct the project and why this project has merit. A pre-proposal establishes a foundation for discussion; it does not commit the PI or the University to anything. However, since these proposals often do become the basis for negotiation for funding, if a budget is included in the submission, Proposal Services will route it for the appropriate University signatures. When requested by the sponsor, the pre-proposal may be used to determine how well the project fits the agency’s priorities. Also, the preliminary proposal may determine selection for the next stage of the application, help in the selection of possible reviewers and possibly offer a chance for feedback to the PI. After the preproposal is reviewed, the sponsor notifies the investigator if a full proposal is warranted.

Solicited Proposal

Sponsors solicit formal proposals by publishing specific program announcements. These solicitations are often called Request for Proposals (RFPs), Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs), Broad Agency Announcements (BAAs), etc. Researchers responding to the program announcement write the proposal to meet the sponsor’s program guidelines. Deadlines may recur annually or several times a year.

A response to a Request for Proposal (RFP) is one type of solicited proposal. Most RFP’s have a stated deadline and are one-time solicitations for specific needs of the sponsor, not expected to recur. The proposed project must respond to the specific work statement in the Request for Proposal.

Renewal and Continuation Proposals

A competing renewal proposal (also called a competing continuation) is a request for continued funding of a project for which the funding or project period is about to terminate. Such proposals are similar to "new" proposals and must be routed and approved in the same manner.

Noncompeting continuation proposals, which request the next year’s funding within a multi-year grant, generally consist of a progress report, budget, and other relevant materials such as research results, reprints, vitae for new personnel, etc. They sometimes include a financial status report showing the unobligated balance for the current year. Generally, sponsors require the signature of the institutional official and investigators. Noncompeting continuation proposals are routed through UAccess Research, even if a budget is not required.

Limited Solicitations

Occasionally, sponsors announce program funding opportunities, limiting the number of proposals that may be submitted by each institution/applicant. Research, Discovery & Innovation distributes the program applications to the appropriate deans and center directors, who, in turn, distribute to the appropriate faculty, depending on the subject matter of the program. Faculty interested in submitting proposals send a one-page description of the proposed project and copy of their curriculum vitae to their Dean. The major criterion for selecting proposals is the relevance to the program selection criteria and the potential for successfully competing in the sponsor’s competitive process. Faculty whose pre-proposals survive the institutional pre-competition will prepare a complete application to submit to the sponsor.

Revised Budgets

When a sponsor wants to fund a proposed project at an amount different from that originally proposed, the sponsor asks the investigator to submit a "revised" budget supporting the amount to be funded. A revised budget must be routed through the University proposal routing process to document the signatories’ approval of the budget revisions. If the sponsor reduces the budget, the investigator must determine whether the originally proposed scope and objectives of the project can be met under the revised budget. If not, the investigator and sponsor must redefine the scope and objectives in writing before the University accepts the award.

If the original budget contained cost share or matching, the cost share or matching amount may need to change to reflect the budget revisions.

Important

The importance of business proposals

• One of the major reasons why business proposals are written is in order to propose a product or service to a prospective customer or buyer.
• Business proposals are written in order to offer solutions to the problems faced by prospective customers.
• Business proposals enable businesses to sell their products or services. A business proposal is one of the most effective tools that can be used by a person or business to sell a product or services.
• Business proposals help businesses to compete without even needing to send marketers or representatives to physically go to the prospective customers to pitch or to try and sell their products or services. The business proposal, if written very well would on its own be able to do all the promotion and selling.

Writing an Informal Proposal

Follow these steps when writing a proposal:

1. State your purpose.  Do this clearly and concisely so that the reader knows immediately why you are writing.
2. Give some background information about why you are proposing your suggestion so that the reader has a better understanding of the problem.
3. State a solution to the problem; this is where you give specifics about your suggestion.
4. Continue with any costs that will be involved.
5. Conclude by restating the problem and proposed solution.

Sample Proposal Letter

TO:	The Loss Mitigation Department of ABC Lenders
ATTN:	Janice Johnson, Loss Mitigation Specialist
FROM:	Alice Agent
RE:	Short Sale Proposal for 123 Main Street, Anytown, USA

Dear Ms. Johnson,

We have a signed real estate purchase contract with your borrower Daniel and Sandy Smith, the owners of 123 Main Street, Anytown, USA. The Smiths have agreed to sell their property to Lee and Sandra Jones for a purchase price of $375,000.

The current loan balance for loan #456781239 is $450,000. The Smiths are five payments behind in the amount of $9,000. Since their real estate taxes were not escrowed, the current taxes in the amount of $8,000 are also due. Daniel has lost his job as a manager of a large home improvement company and Sandy is a stay‐at‐home mom with their four children.

Please review the enclosed information. Our market analysis of the property and overview of the market as well as the situation of the seller indicate that it is in the best interest of both you as the lender and the Smiths to accept this buyer’s offer.

We look forward to doing business with you.

Sincerely,

Alice Agent