Project Proposals contain key information about your project. They are essential for your sponsors since they’ll use them to evaluate your project and determine whether or not they’ll allocate funds for it.



A Project Proposal is generally drafted during one of the early phases of your project (before detailed plans are made and resources are allocated). Therefore, often time and budget estimates are rough, at best.



Project proposals do not follow the ‘one size fits all’ principle. This can be attributed to the fact that there are many different types of proposals, all serving a unique purpose in their own right. Proposals can be internal (within your organization) or external (written from one independent organization to another). They can be solicited or unsolicited. They differ in form since some are for businesses, while others are for university or NGO projects.



Also, the amount of detail used when outlining proposals can vary significantly. In certain cases a few very short and general phrases are sufficient (when the proposal is 2-3 pages), while in other cases all the major points must be set out in detail (then the proposal would be 30-50 pages). Generally speaking, NGOs have more complicated proposals.



A Project Proposal is not a contract. It’s easy to confuse it with a Business Proposal (a document in which legal terms are outlined). However, clients or sponsors merely sign the Project Proposal to approve its contents. After signing and approving the Project Proposal a business starts drafting the following documents: a project charter, project plan, contract, etc.



Despite the fact that many different formats are available, roughly 80-90% of all Project Proposals follow a similar template. They mostly all have the same structure which contains a few key points.



We have compiled a few templates in this toolkit to help you chose the most appropriate one for your business. For instance, you’ll find templates and generic business proposals, as well as NGOs, grants, university, and freelance project proposals.