Persuasive Business Proposals: Writing to Win More Customers, Clients, and Contracts

13. Writing Research Proposals and Proposals for Grants

Proposals are not exclusively written in business-to-business or business-to-government settings, of course. Researchers, nonprofit organizations, charities, and others with a social service, educational, or artistic mission must seek financial support from sponsors by writing proposals. Writing an effective proposal to win research funds or grant money can be just as challenging as writing a sales proposal for millions of dollars’ worth of equipment and services. And the challenge can be met only by writing the proposal as persuasively as possible.

Most of what we have already said about persuasive structure and audience analysis applies to research proposals and grant requests. The primary ...