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

Preparing Your Research Proposal

When you seek external funding, you need to write a clear, convincing, persuasive proposal because you are almost certainly competing for limited funds. Here are some basic steps to help you produce a winner.

Initial Contact

Usually an agency or foundation publishes guidelines, an annual report, or some other kind of document outlining the procedures you should follow in submitting an application for funding. However, you may find it helpful to contact the agency directly to obtain current application forms, to clarify a policy, or to present a project in outline form to see if it’s suitable. Some agencies or sponsors prefer this kind of preliminary contact to help reduce the volume of inappropriate proposals ...