2 single pages
Mr.Q
fwp3_proposal_assignment_sheet.docxFormal Writing Project #3: Writing Proposals
ENGL 2030 – Professional Writing – Jes Philbrook
For your third project, you will be writing a proposal to the organization of your choosing. Your audience should in some way be related to one of the organizations you have been working with this semester, either the non-profit from the first unit or the company you were applying to for the second unit. For example, you could propose a new fundraising event, an expansion of the company’s brand, a new exhibit, or that a speaker comes to MU; it’s okay if your proposal topic is similar to your correspondences unit letters since you’ll need to go into more detail here!
Because of the research you did in those units, you have some knowledge and expertise about these organizations, and that will be useful here. You will do some more research and then create a proposal for a realistic and appropriate project that you could bring to the organization; your proposal should fit the size and scope of the organization, and it should also be creative in implementation or execution.
To successfully complete FWP#3, you will compose a proposal that consists of the major elements of an unsolicited external proposal (as described in Markel, pages 440-456). The most successful proposals will consist of the following sections:
1. Introduction: This section is where you set the stage for your reader about why you are writing this proposal. This is where you describe the problem or opportunity, explain the purpose, offer background information on the problem or opportunity, discuss the scope of the project, and outline the organization of what is to come in the document. Consider carefully what information is relevant for the reader of your proposal, and present it in a logical manner. This is a good space to explain the problem or gap that you have perceived and provide evidence to support the need for your proposal. Persuasion is important here, because you want to show that there is a need, that you have a good idea to fulfill that need, and that you understand the steps involved. If you frame this as a problem/solution proposal, the introduction is where you describe the problem and hint at your solution. There’s a guidelines box on the Introduction on page 450 of Markel that you may find useful as you write your introduction.
2. Project Description: This is the section where you describe your solution or proposed course of action. You’ll break down your recommendation into steps and present those steps with additional information like a timeline and budget. Your proposed project should have at least 3 steps and you should go into great detail about each step in your plan. Instead of making general statements about the project, this is the space for you to provide very specific details. Please include a Gantt Chart in this section to visualize the project’s progression over time (see page 455 of Markel for more details). If relevant, also include a budget in this section. If you frame this as a problem/solution, this is where you discuss your solution in detail.
3. Qualifications and Experience: Now that you have described your project in detail, you need to convince your reader that you are the right person for the job. What qualifications and experience do you have that align with the work that will be done? If you plan to collaborate with other people, what expertise do they offer? What things have you done in the past that prepare you for this? This is another important place for persuasion as you build your case for why your proposal should be accepted.
4. Conclusion and Formal Request: Use this section to directly appeal to your audience. Include the information worth repeating from your proposal, and make sure you leave your reader with a positive impression of your professionalism, your politeness, and your ability to do good work. Essentially, this is your summary. This is also a place, like the conclusion of the letters you’ve been writing, to thank the reader for reviewing your proposal and considering your request.
Since this may be the first proposal you’ve ever written and since we have limited time, I’m not looking to make this an enormous project for you. This is a chance to get your feet wet and try writing in this genre. So, when choosing the problem or opportunity you’re addressing, and the project you’re proposing, feel free to think small. This doesn’t need to be world shattering: it just needs to be a chance to practice writing a proposal and thinking through everything that goes in to proposing a project with multiple steps.
In terms of page length, I think that 2-3 single spaced pages would be an adequate length for this assignment; the sample in the book, on pages 457-462, is much more detailed and thorough than I think you need to be—feel free to aim for something half the length of that sample.
Here are the steps for completing FWP #3:
1. Choose the organization you’ll be writing to, either the non-profit from unit 1 or the company from unit 2. Which do you want to learn more about? Which do you think you have an interesting proposal for? Choose what works best for you.
2. Choose the problem or opportunity that you’ll be writing a proposal in response to, and do some research. What problem or opportunity do you want to address?
3. Find relevant research to back up your proposal and understand your audience. You might need some data to support your argument, or you might need to look at some similar proposals to get ideas for how to argue your point.
4. Draft pieces of this proposal—intro, project, qualifications—for in-class assignments.
6. Revise the draft of your proposal based on the feedback you’ve received.
7. Submit the final, revised version of your proposal on November 13, along with your peer reviewed drafts from along the way.
