Proposal

Introduction

Proposals are essentially an offer or bid to do a certain project for a person or company.

Proposals may contain technical background, statistics, feasibility studies, recommendations, etc., but what makes a proposal a proposal is that it seeks approval for funding or permission to proceed with a project. Both internal and external proposals can offer solutions to existing problems as well as propose new ideas, concepts or projects.

Instructions

For this assignment, you will work with your group members to write an internal proposal. More specifically, you will go through the process of gathering information and creating the documents needed to apply for a RISE grant through the UAF Office of Sustainability.

Internal Proposals: Written in-house at an organization or company by an employee,  department or group seeking to establish funding for a particular item, expense, concept or idea. An example of an internal proposal would be: proposing a reduction in day-to-day expenses that would lead to significant cost savings within the company such as changing the location of the company parking structure from inside the building housing the company to an open lot two blocks down the street in order to save on parking expenses.

The Proposal Project

Depending on your area of interest and expertise, each of you will choose a different approach to the proposal project. Although all projects must be focused on improving sustainability at UAF, you will have some freedom in regards to which sustainable area the proposal addresses.You may choose from the following:

  • Energy
  • Transportation
  • Purchasing
  • Waste Management
  • Sustainable Design
  • Food systems
  • Education and Curriculum
  • Social Sustainability
  • Process and Institution

Some projects will fall into just one category, while others may fall into multiple categories.

It is important to note that this is a REAL grant that you, as a student, can actually get. Even if you decide not to pursue this opportunity, the practice of applying for a grant will serve you well in your future educational endeavors and career.

Project Requirements

Prior to submitting the final proposal, each group will first submit the following:

  • Group Project Proposal
  • Group Work Plan
  • Annotated Bibliography (with a draft and peer review)
  • Written Proposal/ Presentation Peer Review

Your final proposal will be comprised of two parts:

  • The final, written proposal
  • Your group’s presentation (a 3-5 minute video “pitch’ uploaded to YouTube)

Each group member will also complete a Writing Tutorial for this project.

Written Proposal Parts

According the UAF Office of Sustainability, a RISE grant application should contain the following sections:  

  • Date
  • Project title
  • Amount requested
  • Proposal author(s)
  • Contact information
  • Academic department, year in school, undergraduate or graduate standing
  • Sustainability theme
  • Project summary
  • Project description
  • Project value
  • Implementation plan
  • Outreach plan
  • Budget
  • Budget justification
  • Conclusion/recommendation
  • Qualification & Experience
  • Technical advisers and collaborators
  • Attachments

Document Design

Here are some guidelines to help you prepare an attractive and carefully designed proposal.

  • Make sure you follow the Request for Proposal (RFP) guidelines to the letter — in terms of spacing, title page, etc. (See more information in Unit 4)
  • Double-check to make sure it looks professional.
  • Organize your proposal into sections to help the reader identify and follow the various parts of your proposal — e.g., problem, solution, budget, timetable, personnel.
  • Use plenty of clearly marked, logically ordered, and consistent headings (or, if  necessary, subheadings) to separate sections of your proposal to help readers follow the work easily, quickly and clearly.
  • Insert extra spacing between sections of your proposal so they stand out and show your readers your work is organized.
  • Use Times New Roman, 12 point font. Stay away from script fonts and those with ornate designs.
  • Do not try to cram more information in by resorting to an 8-point type.
  • Include easy-to-follow indented lists, each item preceded by a bullet or an asterisk.
  • Clearly label and insert all visuals in the most appropriate places in your proposal.
  • Distinguish clearly all financial information. Put budgets in easy-to-read tables, not buried in a paragraph of prose. Make sure each item in a budget/timetable is identified and highlighted or relegated to a footnote or appendix.
  • Keep paragraphs under five or six sentences. Heavy blocks of prose slow readers down and make them think your work is dense and hard to follow.
  • Consider your readers’ comfort level.
  • Use multiple organization markers such as bullets, highlights (bold and italics), numbers, headers, etc.
  • Do not fail to include and label any supporting documents or materials that will not be a part of your proposal proper, e.g., schedules, surveys, samples, etc.

Other things to consider

  • Use a logical document structure — i.e. introduce your project before discussing budget or offering a conclusion or recommendation.
  • Include a breakdown of the costs involved — with an outline of the hourly rates for each person involved in the project, the supplies needed, etc.
  • Address your proposal correctly– Although you will not be submitting your proposal as part of your project, you should be able to do so.
  • Use common language  – even when describing extremely technical concepts. Your proposal should be clear and understandable, written in language that the audience of your particular proposal would easily comprehend.

Submission

You will submit this assignment in two parts:

Draft— A draft will be submitted to our class Google Drive folder. Please be sure you have submitted your document in the correct folder, and that the names of all group members are on the document. You can post a link to the presentation draft directly in the document of the written draft. You will then receive feedback from members of our cohort.  

Final— Please submit the final as a blog post on your WordPress site.  

Grading Criteria

This assignment will be graded according to the following criteria:

  • How well the requirements for each document are followed
  • How effective each document is in accomplishing the task involved
  • How well the audience is considered
  • Correct document format
  • The mechanical and grammatical correctness of each letter
  • Originality and creativity applied in completing the assignment
  • Successful group collaboration

Rubric

Download (PDF, 66KB)