Project Proposal©
For [Project Name]

Description of Template (remove from final document)

The project proposal template is designed to assist in prompting and structuring project proposals prior to submission for analysis and decision-making.

The overall goal should be to provide a persuasive argument for the project’s implementation. Convey the merits of the project from the perspective of the business unit and its place within the organization.

Please provide enough detail to allow someone with limited or general knowledge of the unit’s operations to understand the proposal. Do not be concerned if the proposal is not a precise, final, or exhaustive solution, as that can be further developed once the proposal has been approved. Attach any supporting documentation or other additional information as appendices. The provided information is intended to help improve the quality of the decision-making process.

Once submitted, the project proposal will be analyzed and considered amongst other proposals throughout the enterprise in a process designed to successfully prioritize, schedule, and coordinate projects amidst all other activities of the organization. The goal will be to produce the greatest overall benefit to the organization with consideration of its limited resources.

Consider the Audience

For the purpose of documents of this type, the author should assume limited, or no, knowledge of the subject matter at hand. To that end, some sections of the document will require greater levels of detail than others. Acronyms, if used, must be spelled out on first use and should be defined in a glossary of terms in an appendix to the document. This is especially important if the project involves multiple organizations where the use or definitions of acronyms, or other terms may differ. The use of trite expressions e.g., “thinking outside the box” or business jargon that might be ambiguous should be avoided.

Additional Information

Even though this is a simulated business document, some scholarly writing rules apply:

One inch margins all the way around
Double space
Do not use contractions. Please spell them out
Avoid run-on or complex sentence construction. Business documents are constructed for the eighth grade reader
Material used from outside sources including descriptions, specifications, regulations, and any copyrighted or trademarked material or graphics must be cited in an APA styled reference page appendix.

At first glance, this document may appear somewhat overwhelming. The goal of the exercise is to teach team-based contribution to the overall document. This methodology is critical to successfully completing the university program and carries over to real-world usage. Use the academic environment to make mistakes so that those mistakes are not made later on in the real world.

Most of all learn some new concepts and have some fun. Projects create new and unique things and this, in and of itself, is fascinating.
Contents
Executive Summary 3
1.0 Project Summary 4
2.0 Statement of Need 5
3.0 Project Goals 5
4.0 Constraints 5
5.0 Requirements 5
6.0 Time vs. Relevancy 6
7.0 Impact: Costs & Risks 6
8.0 Impact: Benefits & Opportunities 6
9.0 Alternative Impact 6
10.0 Project Fit 6
11.0 Evaluation and Measurement 7
12.0 Potential Solution 7
13.0 Alternative Solutions 7
14.0 Contingency Plan 7
15.0 Sponsor Acceptance 8
Appendices 9
1.0 [DOCUMENT TITLE] 10

Executive Summary
Provide a one to two paragraph summary of the information detailed throughout this project proposal. The goal of the executive summary is to provide a short description of the content of the document and entice the reader to want to delve deeper into narrative

1.0 Project Summary

Working Title of Project

Project Sponsors

Proposal
Type
 Idea To Be Explored
 Potentially Identified Solution
Project
Type
 New Project
 Enhancement to Existing or Former Project

Primary Contact
Name

Phone

Email

Backup Contact
Name

Phone