The thought of writing a proposal overwhelms many people, but the task does not have to be daunting. Proposals are written when people need to ask permission to make a purchase, do a project, or write a paper; the proposal is a formal way of putting forth an idea and asking for action to be taken on that idea. When writing a proposal, consider who will read the proposal and what that person may or may not already know about what you are proposing.
Follow these steps when writing a proposal:
Below you will find a sample proposal asking for new pencil sharpeners for a small private grade school. After each section, we'll provide a commentary to explain how what has been written works as part of a proposal.
To: Rev. Mark Smith
From: Nicole Johnson
Date: March 10, 2011
Subject: A proposal to purchase new pencil sharpeners for the classrooms of St. Mary's School
I write this letter to propose a solution to a recurring problem at St. Mary's School. The problem is that the pencil sharpeners in the classrooms are very old and do not work effectively anymore. Students and teachers continually become frustrated because it is difficult to sharpen a pencil with the current sharpeners, and pencils that are sharp are crucial for effective learning.
I suggest that we order new pencil sharpeners for each classroom so that the students will have pencils that work well and will therefore be able to write without the frustration of worn down pencil points.
There are 217 students enrolled in kindergarten through eighth grade at St. Mary's School. These students occupy 12 classrooms each day. None of these classrooms has a pencil sharpener that works well; it takes several minutes to sharpen just one pencil.
This means that if all of the students need to sharpen their pencils once a day (depending on how much writing is being done, a pencil may need sharpened more than once a day), it could take an average of thirty minutes to sharpen them all before the students can sit down to their desks and start learning the day's lessons. Thirty minutes of time spent sharpening pencils takes away a great deal from instructional time.
However, not all the students need to sharpen their pencils at the same time. This need arises at various times throughout the day, often at the beginning of a test or a new lesson.
Because of the length of time it takes to sharpen a pencil, the teachers have continuous interruptions in their lessons throughout the day. Almost everything done in a classroom requires a pencil, especially as students get older, and it is difficult to get anything done without this basic tool.
The current pencil sharpeners have been in the classrooms as long as Mrs. Morris has taught here, and that is over thirty years. They do not work well because they have been in use for so long. Even after sharpening for several minutes, the pencil points still are not as sharp as they should be, and the points break off easily, causing them to need to be sharpened yet again.
I propose that we purchase electric pencil sharpeners for each classroom. These work quickly and effectively, and take only a few seconds to sharpen a pencil.
Office World carries several pencil sharpeners designed specifically for schools and the high volume of use the sharpeners get in classrooms.
I propose we purchase 12 of the Used-All-Day Pro Student Electric Pencil Sharpeners. These sharpeners have received strong reviews on the Office World web site. In addition, Central Elementary School purchased these for all their classrooms four years ago, and their principal has told me how well they still work.
The Used-All-Day Pro Student Electric Pencil Sharpeners cost $42.29 each. However, Office World gives a discount if purchasing ten or more, reducing the cost to $35.29 each. Because we are a member of the Office World Schools frequent shopper program, we will receive 2% of our purchase back at the end of the school year. This makes the total cost of the purchase $415.01.
Several electric sharpeners exist that cost more and less than this one, but because of the recommendations of others, I believe that purchasing a middle-priced sharpener will be a wise choice for St. Mary's School. Because Office World offers free shipping for purchases over $50, we will not have any shipping costs.
In conclusion, I think purchasing new electric pencil sharpeners for each classroom would be of tremendous benefit to St. Mary's School. It would put an end to the constant frustration of students never being able to find sharp pencils, and of losing instructional time because of the length of time it takes to use our current sharpeners.
Thank you for considering making this purchase for our teachers and students!
As you can see, writing a proposal does not have to be an overwhelming task. With a bit of thought and research, you will be able to write an effective proposal that has a good chance of being approved.
MLA Style
"What Is an Example of an Informal Written Proposal?." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 20 February 2019. <https://examples.yourdictionary.com/what-is-example-informal-written-proposal.html>.
APA Style
What Is an Example of an Informal Written Proposal?. (n.d.). Retrieved February 20th, 2019, from https://examples.yourdictionary.com/what-is-example-informal-written-proposal.html