Do you have an idea for a new educational program or service? Maybe you want to apply for a government grant for an after school program for high school kids, organize a private high school, or develop a network of tutors to hire.

How are you going to get the money you need and how are you going to explain your ideas to the influential people who can make them happen? The best way is to master the art of writing a proposal.

If you are responding to an RFP (Request for Proposal) or applying for a specific grant, you must follow the instructions specified in the RFP or grant application as closely as possible. An RFP response typically requires combining government agency forms with topics you need to write from scratch, based on what the RFP asks you to speak about.

All proposals follow a basic structure: introduction, the recipient/client-oriented section, the description of the proposed goods and/or services, and then the proposer/supplier-oriented section. The content of each section will vary from proposal to proposal, but this sequence of sections should remain the same.

Let’s break down those sections further. The introductory section is the shortest. The first thing you’ll want for your proposal is a cover letter. A cover letter should be brief and contain the following four elements: a brief explanation of who you are, a statement about why you are submitting this proposal at this time, a statement of what you want the reader to do after reading your proposal : call a meeting, sign the contract, etc., and all your contact information so that the reader can easily call you with questions or to accept your proposal.

The first page of your proposal package must be a title page; simply give your proposal an appropriate name, such as “Advanced Science Seminars Offered for the Jacobi School Gifted Program” or “Proposal to Create a New Charter School in the West Valley School District.” .” Next, if your proposal is long and detailed, you may want an executive summary or client summary page, which is a summary of the most important points you want to address, and a table of contents to help readers to easily view and navigate the content the proposal That’s it for the introduction section.

The next section should focus on the recipient of the proposal or the client. Depending on what you’re proposing, the readers you want to target may be members of a grant committee, prospective students, parents of students, teachers, school administrators, a loan committee, or a government organization. It is important to consider them carefully and tailor your information to them. What is it that they want to know? What concerns might they have? Are there schedule or budget restrictions? At a minimum, this customer-facing section should have a Requirements page that summarizes what they’ve asked for or what you think they need. You may also want pages like Calendar, Deadlines, Constraints, Budget, Goals, Considerations, Special Needs, etc. to describe in detail your understanding of what the customer needs. Now is not the time to brag about your proposed program or your organization. Keep this section focused on information about what the customer wants or needs.

The following section is a description of their ideas. Be sure to link these to the previous section, explaining how you can address the client’s needs, how the client will benefit from your proposed program, and how much your proposal will cost to implement. Don’t use generic sales jargon. Instead, be as specific as possible about what you plan to do. This section could contain a wide variety of topic pages, such as Classes, Equipment, Schedule, Staff, Venues, Tutoring, Testing, Tutoring, Assessment, etc. It will include everything you need to describe your proposal in detail. At a minimum, you’ll want a Services Offered, Benefits, and Cost Summary page in this section.

After you’ve thoroughly outlined what you want to do and how much it will cost, it’s time to tell your proposal readers all about yourself in the final section. What makes you or your organization qualified to take on this job? It’s not enough to just say “I can do it” or brag about how smart you are. Keep in mind that it is always better to provide evidence or testimonials from other parties than to brag. Do you have special training, certifications, or education? Do you have an extensive company history, a long list of clients, or years of experience in the field? Have you won awards? Do you have testimonials or case studies to offer to show how you have been successful in the past? Include any information that will help persuade clients that you have the knowledge and professionalism to carry out the promises of your proposal.

At this point, you will have completed the first draft of your proposal. Congratulations! Now for the finishing touches. Have a qualified reader or editor read your draft and correct any grammatical or spelling errors. It’s always best to recruit someone who isn’t familiar with your ideas to do this. That person is much more likely to spot mistakes and ask important questions than someone who knows your proposal well. It would be especially embarrassing to submit a buggy proposal for an educational project, wouldn’t it?

After the words are perfect, make sure each page looks good too. You may want to use visual details like splashes of color in titles or special bullet points to add interest, but keep the overall look professional.

That’s it! Print your proposal or package it into a PDF file and give it to the client or committee. Be sure to use the delivery method specified by the customer, or deliver it in whatever way you think will impress recipients the most (email, upload to a web server, print and mail, etc.). Remember, you want your proposal to be successful, not end up in the heap with a hundred others, so it might be worth delivering it in person or using another special method. Then, after a reasonable amount of time, follow up with a phone call to make sure your proposal was received and to give customers a chance to ask questions.

After you’ve written one proposal, you’ll find that the next one is easier and faster to write and that you can reuse much of the same information across multiple proposals. But it’s important to customize each one for the specific recipient; That’s the difference between proposal writing and mass marketing.

Proposal writing packages can make writing and formatting your proposal easier. A pre-built proposal kit will include hundreds of templates, including all of the ones listed above. You can find a page for almost any topic. The writing and details to include are up to you, but each template in a kit includes examples and instructions that remind you of typical information for that topic, so you’ll feel guided throughout the writing process.

Use a professionally designed proposal kit, so your proposal looks great too. You can find kits with design themes or insert your own company logo. Be sure to use a kit that also includes a large collection of sample proposals, including some geared toward education. Sample proposals give you content ideas and look for finished proposals. You’ll find that a pre-built proposal kit gives you a huge advantage on your first proposal.