Project Proposal
General Description
Your project proposal is one of the major assignments for this course. A proposal is a document that suggests a course of action, either for gathering information related to a particular issue or for solving a problem. The proposal you are writing for this course serves as the guidelines for your final project. You are submitting this proposal for the following purposes:
- to inform the instructor and class what your project will be, how you will research and complete that project, and what you expect the outcomes of the project to be
- to create for yourself a workplan and parameters of your project
Proposal writing is part of the process of completing your project. To write a complete and effective proposal that enables you to do a complete and effective project, you should be thorough and put a good deal of effort in compiling the following information:
- What issue are you going to address (describe what is at stake and provide some contextual background)?
- What is the need for investigating this issue or solving this problem?
- How will the project benefit the overall goals of the organization?
- How will this project reflect the goals of the course and the assignment?
- How are you going to address this issue? That is, what specific methods will you use to investigate the issue or solve the problem?
- What resources such as articles and contacts will you consult in order to do this project?
- What specific documents or other end-products will you provide at the completion of this project? Back this up with information that demonstrates that you have the adequate resources to provide these products.
- What special skills or resources do you (or your group or organization) bring to this project?
- When will you complete the project? Provide a project timeline that shows when major tasks will be completed.
Because a proposal often
entails requesting resources that an organization might otherwise use someplace
else, be as specific as possible in your description of what this project
will do, how it will benefit the organization, and how you will go about completing
it--help your readers to "see" your project as clearly as possible.
Focus the scope of your proposal on a project that is achievable given the amount of resources (people, time, money, materials) that you have. Do not propose what you cannot complete in the amount of time you have.
If you are working in a group, formulating the proposal will also take quite a bit of collaboration among the members in your group. Since your proposal will include a plan of how you intend to complete the project, it will also provide a map for how your group functions and who will be responsible for what tasks. Decide together how your group will communicate with each other and how you will work toward completing the final report--where will you store your information? How will you organize it? How often will you meet as a group? How will you evaluate your progress along the way?
Required Documents for this Assignment
- project assessment memo
- project proposal (typical length: 4-6 pages, formal proposal format)
Resources
The Foundation Center.
“Proposal Writing Short Course.” http://fdncenter.org/learn/shortcourse/prop1.html
12 June 2001.