Persuasive Business Proposals: Writing to Win More Customers, Clients, and Contracts

Overview

Proposals are not exclusively written in business-to-business or business-to-government settings, of course. Researchers, nonprofit organizations, charities, and others with a social service, educational, or artistic mission must seek financial support from sponsors by writing proposals. Writing an effective proposal to win research funds or grant money can be just as challenging as writing a sales proposal for millions of dollars' worth of equipment and services. And the challenge can be met only by writing the proposal as persuasively as possible.

Most of what we have already said about persuasive structure and audience analysis applies to research proposals and grant requests. The primary difference is that instead of focusing on solving business problems that are having a negative impact on profitability, productivity, quality, or some other metric of business performance, you need to position your proposal to show that it will help the target agency or foundation achieve its mission. For your funding source, the primary "problem" is distributing scarce resources in the most effective way to promote the purpose for which the agency or foundation was created. Your proposal must make it clear that your proposed project is fully compatible with the proposed sponsor's interests, policies, and values.

As you look for sponsorship, go through the same steps that a salesperson goes through when qualifying a lead. Ask yourself:

• What is this organization's purpose? Why was it created? What broad objectives does this foundation or agency seek to achieve through its funding activities?

• What size of grants does it award?

• Where does its money come from? What type of support does it provide (for example, capital funds, endowment funds, matching funds, research grants, educational project support)?

• What are some of its past and current funding activities? What are its program interests for the future?

• Who makes the decisions regarding allocation of funds?

• What criteria are used?

• Does the organization or agency impose any geographic limitations on its grant activity?

Accurate answers to these and similar questions should save you from wasting time and effort in pursuing funds for which your initiative is not qualified.

Usually funding is awarded because of the specific research plan and special competence of the individual researcher or the small group of researchers who will execute the work outlined in the proposal. However, the actual award is usually made to a university, hospital, or other institution within which the research will be conducted, rather than to the individuals. If you work within such an institution, you will probably have to submit any formal proposals seeking external support to the appropriate sponsored programs office for review before you can submit them to the potential sponsoring agency. Check with the administration of your institution for specific guidelines. Keep in mind that such a review can be time consuming. You should allow for it as you schedule your activities to ensure that you get your proposal submitted before the funding agency's deadline.

There are three main types of external funding:

• Grants and contracts. Grants and contracts arise directly from proposals and/or applications prepared by individual researchers. Grants are awarded by government agencies, corporations, or private foundations as a result of an unsolicited proposal sent by an investigator who is interested in a basic research project. Contracts are normally awarded as a result of a proposal submitted in response to a big solicitation or an RFP issued by a federal or state government agency or, in some instances, by a private company. Contracts often have stricter reporting requirements than grants. If you seek a contract, you may find yourself in competition with private enterprise. You may also find that contracts are very explicit about the ownership of intellectual property, patents, and work products arising from the contract.

  Some government agencies award "cooperative agreements," which are similar to grants except that substantial agency involvement is anticipated during the performance of the project.

• Fellowships (faculty, predoctoral, postdoctoral). These awards are normally given directly to the individual researcher, bypassing the institutional hierarchy. The fellowship usually pays a specific dollar amount in the form of a stipend. Many private foundations and government agencies offer this type of support, particularly to new or inexperienced investigators.

• Unrestricted gifts. Awards of this type, unlike sponsored programs, usually have no reporting requirements of any kind.