How to Write a Letter for a Project Proposal

Business plans are introduced with cover letters.

Of the many components of a project proposal, perhaps the most important part is the proposal's cover letter. Intended to draw your readers in while simultaneously providing a basic overview of the contents, a proposal's cover letter is equal parts persuasive and informational. Additionally, your proposal's letter requires respectful acknowledgement of your readers' time and attention. Writing a letter for a project proposal is made all the more difficult because you need to accomplish all these writing tasks in a single page.

Instructions

1. Format your letter according to standard letter-writing conventions. Your name, your company's name and contact information (address, email, phone number) should be right-justified in the top right-hand corner. Two spaces under that, the readers' names, company and contact information must be left-justified. Two spaces under that is the position of your formal salutation of "Dear So-and-So" or "To Whom It May Concern." And following the body of the letter is your formal closing of "Sincerely, Bill Witherington."

2. Open the body of your letter by recognizing the outstanding work of the individual, group or company to whom you are submitting your proposal. This will indicate to the readers that you are familiar with their organization. For example, you might say, "Over the years, our firm has been continually impressed with the technological advances Jim Jimerson's Liquid Waste Engineers, LLC has contributed to the field of commercial plumbing."

3. Transition into an explanation of how the individual, group or company's work can be improved. Simultaneously acknowledge room for improvement while framing this improvement in complimentary language. For example, "In order to bolster this trend of outstanding technological contribution, we at Witherington Mechanical Manufacturers believe it necessary to address JJLWE's product manufacturing process."

4. Identify the key problem on which the bulk of your proposal will focus in a single sentence. For example, "Inefficient product manufacturing has cost JJLWE approximately $80,000 over the last quarter."

5. Identify the key solution strategy which your proposal will suggest in a single sentence. "Implementing WMM's product safety check and automated machining technology will transform JJLWE's quarterly losses of $80,000 into quarterly gains of at least $20,000."

6. Outline the form of the proposal that follows this letter. For example, "Within this proposal, WMM will address the problem of manufacturing inefficiency and a primary solution to this problem, as well as several secondary solutions."

7. Thank your readers for their time and consideration. For example, "We humbly thank the board and managers at JJLWE for their time and consideration of this proposal."

References

• "Technical Communication: Seventh Edition"; Paul V. Anderson; 2010