The Client Proposal: An Overview
2.24.2014
The importance of workplace writing
skills
 Survey of 120 major American corporations employing
nearly 8 million people found that:
 Half the companies stated they take writing into account
before hiring
 For thought: In what ways can you prove you have
strong writing skills?
 2/3 of salaried employees in these corporations have
some level of writing responsibility
 Half of the companies take writing abilities into account
during promotion decisions.
Importance of workplace writing
(cont’d)
 62% report writing formal reports
 “good writing is taken as a given in today’s professional
work”
 “good writing is a sign of good thinking. Writing that is
persuasive, logical, and orderly is impressive. Writing
that’s not careful can be a signal of unclear thinking.
 “Business writing generally calls for clarity, brevity,
accuracy, and an appropriate level of detail for
documenting.”
The Proposal: Email of Transmittal
 This is essentially the cover letter your reading discussed.
 You’ll need to email your proposal to your client.
 The email should:





Introduce your group & thank the client for the opportunity.
Introduce your idea & how you came up with it.
Explain to your client how to understand the proposal (a guide).
Be concise and use full block format.
Explain to them why this proposal is important (in one short
sentence).
 *You will email your proposal to the client and CC me on March
12 by class time.
Parts of the Proposal
 Title Page
 Table of Contents *(depends on length of proposal)
 Abstract
 Need Statement
 Project Description
 Timeline
 Budget
 Conclusion
Title Page
 Include the following:
 Proposal title
 Group members’ names
 Date (when the proposal was
completed)
 Graphic/logo, if you can get
one that is not too pixelated.
Need Statement
 Identify mission of client
 intangible!
 Explain primary need related to mission
 Support this with evidence from your research/notes you took
during the client visit.
Project Description
 Describe your vision for the deliverable
 Explain why the deliverable will meet the client’s need
 Be SPECIFIC
 Support your vision and claims with data from the interview, sample
documents you collected, etc.
 Explain what you will do in class and outside of class to complete the
deliverable
 emphasize the target audience for the deliverable and how this will
appeal to that audience
 Discuss how the deliverable will be circulated
 Make your vision coincide with the client’s
 Consider providing a mock-up
Timeline
 This is your Step-by-Step plan for HOW you will produce
the deliverable
 Provide a written explanation and a visual (we will look at
examples in class)
 You will need to research what software programs you
can use to produce these deliverables, if applicable, and
you can include the time you’ll put into learning that
program into your timeline.
Budget
 The budget details the resource expenditures OF YOUR CLIENT
based on your proposed deliverable
 Your person hours are counted for (class credit and experience)
 But, you need to consider time, materials, maintenance, etc. *I
will provide a separate handout in class about budgets.*
 YOU are NOT expected to spend money on this project. Clients
are aware that you will provide them an electronic (and perhaps
one print copy) version of the deliverable. It is up to them to pay
for printing costs, etc., if they choose to use your deliverable.
 If you are proposing something like an internship program, think of
any potential costs for the clients.
 If you have questions/concerns, save them up so you can email
them to the client.
Tips for Budgets
 JUSTIFY your numbers!
 For example, if you quote $30 for printer ink, what TYPE of printer
ink are did you get a quote for, and where did you get the quote
from (Office Depot online, etc.)
•
Think through the whole process
 For example, if you’re creating a brochure, who’s going to fold
100 copies of the brochure?
•
Provide recommendations for products based on your research
Style
 Remember to use an appropriate tone (neither too formal nor
too conversational)
 Use a handbook or the web for grammar/spelling concerns
 Use an effective, persuasive, clear design. I will take design
into account in the grading.
 Remember that writing is a PROCESS—brainstorm, outline,
revise, proofread!
Design
 You are responsible for the design reading you did, but here are
a few highlights:
 Design helps readers visualize information and helps you persuade
them. It can make you look professional or unprofessional. It helps
you emphasize key points.
 Planning
 Consider the rhetorical situation
 Consider your reader’s expectations
 Determine the form of your document:
 How will you lay out the pages?
 What kind of highlighting devices will you use to create a visible
organization?
 What kind of font, typeface, and type size will you use?
 Will you use visual aids? If so, which ones? Why?
Layout
 Use highlighting devices to direct the reader’s eye and
create emphasis:
 Use Italics and bold text sparingly to create emphasis.
Compare:
 When you want to emphasize something, consider using
bold text.
 When you want to emphasize something, consider using
bold text.
 Use italics for emphasis or to show irony or humor.
 His rent was late for the third straight month.
 Don't overuse exclamation marks and underlines.
Layout
 Use white space to organize information into chunks and
guide the reader's eye.
 Use ragged right-hand margins
 Use headings & subheadings – consider using a different
font style or size for these but remain consistent. Make
choices consistent with order & emphasis.
 Consider using lists
 Keep them parallel
Reminders
 Proposals are due on 3.12, but we will be conferencing
on 3.5 & 3.10.
 Part of your homework on 2.26 will be to work on the
proposals. You may want to talk with your group about
portioning out sections. You will have at least half of class on
3.3 to work on the proposal in class.
 I will expect more completed proposals by those who
conference with me on 3.10. So, choose whether you want
me to look at an almost final draft or if you want to be asking
me questions along the way.
The Client Proposal
Honing In
The Needs Statement
 Identifies the intangible mission of the client (i.e., the
client wants to promote the organization so they can
make $)
 Explains the primary need related to the mission (but
keeps this brief)
Sample needs statement
 "Breast cancer kills. But statistics prove that regular checkups catch most breast cancer in the early stages,
reducing the likelihood of death. Thus, the United Breast
Cancer Foundation’s program to encourage preventive
check-ups will reduce the risk of death due to breast
cancer. However, only 25% of Tucson’s population is
aware that the UBCF provides this program. The program
needs additional marketing and outreach procedures in
place to inform Tucsonans about its benefits. A wellconstructed brochure explaining the program will help
promote the foundation and ultimately save lives.”
Practice!
Get in a group with people who you haven’t yet worked with.
Write a needs statement based on the following information:
Your client is Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Tucson. They’re having
trouble getting funding, and they want you to produce a flyer
advertising an event they’re organizing—their 5th annual golf
tournament. All proceeds will go to the organization. In your
interview, your client mentioned not only that they’re having
trouble getting funding but that people don’t seem to understand
the purpose or mission of Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Your client thinks
that if people knew more about the organization, they’d be more
willing to donate money. The organization cannot provide the
necessary materials, space, advertising, etc., to keep itself afloat if
they don’t receive at least $10,000 in donations this year.
Review
 Review of sample student proposals
 Take a moment to read to yourself the proposal on our class
website titled Sample Proposal. Then, we’ll discuss it as a
class.