9. Drafting the Proposal

A comprehensive guide to drafting successful proposals.

Introduction to the Drafting Process

All federal funding agencies and most private foundations provide a detailed list and description – in their proposal preparation guide and/or in their various proposal solicitations – of the information they require applicants to include in proposals. This information varies from one agency to the next, and sometimes even from one program to the next within the same agency. However, some of the most frequently requested information is listed below:     

• Cover sheet
• Abstract and/or summary
• Introduction and/or specific aims and/or objectives
• Background and significance
• Literature review
• Preliminary studies
• Research and program design
• Project schedule
• References
• Biographical sketch
• Resources
• Completed, ongoing, and/or pending support
• Budget
• Budget justification
• Supplementary materials

It is important to note that not all agencies will require applicants to include all of this information in their proposals, nor will they necessarily require them to present it in this particular order or under these specific headings. For instance, some agencies might require that the background information, literature review, and preliminary studies be presented in a single section, rather than divided into three discrete sections, as has been indicated above.

Therefore, the guidance presented in this section is not meant to be prescriptive;  rather, it is intended to provide researchers with an overview of some of the most common proposal elements and to offer them a distilled set of best practices that have proven useful for many applicants. In all cases, the target agency’s requirements should take precedence over the guidance presented in this chapter.

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