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Persuasion and Proposals 16 445

A vast network of goods and services contracts spans the working world.
The U.S. government, the world’s biggest customer, spent $297 billion in 2007
buying military equipment from organizations that submitted proposals (U.S.
Department of Commerce, 2010, p. 494). But goods and services contracts are
by no means limited to government contractors. An auto manufacturer might
buy its engines from another manufacturer; a company that makes spark
plugs might buy its steel from another company.
Another kind of goods and services proposal requests funding to support
a local organization. For example, a homeless shelter might receive some of
its funding from a city or county but might rely on grants from private
philanthropies. Typically, an organization such as a shelter would apply for a
grant to fund increased demand for its services due to a natural disaster or
an economic slowdown in the community. Or it might apply for a grant to
fund a pilot program to offer job training at the shelter. Most large corpora-
tions have philanthropic programs offering grants to help local colleges and
universities, arts organizations, and social services.

PersUasion and ProPosals

A proposal is an argument. You must convince readers that the future bene- in this book
fits will outweigh the immediate and projected costs. Basically, you must per- For more about persuasion, see
suade your readers of three things: Ch. 8.
• that you understand their needs
• that you have already determined what you plan to do and that you are
able to do it
• that you are a professional and are committed to fulfilling your promises

Understanding readers’ needs
The most crucial element of the proposal is the definition of the problem or in this book
opportunity to which the proposed project responds. Although this point For more about analyzing your
seems obvious, people who evaluate proposals agree that the most common audience, see Ch. 5.
weakness they see is an inadequate or inaccurate understanding of the prob-
lem or opportunity.

Readers’ Needs in an Internal Proposal Writing an internal proposal is
both simpler and more complicated than writing an external one. It is sim-
pler because you have greater access to internal readers than you do to ex-
ternal readers, and you can get information more easily. However, it is more
complicated because you might find it hard to understand the situation in
your organization. Some colleagues will not tell you that your proposal is a
long shot or that your ideas might threaten someone in the organization. Be-
fore you write an internal proposal, discuss your ideas with as many poten-
tial readers as you can to learn what the organization really thinks of them.

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