General Requirements

The requirements for content and format of proposals differ markedly among the various sponsoring agencies. Some require the use of preprinted agency forms; others will accept a proposal in any format as long as it presents all of the required information. Many sponsors make their proposal guidelines and forms available electronically. Other sponsors should be contacted prior to writing the proposal. Whatever its form, the proposal document is a communication instrument that will be evaluated by the proposed sponsor to determine whether or not the project merits support.