By now you should have identified a problem or concern in your workplace, a local civic organization, a government agency, on campus, or in your neighborhood, one for which you are qualified to seek a realistic solution. Draft a proposal memo seeking permission to investigate possible solutions to your problem. Your goal here is not to solve the issue but to request formal approval from decision makers to investigate the issue.

In your proposal memo outline a plan for arriving at the best fix. To reiterate: do not solve the problem just yet. Instead, design your memo as a road map, describing how you will go about finding out answers to your questions, how you will arrive at data, whom you will interview, means of gauging results, what monies you will need to allot to the investigation process, how much time it will take you to explore viable options, etc.

Once again, remember that this topic will serve as the subject for your recommendation report. Refer to the Proposal, Presentation & Final Recommendation Report Flow Chart.

Your proposal must:

• Be written in memo format, and the length must be 2 – 2 ½ pages, minimum of two full pages, single-spaced
• Include the following (you may use these as individual or combined headings within your memo):
  • Problem statement (a short narrative employing all three appeals: ethos, pathos, logos describing the issue)
  • Purpose (how does attention to the problem or opportunity connect to the vision or mission of the institution?)
  • Benefit (how will your investigation of the issue benefit the organization? Specifics needed)
  • Audience (who is concerned, who will make the decisions?)
  • Methods/Procedures (what steps will you take, specifically, to investigate the issue? What agencies or suppliers will you contact? What surveys or interviews will you conduct? Websites consult? Analysis solicit? Where will you gather data? etc. Keep in mind, both the survey and interview investigative methods are required for the Final Recommendation Report)
  • Qualifications and/or resources? (what do you bring to the table? What is your involvement?)
  • Success criteria? (How will you judge your ultimate recommendations? The video on project proposal writing delineates SMART success markers, ways to evaluate results: they should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. You may use these elements as well, for they also will serve as partial criteria with which your instructor will judge your final recommendations within the report)
  • Budget (for this proposal, you will only need to include a short-term budget for your investigative process: do you plan to print documents or conduct an interview off site, for example? Then perhaps you should include those costs here. You will need to provide real cost structures for implementing your suggestions within the final recommendation report, however)
  • Timeline? (how long will it take you to gather up this research and write your report? Create a Gantt chart in either Word or Excel to capture your schedule and include it in the proposal. Again, you will reconstruct a timeline for implementation of your final suggestions within the recommendation report)

Ultimately, what is your goal? What is your call to action? (Largely, what you wish to gain here is approval to investigate the issue)

Use the following format when naming your file: your First Initial and Last Name with the Assignment Name. Save your file using the .docx or .pdf format.

Example: JDoe_M5_ProposalMemo.docx