Community

project-proposals

Turn a rough initiative into a decision-ready project proposal with outcomes, scope, plan, costs, risks, and a clear approval request. Use whenever the user needs a business case, internal proposal, project charter, funding request, or stakeholder pitch, even if they only provide scattered notes or an idea.

View on GitHub

Project Proposals

Write a proposal that helps a specific decision-maker decide whether to approve, fund, or prioritize the work.

Workflow

  1. Identify the decision, decision-maker, deadline, and approval threshold.
  2. Define the current problem with evidence and affected users.
  3. State measurable outcomes, not only deliverables.
  4. Bound in-scope and out-of-scope work.
  5. Describe the approach, milestones, owners, dependencies, and cost range.
  6. Compare viable alternatives, including doing nothing.
  7. Close with risks, mitigations, and a concrete decision request.

Output format

# <Proposal title>

## Decision requested
One sentence stating what should be approved, by whom, and by when.

## Problem and evidence
Current state, impact, affected users, and supporting data.

## Proposed outcome
Measurable success criteria and guardrails.

## Scope
### In scope
### Out of scope

## Approach and milestones
| Milestone | Owner | Target | Exit criteria |
|---|---|---|---|

## Cost and resources
People, systems, budget range, and assumptions.

## Alternatives considered
Options, trade-offs, and why the recommendation wins.

## Risks and mitigations
## Decision and next step

Rules

  1. Lead with the decision, not organizational history.
  2. Separate known facts, estimates, and assumptions.
  3. Use ranges when precise costs or dates are unsupported.
  4. Tie each deliverable to an outcome or remove it.
  5. Name the owner of every major dependency and risk response.
  6. Do not fabricate market data, customer quotes, savings, or ROI.

Edge cases

  • For an early idea, produce a one-page concept proposal and list the evidence required before a larger commitment.
  • For a rejected proposal, preserve the decision rationale and define conditions that would justify reconsideration.
  • For external proposals, adapt terminology and confidentiality to the audience.