Education proposal templates

What is a proposal template?

In proposal writing, a proposal template is a document that already contains a pre-arranged layout and any preliminary information required to write a proposal.

This can include boilerplate details like the name and address of the institution, the current school principal, or even the contact information of the proposal writer and related project stakeholders.  

The template might also include formatted headers, logos and letterheads, and even a basic outline commonly used when structuring proposals.

The purpose of the proposal template is to contain any standardized information within the proposal in order to save time, improve grammatical accuracy, and ensure that all basic details are automatically covered.

Why do I need templates for my school or education program?

Proposal templates are valuable for education projects and programs in a few separate ways.

First, proposal templates are useful when trying to acquire grant funding via a grant application or project proposal. In this scenario, templates can help to accelerate the application or request process, potentially making your team more competitive through efficiency during proposal creation.

Second, templates can help you make the best use of any funding that you have. For example, a program proposal template can help you ensure that you’ve covered all of the basic information that you need to include regarding your proposed educational program. While you’ll still need to modify the template to suit your use case, you can stock the template with “must-have” inventory items that a program might need.

Lastly, templates can be used in the request for proposal (RFP) process to quickly compile and send your specifications to suppliers when your school needs to solicit partners as part of a competitive process.

When external vendors are essential to acquire the supplies you need to complete your initiative, project and grant proposal templates can go a long way to ensure a fast and seamless process.

What templates do I need?

You may need a variety of different proposals in order to cover the needs of your organization, existing staffing, and a variety of other factors.

For example, you may have an IT department capable of maintaining school computers that lacks the information required to handle an onboard security system. In a scenario like that, you might need a service contract to outsource those services because your team members lack the bandwidth to handle those responsibilities.

Most educational institutions need three or four key templates.

Course proposal templates

Generally, course proposals are designed to request funding or approval for a specific course that an educator would like to teach.

The problem is that course proposals can vary based on requirements and departmental expectations. Administrators can streamline this process and drastically reduce confusion by creating a template that includes all relevant guidelines so that instructors have a guide when creating their own course proposals.

Grant proposal templates

Grants are key components when it comes to acquiring funding for major projects and initiatives within your organization. Government grants follow specific guidelines and can have their own competitive process, while private grants may require an entirely different set of directions.

Templates can help when multiple grants follow a similar process — such as at the state or federal level — or when your team is applying for multiple grants from the same foundation or partner organization.

Program proposal templates

Acquiring funding for school programs is a great way to expand the kind of education that your institution can offer. Extracurricular programs can enhance student life while core academic programs might transform the way your department teaches a specific subject.  

Unfortunately, these programs often require some kind of outside funding and supplies. A program proposal template may be essential to ensure that your departments are covering all their bases.

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Frequently asked questions

What should I include in my education proposal template?

While every proposal is a little different, you’ll want to make sure that your proposal matches the guidelines set forth by the funding agency.

Your organization may have a guidance document like this one from the University of Michigan that can talk you through any specific information that must be included. Your department may already have proposal examples and sample proposals available.

In other scenarios, you may need to include a broader set of information like what you’d see in a standard business proposal such as any of the following:

• Title page
• Executive summary
• Cover letter
• Table of contents
• Proposal contents
• Contact information
• Funding requests and projected costs

It’s fair to say that many of these basic pages can help you “sell” the concept behind your proposal to readers.

When designing a proposal template, make sure to include pages with all relevant boilerplate information to save writers from needing to retype well-established content.

Why should I be worried about grants?

Grant funding can be responsible for everything from high school choir and band programs to new building construction for growing campuses.

However, many grants are funded through competitive processes that will pit your educational institution against other schools competing for a finite amount of funding.

Compelling grant applications take time to write — and templates can help with that — but the payoff may result in more funding for your school, a high-profile program, or even a new educational opportunity to help students get the most out of their education.

What is the difference between an RFP and a proposal?

An RFP or “request for proposal” is typically used in situations where funding has already been acquired and your institution needs to solicit partners to acquire the tools, labor, or resources requires in order to initiate the project.

At this stage, you’re sending a request for vendors to submit proposals so that your team can select the best candidate for the job (typically based on some kind of internal criteria).

If you’re creating your own proposal in order to acquire funding, you’re likely at an earlier stage of the process.  In this scenario, you need to compile all of the estimated costs for your project so that you can determine how much money you think you’ll need in order to accomplish what you set out to do.

Though it may seem counterintuitive, the funding proposal is typically submitted prior to an RFP request for vendors. In most scenarios, you’ll need to secure funding before you begin to solicit bids from vendors and partners.

When writing a proposal, does my budget need to be exact?

Typically, your budget doesn’t have to be perfect — but your mileage may vary.

In many scenarios, you may be able to change the amount of money that you’ve requested by providing a justification for the change. This is more likely to be true in matched funding scenarios, where the school is already responsible for raising a certain amount of money as part of the funding process.

In unmatched or fixed funding scenarios, you may simply receive a lump sum that must be used for the program, leaving your organization to either raise the remaining amount or return the money to the funding agency if the project falls through.

How should I format my proposal?

Depending on the funding agency, your proposal may be required to offer specific information or follow specific formatting guidelines.

Many of these formatting requirements are achievable using Microsoft Word, Excel, or Microsoft Publisher. Simple formatting requirements may even be achievable using Google Docs.

If you want to streamline the software tools you need to create the perfect school proposal, a platform like PandaDoc that is specifically designed to handle proposal creation can save hours in time and development.