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• How to Write a Research Proposal | Examples & Templates

How to Write a Research Proposal | Examples & Templates

Published on October 12, 2022 by Shona McCombes and Tegan George. Revised on November 21, 2023.

A research proposal describes what you will investigate, why it’s important, and how you will conduct your research.

The format of a research proposal varies between fields, but most proposals will contain at least these elements:

Introduction

Literature review.

• Research design

Reference list

While the sections may vary, the overall objective is always the same. A research proposal serves as a blueprint and guide for your research plan, helping you get organized and feel confident in the path forward you choose to take.

Table of contents

Research proposal purpose, research proposal examples, research design and methods, contribution to knowledge, research schedule, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about research proposals.

Academics often have to write research proposals to get funding for their projects. As a student, you might have to write a research proposal as part of a grad school application , or prior to starting your thesis or dissertation .

In addition to helping you figure out what your research can look like, a proposal can also serve to demonstrate why your project is worth pursuing to a funder, educational institution, or supervisor.

Research proposal length

The length of a research proposal can vary quite a bit. A bachelor’s or master’s thesis proposal can be just a few pages, while proposals for PhD dissertations or research funding are usually much longer and more detailed. Your supervisor can help you determine the best length for your work.

One trick to get started is to think of your proposal’s structure as a shorter version of your thesis or dissertation , only without the results , conclusion and discussion sections.

Download our research proposal template

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Writing a research proposal can be quite challenging, but a good starting point could be to look at some examples. We’ve included a few for you below.

• Example research proposal #1: “A Conceptual Framework for Scheduling Constraint Management”
• Example research proposal #2: “Medical Students as Mediators of Change in Tobacco Use”

Like your dissertation or thesis, the proposal will usually have a title page that includes:

• The proposed title of your project
• Your supervisor’s name
• Your institution and department

The first part of your proposal is the initial pitch for your project. Make sure it succinctly explains what you want to do and why.

Your introduction should:

• Introduce your topic
• Give necessary background and context
• Outline your  problem statement  and research questions

To guide your introduction , include information about:

• Who could have an interest in the topic (e.g., scientists, policymakers)
• How much is already known about the topic
• What is missing from this current knowledge
• What new insights your research will contribute
• Why you believe this research is worth doing

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As you get started, it’s important to demonstrate that you’re familiar with the most important research on your topic. A strong literature review  shows your reader that your project has a solid foundation in existing knowledge or theory. It also shows that you’re not simply repeating what other people have already done or said, but rather using existing research as a jumping-off point for your own.

In this section, share exactly how your project will contribute to ongoing conversations in the field by:

• Comparing and contrasting the main theories, methods, and debates
• Examining the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches
• Explaining how will you build on, challenge, or synthesize prior scholarship

Following the literature review, restate your main  objectives . This brings the focus back to your own project. Next, your research design or methodology section will describe your overall approach, and the practical steps you will take to answer your research questions.

To finish your proposal on a strong note, explore the potential implications of your research for your field. Emphasize again what you aim to contribute and why it matters.

For example, your results might have implications for:

• Improving best practices
• Informing policymaking decisions
• Strengthening a theory or model
• Challenging popular or scientific beliefs
• Creating a basis for future research

Last but not least, your research proposal must include correct citations for every source you have used, compiled in a reference list . To create citations quickly and easily, you can use our free APA citation generator .

Some institutions or funders require a detailed timeline of the project, asking you to forecast what you will do at each stage and how long it may take. While not always required, be sure to check the requirements of your project.

Here’s an example schedule to help you get started. You can also download a template at the button below.

Download our research schedule template

If you are applying for research funding, chances are you will have to include a detailed budget. This shows your estimates of how much each part of your project will cost.

Make sure to check what type of costs the funding body will agree to cover. For each item, include:

• Cost : exactly how much money do you need?
• Justification : why is this cost necessary to complete the research?
• Source : how did you calculate the amount?

To determine your budget, think about:

• Travel costs : do you need to go somewhere to collect your data? How will you get there, and how much time will you need? What will you do there (e.g., interviews, archival research)?
• Materials : do you need access to any tools or technologies?
• Help : do you need to hire any research assistants for the project? What will they do, and how much will you pay them?

If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Methodology

• Sampling methods
• Simple random sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Cluster sampling
• Likert scales
• Reproducibility

 Statistics

• Null hypothesis
• Statistical power
• Probability distribution
• Effect size
• Poisson distribution

Research bias

• Optimism bias
• Cognitive bias
• Implicit bias
• Hawthorne effect
• Anchoring bias
• Explicit bias

Once you’ve decided on your research objectives , you need to explain them in your paper, at the end of your problem statement .

Keep your research objectives clear and concise, and use appropriate verbs to accurately convey the work that you will carry out for each one.

I will compare …

A research aim is a broad statement indicating the general purpose of your research project. It should appear in your introduction at the end of your problem statement , before your research objectives.

Research objectives are more specific than your research aim. They indicate the specific ways you’ll address the overarching aim.

A PhD, which is short for philosophiae doctor (doctor of philosophy in Latin), is the highest university degree that can be obtained. In a PhD, students spend 3–5 years writing a dissertation , which aims to make a significant, original contribution to current knowledge.

A PhD is intended to prepare students for a career as a researcher, whether that be in academia, the public sector, or the private sector.

A master’s is a 1- or 2-year graduate degree that can prepare you for a variety of careers.

All master’s involve graduate-level coursework. Some are research-intensive and intend to prepare students for further study in a PhD; these usually require their students to write a master’s thesis . Others focus on professional training for a specific career.

Critical thinking refers to the ability to evaluate information and to be aware of biases or assumptions, including your own.

Like information literacy , it involves evaluating arguments, identifying and solving problems in an objective and systematic way, and clearly communicating your ideas.

The best way to remember the difference between a research plan and a research proposal is that they have fundamentally different audiences. A research plan helps you, the researcher, organize your thoughts. On the other hand, a dissertation proposal or research proposal aims to convince others (e.g., a supervisor, a funding body, or a dissertation committee) that your research topic is relevant and worthy of being conducted.

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Free Proposal Maker for Professional Proposals

Create Your Proposal It’s free and easy to use.

• Create winning proposals with our drag-and-drop proposal maker.
• Streamline the proposal process with one of our proposal templates.
• Download your proposal as a PDF or share it with a link.

Chosen by brands large and small

Our proposal maker is used by over 27,500,000 marketers, communicators, executives and educators from over 133 countries that include:

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Proposal Templates

Get started for free with Visme’s ready-made proposal template library. Explore professional proposal templates and choose one that best fits your company. Customization becomes easier with our proposal maker. Start browsing our proposal templates below.

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Features of the Proposal Maker

Beautiful proposal templates.

Get started with professional proposal templates to make a compelling case in front of your audience. Simply pick your favorite template, plug in your information and, customize the graphics, fonts and colors, and you’re good to go.

Create Your Proposal

Build your proposal

Streamline your sales process and overall workflow with our tool's unique capabilities and functionalities. Tap into built-in features like hundreds of free fonts, millions of free images, vector icons, data tools, animations and more to whip up the perfect proposal design in minutes.

Customize every aspect of your proposal to sell your idea

There’s no limit to what you can customize in Visme. Change the fonts, colors, images and icons with a few clicks using our built-in library of assets, or upload your own. Use your brand elements to personalize your proposal. Add or remove pages, modify the layout and add unique data visualizations with our online proposal software.

Turn your documents into page-turners

With an interactive page flip effect, your audience can engage with a document as though they were holding it in their hands. That means more interactivity, more engagement and more design power in your hands. Now that’s flipping cool.

More Great Features of the Proposal Maker

Share your proposal.

There are so many ways to share your proposal in Visme. Download it as a high-quality PDF for printing purposes or send it over as an email attachment. If your proposal design is animated and interactive, you can simply share it online with specific people using a private URL.

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What is a Proposal ?

A proposal is a document that can help you present ideas and solutions in a way that persuades your audience to do business with you. Students, business professionals and entrepreneurs can all use proposals to secure funding, partnerships and projects.

In Visme, you can access ready-made proposal templates that are designed for specific businesses in mind. Easily customize your own proposal design and send it out to your clients in minutes.

Use the proposal maker to bring your ideas to life.

Choose the proposal template design that works for you and modify it until you’re completely happy with it. Drag and drop thousands of free assets, including images, illustrations, icons and more. Change the fonts and colors, and upload your own logo to create a custom proposal that will win over any client.

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Use Visme’s online proposal maker to create multi-page business, sales and project proposals and more. Customize every inch of your proposal to make it your own. Take it to the next level by adding images, illustrations and icons, and visualizing data with unique charts and graphs.

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Create interactive proposals with popup and rollover effects that allow your viewer to interact with your design to learn more information.

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Charts & Graphs

Showcase sales, marketing, website data and more in your proposals with Visme’s easy-to-use charts, graphs and other data visualization tools.

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Choose from over a million stock photos, icons, illustrations, characters, lines, shapes and more to create a completely unique proposal.

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How to Make Proposals in 5 Steps

Create compelling proposals to secure project funding or land new clients with ease using Visme’s online proposal maker. Design a custom proposal or use our business proposal templates to put one together in minutes.

Learn how to make a proposal in five easy steps below. Simply find a template, customize your design and create your own proposal in less than an hour.

• Log into Visme and choose your favorite proposal template to get started with.
• Replace placeholder content with your own, and customize fonts and colors.
• Insert free images, icons and charts from the library, or upload your own.
• Add or remove pages to make sure all the necessary information fits.
• Download your proposal as a high-quality PDF, or share online with a link.

How to Use the Proposal Maker

Log into your Visme account and choose your favorite proposal template from the dashboard to get started. You can also choose to start with a blank canvas.

Replace the title of the proposal, and edit the placeholder content to add in your own text and company info. Add or remove pages to fit in all your information.

Upload your own images or browse through millions of free stock photos in the left-hand panel. Type in relevant keywords to find the perfect photos for your proposal.

Add some flare to your proposal by complementing the text with relevant vector icons. You can choose from several different styles in the built-in icon library, or upload your own.

Make your proposal stand out by adding charts, graphs and data widgets to visualize boring numbers. Add animations and interactive links if you plan on sharing a digital version of your proposal.

Customize the fonts, colors and other elements of the proposal according to your needs. Upload your own brand elements, including your logo, to further personalize it.

Proofread everything before you download your finished proposal. Double-check the quality of the images, alignment settings and more within the proposal maker.

Download your proposal as a high-quality PDF or interactive HTML5. You can also host your proposal online by generating a public or private URL and sharing it with others.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How do i create a proposal, what should be in a proposal, who is the proposal maker for, can i add multiple data visualizations inside my proposal, can i go back and edit my proposal after i’ve downloaded it, are there icons and photos available for commercial use.

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11 Best Proposal Creation Software Tools

Table of Contents

Best software for proposal creation: proposify, runner-up with more payment options: pandadoc, how we picked and tested, best for small businesses: honeybook, cheapest overall pricing: betterproposals, best for freelancers: bonsai, best for agencies: proposify, best proposal templates: qwilr, best automation: proposify, best free option: word processors and pandadoc e-sign, who needs proposal software, how to choose the right software for you, software that didn't make the cut, further reading.

We tested nine online proposal software tools to find the best options for small businesses, freelancers, and large sales teams.

After over 45 hours of testing, we recommend Proposify for larger teams in 2021 because of their professional templates, flexible but easy-to-use options, and powerful automation and analytics. We recommend PandaDoc and Honeybook for individuals and small teams.

In the rest of the article, we will cover our other top picks and the pros and cons of each.

We can highly recommend Proposify because it is the software we use in-house. The suite of options has grown since we first selected this tool, and Proposify still holds up. Our need was to produce professional, custom business proposals, but with the benefit of automation. Proposify develops sleek proposals using the helpful reusable Content Library and a drag-and-drop interface, enabling new documents to be built quickly and accurately. Once set-up, Proposify’s user-friendly interface can save hours in preparation time per proposal.

From the client’s point of view, they receive a professional and accessible proposal. We have had good feedback on the ease of review, modifications, and signing. Tracking active offers and how clients interact with each section has been valuable for targeting follow-up communication and winning sales. 

Proposify is best for medium- to large-sized businesses with single or multi-person sales and marketing teams sending enough proposals that it warrants investing in a tool to streamline your process. It's a fine tool for small businesses also, but Proposify's business strategy is firmly focused on enterprise clients as of 2020, according to Proposify's Director of Sales and Affiliate Manager. You can read the full Proposify review here .

PandaDoc’s platform is honed to quickly produce sleek business proposals, move them through the sales process, and better understand how clients interact with proposals. The tool is intuitive for any user and includes the critical automaton and client interaction tracking that makes proposal creation software so valuable. 

PandaDoc allows client payment through PayPal, Stripe, Square, and Authorize.net, which provides more options for companies using different payment systems. In comparison, Proposify only offers Stripe. You can read the full Pandadoc review here .

We reviewed nine leading software tools in the proposal creation tools in the freelance and agency categories. We tested the tool’s proposal preparation capabilities through the company’s free trial offering. New and template-based proposals were built and tested using various design tools and libraries. We tested collaboration capabilities, client experience, tech support, and other features to assess the ease of use, professionalism, and flexibility. We looked at features for freelancers and large sales teams with complex sales processes. 

These reviews do not assess other aspects of the software in this category. For some tools, proposal development is just one feature. Platforms may include a range of services such as customer relationship management (CRM), project management, expense tracking, or appointment calendars. These other services may be an essential consideration for your company, but we have focused solely on proposal creation to maintain a direct comparison.

HoneyBook offe rs useful but basic business proposals with the core feature that makes proposal creation software valuable. Its ability to auto-populate client information makes up for the limited formatting and content options on the platform. This feature eliminates the need for manual proposal editing with client information and allows for rapid proposal preparation. 

HoneyBook’s proposals are just one feature in the suite of tools built for managing a small business. Proposals feed into the appointment and invoicing tools, allowing the company to be managed in one place. In addition, HoneyBook’s one paid plan option allows for unlimited users, enabling team collaboration to take place on one platform. Check out our full HoneyBook review here .

BetterProposals has the best pricing at $13 per user per month when billed annually. This option includes up to 10 proposals per month and unlimited users, which is competitive compared to our best picks. The user interface is not always intuitive and the multi-page default client view makes this software a little clunky to use. However, it provides good value and may be worth the price to get used to the platform’s nuances. Find more information about BetterProposal’s offering in our review .

Bonsai offers a suite of freelancer tools in a user-friendly and integrated platform. The proposal development feature creates professional documents with lots of formatting options, but its limited automation requires manual work to enter client information in each proposal. The proposal features' limitations are balanced by affordable pricing and the broader freelancer business tools on the platform. Read our Bonsai review to learn more about its freelancer suite.

Proposal development in agencies relies on clear communication with the client and within the team. The Proposify platform supports strong internal communication both during the proposal creation process and the live sales process. The platform supports internal and external communication through the platform’s chat and tracking functionalities, critical for larger teams and client bases. 

Proposify also offers lots of flexibility on the types of permissions and access. You can create unique user types to suit your agency’s particular needs in viewing, editing, and approving proposals. 

Agencies can decrease time spent creating a proposal and improve team alignment on deliverables by leveraging Proposify’s platform .

Qwilr produces beautiful proposals that craft a compelling story for your client. This software offers the most aesthetically pleasing proposals across all the software we reviewed because it was built from well-designed defaults and editorial options. The user-friendly platform makes it easy to you to make the right design decisions. 

However, Qwilr is missing key automation that saves proposal development time. The Variable function, which acts as a placeholder for company information, is not available. You will need to manually enter a potential client’s contact name or address into the beautiful document without it. This missing automation requires additional preparation time per proposal. Therefore, Qwilr’s visual strengths needed to be weighed against its limited automation. 

Qwilr is best for design-based small- to medium-sized businesses where visual excellence is a competitive advantage. You can read the full Qwilr review here .

The best programs allow you to create custom variables into proposals. This information can be unique to your industry or clients and will automatically be populated when proposals are generated. Our two top picks, Proposify and PandaDoc offer strong automation with custom variables. Still, Proposify takes the edge by integrating custom variables across all menus rather than just within a proposal template. Check out the full Proposify review here .

The best free option is likely the system many people use today: word processing or slide show software. You can use previous proposals to develop templates or DIY content libraries. Common programs, such as Microsoft Word or Powerpoint, Google Docs, or Slides, are free or low-cost tools for proposal creation. However, this low price is balanced by the increased time required for manual proposal creation. These are great options if you create few proposals or short one-page proposals .

These manual documents can be paired with PandaDoc’s free E-Sign plan . This service allows you to upload a document and send it to a client for a digital signature. This functionality may not be necessary for many businesses, but it can add a level of formality and professionalism that a client may appreciate.

Any freelancer or company that produces a high volume of proposals needs proposal management software. Proposals are a key process in winning new business, but the manual development process can require significant time and templates can be prone to errors. For example, a client will not be impressed to find a past client’s name used in a proposal instead of their own. These mistakes can be awkward at best and costly at worst. 

Proposals are an excellent fit for software because there are a lot of repetitive tasks. Using these platforms’ automation and content libraries allows you to tailor the key aspects of a proposal and leverage the software to do the rest.

The right software should make your writing process more efficient while integrating with your existing workflow. We’ve collected key considerations to test if the software is right for you.

Ease of use

Play around in the platform and see how easy or obvious it is to create a client proposal. The interface should be intuitive and be divided into sections that make sense to your workflow. Today all the software we reviewed was offered online through the cloud. 

Each platform requires an initial time investment to tailor the templates to your company’s clients and needs. This effort will be more straightforward if the platform makes it easy to develop content with user-friendly editing tools.

Client point of view

Put yourself into your client’s shoes and think about what they would like to see. Does the browser display have the right style? Is it obvious how to navigate the proposal and get to a yes? Does it fit with your client’s preferred communication and documentation needs? Ultimately, proposals are for the client. Easy-to-use software is useless if it’s not an excellent client experience.

The best software saves time by automating the time-consuming and painstaking parts of proposal writing. Strong software includes its version of two key automations:

• Content library: this catalog saves commonly repeated text, product descriptions, fee structures, or other proposal content so they can be quickly dropped into new proposals. 
• Variables: these placeholders are automatically filled with the correct client and company information when a proposal is generated.

These features are time savers and should be a selling feature.

Integrations

Your company already uses a suite of tools. Therefore, your proposal creation software should connect with these existing systems. When choosing a proposal creation software, review the integrations offered to ensure that you can seamlessly connect this enhanced proposal development process into your current workflow.

Collaboration

Your team size will factor into your proposal software. The number of collaborators and levels of access can determine the software needs. It will also determine the cost, as many platforms offer plans with per-user pricing, and several have limits on the maximum number of users per plan.

Platform’s core focus

Proposal creation software falls into two general categories: proposal-focused platforms and small business suites. Proposal-focused platforms concentrate on proposal development. The platform may offer other capacities, but its primary function is to produce proposals. On the other hand, small business suites offer a range of business services, with proposal development being just one tool. 

In our experience, proposal-focused software produces the best documents due to this refinement in focus. These platforms are best for businesses looking to create a high volume of proposals that have some complexity. Alternatively, small business suites offer many tools like project management, appointment booking, and bookkeeping. Proposals are conveniently connected to other platform tools for easy client management. However, the proposal document itself is limited in its design and automation. These suites are best for businesses creating fewer proposals or requiring very simple documents.

What's the best proposal software?

Proposify is the best proposal software due to its strong automation, user-friendly platform, and client tracking. Proposify helps make tailored documents quickly and easily because it is easy to navigate the platform, create and save relevant content, and quickly pull the right elements together. The proposals have a professional aesthetic and are straightforward for clients to e-sign “yes.” The project tracking function allows you to verify the proposal development process with colleagues, see where the client has spent their reading time, and automatically follow up to ensure leads stay warm. 

What is RFP software?

Request for Proposal (RFP) software is a platform used by buyers and sellers to provide and respond to specific requests for products or services. These platforms help companies create and manage RFP documents and to manage the questions and submissions from sellers. Some platforms also help sellers prepare the RFP response, which overlaps with proposal creation software. The difference between the two is the focus: proposal creation software can support any type of proposal, whereas RFP software is focused on responses to RFPs. RFPs are very specific requests with defined requirements both in the offering and in the way the proposal document should be created, which is defined by the client. Proposal creation software does not incorporate RFP information but can be used for RFPs. It can also be used to prepare proposals outside an RFP process. You can learn more tips on how to write an RFP here .

How do I write a great proposal?

Strong proposals are tailored to the potential client’s challenges and goals. Clients are seeking external companies to solve a problem. Your proposal should clearly outline how you will solve their problem and why your company is best suited to do so. Therefore, writing a great proposal requires significant planning. Before a word is written, a clear understanding of the client’s needs, perspective, and how your company’s offerings and qualities can serve the client. Once these items are weighed and aligned, you can write a persuasive pitch. This process avoids the common mistake of viewing proposals as promotional rather than problem-solving. Your client is far more interested in your deliverable cost and timeline than your ‘About Us’ corporate history. If you are interested in learning more you can read our full guide on how to write a winning business proposal .

How do you automate a proposal?

Proposals can be automated by leveraging proposal software. Repeatable content, such as descriptive sections, images, fee structures, or contracts, can be saved to automatically provide content to a new proposal’s skeleton. In addition, placeholders for client or company information can be automatically populated with the correct information in a new document. The repetitive nature of proposals makes them highly suitable for automation. However, each proposal cannot be simply created from automated content. Each proposal demands planning and tailoring to the client to be persuasive. 

Our review covered two proposal management software tools that aren’t leaders but may still be a fit for some businesses. If you’re still looking for other ways to improve your proposal we suggest checking out these other helpful tools .

Bidsketch is the most expensive option for the pure proposal creation tools (e.g. they do not provide other small business tools). While all the key elements were present, Bidsketch offered fewer document editing and client tracking features than less expensive options.

AND.CO is a freelancer suite that includes proposal creation. The proposal formatting options are limited, and automation is non-existent, but these issues are common for this type of small business suite platform. AND.CO is targeted at freelancers and is competitively priced. However, the freelancer focus means it is designed for only one user not a sales team. There is no collaboration option, limiting growth on the platform compared to other freelancer-focused tools. 

Nusii offers advanced automation but the templates are relatively similar, they only offer one option for payment processing, client engagement tracking is minimal, and there is only one type of collaborator on the platform. 

Canva offers proposal design software that is easy to use but lacks any of the automation, management, or payment processing that dedicated tools offer. If you're looking for a great-looking one-off proposal it would be a good solution.

Proposal software is a way to help close more business, but there are other ways to improve your proposals. We offer a proposal writing course that includes individual coaching. Additionally, we suggest these blog posts on how to write a better proposal:

• How to Format a Business Proposal
• How Long Should a Proposal Be?
• Proposal Title Pages: Title, Subtitle, & Design
• 10 Proposal Examples with Critiques

We hope that these resources will help your business create better proposals and close more business. If you have questions or feedback on this article please add a comment below. 

Reader supported! Our articles are reader-supported via ads and affiliate links on some articles. We earn from qualifying purchases on some links on this page. This helps support the continued publishing of editorial content.

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15 Proposal Software Tools for Proposal Creation and Management

Updated: June 07, 2022

Published: February 10, 2022

You spend hours and hours drafting proposals by emailing different departments for assets, curating images, outlining the scope, creating timelines, inputting estimates — only to do it all over again for the next prospect.

If this is your reality, then you can benefit from using proposal software.

Proposal software provides a more efficient way to create, store, and manage the proposal creation process with better insight into the sales pipeline and performance. With software to address these needs, you can potentially reduce the non-billable time spent drafting content for sales proposals, and better communicate with prospective clients.

To bring your proposal process into the modern age, we're highlighting different proposal creation and management tools for you to consider for marketing and creative industries. And luckily, several of the tools listed below also integrate with HubSpot's customer relationship management (CRM) software to help you do just that.

Take a look at the proposal tools below to get an idea of your options.

(Note that prices are reduced in many cases when you sign a yearly contract. Also, many of these tools include web and mobile apps, as well as esignature features.)

Business Proposal Software

• FastSpring IQ
• FlippingBook
• Better Proposals

1. PandaDoc

Mobile app: ios | android.

G2 Crowd Rating : 4.7/5.0 (1,451 Reviews)

Price : Free eSign for unlimited documents, $19/month per user, $39/month per user for integrations and content library, custom pricing for additional features

PandaDoc allows you to easily create customized, on-brand proposals quickly through smart collaboration tools, integrations with several CRMs, and a content library so your new business team has everything it needs to address the prospect's concerns and questions. You can enable custom notifications so you know when your client opens the document, how much time they spent reading, and when they sign.

In addition, you can use PandaDoc for contract renewals and the HR solution to streamline and simplify recruiting and onboarding, making your entire agency more efficient and organized.

(Disclosure: PandaDoc is a HubSpot integration partner .)

3. Responsive

G2 Crowd Rating : 4.7/5.0 (379 Reviews)

Price : Contact for full pricing

Responsive is a response management platform that uses artificial intelligence to simplify the process of organizing and responding to RFPs. The tool enables businesses to import a draft proposal into Responsive and export a final document in their format of choice — all while collaborating with multiple employees directly in the software.

One of Responsive's most distinct features is its intelligent recommendation engine. Using artificial intelligence, the tool can suggest content from your library of responses that best answers the needs of a given RFP. In turn, you can loop the right people into a project and quickly synthesize a proposal that satisfies the specific RFP you received.

Responsive   integrates with a number of common tools in a business's tech stack, including Okta, Slack, Google Drive, and HubSpot.

4. FastSpring IQ

G2 Crowd Rating : 4.7/5.0 (17 Reviews)

Price: Free: Unlimited quotes up to 2 users; Growth Plan: $65/month/user - premium features; Contact for Enterprise pricing and features features

FastSpring Interactive Quotes (IQ) makes it easy to create and send personalized, interactive quotes to your prospects. IQ has customizable components where you can easily incorporate videos, customer testimonials, and other supporting assets, acting as a modern alternative for lengthy slide decks and PDFs.

IQ also lets you track in real-time how prospects interact with the quote so you know exactly what they’re interested in, leading to more efficient follow-ups. You can use IQ like a live pricing calculator during demos, or send it directly to prospects so they can pick and choose what they need directly within the quote. This makes it easy to align on pricing, eliminating back-and-forth negotiations. 

On top of that, it’s also equipped with eSignatures, payments, and CRM integrations for a more seamless experience for both you and your prospects.

(Disclosure: FastSpring IQ is a HubSpot integration partner .)

5. Proposify

Mobile app : iOS only

G2 Crowd Rating : 4.7/5.0 (808 Reviews)

Price: Team Plan: $49/user/month - unlimited documents; Business Plan: Starts at $590/month/10 users - premium features

Proposify was made for creative firms. Its drag-and-drop interface lets you easily add different sections to your document. You can customize a proposal with an InDesign-like editor that lets you add text, images, and videos. In addition, it has robust analytics features, including the ability to see the top-viewed sections of your proposal, how many times it was viewed, and for how long.

The proposal design software also tracks the performance of your proposals over time, so your new biz team can better understand close rates by month, quarter, and year..

(Disclosure: Proposify is a HubSpot integration partner. )

6. Venngage

G2 Crowd Rating : 4.7/5.0 (50 Ratings)

Price : Free to sign up and use; Premium Plan: $16/month per user; Business Plan: $39/month; Enterprise Plan: $499/month for Enterprise Plan

Already a trusted tool for making infographics, Venngage has recently expanded its robust design software to include a proposal maker . Venngage combines an extensive library of professionally designed proposal templates with a powerful drag-and-drop editor, enabling users to create their own eye-catching proposals in minutes.

Plus, with a simple interface and 24-hour customer support, Venngage is beginner-friendly. It also runs entirely in your browser, so you can build proposals on the go.

12. GetAccept

Web and Mobile Apps : Chrome | iOS | Android

G2 Crowd Rating : 4.5 /5.0 (376 Reviews)

Price : Free for individual use; Essential Plan: $15/month per user; Professional Plan: $49/month per user; Enterprise Plan: contact for pricing

GetAccept is an e-signature and document tracking platform for salespeople. The tool reinvents the proposal and e-signing workflow by engaging the recipient with an intelligent and personalized document they can sign instantly. The product also includes video and live chat features.

Editor's note: This article was originally published in May 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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The 10 best proposal software solutions

Proposal software, also known as proposal management software, gives professionals the tools they need to streamline and automate the proposal creation process.

But are they all created equal? Absolutely not.

Most people struggle to create their own proposal documents, which leads to depressing numbers and lost sales . Fortunately, proposal software exists to streamline the proposal-writing process and drive more revenue than ever before.

In this article, we’ll discuss what proposal software is, why it’s beneficial, how to evaluate these kinds of apps, and the 10 best proposal software solutions available.  

Table of Contents

What is proposal software, why use proposal software.

• Common features of proposal management software

How to evaluate proposal software

• Better Proposals

Let’s start with a definition.

Proposal software, or proposal management software, is any app or platform designed to help salespeople develop proposals and automations to guide prospects through the funnel while keeping all the related documents in order.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a salesperson , freelancer, or independent entrepreneur, you probably create proposals on a regular basis. This is a time-consuming process. The best proposal software reduces the time and frustration it typically takes to craft winning proposals.

Also of note, most proposal software solutions are cloud-based and accessed for a fee. But of course, we’ll talk more about this in a later section of this article.

Proposal software can be incredibly beneficial—especially if you work in sales. Here’s why:

Better branding

Significant time savings, higher profits, increased collaboration possibilities, accessibility, procedure automation.

To make sales, you have to earn your prospects’ trust. And nothing says “trust me” less than a hastily slapped-together proposal creation in Microsoft Word. It just looks unprofessional and hurts your brand integrity.

And if your proposal looks unprofessional, why would a prospect believe their future relationship with you will be any different? Answer: they won’t. Fortunately, proposal software will allow you to brand your proposals with your company’s logo, color pallet, and more.

It may sound silly—and it probably is—but a professional, branded business proposal looks better than a jury-rigged one and will help you close more deals.

Proposal software will also help you save time—time you could spend on revenue generating activities that actually boost your company’s bottom line.

Ask yourself, “how many hours do I spend on the proposal process every month?” Probably way too many. This is because you’re using tools that weren’t designed for the job. MS Word is fantastic if you’re writing a novel. If you want to win new business, you need something else.

The best proposal software has the tools you need to create professional proposals quickly, allowing you to move on and complete other important tasks.

Proposal software will allow you to brand your proposals and make them look more professional. It will also help you create them quickly. What does this mean for you? That you can earn more money in less time and boost company profits!

The ultimate goal of every sales rep, freelancer, and entrepreneur is to grow revenue without sacrificing time. This is exactly what proposal software will help you do.

Proposal management software offers access to your company and its stakeholders alike. Both parties can view and edit documents, make suggestions, and streamline their processes, making it a hub for increased collaboration.

Accessibility is crucial for all, especially when you’re in the middle of settling a contract or negotiating a proposal. Proposal management software ensures everyone can access documents and data at any time, making your clients feel more secure in their decision to partner with you.

If efficiency is one of your team’s priorities — and it really should be — then anything that can make your process more efficient should be on your radar.

The right software, like the options we’ll discuss below, lets you maximize your time and ultimately enhance your bottom line by taking care of the form and data-driven aspects of your workload so you can focus your energy more purposefully.

6 common features of proposal management software

While each proposal software we’ll discuss has its unique features, some cover the entire spectrum of offerings. These basic features are often what make proposal management software so useful to industries and businesses everywhere. 

Most software companies start with these features and expand on them, creating something new that appeals to a more niche demographic.

Document management capabilities

One of the best things about proposal management software is that it can keep your piles of paperwork in order with ease. Document management lets you group together forms for various processes so you can send them to your clients all at once. And when you update these forms, you can replace old versions immediately.

Plus, when your clients send you important documents, document managers let you clearly label and file them away so you can find them again in seconds.

Automated workflow and approval processes

Time is money, and your management software’s automatic processes allow you to make the most of both. While your software handles those necessary operations like automatic proposal generation, setting up appointments, and approving submissions, your team can focus on projects that require creative thinking and personal connections.

Customizable templates and forms

Creating personalized, branded forms for your contracts, invoices, and other documents is time-consuming, even if you know exactly what you need to say. That’s why most management software comes with templates you can customize to your preferences, streamlining your process without sacrificing professionalism or style.

Some offer templates as part of their free plan, while others provide them during trial periods. Templates are invaluable for saving time and creating polished documents. With them, you can swiftly draft and send business proposals, outlining terms and conditions with ease.

Tracking and analytics features

Knowing your analytics helps you understand what makes leads convert and areas where you can improve your conversion rates. Good proposal software tracks metrics like proposal views, web traffic, and clicks constantly so you can evaluate them at your leisure.

Integrations with other systems

If you use other software in your sales process, like customer relationship management (CRM), being able to integrate your programs should be a top priority. Integration helps further streamline your processes and ensure your entire company is on the same page, regardless of which programs they specialize in.

Cloud-based storage solutions

Today, working in the cloud is essential to proper team management, especially when your company operates out of more than one location. The cloud syncs your work in real-time, allowing people around the world to stay up to date as soon as there’s an update to report. Cloud-based solutions also reduce the risk of data loss, since many of them feature automatic saving.

Here’s the truth: there are A LOT of different proposal software available. How do you choose the right app for your needs? We suggest looking for a few specific things:

• User-friendliness: The proposal software you choose should be easy to use. If it’s not, what’s the point? Pick a solution with a short learning curve.
• Business fit: Your chosen app should also have all the necessary features. To determine this, ask yourself which features are non-negotiable. A few popular options are professional templates, e-signature capabilities, and analytics dashboards. Choose a proposal software with the features YOU need to be successful.
• Security and confidentiality: Protecting your data and documents is crucial when it comes to proposals. Make sure any software you use has proper security and confidentiality features in place and adheres to all relevant standards and regulations.
• Cost of service: Lastly, it’s important to choose a proposal software that you can afford. Luckily, most apps in this category aren’t expensive. Even so, keep your budget in mind and don’t exceed it unless you have a very good reason.

HOW DO YOU SELL?

Nutshell is flexible enough to fit every sales model..

Choose the model that best fits your business and see how we help teams like yours close more deals.

Now that you know what proposal software is, why it’s valuable, and how to choose the right app for your business, let’s talk about a few specific options available to you.

Here are the 10 best proposal software solutions:

1. PandaDoc

First up, we have  PandaDoc , a popular tool that allows users to quickly create contracts, forms, and other important documents, in addition to branded proposals.

PandaDoc includes a massive template library. Each template is easily customized with brand logos and color schemes using the solution’s signature drag-and-drop editor. Once your proposal is just right, upload it where it needs to go with a single click.

One of our favorite things about PandaDoc is its extensive integrations list. For example, you can connect PandaDoc to a powerful CRM software like  Nutshell  and automatically pull customer details into your proposals to make them feel more personal.

Other important features inside PandaDoc include:

• eSignatures to make the agreement process as seamless as possible.
• Simplified workflows that include version tracking and commenting.
• Cloud storage for all of your documents so you always know where to find them.
• Engagement metrics that catalog when proposals are opened, viewed, signed, etc.

All in all, PandaDoc is a fantastic proposal software and should definitely be on your list. Fortunately, it’s not an expensive app to use. Pricing ranges from $19 to $49+ per user / per month depending on the features you need access to.

2. Proposify

Proposify  is another popular proposal software that’s perfect for large sales departments that close a high volume of deals every month. Is that you? Then check this out…

The Proposify solution comes with a full-fledged template library, each of which can be customized to reflect your company’s unique branding via a drag and drop editor. This means that every proposal your team sends out will “look the part.”

Like PandaDoc, Proposify also integrates with other popular tools, allowing users to quickly source data from  CRMs  like SalesForce and HubSpot to create personalized proposals.

Where Proposify really distinguishes itself, though, is in the permissions department. Sales managers have the ability to pre-approve templates, images, fees, and other content to make sure that reps never send outdated and/or inaccurate information.

We can’t wrap up this section on Proposify without mentioning the app’s analytics suite. Check your dashboard to learn how prospects interact with your proposals, which sections are most viewed, and insights into why certain deals didn’t go through.

One of the reasons why we recommend Proposify for large sales departments is because it’s a pricier piece of software than the other options in this post. Paid plans start at $49 per user per month. Pricing for the Business Plan, which is recommended for teams of 10 or more, is available upon request.

3. Prospero

If Proposify is best for large companies,  Prospero  takes the cake for small operations, such as those run by solo entrepreneurs and freelance professionals.

The Prospero template library contains numerous eye-catching templates each geared toward a different profession. Are you a photographer? There’s a template for that. Graphic designer? There’s a template for that. Writer? You get the idea…

Each professional template can be quickly customized by adding your brand’s logo, personalized pictures and videos, custom tables, and more.

If a potential client wants to move forward, they can do so by signing your proposal electronically, which will help you close deals faster. This is important since many solo entrepreneurs and freelancers deal with cash flow issues regularly.

Finally, Prospero integrates with Stripe, FreshBooks, QuickBooks, and other tools to simplify processes and help its users keep track of their money.

You can get started with Prospero for $8 to $10 per user per month.

4. Better Proposals

Another popular proposal software is Better Proposals . Their name sounds promising, but can they actually deliver? In a word, yes!

This easy-to-use proposal software is stuffed to the gills with helpful features, some of which include an all-in-one editor that makes proposal writing a breeze, professionally designed templates that can be customized to your exact specifications, a content library that will allow you to store previously used pieces of content for quick retrieval, and more.

And we can’t forget to mention this little gem: instant notifications. Better Proposals will update you when your proposal is opened, forwarded, printed, etc. With these details, you’ll be able to follow up with leads at the perfect times and win new business.

Better Proposals will run you somewhere between $19 and $49 a month / per user, though you can save as much as 35% by signing up for an annual plan.

Last but certainly not least, we have  Qwilr , a truly unique proposal software.

What makes this app different from the other tools we’ve covered? Qwilr will not, we repeat WILL NOT, help you create amazing PDF proposals. Instead, Qwilr proposals are designed as beautiful, interactive, and mobile-responsive web pages.

Qwilr includes a template library, which can be customized extensively by adding personal branding elements, video greetings, product demos , and even Google Maps. It also supports eSignatures and connects to payment systems like Stripe and Xero.

Like some of the other proposal software in this post, Qwilr integrates with a variety of  CRM solutions , allowing users to automatically pull prospect information into their proposals.

Qwilr is used by major brands like HP, Zendesk, and DropBox and is ideal for B2B sellers. Sound like you? Then sign up for one of Qwilr’s two plans: Business, which will cost you $35 a month per user, or Enterprise, which goes for $59 a month and requires 5 users minimum.

6. Bidsketch

If you’re a freelancer or small business owner looking for a proposal software solution tailored to your needs, Bidsketch might be just what you need. Bidsketch streamlines the proposal creation process, allowing you to create professional-looking proposals quickly and efficiently.

One of the standout features of Bidsketch is its user-friendly interface and pre-built proposal templates. These templates cover a wide range of industries and services, making it easy to find a starting point for your proposal. Once you’ve selected a template, you can customize it with your branding, images, and content using Bidsketch’s intuitive editor.

Bidsketch also offers features that enhance collaboration and communication. You can easily share your proposals with team members or clients for feedback and track changes with versioning and commenting capabilities. Additionally, the software provides analytics to help you understand how prospects interact with your proposals, allowing you to make data-driven improvements.

Bidsketch offers three main plans priced based on the number of users and features included. The Solo plan starts at $23 per month. The other plans, which include custom domains and various other features, range from $47 to $119 per month when paid annually.

Nusii is another proposal software solution that caters to freelancers and small businesses. It offers an easy-to-use platform with customizable proposal templates, making it simple to create visually appealing proposals that align with your brand.

While Nusii may not have as extensive a template library as some other options, its templates are thoughtfully designed for various industries, ensuring that your proposal will look professional and polished. You can easily add your logo, images, and personalized content to make each proposal unique.

One of Nusii’s strengths lies in its user-friendly interface, allowing you to create proposals efficiently without the need for extensive training. The platform’s simplicity extends to the proposal-sharing process, making it easy to collaborate with clients and gather their feedback.

Nusii also provides integration with popular payment and accounting tools like Stripe, FreshBooks, and QuickBooks, streamlining your invoicing and payment process. This integration can be especially beneficial for freelancers and small businesses looking to manage their finances effectively.

Nusii offers several plans, which range in price from $29 per month to $129 per month as well as custom plans. A 14-day free trial is also available.

8. Responsive (formerly RFPIO)

If your business is looking for a solution for responding to requests for proposals (RFPs) and other requests for information, consider Responsive . Responsive (formerly known as RFPIO) is a specialized proposal software designed to streamline and optimize the process of responding to these types of requests.

Responsive enables your team to collaborate seamlessly on information request responses, ensuring everyone is on the same page and providing consistent answers to key questions. The software centralizes content and knowledge, allowing you to store and manage responses, case studies, and other crucial information in one place.

The platform’s AI-powered features further enhance efficiency, automatically suggesting the most appropriate responses to request questions based on previous successful submissions. This time-saving capability allows your team to focus on refining responses and tailoring them to each specific request.

Responsive’s analytics provide insights into your request performance, helping you identify areas for improvement and refining your strategy for future proposals. With features like version control and real-time collaboration, the software ensures your team can work efficiently to submit winning RFPs and other documents.

Pricing for Responsive is typically available upon request, tailored to your business’s needs and size. Though it may be more specialized, the benefits this proposal tool brings to your information request process can make it a valuable investment for organizations that deal extensively with RFPs and other information requests.

Loopio is another specialized proposal software solution for RFP management, particularly suited for businesses handling complex RFPs and security questionnaires.

Loopio simplifies the process of responding to RFPs by providing a centralized platform for organizing content and automating repetitive tasks. The software allows teams to collaborate efficiently, ensuring that subject matter experts can contribute to specific sections of the response.

With Loopio’s intelligent search functionality, finding relevant answers and content becomes a breeze, speeding up the proposal creation process. The software’s answer library stores approved responses, allowing your team to maintain consistency and compliance across different RFPs.

Loopio also has features for version control and audit trails, which is crucial for maintaining accurate records and tracking changes made during the RFP response process.

Loopio offers scalable pricing plans to accommodate businesses of varying sizes and needs, and pricing is available upon request. 

10. GetAccept

Another powerful proposal software option is GetAccept , which offers a comprehensive suite of proposal features.

At the heart of GetAccept is its document creation and customization capabilities. With a diverse range of proposal templates, you can craft compelling proposals that leave a lasting impression on your clients. The intuitive drag-and-drop editor allows you to add multimedia elements like images and videos, making your proposals visually captivating and impactful.

Another standout feature of GetAccept is its document tracking and analytics. Real-time notifications keep you informed when clients open, view, or interact with your proposals. Armed with this data, you can time your follow-ups strategically, increasing your chances of converting leads into customers.

Pricing for GetAccept varies depending on your specific requirements, and plans range from $15 to $79 per month.

Choosing the best proposal software for your needs

Proposal software will give you a professional edge, save you loads of time, and help you generate more revenue for your company. The trick is choosing the right solution.

For example, PandaDoc is a viable option for most people, especially those who already use Nutshell , as the two applications integrate seamlessly. But those working for large brands may prefer Proposify, while freelancers and solo entrepreneurs should consider Prospero.

Better Proposals and Qwilr have their merits, too, and definitely deserve consideration.

We encourage you to do your research. Read this post again, as well as online review sites to get a feel for each app. Then sign up for a few free trials to get hands-on experience. Finally, choose the solution that suits your workflow best and don’t look back. Good luck!

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[NEW] State of Proposals 2023 — Get our closing-critical insights from analyzing 1 million+ proposals in this annual research report.

Untangle your sales document process with the leading proposal software.

Proposify proposal software helps growing teams remove document bottlenecks, and get visibility into the most important stage of your sales cycle: the close.

Trusted by over 8,000 B2B services in over 50 countries

If any of this sounds familiar, you need Proposify proposal software

Give your team back their time, lose the friction, and send out winning documents that close 2x the industry average..

Never send a proposal with mistakes again

Lock down your design and content with templates, snippets, and a central library of content, fees and images.

Free your reps from search, duplicate, find-and-replace

Proposify offers a simple, streamlined workflow using pre-approved content which allows your reps to send out winning proposals with just few clicks.

Get visibility and insights that lead to more closed deals

Know where proposals stands at each stage of the sales cycle, and if they’ve been viewed by prospects. You can even see which pages you prospects viewed and for how long!

Impress prospects and stand out from the competition

No more PDFs attached to emails. Deliver a modern proposal viewing experience for clients with interactive pricing, e-signatures, and videos that get them to say "wow".

Our world-class customer team make it painless to switch

We'll re-create your PDF for you or even design an optimized proposal template from scratch! Our top-rated customer success team has a proven system that gets your team up-and-running in weeks. Our custom templates have helped customers cut down their time-to-send by 37%.

Joseph Barnes

Director of marketing at yellowstone landscape.

“I wish I had known earlier how limiting our previous processes were - that Word documents were handcuffing us... [Proposify] is the best tool that we've rolled out to the sales team.”

Lisa Morgan

Director of marketing at 360clean.

“Knowing I could set up all the pre-approved content and templates for owners meant we were back in control of the brand and franchisees were set up for success.”

Erich Berger

Senior manager, business development & strategy at adt cybersecurity.

“Just having Proposify allows our reps to feel like they're more in control, more productive, and more optimistic about the process and that feels good.”

Proposify proposal software removes the bottle-neck and the black box so your team can grow and thrive

• Centralized content repository so reps know exactly where to go for pre-approved templates
• Advanced permissions allow you to lock down sections and require approval based on certain conditions like deal size
• Sync with your CRM, like Salesforce, Hubspot, Pipedrive, and more
• Our professional onboarding services team will help you get up-and-running in weeks
• Companion mobile-app allows you to approve deals on the go and get notified of client viewing activity
• See which stage every proposal is at with the pipeline, and what's been viewed
• Set automatic follow-up reminders to trigger your prospects to open the proposal
• Our easy-to-use design editor makes customizing proposals a snap
• Let prospects upsell themselves with interactive pricing

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Proposal Management Software

What is proposal management software.

Proposal management software  helps businesses create and share proposals as well as manage incoming requests for proposals (RFPs). It streamlines the proposal creation process to assist marketing and sales teams in developing tailored responses to RFPs.

This type of software also lets businesses manage other important documents, such as welcome letters, contracts, agreements, quotes, and marketing collateral.

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Why is capterra free, i'm looking for proposal management software that is:.

Table of Contents

The benefits of proposal management software

Typical features of proposal management software, the cost of proposal management software, considerations when purchasing proposal management software, relevant proposal management software trends.

Ready-to-use templates: Creating proposals from scratch is tedious and time-consuming. Proposal management software offers a number of ready-to-use templates for various proposal needs. Users can edit relevant sections of their chosen template to create a final proposal. They can also reuse content from previously created proposals.

Search function: Proposal management solutions offer centralized repositories for storing proposals and related documents. These repositories are equipped with search capabilities that let users easily locate proposals. They also facilitate automatic tagging and categorization of documents, saving time that would have otherwise been spent on manual document handling.

Security: Proposals created using these solutions are more secure than paper-based proposals. Users can set passwords and encrypt digital files to ensure information remains confidential and is only accessed by authorized personnel.

Content library: Store and organize proposals in a centralized repository.

Document management: Create, store, share, and categorize proposals and related documents.

Templates: Create proposals using editable templates that can be reused. 

Contact management: Create and store business contacts in a centralized location in a categorized order. 

Electronic signature: Use a legally binding digital signatures for your documents.

Most products in the market are priced on a per user, per month basis and can be divided into three pricing tiers based on their starting price.

Price ranges*:

*The pricing included is for the entry-level/lowest-priced offering found on vendor websites on September 17, 2019. These ranges correspond to the 25th, 75th, and 100th percentiles of the pricing information gathered from vendor websites of sample products.

The above list summarizes pricing for the base plans of most products. An enterprise or premium product that is priced higher may include some additional features, such as third-party integrations and advanced workflow approval.

Multidepartment needs: Proposal creation is a collaboration among teams—writers, editors, marketing, sales, quality assurance, etc. Every team has a different function and accordingly, different requirements. Therefore, it’s recommended that you consider the needs of all involved departments before making a purchase. Your preferred software should be capable of catering to all teams. Failure to do so can result in versioning issues and significant project delays.  

Integrations: For creating proposals, information is sourced from other business applications, such as CRM, document management, and e-signature. Thus, it’s essential that you choose a solution that integrates well with your existing business applications. An integrated tool will sync business data across applications, saving you from the hassle of repeated data entry.

Industry-specific templates: Design requirements of proposals vary significantly based on industry. Although most proposal management solutions offer standardized templates for various industries, it’s always beneficial to check that your preferred software has templates that are specific to your industry. 

Rise in cloud-based proposal management solutions: Businesses worldwide have started adopting cloud-based proposal management software to lower their delivery costs. Cloud solutions eliminate the need for extended delivery platforms, such as email and file-sharing systems, as they allow businesses to directly share proposals and related documents via cloud links, thus facilitating better collaboration and faster delivery.

Products evaluated for the pricing calculation were taken from  Capterra’s proposal management software directory . The pricing ranges exclude freemium versions of the products. The features highlighted were identified based on their relevance and the percentage of products in  Capterra’s directory  that offer them.

Deltek Vision

Better Proposals

Jotform Sign

ClientPoint

Responsive (formerly RFPIO)

Conga Document Generation

🤖 AI Research Proposal Generator

Seize the opportunity to revolutionize AI research with our AI Research Proposal Generator. Craft compelling and comprehensive proposals that will secure funding and set your project on the path to success.

Discover the power at your fingertips when you master the art of crafting a compelling research proposal. An indispensable communication tool for academics and professionals alike, a well-structured proposal paves the way for successful research journeys, enabling innovative theories, decisive findings, and groundbreaking insights.

Embrace this guide to create a strong, persuasive, and impactful research proposal. Unleash the potential to stimulate interest, secure funding, kickstart your career or elevate your academic pursuits. Gain the confidence to contribute to your field with clarity, credibility, and conviction. It all starts with a proposal – your key to the world of profound discoveries and thought leadership.

What is a Research Proposal?

A research proposal is a systematic and concise synopsis of proposed research. Encompassing the key information, it serves as a roadmap to the principal components of the study. The main aim of a research proposal is to establish the necessity of the research, elucidate its aims and objectives, and illustrate the originality or significance of the proposed study. In essence, it is an application to conduct research, which is usually a crucial requisition for obtaining approval or funding.

The research proposal also elucidates the research methodology that will be adopted, which is crucial because it gives the reader an understanding of how the researcher will accomplish the outlined objectives. Precisely, it provides a glimpse of what the researcher aims to research, validates the relevance and significance of their project and elucidates their plan to accomplish it.

Why Use a Research Proposal Generator?

In the world of research and academia, crafting a compelling research proposal can often be a complex and time-consuming process. Devised to encapsulate your research’s crucial elements succinctly, a well-structured proposal seeks approval and funding for the projects that researchers wish to undertake. Here’s where a research proposal generator comes in handy. This innovative tool is designed to streamline the process, enabling users to create a thorough, accurate, and persuasive proposal while significantly reducing the time and effort typically associated with this task.

• Saves Time : With a research proposal generator, researchers can bypass the long hours typically spent on outlining, structuring, and formatting proposals. The tool automatically generates a thorough and well-structured proposal, enabling the researcher to focus more on substantive content, thereby reducing time expenditure.
• Improves Accuracy : The research proposal generator is programmed based on standard formats and structures of proposals making it less likely for researchers to miss out on key elements or make errors in structure. This improved accuracy helps in enhancing the proposal’s overall quality and likelihood of approval.
• Enhances Efficiency : By automating repetitive and mundane tasks, proposal generators enhance research efficiency. This, in turn, leaves room for researchers to concentrate on creative and critical thinking processes, essential for any successful research effort.
• Easy to Use : Regardless of your experience or familiarity with proposal writing, a generator is intuitive and easy to use, thereby making it accessible to a broad range of researchers, including those just starting.
• Cost-Effective : In comparison to hiring professionals or buying expensive software, using a research proposal generator is a cost-effective alternative. For institutions or researchers operating on a tight budget, this might prove to be the ideal solution.

According to an old saying, “Work smarter, not harder.” This adage is the underlying principle behind the creation of a research proposal generator. It’s not about replacing human intelligence but maximizing it.

How To Use This AI Generator:

• Click “Use Generator” to create a project instantly in your workspace.
• Click “Save Generator” to create a reusable template for you and your team.
• Customize your project , make it your own, and get work done!

• Esl Teaching
• Teacher Marketplaces
• Reading Programs

A Comprehensive Guide to Writing a Software Proposal

Introduction.

Writing a software proposal is a crucial step in the process of acquiring new clients or securing funding for a software development project. It serves as a formal document that outlines the project scope, objectives, deliverables, timeline, and budget. A well-crafted software proposal not only helps in conveying your ideas and solutions effectively but also demonstrates your professionalism and expertise to potential clients or stakeholders.

In this comprehensive guide, we will walk you through the step-by-step process of writing a software proposal that stands out from the competition. We will cover everything from understanding the client’s requirements to creating a compelling proposal that addresses their needs and expectations. So, let’s dive in!

1. Understand the Client’s Requirements

Before you start writing your software proposal, it is essential to thoroughly understand the client’s requirements. Schedule a meeting or have a discussion with the client to gather all the necessary information about their project goals, target audience, desired features, and any specific challenges they are facing. Take detailed notes and ask relevant questions to ensure you have a clear understanding of their needs.

2. Research and Analyze

Once you have gathered the client’s requirements, conduct thorough research and analysis to gather relevant information about the industry, market trends, and competitors. This research will help you understand the context in which the software solution will operate and identify any unique selling points or competitive advantages you can highlight in your proposal.

3. Define the Project Scope and Objectives

Based on your understanding of the client’s requirements and the research conducted, clearly define the project scope and objectives. This includes identifying the key functionalities, features, and deliverables of the software solution. Break down the project into manageable tasks and set realistic timelines and milestones.

4. Develop a Solution Strategy

Now that you have defined the project scope and objectives, it’s time to develop a solution strategy. This involves outlining the approach you will take to address the client’s requirements and achieve the project goals. Explain how your software solution will solve their problems, improve efficiency, or enhance their business processes. Provide a high-level overview of the technology stack, architecture, and development methodologies you will use.

5. Create a Detailed Project Plan

With the solution strategy in place, create a detailed project plan that outlines the tasks, timelines, and dependencies. Break the project down into phases or sprints and provide estimated timelines for each phase. Include milestones, deliverables, and any potential risks or challenges you anticipate. A well-defined project plan demonstrates your organization and project management skills to the client.

6. Determine the Budget and Pricing

Next, determine the budget and pricing for the software project. Consider factors such as the scope of work, complexity, resources required, and the market rate for similar projects. Provide a detailed breakdown of the costs, including development, testing, deployment, and ongoing maintenance. Be transparent about any additional expenses or potential cost variations.

7. Write a Compelling Executive Summary

The executive summary is the first section of your software proposal and serves as a brief overview of the entire document. It should highlight the key points, including the client’s requirements, your proposed solution, and the expected benefits. Keep it concise, engaging, and persuasive to capture the reader’s attention and entice them to continue reading.

8. Describe the Project in Detail

In this section, provide a comprehensive description of the software project. Explain the features, functionalities, and benefits of the proposed solution in detail. Use clear and concise language, avoid technical jargon, and focus on addressing the client’s specific requirements. Use visual aids such as diagrams, wireframes, or prototypes to help the client visualize the end product.

9. Highlight Your Expertise and Experience

Take this opportunity to showcase your expertise and experience in developing software solutions. Provide details about your organization, team members, and their qualifications. Include case studies, testimonials, or previous project examples that demonstrate your track record of successful software development projects. This helps build trust and confidence in your ability to deliver the proposed solution.

10. Address Potential Risks and Mitigation Strategies

Acknowledge and address potential risks or challenges that may arise during the software development process. Outline your strategies for mitigating these risks and ensuring project success. This shows that you have considered possible obstacles and have a plan in place to overcome them.

11. Include a Detailed Timeline and Milestones

In this section, provide a detailed timeline and milestones for the software development project. Break down the project into phases or sprints and specify the tasks and deliverables for each phase. This helps the client understand the project’s progress and ensures alignment on timelines and expectations.

12. Present the Pricing and Payment Terms

Outline the pricing and payment terms for the software project. Clearly state the total cost, any payment milestones, and the preferred payment method. Be transparent about any additional costs or potential variations that may arise during the project. Provide options for ongoing maintenance and support if applicable.

13Conclusion

Writing a software proposal requires careful planning, research, and attention to detail. By following the steps outlined in this comprehensive guide, you can create a compelling and professional software proposal that effectively communicates your ideas and solutions to potential clients or stakeholders. Remember to tailor your proposal to the specific requirements of each client and highlight your expertise and experience in software development. Good luck with your software proposal writing endeavors!

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The 8 Best Proposal Apps to Win Projects and Land New Clients

Every new client needs slightly tweaked copies of documents you've sent before. You could make new ones every time, but that takes up so much time. Copy old documents, though, and you run the risk of forgetting to remove a former client's details or to include crucial terms of service or non-disclosure agreements.

Your time would be much better spent on your projects and clients. You need something that will help you put your best foot forward every time you start working with someone new, something that will help you land more projects with less work.

You need a proposal app. Here's why—and the best apps you could use to streamline your proposal process.

What's the Difference Between a Proposal and a Quote or Estimate?

Perhaps the best document in a project is the invoice—followed by the new digits in your bank account when you've wrapped up a new client project.

But not so fast. The project's just started. No time to think about invoices yet.

First you'll need a quote, estimate, bid, or proposal. The former three are focused on the price of your products or service—with the latter focused on the details.

A quote is a simple document with the direct price of a product or service—not too much different from the pricing page on a website or the prices in a menu. If a client wants to know how much you charge to design a website based on one of your default site templates, you want a quote.

Estimates go a bit further. If the customer wants a unique website design with a custom typeface and blog layout, you might not know exactly how long the project will take or the final cost—but you can estimate. So an estimate is a quote that describes what the project will  likely  cost based on current assumptions, and is subject to change.

Bids are quotes for competitive projects. Say three agencies are all trying to land the website design project—you'd submit a quote and try to win the project, competing on cost or your team's unique skills perhaps. You'll include a more specific price—there's less flexibility than with a open-ended proposal, after all—along with more details to sell the potential client on your offering.

Then you have proposals, the most detailed of them all. Proposals take the detail of a bid and the open-ended nature of an estimate then wrap them with a pitch on why your company would be great at this task and your standard terms. Proposals are everything in one place to pitch a potential client on what your team offers them—your best chance to get hired for the job.

Proposals, bids, estimates, and quotes all share similar elements—and unsurprisingly, you can typically make them all in the same apps. The main part is info about your product or service offerings and the price—everything else is details and nuance. We'll focus on proposals here, but if you need to make a quote, estimate, or bid, these same tools can still be great for the job.

What Makes a Great Proposal App?

Speed . The best proposal apps make it faster to create proposals. Instead of a word processor document where you need to find what to fill in, they include form fields to quickly add details—or they fill in the details for you automatically with saved content blocks you can reuse in each new proposal. Then they often help you style your proposal, turn it into a PDF document, and send the finished proposal to clients. They speed up your workflow so you spend less time on the documents and more time on the work.

Accuracy . It's easy to forget important information your proposals need. That's perhaps the best part of the saved content and customized templates in proposal apps. You can add your most important info once, and trust it'll be included in every new proposal without any extra effort.

Automation . Sending a proposal from a word processor takes at least a half-dozen steps. Proposal apps usually only take a couple clicks to send your proposal—and they typically can notify you when clients view and sign the proposal online so you don't have worry about misplacing those signed PDF scan clients used to send you. Some even include integrations to create a proposal automatically, say, when you add a new client to the Interested stage in your CRM.

Those three themes are what we watched for while testing over fifteen proposal apps to find the best tools. Some include other features—say invoice and billing tools tools or web content embeds—but at the very least they nail the core features you'll want from a proposal app.

How we evaluate and test apps

The 8 best proposal apps, .css-yjptlz-link{all:unset;box-sizing:border-box;-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;cursor:pointer;-webkit-transition:all 300ms ease-in-out;transition:all 300ms ease-in-out;outline-offset:1px;-webkit-text-fill-color:currentcolor;outline:1px solid transparent;}.css-yjptlz-link[data-color='ocean']{color:#3d4592;}.css-yjptlz-link[data-color='ocean']:hover{color:#2b2358;}.css-yjptlz-link[data-color='ocean']:focus{color:#3d4592;outline-color:#3d4592;}.css-yjptlz-link[data-color='white']{color:#fffdf9;}.css-yjptlz-link[data-color='white']:hover{color:#a8a5a0;}.css-yjptlz-link[data-color='white']:focus{color:#fffdf9;outline-color:#fffdf9;}.css-yjptlz-link[data-color='primary']{color:#3d4592;}.css-yjptlz-link[data-color='primary']:hover{color:#2b2358;}.css-yjptlz-link[data-color='primary']:focus{color:#3d4592;outline-color:#3d4592;}.css-yjptlz-link[data-color='secondary']{color:#fffdf9;}.css-yjptlz-link[data-color='secondary']:hover{color:#a8a5a0;}.css-yjptlz-link[data-color='secondary']:focus{color:#fffdf9;outline-color:#fffdf9;}.css-yjptlz-link[data-weight='inherit']{font-weight:inherit;}.css-yjptlz-link[data-weight='normal']{font-weight:400;}.css-yjptlz-link[data-weight='bold']{font-weight:700;} qwilr.

for saving reusable document sections as you build new proposals

Next time you make a proposal, when you click the  +  button, all of the sections you saved will be a tap away, ready for you to add them to your document and customize them again. And if you want to make a proposal similar to one you've sent before, click the  Clone  button beside any of your existing proposals.

Qwilr includes brand settings where you can customize your company's info and choose a typeface and colors for your brand—and an API to automatically make proposals with its enterprise plans. For the most part, though, it's focused on the documents. You might need to add client info manually most times, but it'll be quicker than ever to add beautifully formatted sections with every other detail you need.

Connect Qwilr with over 1,000 apps and build a proposal workflow with Zapier's Qwilr integrations:

Get Slack notifications when Qwilr projects are first viewed

Send emails from Gmail when new Qwilr projects are first viewed

Add Mailchimp subscribers when new Qwilr projects are accepted

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for writing proposals quickly with keyboard shortcuts

It's almost more of a writing app. Start a new proposal, and you'll get a page that's reminiscent of a blog post editor with a large header image, logo, and proposal name at the top. You can add a client name and tag, both to help organize proposals (though neither let you save extra details to automatically fill in future proposals). Below that, there's blank space for you to type you thoughts—and that's it at first glance.

Press your  return  key to start a new paragraph, though, and you'll notice a small  +  icon on the left. Click that—or type a  / —for a world of extra proposal-focused features. Type to sort through the options, where you can insert a header, image, video embed, price table, signature, list, and more. And at the end is Proppy's best feature:  Import Section . Select that and enter some text you'd used in another proposal, then click the item you want to insert into your new proposal. Instead of needing to think about sections and save them separately, Proppy lets you write proposals like you would in Word and then easily reuse sections from them in the future. It's less automated than many other proposal tools, but can speed you up while still letting you quickly type up new ideas for each client proposal.

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for creating proposals with detailed page layouts

Proposal apps can help you build a new proposal in a few minutes—at least once you've set the apps up and added your default content sections. But for the most part, they make standard looking proposals with a single column of text, perhaps accented with pictures and nice typography but without any of the detail you could add from a word processor.

Your first proposals will take a bit longer to put together. But once you've made a proposal with all the content sections you want, it's far easier to build the next one. Instead of copying and pasting data, select the  Content Library  tab in the sidebar to pull in any section from previous proposals. It makes it as simple to reuse content as Proppy, only here with richly formatted pages that'll sell your brand to clients.

Connect Proposify with over 1,000 apps and build a proposal workflow with Zapier's Proposify integrations:

Share Proposify won proposals in Slack

Save Proposify won proposals to Dropbox

Create Teamwork projects from won proposals in Proposify

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for making customized proposals from document sections

From the Sections tool in Bidsketch, you can add opening and closing sections with details about your services, previous projects, terms of service, team info, and more. Format each with Bidsketch's rich text editor, and include images, variables in curly quotes, detail tables, or even video embeds if you'd like. Tag each section with its category, and give it a name that'll be each to find in the app later. Then open the  Fees  tab and add details about each of your products and services with a similar text editor tool that lets you include a price and fee type. Finally add your contact info to the  Clients  section for everything your proposal need saved in one place.

Want to make full templates for your most common proposals? Bidsketch's main templates are  content  templates where you select the sections and fees you want for each proposal type. Or, just make a new blank proposal for a client, and Bidsketch will have you select the content sections that proposal needs and the client, and turn them into a polished proposal in seconds. It's a bit harder to style your proposals—you'll need HTML and CSS skills to customize fonts and colors in Bidsketch—but Bidsketch's focus on reusable text ensures you won't duplicate effort.

Connect Bidsketch with over 1,000 apps and build a proposal workflow with Zapier's Bidsketch integrations:

Add viewed Bidsketch proposals to Slack as notifications

Add approved Bidsketch proposals to Trello as project boards

Add approved Bidsketch proposals to Slack as notifications

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for tweaking saved document sections into custom proposals

Much like Bidsketch, Nusii works best if you save your most-used document sections first. Add them from the  Sections  tab, with options to save text or price sections with the details and formatting you want. It's easy to make sure things will be automatically customized, too, with Nusii's menu of default client variables including name and email so you don't have to remember the text tag to include.

You can then combine these sections into a new template—here, again, with templates that are simply groups of the sections you want to include. Then when you make a proposal, it'll include the template sections, with buttons to add any other sections you want—and an editor in each section so you can tweak the text for that client. And for a bit of extra design, Nusii also includes a custom header image editor with each proposal where you can add a photo and overlay it with a color and blur for an artistic proposal in seconds.

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for managing proposals, invoices, and clients together

It's a simpler proposal builder in a suite of tools designed around freelance work. Start by listing clients and the projects you're working on (or hoping to work on) with them. Then add proposals, which in Bonsai are simple documents with an overview and timeline of the project, additional text sections that can describe your ideas for the proposal, and file attachments to include your existing contract or portfolio. Finish the proposal with a  Fee Summary  which lets you offer multiple packages to your clients so they can choose the offer that fits them best without having to make a new proposal for every new offering.

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for quickly filling in template proposal document fields

When it's time to make a new proposal, create a new document in PandaDoc, select your template, and it'll tell you how many tokens you need to fill in with a list of the fields in the sidebar. Add the correct text to each one to customize the document, and PandaDoc will update the document preview automatically. Then drag in any extra content blocks you want and send off the document for your client to sign. It's a quick way to fill in document templates for anything you need to send to clients.

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for automatically creating proposals from existing Word and PDF document templates

It's not just a proposal app. WebMerge is a tool to automatically create new documents from your PDF, Word, and Excel document templates—which makes it great for proposals, terms of service, agreements, and more. You'll open your existing document templates, replace any text that you need to change for each new client with variable fields like  {$name}  (changing  name  with a unique name for each variable your documents need). Upload the file to WebMerge, then add a WebMerge form to your document.

When you need to make new documents, you can use WebMerge's HTML rich text editor for a simpler version of Word's standard editing tools to build new template documents. It's not as fancy as the other proposal apps—but it's perhaps even faster to use and can automate your entire document workflow for proposals and more.

You might want to focus on your proposal's design to catch potential clients' eye, or you could prefer to save time on your content and make it easy to mix-and-match sections for detailed proposals. Maybe you want to fill in new proposal details each time, or would rather automate everything with one proposal template that tweaked for every new client. Either way, there's a proposal app for you—one that can speed up your proposal workflow and help you spend more time on the projects you love.

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Matthew Guay

Matthew Guay is an editor and writer in Bangkok. When he's not writing, he's likely reading a new book or exploring random streets in a new city. Follow Matthew at @maguay.

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Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Assignments

• Annotated Bibliography
• Analyzing a Scholarly Journal Article
• Group Presentations
• Dealing with Nervousness
• Using Visual Aids
• Grading Someone Else's Paper
• Types of Structured Group Activities
• Group Project Survival Skills
• Leading a Class Discussion
• Multiple Book Review Essay
• Reviewing Collected Works
• Writing a Case Analysis Paper
• Writing a Case Study
• About Informed Consent
• Writing Field Notes
• Writing a Policy Memo
• Writing a Reflective Paper
• Writing a Research Proposal
• Generative AI and Writing
• Acknowledgments

The goal of a research proposal is twofold: to present and justify the need to study a research problem and to present the practical ways in which the proposed study should be conducted. The design elements and procedures for conducting research are governed by standards of the predominant discipline in which the problem resides, therefore, the guidelines for research proposals are more exacting and less formal than a general project proposal. Research proposals contain extensive literature reviews. They must provide persuasive evidence that a need exists for the proposed study. In addition to providing a rationale, a proposal describes detailed methodology for conducting the research consistent with requirements of the professional or academic field and a statement on anticipated outcomes and benefits derived from the study's completion.

Krathwohl, David R. How to Prepare a Dissertation Proposal: Suggestions for Students in Education and the Social and Behavioral Sciences . Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2005.

How to Approach Writing a Research Proposal

Your professor may assign the task of writing a research proposal for the following reasons:

• Develop your skills in thinking about and designing a comprehensive research study;
• Learn how to conduct a comprehensive review of the literature to determine that the research problem has not been adequately addressed or has been answered ineffectively and, in so doing, become better at locating pertinent scholarship related to your topic;
• Improve your general research and writing skills;
• Practice identifying the logical steps that must be taken to accomplish one's research goals;
• Critically review, examine, and consider the use of different methods for gathering and analyzing data related to the research problem; and,
• Nurture a sense of inquisitiveness within yourself and to help see yourself as an active participant in the process of conducting scholarly research.

A proposal should contain all the key elements involved in designing a completed research study, with sufficient information that allows readers to assess the validity and usefulness of your proposed study. The only elements missing from a research proposal are the findings of the study and your analysis of those findings. Finally, an effective proposal is judged on the quality of your writing and, therefore, it is important that your proposal is coherent, clear, and compelling.

Regardless of the research problem you are investigating and the methodology you choose, all research proposals must address the following questions:

• What do you plan to accomplish? Be clear and succinct in defining the research problem and what it is you are proposing to investigate.
• Why do you want to do the research? In addition to detailing your research design, you also must conduct a thorough review of the literature and provide convincing evidence that it is a topic worthy of in-depth study. A successful research proposal must answer the "So What?" question.
• How are you going to conduct the research? Be sure that what you propose is doable. If you're having difficulty formulating a research problem to propose investigating, go here for strategies in developing a problem to study.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Failure to be concise . A research proposal must be focused and not be "all over the map" or diverge into unrelated tangents without a clear sense of purpose.
• Failure to cite landmark works in your literature review . Proposals should be grounded in foundational research that lays a foundation for understanding the development and scope of the the topic and its relevance.
• Failure to delimit the contextual scope of your research [e.g., time, place, people, etc.]. As with any research paper, your proposed study must inform the reader how and in what ways the study will frame the problem.
• Failure to develop a coherent and persuasive argument for the proposed research . This is critical. In many workplace settings, the research proposal is a formal document intended to argue for why a study should be funded.
• Sloppy or imprecise writing, or poor grammar . Although a research proposal does not represent a completed research study, there is still an expectation that it is well-written and follows the style and rules of good academic writing.
• Too much detail on minor issues, but not enough detail on major issues . Your proposal should focus on only a few key research questions in order to support the argument that the research needs to be conducted. Minor issues, even if valid, can be mentioned but they should not dominate the overall narrative.

Procter, Margaret. The Academic Proposal.  The Lab Report. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Sanford, Keith. Information for Students: Writing a Research Proposal. Baylor University; Wong, Paul T. P. How to Write a Research Proposal. International Network on Personal Meaning. Trinity Western University; Writing Academic Proposals: Conferences, Articles, and Books. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Writing a Research Proposal. University Library. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Structure and Writing Style

Beginning the Proposal Process

As with writing most college-level academic papers, research proposals are generally organized the same way throughout most social science disciplines. The text of proposals generally vary in length between ten and thirty-five pages, followed by the list of references. However, before you begin, read the assignment carefully and, if anything seems unclear, ask your professor whether there are any specific requirements for organizing and writing the proposal.

A good place to begin is to ask yourself a series of questions:

• What do I want to study?
• Why is the topic important?
• How is it significant within the subject areas covered in my class?
• What problems will it help solve?
• How does it build upon [and hopefully go beyond] research already conducted on the topic?
• What exactly should I plan to do, and can I get it done in the time available?

In general, a compelling research proposal should document your knowledge of the topic and demonstrate your enthusiasm for conducting the study. Approach it with the intention of leaving your readers feeling like, "Wow, that's an exciting idea and I can’t wait to see how it turns out!"

Most proposals should include the following sections:

I.  Introduction

In the real world of higher education, a research proposal is most often written by scholars seeking grant funding for a research project or it's the first step in getting approval to write a doctoral dissertation. Even if this is just a course assignment, treat your introduction as the initial pitch of an idea based on a thorough examination of the significance of a research problem. After reading the introduction, your readers should not only have an understanding of what you want to do, but they should also be able to gain a sense of your passion for the topic and to be excited about the study's possible outcomes. Note that most proposals do not include an abstract [summary] before the introduction.

Think about your introduction as a narrative written in two to four paragraphs that succinctly answers the following four questions :

• What is the central research problem?
• What is the topic of study related to that research problem?
• What methods should be used to analyze the research problem?
• Answer the "So What?" question by explaining why this is important research, what is its significance, and why should someone reading the proposal care about the outcomes of the proposed study?

II.  Background and Significance

This is where you explain the scope and context of your proposal and describe in detail why it's important. It can be melded into your introduction or you can create a separate section to help with the organization and narrative flow of your proposal. Approach writing this section with the thought that you can’t assume your readers will know as much about the research problem as you do. Note that this section is not an essay going over everything you have learned about the topic; instead, you must choose what is most relevant in explaining the aims of your research.

To that end, while there are no prescribed rules for establishing the significance of your proposed study, you should attempt to address some or all of the following:

• State the research problem and give a more detailed explanation about the purpose of the study than what you stated in the introduction. This is particularly important if the problem is complex or multifaceted .
• Present the rationale of your proposed study and clearly indicate why it is worth doing; be sure to answer the "So What? question [i.e., why should anyone care?].
• Describe the major issues or problems examined by your research. This can be in the form of questions to be addressed. Be sure to note how your proposed study builds on previous assumptions about the research problem.
• Explain the methods you plan to use for conducting your research. Clearly identify the key sources you intend to use and explain how they will contribute to your analysis of the topic.
• Describe the boundaries of your proposed research in order to provide a clear focus. Where appropriate, state not only what you plan to study, but what aspects of the research problem will be excluded from the study.
• If necessary, provide definitions of key concepts, theories, or terms.

III.  Literature Review

Connected to the background and significance of your study is a section of your proposal devoted to a more deliberate review and synthesis of prior studies related to the research problem under investigation . The purpose here is to place your project within the larger whole of what is currently being explored, while at the same time, demonstrating to your readers that your work is original and innovative. Think about what questions other researchers have asked, what methodological approaches they have used, and what is your understanding of their findings and, when stated, their recommendations. Also pay attention to any suggestions for further research.

Since a literature review is information dense, it is crucial that this section is intelligently structured to enable a reader to grasp the key arguments underpinning your proposed study in relation to the arguments put forth by other researchers. A good strategy is to break the literature into "conceptual categories" [themes] rather than systematically or chronologically describing groups of materials one at a time. Note that conceptual categories generally reveal themselves after you have read most of the pertinent literature on your topic so adding new categories is an on-going process of discovery as you review more studies. How do you know you've covered the key conceptual categories underlying the research literature? Generally, you can have confidence that all of the significant conceptual categories have been identified if you start to see repetition in the conclusions or recommendations that are being made.

NOTE: Do not shy away from challenging the conclusions made in prior research as a basis for supporting the need for your proposal. Assess what you believe is missing and state how previous research has failed to adequately examine the issue that your study addresses. Highlighting the problematic conclusions strengthens your proposal. For more information on writing literature reviews, GO HERE .

To help frame your proposal's review of prior research, consider the "five C’s" of writing a literature review:

• Cite , so as to keep the primary focus on the literature pertinent to your research problem.
• Compare the various arguments, theories, methodologies, and findings expressed in the literature: what do the authors agree on? Who applies similar approaches to analyzing the research problem?
• Contrast the various arguments, themes, methodologies, approaches, and controversies expressed in the literature: describe what are the major areas of disagreement, controversy, or debate among scholars?
• Critique the literature: Which arguments are more persuasive, and why? Which approaches, findings, and methodologies seem most reliable, valid, or appropriate, and why? Pay attention to the verbs you use to describe what an author says/does [e.g., asserts, demonstrates, argues, etc.].
• Connect the literature to your own area of research and investigation: how does your own work draw upon, depart from, synthesize, or add a new perspective to what has been said in the literature?

IV.  Research Design and Methods

This section must be well-written and logically organized because you are not actually doing the research, yet, your reader must have confidence that you have a plan worth pursuing . The reader will never have a study outcome from which to evaluate whether your methodological choices were the correct ones. Thus, the objective here is to convince the reader that your overall research design and proposed methods of analysis will correctly address the problem and that the methods will provide the means to effectively interpret the potential results. Your design and methods should be unmistakably tied to the specific aims of your study.

Describe the overall research design by building upon and drawing examples from your review of the literature. Consider not only methods that other researchers have used, but methods of data gathering that have not been used but perhaps could be. Be specific about the methodological approaches you plan to undertake to obtain information, the techniques you would use to analyze the data, and the tests of external validity to which you commit yourself [i.e., the trustworthiness by which you can generalize from your study to other people, places, events, and/or periods of time].

When describing the methods you will use, be sure to cover the following:

• Specify the research process you will undertake and the way you will interpret the results obtained in relation to the research problem. Don't just describe what you intend to achieve from applying the methods you choose, but state how you will spend your time while applying these methods [e.g., coding text from interviews to find statements about the need to change school curriculum; running a regression to determine if there is a relationship between campaign advertising on social media sites and election outcomes in Europe ].
• Keep in mind that the methodology is not just a list of tasks; it is a deliberate argument as to why techniques for gathering information add up to the best way to investigate the research problem. This is an important point because the mere listing of tasks to be performed does not demonstrate that, collectively, they effectively address the research problem. Be sure you clearly explain this.
• Anticipate and acknowledge any potential barriers and pitfalls in carrying out your research design and explain how you plan to address them. No method applied to research in the social and behavioral sciences is perfect, so you need to describe where you believe challenges may exist in obtaining data or accessing information. It's always better to acknowledge this than to have it brought up by your professor!

V.  Preliminary Suppositions and Implications

Just because you don't have to actually conduct the study and analyze the results, doesn't mean you can skip talking about the analytical process and potential implications . The purpose of this section is to argue how and in what ways you believe your research will refine, revise, or extend existing knowledge in the subject area under investigation. Depending on the aims and objectives of your study, describe how the anticipated results will impact future scholarly research, theory, practice, forms of interventions, or policy making. Note that such discussions may have either substantive [a potential new policy], theoretical [a potential new understanding], or methodological [a potential new way of analyzing] significance.   When thinking about the potential implications of your study, ask the following questions:

• What might the results mean in regards to challenging the theoretical framework and underlying assumptions that support the study?
• What suggestions for subsequent research could arise from the potential outcomes of the study?
• What will the results mean to practitioners in the natural settings of their workplace, organization, or community?
• Will the results influence programs, methods, and/or forms of intervention?
• How might the results contribute to the solution of social, economic, or other types of problems?
• Will the results influence policy decisions?
• In what way do individuals or groups benefit should your study be pursued?
• What will be improved or changed as a result of the proposed research?
• How will the results of the study be implemented and what innovations or transformative insights could emerge from the process of implementation?

NOTE:   This section should not delve into idle speculation, opinion, or be formulated on the basis of unclear evidence . The purpose is to reflect upon gaps or understudied areas of the current literature and describe how your proposed research contributes to a new understanding of the research problem should the study be implemented as designed.

ANOTHER NOTE : This section is also where you describe any potential limitations to your proposed study. While it is impossible to highlight all potential limitations because the study has yet to be conducted, you still must tell the reader where and in what form impediments may arise and how you plan to address them.

VI.  Conclusion

The conclusion reiterates the importance or significance of your proposal and provides a brief summary of the entire study . This section should be only one or two paragraphs long, emphasizing why the research problem is worth investigating, why your research study is unique, and how it should advance existing knowledge.

Someone reading this section should come away with an understanding of:

• Why the study should be done;
• The specific purpose of the study and the research questions it attempts to answer;
• The decision for why the research design and methods used where chosen over other options;
• The potential implications emerging from your proposed study of the research problem; and
• A sense of how your study fits within the broader scholarship about the research problem.

VII.  Citations

As with any scholarly research paper, you must cite the sources you used . In a standard research proposal, this section can take two forms, so consult with your professor about which one is preferred.

• References -- a list of only the sources you actually used in creating your proposal.
• Bibliography -- a list of everything you used in creating your proposal, along with additional citations to any key sources relevant to understanding the research problem.

In either case, this section should testify to the fact that you did enough preparatory work to ensure the project will complement and not just duplicate the efforts of other researchers. It demonstrates to the reader that you have a thorough understanding of prior research on the topic.

Most proposal formats have you start a new page and use the heading "References" or "Bibliography" centered at the top of the page. Cited works should always use a standard format that follows the writing style advised by the discipline of your course [e.g., education=APA; history=Chicago] or that is preferred by your professor. This section normally does not count towards the total page length of your research proposal.

Develop a Research Proposal: Writing the Proposal. Office of Library Information Services. Baltimore County Public Schools; Heath, M. Teresa Pereira and Caroline Tynan. “Crafting a Research Proposal.” The Marketing Review 10 (Summer 2010): 147-168; Jones, Mark. “Writing a Research Proposal.” In MasterClass in Geography Education: Transforming Teaching and Learning . Graham Butt, editor. (New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015), pp. 113-127; Juni, Muhamad Hanafiah. “Writing a Research Proposal.” International Journal of Public Health and Clinical Sciences 1 (September/October 2014): 229-240; Krathwohl, David R. How to Prepare a Dissertation Proposal: Suggestions for Students in Education and the Social and Behavioral Sciences . Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2005; Procter, Margaret. The Academic Proposal. The Lab Report. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Punch, Keith and Wayne McGowan. "Developing and Writing a Research Proposal." In From Postgraduate to Social Scientist: A Guide to Key Skills . Nigel Gilbert, ed. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2006), 59-81; Wong, Paul T. P. How to Write a Research Proposal. International Network on Personal Meaning. Trinity Western University; Writing Academic Proposals: Conferences , Articles, and Books. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Writing a Research Proposal. University Library. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

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Home » How To Write A Research Proposal – Step-by-Step [Template]

How To Write A Research Proposal – Step-by-Step [Template]

Table of Contents

How To Write a Research Proposal

Writing a Research proposal involves several steps to ensure a well-structured and comprehensive document. Here is an explanation of each step:

1. Title and Abstract

• Choose a concise and descriptive title that reflects the essence of your research.
• Write an abstract summarizing your research question, objectives, methodology, and expected outcomes. It should provide a brief overview of your proposal.

2. Introduction:

• Provide an introduction to your research topic, highlighting its significance and relevance.
• Clearly state the research problem or question you aim to address.
• Discuss the background and context of the study, including previous research in the field.

3. Research Objectives

• Outline the specific objectives or aims of your research. These objectives should be clear, achievable, and aligned with the research problem.

4. Literature Review:

• Conduct a comprehensive review of relevant literature and studies related to your research topic.
• Summarize key findings, identify gaps, and highlight how your research will contribute to the existing knowledge.

5. Methodology:

• Describe the research design and methodology you plan to employ to address your research objectives.
• Explain the data collection methods, instruments, and analysis techniques you will use.
• Justify why the chosen methods are appropriate and suitable for your research.

6. Timeline:

• Create a timeline or schedule that outlines the major milestones and activities of your research project.
• Break down the research process into smaller tasks and estimate the time required for each task.

7. Resources:

• Identify the resources needed for your research, such as access to specific databases, equipment, or funding.
• Explain how you will acquire or utilize these resources to carry out your research effectively.

8. Ethical Considerations:

• Discuss any ethical issues that may arise during your research and explain how you plan to address them.
• If your research involves human subjects, explain how you will ensure their informed consent and privacy.

9. Expected Outcomes and Significance:

• Clearly state the expected outcomes or results of your research.
• Highlight the potential impact and significance of your research in advancing knowledge or addressing practical issues.

10. References:

• Provide a list of all the references cited in your proposal, following a consistent citation style (e.g., APA, MLA).

11. Appendices:

• Include any additional supporting materials, such as survey questionnaires, interview guides, or data analysis plans.

Research Proposal Format

The format of a research proposal may vary depending on the specific requirements of the institution or funding agency. However, the following is a commonly used format for a research proposal:

1. Title Page:

• Include the title of your research proposal, your name, your affiliation or institution, and the date.

2. Abstract:

• Provide a brief summary of your research proposal, highlighting the research problem, objectives, methodology, and expected outcomes.

3. Introduction:

• Introduce the research topic and provide background information.
• State the research problem or question you aim to address.
• Explain the significance and relevance of the research.
• Review relevant literature and studies related to your research topic.
• Summarize key findings and identify gaps in the existing knowledge.
• Explain how your research will contribute to filling those gaps.

5. Research Objectives:

• Clearly state the specific objectives or aims of your research.
• Ensure that the objectives are clear, focused, and aligned with the research problem.

6. Methodology:

• Describe the research design and methodology you plan to use.
• Explain the data collection methods, instruments, and analysis techniques.
• Justify why the chosen methods are appropriate for your research.

7. Timeline:

8. Resources:

• Explain how you will acquire or utilize these resources effectively.

9. Ethical Considerations:

• If applicable, explain how you will ensure informed consent and protect the privacy of research participants.

10. Expected Outcomes and Significance:

11. References:

12. Appendices:

Research Proposal Template

Here’s a template for a research proposal:

1. Introduction:

2. Literature Review:

3. Research Objectives:

4. Methodology:

5. Timeline:

6. Resources:

7. Ethical Considerations:

8. Expected Outcomes and Significance:

9. References:

10. Appendices:

Research Proposal Sample

Title: The Impact of Online Education on Student Learning Outcomes: A Comparative Study

1. Introduction

Online education has gained significant prominence in recent years, especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This research proposal aims to investigate the impact of online education on student learning outcomes by comparing them with traditional face-to-face instruction. The study will explore various aspects of online education, such as instructional methods, student engagement, and academic performance, to provide insights into the effectiveness of online learning.

2. Objectives

The main objectives of this research are as follows:

• To compare student learning outcomes between online and traditional face-to-face education.
• To examine the factors influencing student engagement in online learning environments.
• To assess the effectiveness of different instructional methods employed in online education.
• To identify challenges and opportunities associated with online education and suggest recommendations for improvement.

3. Methodology

3.1 Study Design

This research will utilize a mixed-methods approach to gather both quantitative and qualitative data. The study will include the following components:

3.2 Participants

The research will involve undergraduate students from two universities, one offering online education and the other providing face-to-face instruction. A total of 500 students (250 from each university) will be selected randomly to participate in the study.

3.3 Data Collection

The research will employ the following data collection methods:

• Quantitative: Pre- and post-assessments will be conducted to measure students’ learning outcomes. Data on student demographics and academic performance will also be collected from university records.
• Qualitative: Focus group discussions and individual interviews will be conducted with students to gather their perceptions and experiences regarding online education.

3.4 Data Analysis

Quantitative data will be analyzed using statistical software, employing descriptive statistics, t-tests, and regression analysis. Qualitative data will be transcribed, coded, and analyzed thematically to identify recurring patterns and themes.

4. Ethical Considerations

The study will adhere to ethical guidelines, ensuring the privacy and confidentiality of participants. Informed consent will be obtained, and participants will have the right to withdraw from the study at any time.

5. Significance and Expected Outcomes

This research will contribute to the existing literature by providing empirical evidence on the impact of online education on student learning outcomes. The findings will help educational institutions and policymakers make informed decisions about incorporating online learning methods and improving the quality of online education. Moreover, the study will identify potential challenges and opportunities related to online education and offer recommendations for enhancing student engagement and overall learning outcomes.

6. Timeline

The proposed research will be conducted over a period of 12 months, including data collection, analysis, and report writing.

The estimated budget for this research includes expenses related to data collection, software licenses, participant compensation, and research assistance. A detailed budget breakdown will be provided in the final research plan.

8. Conclusion

This research proposal aims to investigate the impact of online education on student learning outcomes through a comparative study with traditional face-to-face instruction. By exploring various dimensions of online education, this research will provide valuable insights into the effectiveness and challenges associated with online learning. The findings will contribute to the ongoing discourse on educational practices and help shape future strategies for maximizing student learning outcomes in online education settings.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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Research Proposals

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7 best proposal management software tools in 2024

Top 7 proposal management software tools

• Better Proposals

Proposals are an important element of any small business. The goal of these persuasive sales documents is to sell the benefits of working with your company, set you apart from the competition, demonstrate the value you’ll bring to the job, and ultimately, help you win new business.

If you’re in the lucky position of having to juggle several proposals at a time in different stages of deal completion, then one of the most valuable investments you can make is in good proposal management software to help you optimize and streamline the proposal process.

In this article, we’ll share seven of the best proposal management software tools across a range of use cases, from a single-person business owner or freelancer to large companies and organizations.

What is proposal management software, and why should you use it?

Proposal management software allows businesses of all sizes to create and send professional-looking proposals quickly, and to automate many parts of the process, using a mostly cloud-based system, for a monthly or yearly fee.

The benefits include time and cost savings (no more writing and designing a proposal from scratch in Word each time you try to win new business) and proposals that close sales more frequently because they’re beautifully branded, collaborative, and consistent across each client presentation.

What to consider when comparing proposal management software tools

When you begin researching proposal management software tools, you might feel a tad overwhelmed. After all, Google returns 112,000,000 results for the search term “best proposal management software 2021.” And many of the articles that turn up in that search share upwards of 25 proposal management products.

The best way to handle the information overload is to determine what you need out of proposal management software first, then hunt for the tool that offers the features and integrations you need.

For example, you might want to ask yourself such questions as

• How user-friendly and intuitive is this software? What’s the learning curve? Will my team be able to adopt and implement this tool quickly?
• What features are nonnegotiable for my type of business? For example, how many templates are available, and do they support my business use case? Does the software offer real-time collaboration? What about reporting and analytics? What integrations are available?  
• Does this software offer electronic signature capabilities?
• What is the customer support experience like?
• What is the monthly or yearly cost?

With those questions in mind, let’s take a look at seven of the top proposal management software tools for 2024. (The tools below are in no particular order.)

Get e-signatures for online proposals with Jotform Sign . It’s free!

Jotform is a simple and stress-free solution for creating proposals . It allows you to collect relevant data like contact information and get e-signatures on proposals.

You can create a winning, professional-looking proposal in minutes using one of Jotform’s free proposal templates . You’ll be able to add sections like objectives, strategy, and budget information.

Additionally, Jotform offers consulting proposal templates with form fields for company and customer details, project description, company background, objective, scope of work, start date, completion date, consulting rates, payment terms, and signatures. Job proposal form templates are available when you need to create a job proposal quickly.

Getting a signed proposal back has never been easier. Jotform Sign makes it easy to track any proposal you create and send. All signatures you collect with Jotform Sign are legally binding, so you never have to use another product to collect proposal signatures. 

Proposal submissions will automatically be converted into PDFs that are easy to print, pitch, and present. 

Jotform also offers a free project proposal form , commonly used by an organization’s project team or by a research company to convince customers or clients to approve the proposed project or research.

And finally, Jotform’s 300+ free table templates are ideal for team projects and when you need to create a database for tracking and managing proposals. All data is stored securely in your Jotform account, which you can access seamlessly on any device.

The Jotform customer support team is available 24-7. 

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Best for: Teams in the nonprofit, healthcare, real estate, human resources, marketing, and small business categories, as well as individuals and solo business owners

Pricing: All of the above functionality is available for free; if you want more forms, submissions, storage, or signatures, you can upgrade to one of the paid plans

2. PandaDoc

PandaDoc is a robust and sophisticated tool that enables you to build proposals, interactive quotes, contracts, and more. The freemium version allows you to upload, create, send, track and e-sign documents, and collect payments.

You can upgrade to a paid plan to unlock more features. PandaDoc offers more than 30 integrations, including Slack, Freshbooks, Google Drive, Pipedrive, HubSpot CRM, and many others. Some integrations are available only for paid accounts. It also offers 24-7 online support.

Best for: Small and medium-sized businesses; enterprises

Pricing: 14-day free trial; free version available; paid plans start at $19 per user, per month

3. Better Proposals

Better Proposals is a simple-to-use proposal builder with features like automatic formatting, contact management, collaboration, e-signature capabilities, pipeline management, and more.

Its ready-made templates and drag-and-drop tools make creating professional-looking proposals easy. Predesigned templates include proposals, quotes, contracts, statements of work, and online brochures. Better Proposals offers dozens of integrations via Zapier. Support is available through the Help and Support center on the company’s website.

Best for: Freelancers and small businesses

Pricing: 14-day free trial available; paid plans begin at $13 per user, per month

4. Prospero

Prospero offers more than 30 proposal templates geared to different niches such as photography, graphic design, and writing. You can edit and customize templates with your own branding, including logos, images, and videos.

Prospero features e-signature capabilities, the ability to send a proposal directly to clients, and various integrations, such as Stripe, FreshBooks, QuickBooks, and others. Support is available through the “Help” prompt inside the dashboard and via email.

Best for : Solo entrepreneurs and freelancers

Pricing: 14-day free trial available; unlimited proposals for $10 per month (or $8 per month if paid annually)

5. Proposify

Proposify offers customizable and pre-made proposal templates. Templates are organized by component, allowing you to add sections like overview and goals, team bios, scope of work, and more.

The drag-and-drop feature allows you to adapt previously created templates into new proposals, and the metrics function lets you track the progress of your proposal and see who’s viewing your documents.

Proposify offers several third-party integrations, including Stripe, HubSpot, Infusionsoft, QuickBooks, Basecamp, and others. Support is available via phone during business hours as well as online.

Best for: Larger companies that serve a high volume of clients

Pricing: Free version available for individuals; team plans begin at $49 per user, per month

6. HoneyBook

HoneyBook is a customer relationship management (CRM) tool that allows you to create proposals — and a whole lot more. You can also use it to manage projects, book clients, sign contracts, send invoices, and accept payments.

Because the proposal function brings invoicing, contracts, and payment together, your clients will enjoy a more seamless, professional proposal experience, and that could lead to more closed deals.

Integrations include Calendly, QuickBooks, Gmail, Google Calendar, and others. HoneyBook offers six months of concierge support with its $9-per-month starter plan and unlimited concierge support with $39-per-month and higher plans.

Best for: Small businesses; focused on single users rather than teams

Pricing: Seven-day free trial; $8 per month Starter plan; $16 per month Essentials plan; $33 per month Premium plan (in yearly billing)

7. QuoteWerks

QuoteWerks is sales quote and proposal software that claims it “can save time and increase deals.”

You’ll be able to create interactive PDF proposals using templates and seamlessly integrate them with your customer relationship management tool of choice. You can also create quotes, invoices, and purchase orders, plus build reports and manage databases.

QuoteWerks offers 55-plus integrations with other tools, including HubSpot, Salesforce, Zoho, Outlook, Gmail, QuickBooks, more than 10 payment gateways, and many, many more. Support is available via phone during business hours as well as online.

Best for: Most industries and companies of all sizes; common users include IT solution providers, manufacturers, value-added resellers (VARs), and managed service providers

Pricing: Free trial available; plans start at $13.75 per user, per month

Whether you’re a freelancer, a small business, or a medium-sized or large enterprise, there’s likely a proposal management software app out there that’s just right for your use case, your budget, and your business goals.

AS ALWAYS, CONSULT AN ATTORNEY BEFORE RELYING ON ANY FORM CONTRACT OR  CONTRACT TEMPLATE. THE CONTENT ABOVE IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.

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Create documents and collect e-signatures with Jotform Sign.

Proposal Writing Software

Tired of writing proposals the old way? Use our modern proposal writing software to create, deliver, and track your proposals in minutes.

Preparing A Research Proposal

From postdocs to professors, every academic researcher relies on funding at some point. But to secure it, you need a well-written research proposal. And that’s where our  proofreading experts  come in. We can make sure your proposal is error free and impactful, increasing your chances of impressing the funding board.

We also offer services for  student research  and non-academic  grant proposals . Just let us know how we can help and we’ll do the rest.

Expert Editor

Make sure your writing is the best it can be with our expert English proofreading and editing

Research Proposal Proofreading

When you submit a research proposal, one of our expert editors will:

• Fix any spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors
• Check that the tone and language are academic throughout
• Look for issues related to clarity or consistency
• Make sure all sources are clearly referenced
• Leave helpful feedback on writing style in comments

You’ll then be able to download two copies of your research proposal:

• A ‘Clean’ copy in the original format
• A  Track Changes  copy saved as a Microsoft Word document

In this second copy, every change we make will be highlighted for review, ensuring you are in full control of the final draft. And we can adapt our process to suit your chosen  file format , so let us know if you’re submitting your proposal as a PDF or LaTeX document.

Lightning-Fast Delivery

You’ll never miss a deadline with our speedy services: our Next-Day Guarantee means we’ll return any document up to 10,000 words long within 24 hours

And if you need a faster turnaround, simply select your desired delivery speed when you submit your document. We have three options:

We can also meet custom deadlines! Just let us know what you need.

*For documents up to 8,000 words 

**For documents up to 3,000 words

How We Work With Academics

You’ll never miss a deadline with our speedy services: our Next-Day Guarantee means we’ll return any document up to 8,000 words long within 24 hours.

And if you need a faster turnaround, simply select your desired delivery speed when you submit your document. We have three options

We can also meet custom deadlines! Just let us know what you need. 

* For documents up to 8,000 words

** For documents up to 3,000 words

Great Pricing

Our pricing is affordable and transparent – the cost is based on the exact length of your document. Check out our pricing calculator for an instant quote, and rest assured that you’ll receive the highest quality proofreading and editing for the best value on the market.

Referencing Expertise

Our team includes experts in various referencing styles and systems, including AMA, APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, Vancouver, and IEEE. No matter what style you’re using, though, we can check that your citations and references are correct and let you know if any information is missing. Visit our referencing page to learn more.

Subject-Matter Experts

Our team includes over 750 professional editors with backgrounds in a wide range of disciplines, so we’ll always match you with the best editor for your writing, whether you need help with a sociology dissertation, handouts for a music theory lecture, or a biology research paper.

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Our support team is available around the clock to address any concerns or questions you have about your order. This means you’ll never be left in the dark, no matter where you are or what time it is.

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Try it Free for 30 Days! No credit card required. Cancel anytime.

BUSINESS OWNERS LOVE FRESHBOOKS PROPOSALS

Save up to 36 hrs/month using FreshBooks for Accounting and Invoicing

of users think FreshBooks Proposals make them look more professional

Create and send Proposals 20% faster using FreshBooks

Polish Up Your Elevator Pitch

Custom Proposals give your clients all the details, supported by images and attachments. Scope it out, outline their needs and how you meet them, then click send.

Close and Get Paid, Here’s How

With in-app commenting, online approval and eSignatures, Proposals help your clients take action. Align timelines and easily convert Proposals to Invoices to save time billing.

Have They Read It? Check Proposal Status!

In progress, viewed, or accepted. You always know the status of a Proposal. Client questions? Respond right in FreshBooks. Need an old Proposal? Track them all in Client Profiles.

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More Ways Proposal Software Connects You to Clients

No credit card required. Cancel anytime.

Mobile Proposals

Create and send from anywhere with the FreshBooks mobile app

Notifications

Get notified about Proposal client activity

Attachments

Add images and attachments to showcase your value

eSignatures

Seal the deal through client eSignatures

Reuse a Proposal

Easily recycle an old Proposal to use for a new client

Downloadable

Download Proposals as PDFs

Stay Organized

Vendor proposals are always organized and easily accessible

Easy to Track

Create unique Proposal numbers for easy tracking

Multiple Languages

Send Proposals in English or French

Have Lots of Clients and Want to Save on Billing?

Our FreshBooks Select Plan could be the solution for you, saving you time and money. The Select Plan includes:

• A dedicated account manager to train your team and migrate your books from other platforms
• Access to lower credit card fees and transaction rates
• 2 free team member accounts

Resources to Make Proposals Work Harder for Your Business

How to Write a Business Proposal That Wins New Clients

[eBook] Master Project Management: Closing the Right Deals and Delivering Amazing Projects

Look Professional and Show Value With FreshBooks Proposals

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Frequently asked questions.

Yes, clients can access your professional-looking proposal whenever it’s convenient for them. They can accept, ask you questions, and add their electronic signature all from within FreshBooks. The user interface and workflow are designed to be easy for you and your clients.

Learn more about how your clients can interact with proposals: https://support.freshbooks.com/hc/en-us/articles/115013162648-How-do-I-create-a-Proposal-#accept

Yes, you can use proposals on your iOS device. Once you’re logged into your account, tap “More” at the bottom of your screen, then tap “Estimates”. From the Estimates screen, tap the “+” at the top right of the screen and then tap “Proposal”. From here, you can add all your Proposal content and details like Client, Proposal date, description, and more. When you’re done creating your Proposal, you can either save it or send it to your Client.

Learn more about creating proposals on your iOS device here: https://support.freshbooks.com/hc/en-us/articles/360027629331-How-do-I-create-Proposals-on-iOS-

FreshBooks professional proposal software lets you customize a lot of the design and all of the content! The sections of your proposal like the overview, scope of work, and timelines include rich text formatting capabilities as well as the ability to insert images. You can also customize the template type, theme color, and fonts, as well as enable e-Signatures. Overall, the proposals you create in FreshBooks will look like perfectly branded proposals from your company. That’s a lot more than you can do in Microsoft Word 😉 If you’re ready to start creating better proposals give it a try.

Learn more about customizing your proposals here: https://support.freshbooks.com/hc/en-us/articles/115013162648-How-do-I-create-a-Proposal-#proposalcontent

Electronic signatures have carried the same legal weight as traditional, paper-based ones since the United States Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN) was passed in 2000. This legislation ensures that electronic signatures are legally binding in every state where federal law applies.

In Canada, contractual relationships are generally governed by provincial law. Electronic signatures will generally be acceptable for many most contractual arrangements, including corporate/commercial agreements and many consumer contracts.

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