What is a Government Contract Proposal?
A government contract proposal is a document that responds to a solicitation for bids from a government agency. The solicitation, called a request for proposal or RFP, typically provides detailed information about a contracting opportunity and seeks specific information from contractors who wish to submit bids for the work. The approach and level of detail requested often varies depending on the agency and the proposed contract, but proposals most often include information about the following:
The proposal is used by the government to determine whether a contractor should be considered for an award . Generally, its primary purpose is to provide the government with sufficient information to determine both whether a contractor is capable of performing the contract requirements and whether the pricing is appropriate. To meet this goal, the information in the proposals may include some or all of the following elements:
An effective proposal element will be detailed and designed to reflect the contractor’s capabilities, experience and qualifications as they relate to the solicitation. It must demonstrate that the contractor is able to complete the work in accordance with — or better than — the bid specifications.
Value of a Government Contract Proposal Template
A government contract proposal template lists the information that must be included in every proposal, and it also gives you the order in which to place each section. It will also provide you with a plan for formatting and organizing information, so that your document quickly becomes an integral part of your client’s files. By checking off each section as it is completed, you can be assured that all requirements are met, and you can easily see how many more areas are left to be finalized. Your client will appreciate your thoroughness, and won’t be counting down the number of "To Do’s" on their checklist. Using a government contract proposal template will enable you to complete the requirements for proposals, RFP forms, and contracts with time left over to review the finished document for accuracy. A complete template helps keep you on track by showing you exactly what has been done, and what still needs to be completed.
Essential Elements of a Proposal Template
At its most basic level, a government contract proposal template consists of the following components:
Executive Summary
The client expects to see the solution they need described in the executive summary. The executive summary should highlight the major problem areas outlined in the RFP, and your big-picture thoughts on how to fulfill the client’s ask. You should also use this space to touch on any outstanding qualifications that your firm has that are relevant to the project.
Technical Approach
Similar to the executive summary, this section should cover the fine points of your solution to the problem. While the executive summary is used to provide an overview of your approach, the technical approach should outline the details. Explain how you will carry out your plan in the context of the client’s operations, mission and day-to-day activities. There should a logical organization to your description—typically beginning with an overview of the team, then describing your general approach, followed by individual tasks and even demonstrating previous performance of these tasks if applicable.
Management Plan
How will you manage the team? How does your team fit in with the client? Every proposal for a federal contract will require a management plan. This section covers three subcomponents: personnel organization, schedule and cost control and risk management. Use this opportunity to show that your firm is ready to hit the ground running on Day 1.
Past Performance
In a competitive bidding situation, your team’s experience on past contracts can be the deciding factor between you and the other bidder. In addition to describing your team’s past experience and the outcome of that experience—discussing whether the contract was closed in the time specified, within budget and to the client’s satisfaction—you must show that you can apply that experience to the new contract. List similar past contracts to the federal contract you are currently bidding for and describe how you will bring your experience into play.
Pricing Strategy
Your federal contract proposal template needs to include an overview of your firm’s pricing strategy. This overview provides some context and background for your chosen pricing structure—whether fixed-price, cost or time-and-materials.
Tailoring a Template To A Particular Contract
One of the most important aspects of crafting a winning government contract proposal is ensuring that your document is specifically tailored to meet the unique needs of the agency you’re hoping to work with. Government contract proposal templates can help you identify and quickly address key requirements, but it’s still important to customize your proposal documents according to the specifications of each separate contract.
This is particularly important when you’re responding to a contract bid from a government agency that has strict guidelines about how to apply for and receive contracts. While you probably have a basic outline of the information you’ll need to include, many government agencies will have their own expectations regarding the organization of the proposal, the level of detail you’re supposed to provide, and how you’re going to distribute and manage the data you present .
It’s also necessary that you personalize your template proposal for the scope of the project outlined in any government RFPs. Not every project will be a one-size-fits-all situation, so it’s wise to keep everything as flexible as possible. If the agency you’re dealing with is interested only in the basic details of the project, without going in-depth about things like your proposed costs, you’ll need to adjust your typical proposal template accordingly. On the other hand, it’s likely that most projects will require comprehensive information about anticipated spending and how your business intends to distribute resources.
No matter which way it goes, always keep the project scope in mind as you’re working on your proposal template. You can’t go into a contract bid fresh from the last job you managed, and expect your proposal to sell that particular project all over again.
Typical Proposal Template Errors
Maintenance of a library of proposal templates is a good practice, not only for the organization as a whole but also for individual proposal managers who should at minimum have a library of templates to work from that are configured to their organization’s best practices. Using templates is a good practice, but templates must be used correctly – here are some mistakes and how to avoid them:
- The Proposal Does Not Visually Align with the RFP – We have worked on proposals that included visuals that were not consistent with the visual branding of the Call Order requirement (i.e., the logo was different, or the color palettes were different). This is a huge red flag for evaluators. The proposal does not come off as a unified document. It looks like the proposal was slapped together at the last minute. Unlike color photographs that do not always translate well to black and white documents, visual branding translates well to any media.
- The Proposal Contains Errors or Inaccuracies – We have had clients use a template to cut and paste content that changed the meaning of the sentence or paragraph. Simple spellchecks and grammar checks are not always adequate, especially when dealing with acronym-heavy content. The content and templates should be reviewed by one or more reviewers, editors, and/or proofreaders before finalization.
- The Proposal Is Not Aligned with Your Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for Proposal Management – You should not use a template in a vacuum. Templates should be aligned with your organization’s standard operating procedures for proposal management. For example, your standard operating procedures may dictate the level of review aggregate proposals require (i.e., peer reviews, executive review, etc.). A template that contains five drafts of a proposal (with four drafts going through multiple layers of review) may not be the standard practice for your organization.
- The Proposal Does Not Include All Enclosures, Cover Letters, and Tabs – Your template should contain all of the enclosures, cover letters, and tabs that are required by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-136, the Federal Information Guide (FAS), and OMB Exhibits 300 and 300A, if applicable. You should not have to create these from scratch. Ideally, you should have all the required enclosures, cover letters, and tabs for the request for proposals (RFP) solicitation plan, prior to invitation to tender.
Where to Locate Quality Templates
The best templates readily provide you with the information that is essential to your proposal and allow you to omit the information that would be considered superfluous. The main question is: where can you obtain templates without paying for them? First, there are a number of professional organizations for government contractors that maintain proposal libraries. Industry-specific websites such as GovWin, GovEvents, and GovSpend also offer templates that are either free or come with an inexpensive paid subscription. Meanwhile, the Small Business Administration also offers its own content library , which has a great selection of materials that could make doing business in the government contracting arena far easier.
Second, the government creates templates for the information that you will need to submit as part of a proposal. Most requests for proposals (RFPs) will contain a number of standard templates in order to help guide you through the process. For instance, the tracking of any subcontractors will come from the RFP rather than from something you created yourself.
Finally, you may also set up complimentary consultations with professional proposal consultants. These services will help you to determine which proposal templates are best for your business and how to go about completing each template.