Having managed both government and commercial proposals for 25 years as a one-person proposal shop for small to large companies, proposal center director, and proposal management consultant, I’ve developed a checklist of “standard” proposal repository templates and boilerplate I believe are vital to getting proposals out the door efficiently – and less “painfully” for organizations of all sizes.
Templates
- Cover letter templates
- Commitment letter templates
- Standard forms templates
- Teaming agreement templates
- Non-disclosure agreement templates
- Lessons-learned debrief templates
- Compliance matrix templates
- Storyboard templates
- Features/benefits/theme statement worksheets
- Capture forms
- Graphics logs
- Kick-off meeting forms and templates
- Color team forms and templates
- Pre-submission checklists
- Proposal team contact list templates
- Proposal schedule templates
- Resume templates
- Past performance templates
- Proposal document templates
- Mailing label templates
- Delivery receipt templates
- Binder covers and spines templates
- Divider tab sets
- CD labels and inserts templates
Boilerplate/data documents
- Awards, certifications, and accreditations
- Acronym lists
- Logos, graphics, and graphics style guide
- Organization charts
- Corporate overviews
- Financials
- Insurance certificates
- Management plans
- Transition plans
- Recruiting/staffing plans
- Compensation plans
- Past performance write-ups (formatted using MS Word styles)
- Resumes (formatted using MS Word styles)
- Proposal development manual and style guide
Develop a schedule for keeping these items up-to-date, and you’ll reap myriad benefits from being able to put your hands on needed materials quickly – besides reducing your proposal team’s stress levels!
What other materials do you typically maintain in your proposal repositories? Send an email to me listing your must have items, and I’ll update my list! BWingate@LohfeldConsulting.com.
