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Assume that your academic department at UC Davis has up to $2,500 worth of funding available to support an undergraduate project that improves the educational experience of undergraduates in your major. Your department is ready to review proposed projects to be funded by the grant/award ($2,500), and, consequently, has posted an official invitation, or Request for Proposals (RFP). Stipulations include that the undergraduate applying for the funds must use the funds for the preceding purpose and no other, must spend the funding during the current academic year, and must also request the funds in writing via a 275- to 550-word proposal memo to the Department Chair.
Frame the above memo as a bottom-line first, win-win pitch. Begin with a concise, no-nonsense statement of what you want overall. Next, present your project idea and relevant details. Be sure to cover: what is it, who will do it, where will it occur, and when will it produce tangible results. Then, go on to establish how and why your project will benefit the fundee (the students) as well as the funder (the university). Here, you probably ought to consider extent of impact (preferably quantitative)—i.e, what percent (%) of the undergraduates in your major will benefit and how? You also should consider project impact on the status and mission of your department—in the areas of research, education, and/or placement of alumni into reputable graduate programs and private sector careers. If there are any additional beneficiaries—for example, benefits/perks for the local community or another third party or institution—mention this “win-win” outcome(s) as well.
Last, your funder will want to know how, specifically, you intend to spend the lump sum; so provide a line-item breakdown of all individual “key” expenditures that total up to $2,500. The appropriate level of detail here is 3 to no more than 12 itemized items/categories—e.g., labor, materials, equipment, travel, etc. Round numbers to the nearest 10 dollars (thus, $340, not $338.26). Don’t forget to end the budget with a “sum total” line that verifies that the line items you list total up to $2,500. After the budget, tack on a polite, positive statement of closure. To guide the structure of your proposal memo, please also refer to the supplied handout, “How to Write a Proposal.” For this assignment, you are writing a very brief proposal, so it is okay to abbreviate your proposal’s structure and not to include all eight proposal points mentioned in the handout as discrete, explicit segments of your SBR #2 document. However, do consider all eight recommended points and do factor them into your document as best as you can (even if their presence is implicit, rather than explicit).
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