The Top Free Business Proposal Templates

We found the top free business proposal templates, highlight why we liked them, and share two new templates based on projects we’ve won in the past.

For agency owners or nonprofit consultants, proposal quality can make or break your business. A well-written proposal showcases your expertise and experience and demonstrates your ability to understand and meet your client's needs. It's essential to put in the time and effort to create a comprehensive, professional proposal that sets you apart from the competition and helps you win new business.

But where do you start? With so many templates and guidelines available online, it can be overwhelming to figure out the best fit for your business. That's why we've aggregated some of the top free business proposal templates from the internet. We’re also launching two unique templates in Word and PowerPoint file types, so the memo and deck types can benefit from them equally.

Proposal Must-Haves

First, let's look at some key elements that should be a part of any great proposal. A strong proposal should include:

An introduction: This is your chance to introduce yourself, your business, and your experience, as well as provide some context for the proposal. You should also include a brief overview of your approach and what sets you apart from other agencies or consultants, such as a client list or proprietary method.
A summary of the client's needs: It's essential to clearly outline their needs and objectives. This will help guide readers and serve as your outline to tailor your proposal to show that you understand their needs and goals.
A description of your services: You'll want to provide a detailed description of your services. Be sure to highlight your relevant experience or expertise in this area. This will be the most customized part of any proposal.
Pricing: Be transparent and upfront about your pricing. Provide a cost breakdown, highlight recurring costs, and call out any discounts or promotions you may offer.
Team: Call out who is working on the project and why they are well-suited for its execution.
Timelines and deadlines: Clearly outline the timeframe for the project, including any deadlines for deliverables.
Case Studies: If you have any client testimonials or case studies, this is a great place to include them. Testimonials can help build trust and credibility with potential clients.
A call to action: End your proposal with a clear call to action. This could be a request for a meeting or a follow-up call to discuss the proposal in more detail.

Our new Word doc and PowerPoint templates were explicitly designed for agency owners and consultants and include all of the above components.

The Word doc is best suited for the less image-inclined who want to tell an easy-to-craft written story. It includes a variety of customizable sections, including an introduction, summary of client needs, description of services, pricing, team, and timelines. We’ve provided examples of how to write each section and include highlighted areas for you to update images, colors, and themes.

Our PowerPoint template is better suited for deck builders who want a short and visually compelling demonstration of their project execution. The template includes a variety of customizable slides, including an introduction, a summary of client needs, a description of services, pricing, timelines and deadlines, your team, testimonials, and a call to action. Like the Word doc, we’ve provided examples of how to write each section and include highlighted areas for you to update images, colors, and themes.

Top Memo Style Templates

Now that we've covered the basics and shared our templates, let's look at some of the best online templates. The ones below, like our Word doc template, are for those who prefer writing and less imagery in their approach.

Red And White Simple Modern IT Consulting Proposal

This IT consulting proposal from Canva is simple, bordering on minimalist, but provides ample space for sharing plenty of detail for your services. It is also very spacious, making it easy for anyone to read. Like the social media proposal above, this one is highly adaptable to any project.

Blue Modern Company Profile

This Canva profile template is a bit different from the regular memo format because it is not designed for any one type of project. It is extremely clean and contains plenty of white space for easy reading, yet it can also be replaced with supporting imagery.

Other Resources

These are not the end-all, be-all resources for proposal writing. There are dozens of other resources available online you should check out, including the ones shared below.

Canva: As you might have noticed, we’re big fans of Canva, a free-to-use online graphic design tool. While you can use it for anything from graphics and flyers to posters and logos, we’re huge fans of its simplicity and built-in design elements for creating any memo or deck.
Proposify: Proposify offers a simple, streamlined workflow using pre-approved content, which allows you to send out winning proposals with just a few clicks.
Bidsketch: Bidsketch is a cloud-based proposal software that offers a variety of customizable templates and tools to help you create professional proposals quickly and easily.
PandaDoc: PandaDoc is another cloud-based proposal software with various customizable templates and tools to help you create professional proposals.

At first, I was more traditionalist and enjoyed creating my proposals in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint (definitely never Google Slides). While I continue to build most of my proposals and decks in PowerPoint, I’ve increasingly relied on the design tools I shared above.

I hope you find them helpful in your proposal writing. If there is anything you think I’ve missed and would like me to add, let me know in the comments!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alfredo Ramirez

Alfredo is the COO and CMO of Prosal. He has nearly 10 years of experience working with nonprofits and foundations, and was the founder of a successful consulting business. He is an avid mountain biker and snowboarder and enjoys anything that takes him outdoors.