Department/Agency Unsolicited Proposals

An unsolicited proposal occurs when you initiate contact with a business or government entity to offer your company’s services or products. It is written in the form of a proposal of a product/service and is typically mailed or emailed in digital form. This proposal differs from responding to formal requests such as tenders, requests for proposals, or expressions of interest.

Instead, you take the proactive step of outlining the benefits of your product or service, emphasizing how it could be advantageous to them.

You might firmly believe that your service or product could significantly enhance government operations or business functions. Proposals, regardless of whether they’re requested, typically assert innovations aimed at cost savings or time efficiencies. It’s important to recognize that the recipient is likely to receive numerous unsolicited proposals and may not share the same level of enthusiasm for your offering as you do.

A fixed-price contract provides a set price for the contract work, regardless of the actual costs incurred by the contractor. This type of contract places the risk on the contractor because the price remains unchanged, even if unforeseen expenses arise.

• Be innovative and unique
• Be independently originated and developed by the offeror
• Be prepared without government supervision, endorsement, direction, or direct government involvement
• Include sufficient detail to permit a determination that government support could be worthwhile, and the proposed work could benefit the agency’s research and development or other mission responsibilities
• Not be an advance proposal for a known agency requirement that can be acquired by competitive methods
• Not address a previously published agency requirement

• Explain what makes your product/service better than the rest, giving specific benefits and features.
• Give some previous use, past performance, and/or references.
• Make sure to outline the purpose for your product/service, be clear in how it is intended.
• Tell what makes it so important and explain the problem that it solves.
• Show how your product works, the way it reacts, or how it is used.
• Any results of tests performed, services completed, reviews of products
• Be sure to introduce your company, the innovative person behind the product/service, and give a history of who you are and where you came from.
• Any other legal information that would need to be disclosed up front

Pro Tip: Make your proposal out to a specific person and address that person and their needs.

You should keep it brief and make sure you cover all aspects of your product/service. There is no specific guideline as to how many pages your proposal should be or what it should look like. If your proposal consists of more than 1 page, you should consider including a cover page, introduction, table of contents if necessary, and a conclusion asking for their business. It’s best to have a graphic designer involved when creating the final piece. Their knowledge of making professional looking content will benefit you in the end.

Most likely there will be a procurement team that handles your proposal. Depending on the agency/department’s rules and regulations, the person your proposal is assigned to must review it and deem it worthy of further investigation.

Your proposal will be forwarded to a specific contracting officer who has a need for your product/service. They will decide if there is a contract that your proposal would align with and consider you for the award. The CO is not obligated to award you a contract.

They are still going to solicit their contract for open competition and include your proposal. They will then be able to choose the best proposal out of those submitted. Often there is low to no competition especially if your product/service is unique and innovative.

It’s up to the regulations of each department/agency, however, most do not allow an appeal. In fact, they don’t allow multiple submissions of the same product/service. They will not allow you to change the name of the proposal and resubmit it either. To change the decision of the procurement team, you would need to submit a completely new proposal with a new product/service or idea.