Table of Contents

The length of the narration component of your proposal generally dictates whether a Table of Contents is necessary. It is essential if that length exceeds 10 pages; advisable at five pages, and potentially useful below five.  As in your letter of inquiry, always use formatting that makes the document more readable, such as headings and subheadings in bold, bulleted lists where appropriate, etc.

Tables of Contents are always useful if your proposal includes a number of appendices or other attachments. Be sure to take that into consideration as you number the pages of all of those sections . It’s also critical to do a final check – and recheck – if those materials get re-ordered in your final draft.

When appendices and attachments are involved, always include the full title rather than just the number or letter of the section.

Good word processing software typically includes templates and shortcuts for creating nicely formatted Table of Contents. By all means use them if you are comfortable with them. If not,  feel free to format by hand.The order of your Table of Contents should follow the outline requested by the funder. Be sure to follow their guidelines precisely, and to provide only the number of specific documents requested (e.g. resumes,  commitment letter, etc.)

Full Proposals