How to Write a Request for Proposal – RFP (With Template and Examples)
Updated by Xtensio
RFPs: Requests for Proposals are how many professional consultancies and agencies win new work. It is a document that a business, non-profit or government agency creates to detail the requirements for an upcoming project. RFPs are shared to solicit bids from contractors who will help the company complete the project. Use this step-by-step guide to create and iterate on your request for proposal document, easily. Explore this template and read the complete guide.
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Table of Contents
Everything you’ll need to craft a winning request for proposal
When launching a project, it’s critical that all project stakeholders are aware of the partnership’s desired outcomes. That’s where a business requirements document (BRD) comes in handy. Generally, a BRD is used to detail a business’s needs when seeking a new technology provider, consultant, or outside vendor.
The request for proposal template (RFP) is a business document that announces and provides details about a project your company is launching. The goal of the request for proposal is to help you solicit and review bids from contractors who will help complete the project. Use Xtensio’s live template to keep everyone instantly up-to-date on the project details.
- Detail your project’s needs in a visual, easy-to-read RFP format to solicit and review bids from outside vendors.
- Ensure transparency and hold your organization and outside vendors accountable for project goals.
- Create benchmarks to measure a project’s success.
With Xtensio, you can easily create RFP documents tailored to your projects and needs. Loop in colleagues, clients, and key stakeholders to create and iterate on your request for proposal. You can work hand-in-hand with colleagues on a live doc, leave feedback, and share a link so everyone has the information they need to complete your projects.
Xtensio’s FREE Request for Proposal Templates
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Create your request for proposal document header
RFPs come in all shapes, sizes, and visual formats depending on the needs of your company and the project you’re looking to receive bids. But the basic structure of BRD will essentially be the same regardless of your project, goals, and vendor requirements. Introduce your request for proposal document with your company name and logo, add the project name, the name of the person who created the RFP document, and the due date. You can also update the folio color scheme and background to match your company branding.
QUICK TIP: Once you set up your header section, you can save a custom template to easily repurpose for other RFP docs.
Explain who your company is
Open your request by giving an overview of your company’s history. This should give potential contractors and vendors a better idea of what your company does and who you serve as a target market.
Include a paragraph outlining useful background information about your company — who founded it, what product or service your company offers, what sets you apart from competitors, and where you’re located.
Detail the project overview and scope
One of the things that frustrate vendors and contractors interested in responding to an RFP is unclear expectations. When you write the RFP, strive for transparency whenever possible. What type of service provider are you looking for? Why are you launching this project? Reiterate your business goals, and mention your strengths, and where they need support. When are you proposing to start?
What’s the date for when the project should be wrapped up? Give the contractor a sense of the timeline with a proposed deadline. Add a note for potential contractors to adjust the date and include a reason for the shift if you’re open to alternative timelines. This section should also include an overview of tasks and deliverables that are required for the project.
Explain exactly what you’re looking for in a vendor
Explain exactly what you’re looking for in potential contractors. What kind of communication or work ethic do you expect from the vendor?
You’ll want to outline evaluation metrics. How will you ultimately determine which contractor is the best fit for this project? List the criteria you will consider, such as:
- Previous experience/past performance history.
- Samples and/or case studies from previous projects.
- Projected costs.
- Experience and technical expertise.
- Responsiveness and answers to questions in the next section.
You should also ask questions you’d like to ask potential vendors. Create thought-provoking questions related to this project so you can properly assess potential vendors. You might want to know what issues a contractor sees up front or how the costs will break down.
Identify the high-level project goals
Identify what you hope to accomplish with this project. What goals is your company hoping to achieve with this project? What KPIs will be analyzed to determine the success of this project?
Briefly describe the objective and list any specific KPIs or metrics you’ll be analyzing to determine if each of your goals has been reached.
Highlight existing roadblocks
Every project has inherent roadblocks that may cause delays or even failure of a project. Outline any time, resource or other constraints that will affect both the contractor’s proposal and the project as a whole. By explaining any roadblocks or issues upfront, you’ll weed out contractors who can’t tackle these constraints and connect with companies that know how to work around these issues.
- Are you dealing with custom coding or outdated technology?
- Does your team have limited resources?
- Are there any time constraints?
Detail the target deliverable schedule and timeline
Layout the timeline for when each deliverable should be delivered by. This should be included so potential vendors can gauge if they have the resources and bandwidth to complete the job on time. Rearrange your timeline according to the length of your proposed engagement and the structure of your workflow.
Consider these questions for different project milestones:
- How are you kicking off the project?
- What do you expect to achieve or be delivered each week?
- Any particular milestones for each week/step in the timeline?
Clearly state your budget
It’s important to be upfront with your budget. The more you can eliminate surprises, the better for all parties involved. What is the total that your company can spend on this project? Are there any constraints in the budget or any room for adjustments?
Outline submission requirements and provide contact information
Aside from the required questions and evaluation metrics you detailed further up in your RFP, explain what the vendor will need to provide to be considered for this project. Some things to think about:
- Only bidders who meet all 5 metrics in the evaluation section should submit a proposal.
- All questions from above must be answered in order to be considered.
- Description of the vendor that includes a general overview, names, and credentials of the team, and number of full-time employees.
- Bidders must include a budget for all proposed services, deliverables, and tasks.
- A proposed schedule must also be included and clearly expressed.
- Include samples, case studies, and references with your proposal.
- Proposals should be received by the deadline. Responses should be clearly marked “RFP-ProjectName” and mailed or delivered to the contact person listed below.
Finally, wrap your request for proposal up with the best way to contact the RFP drafter and which email to submit the RFP to.
Share your request for proposal document as a link, monitor, evaluate & iterate
When you’ve finished creating your RFP with Xtensio’s editor, you can send the live link to share it as a responsive webpage (and add password protection), export a PDF or present it as a slideshow in a meeting. The request for proposal template is adaptable just like other Xtensio tools, it can and should be repurposed, revisited, and revised regularly.
Looking for a different design or content for your RFP?
Check out the Agency RFP Template we created with the Los Angeles based marketing agency Intensify.
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RFP vs RFI vs RFQ: Understanding the Procurement Sequence
Before writing an RFP, make sure it is actually the right document for your stage in the procurement process. Three related documents serve different purposes, and sending the wrong one wastes time for both you and potential vendors.
Request for Information (RFI) comes first. An RFI is an open-ended inquiry sent when you are still exploring options. You are not ready to buy yet. You want to understand what solutions exist, what vendors are capable of, and what the general cost range looks like. RFIs are intentionally broad. They help you narrow a large vendor pool down to a shortlist before you invest time writing detailed requirements.
Request for Proposal (RFP) is the core procurement document. Once you know what you need, an RFP asks vendors to propose a specific solution, timeline, team, and price. A well-written RFP includes your project background, scope of work, evaluation criteria, and submission requirements. It is the document that produces comparable, scorable responses you can use to make a decision.
Request for Quote (RFQ) is used when you already know exactly what you need and just want pricing. RFQs are common for commodity purchases, repeat orders, or well-defined deliverables where the only variable is cost. If you are buying 500 branded notebooks or renewing a software license, an RFQ is sufficient. If the project requires creative problem-solving or custom solutions, you need an RFP instead.
The typical sequence is: RFI (explore) to RFP (evaluate) to RFQ (price). Not every procurement needs all three. Simple purchases skip straight to RFQ. Complex projects may start with an RFI to narrow the field, then issue an RFP to the shortlisted vendors. Use the RFP template to build a professional proposal request you can share as a live link and update as requirements evolve.
5 RFP Writing Mistakes That Attract the Wrong Vendors
A poorly written RFP does not just produce bad proposals. It attracts the wrong vendors entirely, while driving away the ones who could actually solve your problem. These five mistakes are the most common causes.
1. Vague scope of work. When your requirements read like a wish list rather than a defined scope, experienced vendors pass because they cannot estimate effort accurately. Meanwhile, less qualified vendors submit aggressive bids based on assumptions. Be specific about deliverables, quantities, timelines, and success criteria. If you cannot define the scope clearly, you may need an RFI first.
2. Unrealistic timelines. Asking for a complex software implementation in 30 days or a full brand identity in two weeks signals that you do not understand the work. Serious vendors will either decline or inflate their price to account for the rush. Research reasonable timelines for your project type before setting deadlines.
3. Hidden evaluation criteria. If vendors do not know how you will score their proposals, they cannot tailor their responses to what matters most. Share your evaluation criteria and their relative weights. A vendor who knows you value implementation speed over cost savings will structure their proposal differently than one guessing at your priorities.
4. Too many mandatory requirements. When every feature is marked as “mandatory,” you eliminate vendors who might be strong in the areas that matter most but lack a minor capability. Separate genuine must-haves from preferred features. Five non-negotiable requirements and fifteen preferred ones attract better responses than twenty mandatory items.
5. Not including a budget range. Many organizations hide their budget, hoping vendors will bid low. In practice, this produces wildly inconsistent proposals that are impossible to compare. A vendor proposing a $50,000 solution alongside one proposing $500,000 tells you nothing useful. Sharing a budget range (even a broad one) helps vendors right-size their proposals and saves everyone time during evaluation.
How to Evaluate and Score RFP Responses
Collecting proposals is only half the work. The evaluation process determines whether you choose the right vendor or the one who simply wrote the best pitch. A structured scoring approach removes bias and produces defensible decisions.
Build a weighted criteria matrix. List every evaluation criterion and assign a percentage weight based on importance. Common criteria include: technical approach (25-30%), relevant experience (20-25%), price (15-25%), team qualifications (10-15%), and timeline (10-15%). Adjust weights to reflect your project priorities. A mission-critical system migration weights technical approach higher. A commodity purchase weights price higher.
Separate mandatory from preferred requirements. Before scoring, run each proposal through a pass/fail checklist of mandatory requirements. Any proposal that fails a mandatory item is eliminated, regardless of its score elsewhere. This prevents a polished proposal from masking a fundamental gap.
Use a consistent scoring scale. A 1-to-5 scale works well: 1 (does not meet requirement), 2 (partially meets), 3 (meets), 4 (exceeds), 5 (significantly exceeds). Every evaluator should use the same definitions. Without calibration, one person’s “3” is another’s “4,” and the scores become meaningless.
Conduct reference checks before the final decision. Ask shortlisted vendors for three client references on similar projects. Prepare specific questions: Was the project delivered on time? Were there budget overruns? How did the vendor handle unexpected issues? References reveal patterns that proposals cannot.
Include a presentation or demo round. For complex projects, ask the top two or three vendors to present their approach in person or via video call. Presentations reveal how well the vendor understands your problem, how they think on their feet, and whether the team you will actually work with matches the proposal. This step alone prevents many bad vendor selections.
Keep your RFP, all responses, and evaluation scorecards organized in workspaces so your procurement team can review everything in one place. Share the final RFP as a live link that vendors can reference throughout the process, ensuring everyone works from the same current version.
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