Proposal submission letter

Sample Cover Letter The Virtual Community Group, Inc. 17 Park Road Rural Town, NH July 1, 1995 Jane Smith, Executive Director Xavier Foundation 555 S. Smith St. Washington, D. C. 22222 Dear Ms. Smith, I am pleased to submit this proposal from the Virtual Community Group, Inc. , requesting an investment of $50, 000 per year over two years from the Xavier Foundation to support our Enterprise 2000 initiative.

This grant would provide part of the funds needed for us to train at least 1200 low-income entrepreneurs in rural New Hampshire, helping them acquire the computer skills they need to create sustainable local businesses as we enter the twenty-first century. As elsewhere in the U. S. , the economichealthof New Hampshire’s rural communities has suffered steady decline since the early 1900’s. Familyfarms, which once formed an economic base supporting large numbers of rural inhabitants, have been all but eradicated by large-scaleagribusiness.

Moreover, since 1960, New Hampshire has lost xx% of its manufacturing jobs, as corporations or local factories have shut down or moved operations out of state. As a result, many thousands of individuals from New Hampshire — particularly our young people — are moving to cities to seek jobs, not only depopulating and further impoverishing rural communities, but contributing to the growing pool of urban unemployed.

By tapping the energy of the small local entrepreneur, and linking it to the explosion in communications technologies, we believe it is possible to reverse this trend, enabling rural inhabitants to retain viable, high-quality jobs far from industrial and urban centers. Small towns would again offer a wide spectrum of employment opportunities — from small manufacturing to services to retail — and develop sound, diversified economies for the first time in generations. Unfortunately, many small entrepreneurs cannot afford either the training or equipment needed to participate in the rewards of the Information Revolution.

Enterprise 2000 was designed explicitly to address this lack of parity, and help level the communications playing field. Working in collaboration with microenterprise organizations, community colleges, and agencies which recycle computer hardware, Enterprise 2000 will offer disadvantaged entrepreneurs the following services at low or no charge: •Day-time or evening classes in basic, intermediate, and advanced computer skills •Training to use the Internet and other information networks •Assessment of MIS needs

Access to reconditioned computer hardware After two years of experimentation and program development, the Virtual Community Group has fashioned a superb, easily replicable model in Enterprise 2000, and established a high degree of credibility among community groups, policy makers, and funders. Our collaboration with other agencies leverages every dollar invested.

Given that the Xavier Foundation has already made a number of strategic investments to improve the lives of the rural poor, we are calling on you to help us advance our joint objective one step further. I appreciate your consideration of this proposal. Please feel free to call me if you have questions or would like us to arrange a site visit. I look forward to meeting with you soon. Sincerely, Executive Director (This sample cover letter was created for AGM by Molly Clark Associates. )