The Prospectus An Overview of how to put together a prospectus for your Thoreau Project

The prospectus is the entire picture of the whole project The prospectus is the entire picture of the whole project. A good prospectus provides those watching a presentation with a road map of what they are watching and answers questions that might not be addressed in the presentation. The prospectus is the whole project from start to finish. It covers all aspects of the project and should have anticipated everything that might

Every Prospectus begins with a cover sheet. A Prospectus To Develop a Weekly Television show for Snowflake High School Group Leader Jane Doe Research and Finance John Henry Development Sam Wise Time tables and Materials Elaine Habit Submitted March 5, 2007 Every Prospectus begins with a cover sheet. On the cover sheet we need to see some visual connected to the project, the Group leader, and the names and the duties of the people in the group. The cover should be attractive and leave the reader with a good first impression.

Page Two is the Abstract – the abstract is simply a brief explanation of what you propose. In the abstract you should cover what you are doing, why you are doing it, how you will do it, and who your target group is. This should be a paragraph to no more than a page. After having conducted a survey among 300 students at Snowflake high School we determined that many students feel left out because they have no idea as to what is going on in the school or who is doing it. We believe that students who are informed and will find themselves and friends on television will promote school spirit. Our research showed that identification was a key element in creating continuity among student bodies. The school television show would be shown at various times throughout the day and would include sports, news, people in the news and generally what is going on at our school. We would have reporter and cover as many events as possible. The idea is to make the whole student body feel like they are important at Snowflake High School.

Page three through not more than two pages typed is the overview. The overview is exactly what it sounds like it is. The overview is a quick trip around the prospectus and the project giving the reader the major points of interest and telling them what to expect. The over view should at least have some blurb from every section of the prospectus and offer a positive impression to the reader.

Research This next section of the prospectus should cover all aspects of the research you have done for the project. We need to know what you researched, why you researched it, and what you found. In some cases we need to know who you talked to and why. Research should cover aspects of law, any surveys, interviews, etc.. Anything you did to ensure the success of your plan and that the idea is based on aound research and reasoning. The length of this section is indeterminate but should be thorough. The person you are presenting to must feel comfortable that you know what you are talking about.

Review of Literature

Plan The next section of the prospectus is dedicated to the plan. You must as clearly as possible make your reader understand what your plan is. Second, you need to discuss the rational for your plan. Third, discuss the expected results and how you will evaluate the plan in the end to determine the success or failure of the plan.

Materials and Personnel Much of this section maybe made up of lists, but with each list you should be able to justify what you want. In addition, you will need to account for any personnel you will need to complete the project. In this section you do not discuss cost you simply outline what you need to make the plan work. Do not overlook venues and small details as these are usually what kills plans.

Finance This section should be obvious. In this section you not only consider what things cost, but where the money will come from and alternatives. Costs need to be broken down as succinctly as possible. Caution: Do not expect your only manner of finance to work. The best plans have contingencies, alternatives, while the report should reflect things you expect to be donated, it should by no means have this as the sole source or expect there to be problems.

Timetables This section must offer the reader and prospective recipient of your ideas a very good idea of what will happen when. How long to get set up. How much time to do and anything else that might be connected with the project that might need time to prepare or execute. This part must be thorough and must make contingency plans in order to meet the needs of the plan.It is important to talk about deadlines and target periods in this section.

Summation This is your chance to go over the highlights of the project. This is your chance to say anything you feel might make a difference in getting your project approved. This is the place where you go back over the project briefly and answer any questions you feel have not been addressed. Finally, this is where you ask the person reading to give you a chance.

Final Touches Bibliography – Site every source you have used in your research including interviews, surveys, etc.. Insert all graphs etc. as appendices number them and reference them back to your report. Create a prepared by page giving credit to your people for the work they have done on the prospectus.