Proposal---Letter Format

A proposal can come in many shapes, formats, and sizes.

• This webpage shows a proposal in a letter format.
  • A letter format is suitable for proposals that are:
    • Relatively brief
    • Relatively simple
  • Note the following in the proposal below:
    • The choice of medium
    • The use of common business letter conventions
    • A lack of titles, headings, and sub-headings
    • A reference to a previous communication between the correspondents
    • A problem statement
    • A proposed solution
      • Including a course of action
    • Contact Information

February 31, 2031

Mr. Jacques Snifflewitz, Ph. D., Curator
Museum of Celebrity Lint
4141 Aardvark Lane
Sydney , Australia
71-LX-2113

Dr. Snifflewitz,

In response to your query of January 12, I am pleased to consider your request to loan my collection, "Disco Star Lint," to the Museum of Celebrity Lint for your summer 2004 exhibition entitled, Lint from the Days of Disco. However, my main issue with your request was the terms you offered; they were not satisfactory.

From my perspective, the general problem at hand is that you want my collection, "Disco Star Lint," for display in Sydney this summer, but I have not yet agreed to the terms you offered. Hence, my proposed solution to your problem is to spell out terms which would be satisfactory to me.

What follows are my proposed terms for such a loan as mentioned above:

1. The Museum of Celebrity Lint will reimburse me for all shipping and shipping related expenses related my collection of lint from Donna Summer, Barry White, Lionel Ritchie, Chaka Khan, The Commodores, and Sheena Easton.
   • In total, the collection weighs only two pounds (net); however, I have special, climate-controlled, shock-resistant shipping containers that weigh another 100 pounds. Hence, the total shipping weight will be 102 pounds.
   • Shipping and shipping related expenses shall include freight, customs, insurance, docking fees, security services, and all other costs to ship this collection FOB from Normal, Illinois to Sydney, Australia and from Sydney, Australia to Normal, Illinois.
     • Shipping costs shall be door-to-door, my residence to your museum to my residence.
     • I will choose the shipper. Please advise me with regard to the date you want the collection to arrive in Sydney .
2. Naturally, I have inquired about insuring this part of my collection. Currently, this part of my collection is valued at two million dollars ( US ), but I will require that it be insured for four million dollars (US). The reasons for this are as follows:
   • Because of the high polyester content of clothing during the Disco era, the Gross National Production of lint dropped for those years. The simple law of supply and demand explains why this particular collection of celebrity lint is valued so highly by collectors.
   • Also, because the value of Disco era lint has increased by 25% in the past twelve years and I have no intention of selling this part of my collection in the foreseeable future, I am insuring the collection for what I believe its value will be in ten years.
3. I found your terms for the display and security of my collection to be generally acceptable---with the exception of two points:
   • While the display temperature of 72 degrees Farenheit is fine, the lint must be kept at thirty percent (30%) humidity—not the thirty-five you mentioned. I can't risk the loss of my collection to microscopic fauna which only live in environments with greater than a 40% humidity.
   • In addition to the pressure-sensitive switches on the display cases and the infra-red laser detection system for the room in which the display cases will be housed, there should be an hourly check of the displays cases by armed guard.
     • I would be happy to provide training for your security staff with regard to detecting counterfeit celebrity lint. Such training would be free of charge.
4. Finally, I will need to be present to supervise both the unpacking and packing of the collection.
   • Please provide for my round-trip airfare in June and September, to coincide with the arrival dates and departure dates of my collection in Sydney. Business class will be sufficient.
   • I will arrange and pay for my own accomodations while in Sydney.

Please draw up a formal legal agreement based upon the information above. The agreement should be forwarded to my personal attorney, Ms. April Bentwater:

Ms. April Bentwater, Esq.
c/o Abercrombie, Fitch, and Woolworth, L.L.C.
103 East-West Erickson Street
Yreka , California 62620-9999

Once Ms. Bentwater has reviewed your offer, I will immediately be in touch with regard to ironing out any fuzzy details that need addressing.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 217-555-5555.

Respectfully,

Bruce Erickson