--- title: "Capture Plan" slug: "capture-plan" updated: 2026-10-30T18:38:29Z published: 2026-10-30T18:38:29Z canonical: "support.govdash.com/capture-plan" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://support.govdash.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Capture Plan ## Overview The Capture Plan is where your team records what it learns about an opportunity before you write the proposal: the customer, their needs, the competition and your solution. Questions are grouped into phases, like **Analysis**, **Intel** and **Solution**, and each phase is split into sections. Your answers do more than track capture. Questions marked **Used for proposal content** feed GovDash when it writes your proposal, and **Suggest Answer** lets Dash draft answers from your solicitation documents. Each opportunity has a Capture Plan with questions for every capture phase, and your answers feed the proposal GovDash writes later. Each part has its own article: - **Capture Plan** (this article): answering questions, **Suggest Answer**, attaching documents and exporting. - [Capture Plan Templates](/v1/docs/capture-plan-templates): setting up the questions, weights, PWin and default reviewers. - [Gate Reviews & PWin Scoring](/v1/docs/gate-reviews): reviewing each phase and scoring the probability of win. > [!WARNING] > You Can Customize the Capture Plan > > Admins can add, edit and remove phases, sections and questions, set question weights, and build templates in [Capture Settings](https://dashboard.govdash.us/settings/capture#capture-plan-templates) under **Capture Plan Templates**. Your Capture Plan may look different from the examples in this article. Click through the interactive walkthrough below. It has a chapter for answering questions and one for **Suggest Answer** and **Export**, or you can follow the steps in this article. [Interactive walkthrough: Capture Plan](https://govdash.navattic.com/b02s08by) --- ## Opening the Capture Plan Open the opportunity and select a phase under **CAPTURE PLAN** in the side panel. The badge next to each phase shows how complete it is. The tabs across the top switch between that phase's sections. ![Intel phase page with the Capture Plan phases in the side panel and the section tabs highlighted](https://cdn.us.document360.io/104c3542-bffe-46a6-901f-aa7a848851a4/Images/Documentation/cp_phase.png) By default, the phases and sections are: - **Analysis:** Considerations, like budget, critical companies and scope changes. - **Intel:** Stakeholders, Motivation, Requirements and Assessment. - **Solution:** General, Approach, Benefits, Features and Risks. ### Tracking Progress The **Capture Plan** card on the opportunity's **Overview** tab shows the progress of every phase. Select a phase name to expand it and see a bar for each section. ![Capture Plan card with the template dropdown and Analysis, Intel and Solution progress](https://cdn.us.document360.io/104c3542-bffe-46a6-901f-aa7a848851a4/Images/Documentation/cp_card.png) ![Intel expanded on the Capture Plan card, showing a progress bar for each section](https://cdn.us.document360.io/104c3542-bffe-46a6-901f-aa7a848851a4/Images/Documentation/cp_exp.png) Some questions count for more than others. Hover over a question to see its weight, like **7% of phase progress**. The percentage next to each phase under **CAPTURE PLAN** in the side panel shows the same progress, so you can check it from any tab. #### Overall Opportunity Progress The Pipeline shows a percentage on each opportunity for its overall progress. It goes up as the opportunity moves to later phases, and as your team answers questions in its current phase. For example, an opportunity in the second of four phases starts at 25%, and answering all of that phase's questions brings it to 50%. Hover over the info icon on an opportunity card to see how much comes from its phase and how much from answered questions. Questions with a higher weight count for more. Admins set the weights in [Capture Plan Templates](/v1/docs/capture-plan-templates#questions-and-weights). ![Overall progress percentage on opportunities in the Pipeline](https://cdn.us.document360.io/104c3542-bffe-46a6-901f-aa7a848851a4/Images/Documentation/image-QHVB86WE.png) ### Choosing a Template The template decides which questions show for the opportunity. If your team has more than one, pick a different one from the dropdown at the top of the **Capture Plan** card. When you switch, answers carry over to any question with the same text in a section with the same name. Switching also resets a gate review that is in progress. See [Gate Reviews & PWin Scoring](/v1/docs/gate-reviews). --- ## Answering Questions 1. Open a phase and select a section tab. 2. Type your answer in the editor under the question. It saves automatically as you type. 3. Move on to the next question. The phase's progress goes up as you answer. **Real-time collaboration active** under a question means teammates on the page see your edits as you type. When teammates are typing, you see who is contributing and where at the top of each answer box, and their changes show up right away. Next to each question you can also: - Hover over the **Used for proposal content** or **Not used for proposal content** badge to see the question's **Purpose**, **Goal of Content** and **Desired Impact**. - Select the person icon to **Assign Users**. - Select the comment icon to discuss the question with your team. The number shows how many comments it has. [Answering Capture Plan Questions](https://cdn.us.document360.io/104c3542-bffe-46a6-901f-aa7a848851a4/Images/Documentation/Capture_Plan_Answering_Questions_fast.mp4) Not sure what a strong answer looks like? Download the [example Capture Plan template](https://cdn.us.document360.io/104c3542-bffe-46a6-901f-aa7a848851a4/Images/Documentation/GovDash Proposal Success Document_Capture-Solutioning(1).xltx), which has an example for each question. --- ## Suggest Answer Dash can draft an answer for you from the opportunity's documents and your team's data. 1. Select **Suggest Answer** next to the question. 2. Choose **Answer in editor** to draft it right in the question, or **Answer in chat** to work on it with Dash in the chat panel. 3. Read the draft. The tags in the text show which document each point came from. ![Suggest Answer menu with Answer in editor and Answer in chat](https://cdn.us.document360.io/104c3542-bffe-46a6-901f-aa7a848851a4/Images/Documentation/cp_sugmenu.png) For an answer in the editor, finish with the controls to the right of the draft: - **Refine with Dash:** type what to change, like "make it shorter". - **Expand to chat:** keep working on it in the chat panel. - **Reject:** discard the draft. - **Accept:** then choose **Replace text** to swap out what's in the editor, or **Insert below** to keep it and add the draft after it. ![Draft answer with Refine with Dash, the Expand to chat, Reject and Accept icons, and the Replace text and Insert below options](https://cdn.us.document360.io/104c3542-bffe-46a6-901f-aa7a848851a4/Images/Documentation/cp_accept.png) ### Giving Dash More Context Dash uses the files on the opportunity's **Documents** tab. To give it more for one question, like meeting notes or customer intel, select **Attach Document**. Upload a file or pick one from the **Opportunity**, **Data Library**, **SharePoint** or **Google Drive**, then select **Confirm**. ![Upload action window with Upload, Opportunity, Data Library, SharePoint and Google Drive tabs](https://cdn.us.document360.io/104c3542-bffe-46a6-901f-aa7a848851a4/Images/Documentation/cp_attach.png) --- ## Exporting the Capture Plan Select **Export** in the top right of any phase. GovDash downloads the whole Capture Plan as an Excel file, with a sheet for each phase. --- ### FAQ #### Where do my answers go? They stay on the opportunity. Answers to questions marked **Used for proposal content** are also used when GovDash writes your proposal. See [Transitioning Opportunities to Proposal](/v1/docs/transitioning-opportunities-to-proposal-cloud). #### Why isn't my phase at 100%? Some questions are still unanswered. Each question counts for a set share of the phase, so hover over each question to see its weight. #### Can I change the questions? Admins can add, edit and weight questions and templates in [Capture Settings](https://dashboard.govdash.us/settings/capture#capture-plan-templates). #### Will I lose answers if I switch templates? Answers carry over to questions with the same text in a section with the same name. Other answers stay with the old template, so switching back brings them back.