Generate a Proposal Outline

Overview

Creating a proposal in GovDash’s Proposal Cloud is simple and intuitive. This guide will walk you through the process step-by-step, ensuring that your team can easily get started with outline generation and proposal development.

Ensure you have…

Before starting a proposal, make sure you have the following ready to upload:

• Solicitation Document (RFP, RFI, RFQ, etc.)

• Performance Work Statement (PWS) or Statement of Work (SOW)

• Supporting documents such as amendments or clarification notices

These documents help GovDash analyze the opportunity and generate a proposal outline tailored to the solicitation requirements.

Creating a Draft

To begin generating your outline, start by creating a draft by navigating to the Proposal Cloud in GovDash and selecting Start a new proposal.

Building Your Solicitation Package

Next, provide a name for your proposal. If you don't provide a name at this stage, we'll automatically generate a name for your solicitation using your solicitation documents.

GovDash will help you develop your solicitation package by requesting document attachments for:

• Solicitation Document (RFP, RFI, RFQ, etc.)

• Performance Work Statement (PWS) or Statement of Work (SOW)

• Supporting documents such as amendments or clarification notices

GovDash will also automatically determine the response type and general structure of the proposal based on the documents that you upload.

Adding Past Performance

GovDash will provide you with the option of referencing the past performance found within your Contract Cloud. You can choose to reference as many contracts as you'd like by clicking them in the list. You can also quickly search by using the search bar shown above the award selection area.

You can also let GovDash select your relevant contracts for you by selecting the Select them for me option.

Updating your Contract Inventory

For help with adding new contracts to your contract inventory, please see our guide here.

Contract Greyed Out?

If your contract/past performance within the list is greyed out, this is because we require at least the main contract document and associated PWS/SOW to be uploaded to the contract before you're able to use it as past performance within your proposal.  

Submitting Your Draft

Once you’re satisfied with your draft, click Finish, and GovDash will begin analyzing your solicitation package, creating your compliance matrix, and generating your annotated outline. As soon as this process finishes, you will receive an email! Your outline is typically ready within minutes!

Saving your Draft

If you need more time before submitting and would like to save your work to complete later, GovDash will automatically store your current work in a draft that can be picked up at any point.

To access your draft, simply click the Drafts button on the main dashboard page. Drafts are listed in descending chronological order, and you may delete drafts at any time.

Setting and Managing Proposal Classifications

When you upload a document into GovDash, you will select its classification as either (U) Unclassified or (CUI) Controlled Unclassified Information. This classification helps your team properly label sensitive data and ensures it is protected on the GovDash platform.

How Classification Works in GovDash

GovDash uses your document classification to automatically label related information across the platform.

If a document is classified as CUI, GovDash will automatically propagate that classification to items that are derived from that document or created from it. Examples include:

• If you upload a CUI focus document to a proposal, the proposal classification will be updated to CUI

• If you upload a resume and mark it as CUI, the Key Personnel entity extracted from that resume will also be marked as CUI

This same behavior applies across other connected parts of GovDash as information is extracted and structured from your uploaded files.

Where You Can Set Classification

Classification is not limited to document uploads. Other areas of GovDash also allow you to set classification, such as when you are creating an opportunity.

GovDash supports classification on the following types of records:

• Dash Conversations

• Key Personnel

• Government officers (rarely used in the UI)

• Agencies

• Business partners

• Capabilities

• Forms (such as data calls)

• Custom documents

• Documents

• Awards

• Proposals

• Opportunities

Updating Classification After Upload

If you need to change a classification after something is already in GovDash, you can update it at any time.

When you update the classification of a “parent” item (like a document), GovDash will show a popup listing related items that were derived from it. This helps you quickly decide whether you also want to update the classification of those related records.

Important Note Regarding Classification

Your team is responsible for properly marking your data in GovDash. Correct classification ensures that sensitive information is handled appropriately and that properly labeled, sensitive data is protected on the GovDash platform.