A preliminary proposal, also known as a pre-proposal, white paper, letter proposal, letter of intent, pre-application, or concept paper, is a brief description of a project that is submitted to funding agencies to gauge interest and request a preliminary review before a formal proposal:

• Purpose
  • To interest potential sponsors and inform them of the project, and to prompt a request for a more detailed formal proposal
• Content
  • Typically includes the main points of what the author will do, why it should be done, how they will do it, and how they will interpret the results, with minimal supporting detail
• Additional information
  • Funding agencies may also request other information, such as strategies, partnerships, and cost estimates