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A cover letter should accompany the RFP questionnaire. Why write a cover letter? Beyond being polite and presenting your project, the RFP cover letter gives you a unique opportunity to emphasize the timeline of your state-of-the-art RFP-based selection process, particularly the dates on which different documents are due.
The request for proposal (RFP) cover letter is part of our FREE RFP Letters Toolkit. You will find in it, amongst others, templates and samples of an RFP cover letter.
It is highly recommended that you to read the suggestions below in order to properly and successfully use the
RFP cover letter.
Highlight the major events and the due dates for submitting information:
Regardless of the types of responses you receive, providing a clear, precise timeline will ensure that your selection process is on time and in budget. In fact, by making certain you get the right documents in a timely manner, you will avoid undue delays, and thus save money.
When giving a deadline, be aware of the non-interchangeability of the words "submit" and "receive". More often than not, RFP authors write "submit the document no later than", but expect to receive the document no later than that date, thus generating proposal disqualifications, protests, and significant delays.
Requesting providers to write their proposal in a consistent format will be very helpful in evaluating all responses in a faster and more precise manner. Again -it cannot be said enough-, make sure prospective providers understand which documents to submit, receive detailed and precise instructions regarding the format of these documents, and are aware of your deadlines for receiving them.
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"You wouldn't send your loan application without a cover letter,
would you?"
- Pascal PERRY
by Project on Government Oversight (POGO)

Podcast: How Bad Performance Can Be Good for Business in Government Contracting![]()
POGO's Scott Amey dishes out a post-mortem on a recent Commission on Wartime Contracting hearing--at which he testified--on contractor accountability..
POGO Provides Post-hearing Supplemental Materials to the Commission on Wartime Contracting![]()
Pursuant to the Commission on Wartime Contracting's (Commission) request that the record for the hearing held on February 28, 2011, "Ensuring contractor accountability: Past performance and suspensions and debarments," be supplemented within thirty days, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) provides the following information. Specifically, POGO believes the Commission should recommend that the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) be expanded in scope and that the Department of Defense's (DoD) revolving door database of senior level acquisition officials be made publicly available.[2].
Solution: How the Government Can Stop Doing Business With Risky Contractors![]()
It is very hard for the federal government to have a successful criminal or civil prosecution of their contractors and it is the hardest to do with the Department of Defense (DoD). In January, the DoD created a stir when it released its Report to Congress on Contracting Fraud, which examined the extent to which the Pentagon awarded contracts to companies that defrauded the government. The report found that, from Fiscal Year 2007 to Fiscal Year (FY) 2009, the DoD awarded almost $270 billion in contracts to 91 contractors found liable in civil fraud cases, and $682 million to 30 contractors convicted of criminal fraud. .
U.S.Government Rarely Suspends or Debars Those Responsible for Billions in Tax Dollars Lost to Fraud, Waste, Abuse in War Zones![]()
Tens of billions of dollars are being lost to waste and fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan because of a toothless U.S. contracting system so reliant on a handful of major contractors that it rarely suspends or desbars them, even when those companies have committed serious offenses, according to the Project On Government Oversight's (POGO) testimony today before a independent, federal commission..
Commercial Item Exceptions Must be Eliminated From New Suspension and Debarment Rule![]()
The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) provides the following public comment to FAR Case 2009-036, "Federal Acquisition Regulation; Uniform Suspension and Debarment Requirement" (75 Fed. Reg. 77739, December 13, 2010). The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (the Councils) issued an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement section 815 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 (P.L. 111-84), which extends the restriction on contracting to subcontractors at any tier that have been suspended or debarred, with certain exceptions for commercial item and commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) item acquisition contracts..
Should Debarred Contractors Be Allowed to Build Military Aircraft?![]()
Today, POGO submitted a public comment about a new rule limiting the ability of suspended or debarred contractors to do business with the federal government. The rule prohibits prime contractors from subcontracting with any entity that has been suspended, debarred, or proposed for debarment..
Pentagon Cuts Back Contract Audits, Opens Door for Contractor Overpayments![]()
Under the guise of eliminating overlap, the Pentagon last month sharply reduced oversight of defense contracts, according to memos obtained by the Project On Government Oversight (POGO). The changes, which give some of the duties of the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) to the less aggressive Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA), were outlined in a January memo signed by Shay Assad, the director of Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy. DCAA staff were informed of the changes in a Jan. 31 memo from DCAA Director Patrick Fitzgerald..
Testimony of POGO's Nick Schwellenbach on "Improving Federal Contract Auditing"![]()
We believe that there should be an independent Federal Contract Audit Agency (FCAA), as long as it is done right. This isn't a new idea: it is an idea that has been batted around since at least the 1980s, when DCAA whistleblower George Spanton exposed serious problems at DCAA. .
Federal Government Needs Strong, Independent Auditor to Oversee Billions in Contract Spending, POGO Tells Senate Panel![]()
The responsibility of auditing the hundreds of billions of dollars spent each year on defense and civilian contracts should fall to a single, independent agency that is outside of the Pentagon's chain of command, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) told a U.S. Senate panel today..
Last Modified: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 1:05:58 PM
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