Mentoring Program Proposal Template: Step-by-Step Guide

Need a mentoring program proposal template that actually gets approved? This guide walks you through a proven structure, backed by data, with a free mentoring program proposal template you can download at the end.

If you know your organisation needs a mentoring program, the next step is clear: you need a proposal that gets it off the ground.

A mentoring program proposal isn’t just a plan; it’s your business case. It outlines the problem, positions mentoring as a strategic solution, and shows why now is the right time to invest. It’s how you secure leadership buy-in, budget approval, and internal support.

This guide provides a step-by-step structure to help you write a compelling proposal. One that speaks directly to executive priorities and aligns with your agency or department’s strategic goals.

Use our customisable framework to build your case, launch with confidence, and demonstrate measurable outcomes.

Table of Contents

• Section 1: Start With the Why: Define the Problem
• Section 2: Clarify the Objectives of Your Mentoring Program
• Section 3: Outline the Program Design
  • Format: Choose What Moves the Needle
  • Duration: Timeframe Drives Commitment
  • Matching Process: Get This Wrong, and Engagement Tanks
  • Meeting Frequency & Expectations
• Section 4: Define Roles and Responsibilities
• Who Owns the Program?
• Expectations: Mentors, Mentees, Managers
• Support Structures: Train, Guide, Sustain
• Section 5: Plan the Rollout and Timeline
• Section 6: Budget and Resources
• Section 7: Success Metrics and Evaluation Plan
• Download Your Brancher Mentoring Program Proposal Template Today
• Frequently Asked Questions
  
  

Section 1: Start With the Why: Define the Problem

A mentoring program is not about ticking a development box. It’s about responding to a clear organisational challenge and using mentoring as a strategic lever to address it. That’s where your proposal needs to begin.

For example, if your agency is struggling with early-career retention, mentoring offers targeted support that helps new employees connect, develop, and stay.

According to the 2023 AHRI Turnover & Retention Report, 19% of Australian organisations cited “too few learning and development opportunities” as a reason employees leave. 

Or perhaps you’re facing succession risks. Many teams are seeing an increase in retirements and not enough emerging leaders ready to step up.

The Australian Institute of Management found in their 2022 survey that 27% of organisations had no formal succession plan - and over half said leadership capability was a barrier to growth.

This is where mentoring can make a measurable impact. It connects institutional knowledge with emerging talent, builds internal capability, and fosters knowledge transfer in a way that traditional training cannot.

By clearly articulating the organisational challenge and supporting it with data, you show why mentoring is not just a nice-to-have; it’s a timely, strategic solution with long-term value.

📌 Tip: Keep this section tightly focused on the problem your mentoring program will address. Avoid generic benefits - lead with the specific need.

RELATED: Why Organisations Need Mentoring: 8 Benefits to Your Company

Section 2: Clarify the Objectives of Your Mentoring Program

To secure support, you’ll need clearly defined objectives — and they must tie directly to organisational goals.

Use the SMART framework (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) to give your proposal credibility and focus. Here’s how that might look in practice:

These goals act as a bridge between a people initiative and your organisation’s strategic direction. That’s what leadership needs to see.

RELATED: 10 Mentoring Goals in the Workplace + How to Achieve Them

Section 3: Outline the Program Design

Once the objectives are clear, you need to outline how the mentoring program will work — in a way that is realistic, structured, and scalable.

Format: Choose What Moves the Needle

• 1:1 mentoring: Ideal for high-potential staff or leadership development
• Group mentoring: Scalable option for onboarding or DEI initiatives
• Peer mentoring: Effective for early-career or remote employees
• Reverse mentoring: Useful for cross-generational learning and cultural change

If you’re starting fresh, pilot one format before expanding.

Duration: Timeframe Drives Commitment

• 3 months: Quick wins. Good for onboarding and low-risk pilots.
• 6 months: Ideal balance for most organisations: It’s long enough to see behavioural change yet short enough to iterate.
• 12 months: Best for leadership or succession tracks - where deeper development is the goal.

The duration should align with your SMART goals and with the availability of staff.

Matching Process: Get This Wrong, and Engagement Tanks

• Manual matching: Suitable for fewer than 15 pairs
• Matching software: Necessary for larger or cross-functional programs

Software matching options:

• Mentee-driven: Mentees choose from a shortlist of best-fit mentors
• Admin-matched: Program leads assign matches using system recommendations
• Hybrid: Mentees choose first; admins can support or override as needed

Brancher supports all three approaches and allows customisation by department, goal, or skillset.

RELATED: Choosing the Right Mentoring Matching Approach: Admin-Driven, User-Driven, or Hybrid?

Meeting Frequency & Expectations

Set the tone early - because if you leave it open-ended, it won’t happen.

• Recommended: 1 meeting per month, 60 minutes
• Provide optional structure: Pre-session agendas, conversation guides, and outcome tracking.
• Define ownership: Mentees set the agenda, mentors guide, HR supports.

When people know what’s expected, they show up prepared and the impact multiplies. Your mentoring program design should match your business goals and be easy for participants to follow. No bloat. No ambiguity. Just a clean, strategic structure that shows you’ve thought it through.

RELATED: How to Match Mentors and Mentees Using Matching Software

Section 4: Define Roles and Responsibilities

Programs that lack role clarity often stall within months. This section of your proposal should define:

Who Owns the Program?

Let’s be clear: HR or L&D should lead; but they shouldn’t do everything. Their role is to set the strategy, coordinate logistics, and report on impact. You could also bring in an external vendor if:

• You’re short on internal capacity.
• You are running a program with more than 20 pairs.
• You need software for matching, reporting, or scalability.
• You want expert-led mentor training or help with program design.

Pro tip: If you’re pitching an enterprise-wide or cross-functional program, consider nominating a program sponsor at the exec level. It adds visibility and authority.

Expectations: Mentors, Mentees, Managers

• Mentors
  • Show up prepared and engaged.
  • Meet monthly (minimum) for 60 mins.
  • Support growth, challenge assumptions, and share real experience, not just advice.
  • Participate in mid-point check-ins or feedback surveys.
    
    
• Mentees
  • Drive the relationship. Come with goals, questions, and follow-through.
  • Schedule meetings and set the agenda.
  • Track progress and reflect.
  • Participate in mid-point check-ins or feedback surveys.
  • Complete feedback at program end.
    
    
• Administrators
  • Encourage participation (and don’t hoard talent).
  • Strategically design the program to meet business needs.
  • Step in and provide support where necessary (e.g. check-in on pairs that haven't met yet)

This isn’t just about participation- it’s about ownership. When each party knows their role, the program runs like a machine.

Support Structures: Train, Guide, Sustain

Don’t assume mentoring comes naturally. (Spoiler: it doesn’t.) Here’s what your proposal should include to set people up for success:

Onboarding & Training

• • • Start strong with mentor and mentee orientation sessions — live or on-demand.
    • Equip participants with toolkits that include conversation starters, confidentiality tips, and goal-setting templates.
    • Or streamline the process with a mentoring platform that has this built-in from day one.
      
      

      Mentoring Agreement

• • • Set clear expectations early.
    • A simple mentoring agreement helps both parties align on goals, boundaries, and communication — and prevents common relationship breakdowns.

Regular Check-Ins

• • • Keep momentum going with midpoint surveys or group check-ins.
    • Use real-time feedback to tweak pairings or spot disengagement early.

Resource Hub

• • • Make support easy to access.
    • Use your intranet, LMS, or mentoring platform to house guides, scheduling tools, and FAQs in one central place.

Recognition

• • • Celebrate progress and keep motivation high.
    • Spotlight mentors and mentees in newsletters, awards, or performance reviews to embed mentoring into your culture.
      
      

You’re not running a social club. You’re delivering a strategic program with defined roles, measurable outcomes, and the right scaffolding to make it work. Your exec team needs to see that - and this section shows them you’ve got it locked down.

RELATED: What is a Mentoring Agreement? 5 Things to Include

Section 5: Plan the Rollout and Timeline

This is where your mentoring program proposal stops being a concept and starts becoming a plan. You’ve defined the what and the why; now you show how and when it all comes to life.

Your exec team doesn’t want guesses. They want a structured, phased rollout with dates, responsibilities, and built-in feedback loops. If it’s not clear who’s doing what (or when) they’ll assume it won’t happen. Here’s the rollout structure you want to follow:

Your proposal isn’t a wishlist; it’s an execution plan. By giving a crystal-clear timeline, assigning responsibilities, and flagging dependencies early, you’re showing stakeholders that this isn’t just another HR experiment. It’s a well-oiled rollout with built-in accountability.

Brancher’s admin dashboard lets you coordinate timelines, send automated comms, and track participation from launch to wrap-up — so nothing falls through the cracks.

RELATED: What Does a Mentoring Program Administrator Do?

Section 6: Budget and Resources

You can have the smartest mentoring program design in the world, but if you can't speak to cost and ROI like a CFO, you’ll get shut down fast. This is where you stop thinking like a program lead and start thinking like a strategist. Show the investment. Show the return. Show you’ve done your homework.

Let’s talk returns because mentoring doesn’t just “feel good.” It pays off, and the numbers back it up.

• Retention: Staff who participate in mentoring are 50% more likely to stay with the organisation.
• Promotion & Capability Growth: Mentored employees are 5x more likely to be promoted.
• Culture & Engagement: Mentoring drives cross-functional trust, knowledge-sharing, and psychological safety—all linked to higher engagement and performance.

Now do the maths. If you retain just two high-potential staff who would’ve otherwise left, you’ve covered your program cost. Easily.

Bottom line? Don’t pitch mentoring as a cost centre. Pitch it as a strategic investment in retention, capability, and culture—one that delivers measurable returns at any budget level.

Many Brancher clients reduce program admin time by 80%; especially for large-scale programs where manual tracking and matching would eat up weeks of staff time.

RELATED: Brancher's ROI: Understanding the ROI of Mentoring

Section 7: Success Metrics and Evaluation Plan

If you can’t prove your mentoring program works, you’ll never get repeat funding; or leadership trust. Defining success upfront isn’t optional; it’s mandatory. You need hard numbers and human stories to tell a complete, convincing story.

Quantitative metrics tell you the hard facts. These are your KPIs, your bottom-line indicators. Pick the ones that directly reflect your program objectives:

• Retention rates: Track turnover of participants vs. non-participants. A 10–20% improvement is realistic and impactful.
• Promotion rates: Measure how many mentees move into leadership or higher responsibility roles versus peers.
• Engagement scores: Use your annual or pulse surveys to compare mentees’ engagement against overall staff. Look for improvements in belonging, job satisfaction, and discretionary effort.
  
  

Qualitative metrics capture nuance and emotional impact. This is the fuel for your storytelling and case studies:

• Feedback surveys: Short, targeted surveys after key milestones (e.g., midpoint, program end). Ask about satisfaction, perceived value, and suggestions.
• Testimonials: Capture quotes from both mentors and mentees on how the program helped their development or mindset.
• Focus groups or interviews: Deep dive into the experience, uncover unexpected benefits or barriers, and get ideas for improvement.

Tie every metric back to your original SMART objectives. If your goal was “reduce early-career turnover by 20%,” retention is your headline. If you aimed to “build a leadership pipeline,” promotions and qualitative leadership readiness feedback become your proof points. With this, you’ll deliver an airtight evaluation plan that makes it impossible to say no next time around.

Brancher includes built-in survey tools and automated feedback collection - making it easy to track engagement, outcomes, and satisfaction without another system.

RELATED: How to Start Measuring a Mentoring Program's Success

Download Your Brancher Mentoring Program Proposal Template Today

A strong mentoring program proposal isn’t just a document - it’s your blueprint for success. You’ve got to nail the problem definition, set clear objectives, design a practical program, map out a realistic timeline, budget smartly, and plan how to measure real impact. Don’t forget to tackle risks upfront with solid mitigation strategies.

Now, it’s time to stop planning and start doing. Begin drafting your proposal, run a small pilot to prove the concept, or get leadership involved early to build momentum and buy-in. The quicker you act, the sooner your organisation will reap the benefits.

Use this mentoring program proposal template to create a proposal that your leadership team can’t ignore. For an easy, scalable way to manage your program, consider partnering with Brancher — a leading mentoring software supplier that’s helping organisations make mentoring simple and effective.

Frequently Asked Questions:

What should a mentoring program proposal include?

A compelling proposal includes a business case, SMART goals, program structure, timeline, budget, and success metrics.

Who should write the mentoring program proposal?

Typically HR or L&D leads the draft, with input from executives, IT, and operations.

How long should a mentoring program proposal be?

4–6 pages is ideal. It's enough to cover strategy without overwhelming readers.

How do I justify the cost of mentoring?

Use hard data on retention and promotion. Show how keeping even two employees offsets the cost.

Can I use a template for this?

Yes. This article includes a free mentoring program proposal template you can download and customise.