For example, if your topic is community gardens, appeal to your readers as property owners and parents, as well as community decision-makers. They’ll be interested in learning about the impact of gardening and local food on their property values, their children’s health, and their children’s education.
If you’re writing a white paper for an engineer, you should include lots of technical details and be lengthy in your descriptions. If you’re writing for a government official, focus on policy-related implications. If you’re writing for a corporate audience, focus on cost-effectiveness and growth potential.
Closing the School-to-Prison Pipeline with Art Safer Cities through Community Gardens: A White Paper
Student debt has grown exponentially over the past decade. Combined with the dismal job market new graduates face, their debt threatens to become the next economy-crashing bubble. Creditors and a number of economists have argued A, B, and C. However, these arguments do not address X, Y, and Z.
After [interviewing experts, examining statistics, etc. ], I became convinced that [two or three proposed solutions] do not adequately address the problem. This white paper will argue in favor of [your proposed solution] because it would [insert an objective reason here].
Examples of problems include “decreasing sales,” “slow network speeds,” or “management-employee conflicts. "
For example, a white paper on addressing climate change might discuss how hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) were once believed to be a safe replacement for chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which had produced a hole in the ozone layer. However, we now know that HFCs are actually dangerous greenhouse gases.
If you’re writing your paper within a corporate context, avoid mentioning your company’s product at this point. Focus instead on what to expect in a solution.
