How to write an invitation to bid email to subcontractors (with templates)

A subcontractor's estimator gets a lot of invitations to bid. Most of them get a few seconds of attention before being sorted into "look later" or "never," and "look later" is mostly a polite name for "never." A good invitation answers the reader's first four questions before they have to scroll: who is this from, what's the job, when is it due, and is my trade actually on it or did I just get Bcc'd along with the whole list.

What follows is what to include, what to leave out, and templates you can use today.

The eight things every invitation needs

A subject line with the project, the trade and the due date. Something like "Invitation to bid, Div 26 Electrical: Riverview Apartments (due Fri Oct 16, 2 PM)." A greeting by first name, to a person, not "Dear Bidder" and not an estimating@ inbox. One sentence on the project: what it is and where it is. One sentence on the scope you want, with the cost code and name and any notable inclusions ("fire alarm under 28 31 00 included"). A link to the documents rather than a 200 MB attachment. The due date, time and time zone, stated once near the top and once at the bottom. A direct question: are you bidding? With a deadline for the answer and explicit permission to say no. And your name and a phone number.

That's the whole email. It fits on a phone screen, which is where it'll be read.

Seven mistakes that get invitations ignored

Sending to a list. More than one name in To or Bcc tells the sub they're one of a crowd. One person, one email.

Not naming the trade in the subject, so the sub can't tell whether you want them specifically or blasted everyone.

Burying the due date in the third paragraph.

Attaching the drawings. They bounce, they clog inboxes, and they make the email feel like a chore before it's even been opened.

Not asking for a reply. "Please submit your proposal by" is an instruction to bid, not a request for an answer, and subs who aren't bidding respond to it with silence.

Writing like a lawyer. "Please be advised that the undersigned hereby requests" has never motivated anyone to price anything.

Sending at 6 PM on a Friday, where it's buried by Monday morning. Tuesday to Thursday, mid-morning, works better.

Template 1: the standard invitation

Subject: Invitation to bid, Div 26 Electrical: Riverview Apartments (due Fri Oct 16, 2 PM)

Hi Dana,

We're bidding Riverview Apartments, a 6-storey wood-frame residential building at 1200 Waverley St in Winnipeg, and we'd like a price from Prairie Electric on the Division 26 electrical scope.

Drawings and specs are here: [link]

Bids are due Friday, October 16 at 2:00 PM Central. Please email your proposal to me directly.

Could you let me know by Wednesday whether you're bidding? A quick yes or no is all we need, and no is a perfectly good answer.

Thanks,
[Name], [Title]
[Phone]

Template 2: when you especially want this sub

Use this one sparingly. It works precisely because it's obviously not a mass email, and that stops being true if everyone gets it.

Subject: Riverview Apartments, electrical: we'd like you on this one

Hi Dana,

Prairie Electric did solid work on the Portage Avenue project and we'd like to have you on our team for Riverview Apartments, a 6-storey residential building at 1200 Waverley St.

Div 26 electrical, with the fire alarm under 28 31 00 included. Drawings are here: [link]

Bids close Friday, October 16 at 2:00 PM. If you can bid, we'll make time for a walkthrough or a call to go over anything unclear.

Let us know either way?

[Name]

Template 3: the follow-up

Three or four business days after the invitation, to anyone who hasn't replied. Two lines, no more.

Subject: Re: Invitation to bid, Div 26 Electrical: Riverview Apartments (due Fri Oct 16)

Hi Dana,

Quick check-in: are you planning to bid the electrical on Riverview? Due Friday at 2. A one-word reply is fine.

[Name]

More on follow-up timing and wording.

Template 4: the addendum notice

To everyone who received the original invitation and hasn't said "not bidding."

Subject: Addendum 2, Riverview Apartments, Div 26 Electrical (bid date unchanged)

Hi Dana,

Addendum 2 was issued today. For electrical it changes the panel schedule on E4.01 and adds the exterior lighting on the west parkade.

Updated drawings: [link]

The bid date has not changed: Friday, October 16 at 2:00 PM. Please confirm you've received this.

[Name]

Why every bidder needs the addendum individually.

Five small things that lift the response rate

Keep the same subject line for the whole bid round, because subs search their inbox by project name. Say what happens next: "I'll follow up Wednesday" makes the follow-up expected rather than naggy. Give them an easy way to say no; a decline on day two is information, and silence until bid day is a lost slot. Use their name, not "Estimator," and if you don't have a person for a company, get one before you send. And tell them how many are on it when the number is small. "You're one of six" makes the effort worth their while.

Doing this for forty people

All of the above is easy for one email and a grind for forty, which is why so many estimators fall back to Bcc. The fix is a merge: write the email once with placeholders for first name, company, scope, project and due date, and let something fill them in per recipient. Word's mail merge through Outlook does it (step by step here), and it works, though it gives you nothing back in terms of tracking.

Invite All is built around this exact email, and we think it's the best way to send it to forty people without losing the personal feel: the same placeholders, sent one per person from your own Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace mailbox, with a private link per sub that carries the drawings and Bidding / Maybe / Not bidding buttons, so the "are you bidding?" question becomes a click. Whichever way you send it, the principle is the same. One person, one email, four questions answered in about four seconds.