Policy Brief Template: Free, One Page, 3 Examples

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What is a policy brief?

A policy brief is a short paper that tells people who make decisions what the evidence says and what they should do about it. It is written by analysts, researchers, advocacy groups and public servants, for committees, elected officials, boards and funders.

It is not a research paper. A research paper explains how you found something. A policy brief says what was found, why it matters to the reader and what to do next. The method gets a line, not a section.

The 6 parts of a policy brief

1. A title that names the issue and the reader. "Urban Air Quality: Policy Brief. Evidence summary for the transport committee."
2. The finding, in two sentences. "Roadside nitrogen dioxide fell 31% in the four zones that charged older vehicles, and 4% in the eight that did not."
3. The evidence, as one table or chart: what each option did and what it cost.
4. The cause or context, briefly: where the problem comes from.
5. The recommendation, one sentence, with its cost and why it beats the alternatives.
6. What happens next: how it would be carried out, and the result to expect.

A free policy brief template

Copy this into a document, or open one of the examples below and edit it.

3 policy brief examples

1. Policy brief for a committee

A transport committee briefed on one decision: whether to extend vehicle charging zones, and how.

What to copy:

• The finding as a comparison: 31% where the policy ran, 4% where it did not. A committee member can repeat it in one breath.
• A table where each row is an option, with what it cost and what it achieved. The reader can see the trade-off without being told.
• A recommendation that is not the biggest option. "Captures roughly three quarters of the benefit at under half the running cost." Showing the trade-off builds trust.

Edit for free: policy brief template.

2. Report to a council or cabinet

Edit this template

A council's housing program reported to its cabinet: the target, the result, and what to change.

What to copy:

• A headline that admits the miss: "405 homes, not 420." It earns the reader's trust for everything that follows.
• A bridge chart from target to result, with each site that cost or added homes named. It answers "why?" before anyone asks.
• Lessons as "do" and "don't" lists. "Order the grid connection the day the site is bought" is a rule the next year can follow.

Edit for free: council report template.

3. Evidence review for funders or leadership

Edit this template

A university reviewing its grant cycle for leadership, with one uncomfortable finding and a cheap fix.

What to copy:

• "The number nobody wants to look at" as its own section. Three departments won 23 of 29 awards. Naming the hard finding is what makes a brief worth reading.
• The cause stated plainly: "The gap is not talent. Three departments have someone whose job is writing proposals and nine do not."
• A recommendation priced against the benefit: a shared writing desk costs less than one award.

Edit for free: research funding review template.

How long should a policy brief be?

Policy briefs range from one page to about six. The longer versions add background, method and references. For the reader who decides, the one-page version is the one that matters, and many organisations send it as the cover of the longer paper.

If you already have the long paper, the free AI One-Pager generator reads a PDF, Word or PowerPoint file of up to 10 pages and gives it back as a designed One-Pager, with the figures pulled from your file.

How to write a policy brief in 6 steps

1. Name the decision the reader is about to make, and by when.
2. Write the finding in two sentences with the key number in each.
3. Show the evidence as one table or chart, comparing the options.
4. Choose one recommendation and say why it beats the others, cost included.
5. List how it would be carried out, in three to five steps.
6. End with the result to expect, as a number.

Policy brief mistakes

• Starting with background. The reader already knows the issue. Start with what is new.
• Three recommendations of equal weight. The reader will pick none. Recommend one, and mention the others as options you weighed.
• No cost. A recommendation without a price cannot be approved.
• Jargon from the field. Write for the generalist on the committee, not the specialist who wrote the study.

Make your policy brief

Open the free policy brief template and put in your finding and recommendation, or drop your long paper into the free AI One-Pager generator and get a finished brief back.