Make sure you send in your questions before the due date or they may not be considered. Word your questions carefully to ensure that you don't give away information on your strategy or pricing. If you call the Contracting Officer to obtain or clarify information in an RFP, be aware that verbal information given to you by the Government is not binding. If you have downloaded an RFP from the Internet, you can use that file to begin constructing your proposal outline. If you do not have the RFP on disk, use a scanner to scan in important sections for use in preparing your outline.
Some people prepare an annotated outline as well as a basic outline.
An annotated outline can contain important points from the RFP, as well as your own information on what you are planning to say in each section. If you prepare an annotated outline, copy your file, save it under a different name, and delete the annotations. The result will be a basic outline which you can use for easier viewing and tracking of proposal sections and subsections. Put important instructions on the first page or at the top of your outline, so you don't have to rummage through the RFP to find them. Work backwards from the proposal due date.