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Project Documentation11 min readMarch 2026

How to Write a Project Charter: A Complete Guide

Learn how to write a project charter that gets stakeholder buy-in and keeps your project on track.

AA
Anna Anderson, PMP · CSM · CSPO
Founder, ProjectPilot · Coached 125+ PMs into roles at Amazon, AWS, PwC & Anthropic

What Is a Project Charter?

A project charter is a formal document that authorizes a project and defines its scope, objectives, stakeholders, timeline, and budget at a high level. It requires sign-off from the project sponsor before work begins.

The charter serves three critical functions:

  • It authorizes the project manager to act — without a formal charter, a PM has no documented authority to allocate resources or make decisions.
  • It aligns stakeholders on what the project will and will not deliver — scope creep is the most common cause of project failure, and the charter is the primary defense.
  • It creates a shared reference point — when disagreements arise, the charter is where the team goes first.

What to Include in a Project Charter

1

Project Title and Description

A clear name and 2-3 sentence overview of what the project is and what it will deliver.

2

Business Case and Objectives

Why this project exists and what measurable outcomes it will achieve. Include specific, quantifiable success criteria.

3

Scope Statement

What is included AND what is explicitly excluded. Both are equally important. A scope statement without explicit exclusions invites scope creep.

4

Deliverables

Specific, concrete outputs the project will produce — not activities, but outcomes.

5

Timeline and Milestones

A high-level summary of major phases and when they are expected to complete.

6

Budget

Total approved budget and major cost categories.

7

Stakeholders and Roles

Who is involved, what authority they have, and what their level of involvement is.

8

Assumptions and Constraints

What is being assumed as true for planning purposes, and what limitations the project must operate within.

9

Key Risks

The highest-priority risks identified at the time of chartering.

10

PM Authority and Sponsor Signature

What decisions the PM can make without escalation — and the sponsor signature that transforms the document into an authorization.

Common Project Charter Mistakes

  • Writing it alone — a charter built without stakeholder input will be challenged immediately.
  • Being vague about scope — measurable specifics are the only defense against scope creep.
  • Skipping the exclusions — what the project will NOT do is as important as what it will do.
  • Not getting it signed — a charter without a sponsor signature is an opinion document.
  • Treating it as one-time — update the charter when scope, timeline, or budget changes significantly.

How Long Should It Be?

For most projects, 2-5 pages. Longer is not better — a charter no one reads has failed its purpose. Every section should earn its place.

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