Requests For Proposals Making RFPs Work for Nonprofits and Vendors<#14ntcRFP>

Peter Campbell

RFPs Are Fun!

Image: Joi Ito

NOT!

So Why Bother?

Image: Valerie Everett

Proposals Should Be Formal

Goals and Objectives Come First

Picture: Torsten Bolten

Responses Can Be Contractual

The RFP Process

• Identify and quantify the need– Financial Impact– Organizational Impact– Risk/Opportunity

• Identify products and/or vendors– Peer Recommendations– Online Resources (Idealware, Techsoup)– Research

RFP Format

• Introduction and Key Objectives• About the Organization• Description of Current Status and

Environment• Questionnaire (includes pricing)• Deliverables• References• Proposal Instructions

RFPs for Products

• Company history, size, stability• Product functionality• Data ownership and accessibility

– Getting Your Data Systems Talking

• Integration and compatibility• Support (vendor and community)• Cloud concerns

RFPs for Products

• Should ask very specific questions about all aspects of product functionality

• Can be a long questionnaire• Should include key questions about support:

– Who provides it?– Dedicated or random?– What’s the support staff turnover rate?

• Should include cloud provisions, if applicable

Cloud Provisions

• Who has rights to use the data?• How is the data backed up?• Can it be backed up locally and how often?• What happens to the data if the vendor goes

out of business, or is sold?• What does the vendor support and not

support in the cloud environment?• Do subcontractors honor vendor agreements?

Example – Company Details

1. Please provide the name and contact information for your company.

2. How many years has your company been in business?

3. What geographical area do you provide services for?

4. How many people are employed at your company?

5. What is the average rate of turnover for your company?

Example – Level of Detail

1. List the standard and maximum hard drive (HDD) space (for all models recommended)

2. List the standard and maximum Random Access Memory (RAM) (for all models recommended)

3. List all document formats that the scanner can save to.4. Can the system send scans to email addresses?5. If yes, do those addresses have to be pre-entered into

the system, or can they be entered ad hoc (as part of the scan job setup)?

6. What mail protocols (POP, SMTP, etc.) are supported?

Example – Support Questions

1. What is your Service Level Agreement response time guarantee for solving issues that impede our ability to use the devices? Please breakdown by identifying business/non-business hours, if applicable.

2. How far away (in miles, feel free to specify location) is your support technician likely to be from our headquarters when we place a service call?

3. We are looking to lease this equipment, primarily in order to stay current with the technology should significant advances be incorporated in newer models. What is the average cost to upgrade three years from the lease start date?

RFPs for Services

• Vendor size, history, stability• Demonstrated expertise• Examples and references• Standard hourly fees by role• Shouldn’t be overly long

RFPs for Services

• Establishes goals and relationship– Include detailed project goals– Describe current situation

• Should gage expertise and compatibility• More of an essay test than a questionnaire• “Show your work”

– Case studies– Work examples

Example – Clearly Stated Goals

• The anticipated deliverables for this work will include advice and assistance with the configuration of Salesforce for our purposes; sharing of knowledge and best practices around Salesforce development and use; mentoring and training of technical staff, possible training of line staff; and documentation of any custom work performed. This is a long-term project, and our goal is to eventually become self-sufficient with Salesforce.

Example – Expertise QueriesTask 4.0 – Development of Community/Portal SitesDescribe your experience setting up custom web sites that expose Salesforce functionality to constituents outside of the company. Provide examples of portals that you have developed.

Task 5.0 – Workflow AutomationDescribe and cite examples of workflow automation projects that you’ve implemented. In particular, forms, routing and process automation. Task 6.0 – TrainingIndicate whether training is a service that you provide and, if so, describe the types of training that you offer (e.g. administrative, end-user, train-the-trainer).

RFP Process

• Set dates in RFP for questions and responses due

• Verify receipt and participation• Send RFP to identified vendors and/or post

publicly (appropriate forums, RFP websites, your website)

• Answer questions• Collect responses

RFP Process

• RFPs should present a level playing field to vendors

• Set a deadline for questions (2 weeks is good)• Collect by email and send replies to all

questions to all participating vendors (anonymizing vendors)

• Alternatively, schedule a conference call for vendors to discuss RFP (Bidder’s Conference)

Compare/Weigh Responses

Interact

• Schedule demos or meetings• Request that you meet with the people that

would be assigned to your project• Answer questions that RFPs can’t

– Is the demo/meetup consistent with the RFP response?

– Is the product intuitive to use?– Do you have a rapport with the vendor or

consultants?

Decision Making

• Have key decision makers involved• Use polling and/or scorecards (documents

decision)• Document the rationale for the decision• Notify vendors• For services, be open to providing candid

feedback to those not selected

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