Request for Proposal: Website Support and Maintenance
Submitted by: Leadership Baltimore County
Contact: Mary Kay Page at 410-583-5236
Due Date: November 30, 2018
Please submit a technical and cost proposal to Mary Kay via email by Nov. 30. LBC will review proposals and notify all parties of its decision by Dec. 14.
OVERVIEW
About Us:
Leadership Baltimore County (LBC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in 1983 to: (1) develop a network of leaders who are informed about the challenges and opportunities facing Baltimore County; and (2) to facilitate their engagement in the community through volunteer service with the goal of creating solutions to some of the county’s most pressing social issues.
Brief Project Summary:
LBC built a new website which was launched February 2018. The site was built through a collaborative process with two contractors, a graphic designer/content writer and a web developer. As a service to our alumni network, the site enables alumni to login to access several different features. Alumni who have paid their membership during the current year have access to a searchable directory of all alumni which draws data from LBC’s Salesforce database.
Organization Resources:
As a rather small staff of just 2.5 FTE, LBC has one full time staff member who has responsibility for updating content on our website and social media platforms. This person’s position also carries several other major responsibilities. We have a half time employee who, among other tasks, maintains our data in Salesforce and other software.
We have a contractor who provides overall technical support on an as-needed basis to assist with network security, equipment maintenance, software maintenance, virus protection and user education.
We work with another contactor, also on an as-needed basis, for support of Salesforce when questions arise, or our needs are beyond our abilities in Salesforce.
TECHNICAL BACKGROUND
The website is hosted by an outside hosting company. The website is built in Word Press with coding to link it to Salesforce. Our Salesforce instance is largely customized and is based on the nonprofit starter pack. We utilize Event Espresso within Word Press to manage events. We link to PayPal to process payments for events, memberships and donations.
WEBSITE SUPPORT NEEDS
Goals:
1. To ensure regular monitoring of the security of our data related to the website
2. To keep all website related software up-to-date
3. To support staff in their needs related to maintaining and updating the website
4. To provide member alum with access to the member directory with relative ease, while maintaining appropriate security of data
Scope of Work:
1. Maintain integrity of the site against spam, hackers, viruses and other electronic threats to the security of our website and related data.
2. Submit quarterly reports on website usage and search engine optimization to help staff determine strategies to improve traffic and effectiveness.
3. Edit coding as needed, primarily to improve forms or edit the connection between Word Press and Salesforce.
4. Connect Salesforce to Mail Chimp.
5. Connect QuickBooks to Salesforce.
6. Train staff on routine web site maintenance that should be able to be performed inhouse.
7. We need to link Salesforce with both Mail Chimp for email blasts and QuickBooks to track revenue sources to streamline data entry.
REQUIREMENTS
Proposal Format:
1. Provide an itemized monthly fee to maintain the web site to cover the first three items under “Scope of Work.”
2. Provide the basis for the monthly fee (i.e., the cost per hour and the anticipated number of hours per month).
3. Provide an itemized fee for items 4 and 5 under “Scope of Work.”
4. Provide a minimum of three client references for whom you substantially have performed the same work.
5. Include the size of your technical staff, their qualifications and your company’s policy regarding responsiveness (i.e., resolve issues within x number of hours, etc.).
Requirements:
• Extensive experience with WordPress, Salesforce and Event Espresso
• Experience supporting nonprofits and/or membership-based organizations
• Deep knowledge of best practices for securing databases and websites
• Ability to assist and train staff on technical skills
• Ability to respond to requests within 24 hours