RFP Library
Selecting the right technology service or vendor can be challenging and costly. Fortunately, you don't have to do it unprepared. Use the resources below to learn about the request for proposal (RFP) process and to find examples of RFPs that show what other organizations have done. Once you’ve selected a vendor to help you implement the plans in your RFP, view additional resources on how to manage and work with them in the Consultants section of the Learning Center.
RFP Resources
Tips and Techniques
- The RFP Process for Nonprofits and Libraries
- Read some basic considerations for each phase of the RFP process in this updated article from TechSoup.
- RFPs: 3 Lessons for Organizations Issuing Them
- In this blog post from a nonprofit organization, follow them through the steps they included in their RFP for a website project.
- How to Write the Best RFPs
- Read tips on how to write a great RFP in this guide that covers the basic criteria to cover when outlining your next nonprofit project.
- Personals for Professionals: How to Write a Website RFP
- In this webinar presented during the 2010 Nonprofit Technology Conference, two tech professionals walk through the steps for writing the perfect RFP for a website redesign project. Sign-in required to view this recording.
- Ask the Right Questions to Develop Your RFP
- The first step to developing a solid RFP is getting a clear sense of organizational requirements. These documents will help you frame and ask the appropriate questions within your organization to help inform the development of an RFP.
- Nine Tips for Navigating the RFP Research Phase
- With so many technology providers, how can your nonprofit conduct efficient, effective research without wasting weeks of valuable time searching the vast expanses of the web?
Sample RFPs
- Nonprofit Org Web Overhaul: A Sample RFP (136 KB PDF)
- In this template for nonprofit organizations seeking a new website, get a full draft of how your project RFP could look.
- Thinking About a New Phone System? Sample RFP
- TechSoup forum host and nonprofit tech consultant Chris Shipley shared this successful RFP for an organization’s new phone system.
- Client Management Software: A Sample RFP (83 KB PDF)
- When Total Action Against Poverty decided it needed a client management software system, this is the RFP they sent to vendors.
- Network Assessment and Upgrade: A Sample RFP (112 KB PDF)
- To help clients in their RFP development process, NPower Oregon provides this sample as a starting point.
- Web Building: A Sample RFP (212 KB PDF)
- Considering hiring a firm to build your website? Use this sample from NPower Seattle as a guide for putting together a solid RFP.
- Wiring an Office: A Sample RFP (363 KB PDF)
- See what one EMCF grantee included in its RFP for a contractor to install data, voice, and video wiring in its new office. Courtesy of NPower NY.
