REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
RELEASE DATE: 16 DECEMBER 2016
DUE DATE: 17 JANUARY 2017
Contact persons
Lisa Kippers - Online Marketeer
Tel: +31 (0)6 2398 5435
Mail: [email protected]
Address
Solidaridad Netherlands
‘t Goylaan 15
3525 AA Utrecht, the Netherlands
SUMMARY
After about five years developing the current websites, Solidaridad is preparing to move from the
development phase of online communication to the expansion phase. Solidaridad communication teams
have plans for advanced functionality and interaction possibilities, as well as perfecting the foundation
already established. For that reason, Solidaridad is seeking an all-round, well-staffed online service provider
for the following areas:
● New web developments and functionality
● Daily service provision
● Guidance with user research, usability, monitoring and SEO
● Expertise and experience with Drupal
Project
Solidaridad issues this Request for Proposal (RfP) in order to select a trusted partner to support the
websites:​ ​www.solidaridadnetwork.org​ ​(including annualreport.solidaridadnetwork.org)​, and
www.solidaridad.nl​.
What are we looking for?
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An experienced Drupal developer
A dedicated account/project manager
A system for tracking requests and projects
A detailed SLA agreement
A well-documented incident reporting procedure
A facility (external or internal) for conducting user research
A technical assessment of the current websites (Can you work with it?)
Deadline and planning:
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Request for Proposal publication date: 16 December 2016
Deadline for submissions: 17 January 2017
Interviews: 23 - 27 January 2017
Final selection: first week of February 2017
Submission requirements
Please submit your proposal in English and send it via email to Lisa Kippers at the address mentioned
above. The deadline for all proposals is 17 January 2017. A notice of receipt will be sent for all submissions,
and proposals not accepted will be appropriately notified. Parties representing the three best proposals will
be invited for a formal interview. The final selection will be made known in the first week of February
The proposal you submit should at minimum contain the following:
● Contact person
● Description of organization and staff (ex. mission & vision)
● Solutions for needs indicated in this Request for Proposal
● Track record / other partners
● Proposal for SLA - including tariffs and rates
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. ABOUT SOLIDARIDAD
S​tructure
B​ackground
2. GOALS AND TARGET AUDIENCES
Solidaridad Network
Solidaridad Netherlands
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3. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
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4. SOLIDARIDAD​ WISH LIST
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5. EVALUATION CRITERIA
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1. ABOUT SOLIDARIDAD
As a frontrunner in the area of sustainable economic development, Solidaridad seeks to create prosperity for
everyone that respects both the people and the planet. With almost 50 years of experience, experts in the
field and pragmatic collaboration with influential partners in and around the supply chain, Solidaridad
develops smart solutions that bring lasting positive impact.
Solidaridad envisions a world where the people who produce the resources on which we all depend can
contribute to change that matters, change that leads to prosperity for all, without harming each other or the
environment. This therefore helps to ensure that resources will continue to sustain us for generations to
come.
Solidaridad is an international network organization with 9 regional offices on 5 continents, collaborating
with partners all over the world. There is a single agenda and a single strategy: together we learn and
progress, together we achieve results, and together we decide on future steps.
Change that matters
Organizational structure
In line with its vision on local ownership and governance, Solidaridad created legal entities in Panama City,
Nairobi, Hong Kong, San Francisco and Utrecht for its regional expertise centres. From these legal entities,
funds are received for and allocated to the country programmes in the regions. The legal entities also act as
contract partners for development contracts per continent, serving as a financial and administrative
organization, including the handling of internal payments and consolidating financial statements.
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The regional operations are supervised by Continental Supervisory Boards, which are legally registered in
the same places as the continental legal entities.
Solidaridad's five Continental Supervisory Boards (CSBs) provide direct supervision to the regional centres
and country offices. The CSBs consist of leaders in business, civil society organizations or academic
institutions from each continent: North America, South America, Africa, Asia and Europe. Each of these
continental organizations is connected with the Solidaridad Foundation in Utrecht, the Netherlands, through
the delegation of supervisory board members to the International Supervisory Board, thus creating a global
network.
Solidaridad works with just a few dedicated communication professionals distributed across the network.
Dedicated full-time positions include: Global Communications Manager, PR Manager, Content Manager,
Online Marketeer. In principle, each regional office should be staffed with a communications officer. Access
to CMS is restricted to the roles mentioned above. The Content Manager and the Online Marketeer manage
the CMS on a daily basis.
Organization background
Solidaridad started in 1969 as a Dutch ecumenical development organization working in Latin America
(therefore the Spanish name). Evolving from the idea that consumers have the power to transform sectors
toward sustainability, we sparked Fair Trade labeling in the late 80s. Starting with coffee (the Max Havelaar
label), followed by bananas and other commodities, we co-founded several labels that have become leading
in the market for sustainable products.
Then we realized that to transform sectors, collaboration with all supply chain players would be needed. We
broadened our scope toward working with companies in CSR programmes and certification. Later on we
focused more on working with producers in international supply chain through round tables for commodities
like soy, palm oil, sugarcane and cotton. Recently, we have put more focus on developing domestic
standards for local production and consumption.
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2. Solidaridad Network of Websites
Change that matters is Solidaridad’s motto and is achieved by carrying out a worthwhile mission in an
authentic and transparent manner. To effect change in the hearts and minds of partners, Solidaridad’s
communication activities must be focussed and persuasive – designed to meet specific goals by presenting
arguments that move, motivate or change an audience.
All communication activities are planned, executed and evaluated according to Goal, Audience, Message and
Expression (the GAME).
Solidaridad Network
(www.solidaridadnetwork.org)
Goal: Moving from awareness to action
Solidaridad is a non-profit organization that brings commodity supply chain actors together and works to
ensure the transition to a sustainable and inclusive economy that maximizes benefits for all. All
communication activities, especially the corporate website, should support one or more of the following
processes:
● Awareness - branding, reputation building, corporate story, mission & vision
● Understanding – information distribution, organizational transparency, result reporting
● Agreement – community management, thought leadership, positive impact reporting
● Action – networking opportunities, contact information, event promotions, social sharing
Audience: Playing in the big leagues
The primary audience for the corporate website are the “big boys”, multinational partners who have a stake
in sustainable production. The corporate website speaks to a generally professional and educated audience
who are familiar with issues of sustainability. They key is to reach decision makers from our 550 partners in
the following categories:
● Companies – H&M, Unilever, Nestle, 4C Association, ADM, etc
● CSR/sustainability networks and media – EcoTextile news, Bonsucro, Roundtables like RSPO, etc
● Other CSOs – Rural Horizon, IDH, WWF, WHO, etc
● Donors – In particular, government-level funding from agencies such as the Dutch Ministry of
Foreign Affairs or USAID, etc
Message: Projects, programmes and partners
Unlike smaller regional websites that have more of a human interest profile, the Solidaridad corporate
website is decidedly more business oriented. All messages on the corporate website relate in some way to
the core business of projects and programmes, or the core audience – partners. Currently, Solidaridad
maintains a commodity-focussed organizational and communication structure, so communication activities
are frequently linked to a core commodity.
Expression: A persuasive package
In principle, all communication products are crafted in a way that will have the maximum persuasive effect.
Solidaridad seeks positive change, and that means influencing people and their decisions. Persuasive online
communication generally takes one of these forms:
● Informing – news, publications, company details
● Stimulating – blogs, farmer stories and videos
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Activating – announcements, events and campaigns
Solidaridad Netherlands
(www.solidaridad.nl)
Goal: Moving from awareness to action
Solidaridad is a non-profit organization that brings commodity supply chain actors together and works to
ensure the transition to a sustainable and inclusive economy that maximizes benefits for all. The Dutch
website should support one or more of the following processes:
● Awareness - branding, reputation building, corporate story, mission & vision
● Understanding – information distribution, organizational transparency, result reporting
● Agreement – community management, thought leadership, positive impact reporting
● Action – networking opportunities, contact information, event promotions, donations, sharing
content
Audience: Dutch consumers and private donors
The primary audience for the Dutch website are consumers and (potential) private donors who have an
interest in sustainable production. The Dutch website speaks to a fairly well-educated group that is familiar
with issues of sustainability. The key is to reach and activate consumers and (potential) private donors. Our
target group/‘user persona’ is:
● Relatively young (29-48 years old), living in urban areas / Randstad, have an above-average
income, have a lifestyle in favor of sustainability, reads Linda, Happinez, Elsevier, Volkskrant,
Telegraaf or regional newspaper; watches the ‘publieke omroep’; listens on to Dutch radio to 3FM,
SkyRadio, Radio 538, Q-music, Radio Veronica, SLAM!FM and 100% NL; uses several social media
channels: Facebook, Twitter, ​Linkedin, Instagram, Pinterest and Youtube.
Message: Projects, campaigns & events
The Dutch Solidaridad website is consumer oriented, and therefore also has a focus on receiving donations.
The messages on the Dutch website relate to the core business of projects and programmes. Besides news,
interviews and events, we communicate about our campaigns via the website. As with the corporate
website, the Dutch Solidaridad website is commodity-focussed and the communication activities are
frequently linked to a core commodity.
Expression: A persuasive package
In principle, all communication products are crafted in a way that will have the maximum persuasive effect.
Solidaridad seeks positive change, and that means influencing people and their decisions. Persuasive online
communication generally takes one of these forms:
● Informing – news, publications, blogs
● Stimulating – personal stories (farmers or co-workers) and videos
● Activating – donations, announcements, events and campaigns
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3. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Drupal 7.0
Vellance​ is our hosting company.
Integration with the following platforms: Social Media, Mailchimp, donor database (Charibase/Salesforce)
4. SOLIDARIDAD QUERIES
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What is your level of experience with the following subjects?
- Google Analytics (UTM tagging, filtering spam, event tracking etc.)
- Google Tag Manager
- Google Search Console
- SEO /SEA
- Design (landing pages, pop-ups, content blocks)
- Integration Mailchimp or Charibase / Salesforce
- Conversion optimisation
- A/B testing
- Online fundraising
How do you organize your service provision? (e.g. communication & planning, deadlines, contact
person)
How do you demonstrate being proactive in your services? (i.e. looking beyond the specific request,
signalling when something needs to be fixed or improved)
How is service continuity managed during vacation/holidays?
What are the details of your typical SLA?
- What is the response time/lead time for issues submitted?
- Who decides issue priority?
What kind of testing is done before an issue is resolved or a change delivered? (e.g. cross browser
and/or desktop/mobile/tablet)
How is transparency in costs and estimates ensured?
How are issues in billing resolved?
How would you describe your price/quality ratio in services? (e.g. rate per hour, estimates, possible
discounts, cost approval policy)
Are you able and willing to work internationally? (ex. tele conferences, professional English)
Are you able and willing to work with external specialists like design agencies or freelancers?
What can you teach us to do ourselves? (e.g. changing navigation headings, creating pages, adding
photos)
Do you have any advice with regards to our current website? What would you change?
5. EVALUATION CRITERIA
All proposals should be submitted to Lisa Kippers by 17 January 2017. The selection team consisting of the
global communications manager, global IT manager, content manager and online marketeer will then
evaluate all proposals against the following criteria:
- Technical knowledge and skills
- Service provision, process management, communication
- Transparency
- Creativity (innovative design/future proof solutions)
- Service Level Agreement details
- “Click” - Do we feel comfortable working together?
- Price/quality ratio (hourly rates, estimates, payment methods)
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Note: Access to CMS source code is available upon request.
Parties representing the three best proposals will then be invited to showcase their organization and
services in more detail. The final selection will be made known in the first week of February.
For questions or more details, please contact:
Lisa Kippers - Online Marketeer
Tel: +31 (0)6 2398 5435
Mail: [email protected]
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