[consulting] New website/CMS development for exciting non-profit

[Tim Halbur]

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Overview

The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) is seeking bids to replace its
current Drupal 6 website with a responsive Drupal 7 website with an
updated graphic style and new attention to usability.  An impressive
design/development group that works in an alternative CMS will be
considered, but Drupal is preferred.  Proposals are due by June 16,
2014 and can be emailed to thalbur at cnu.org.

 The challenge facing us is to create a new website that meets these
sometimes competing goals:

·      Present a clean design representative of a design organization;
·      Provide easy access to a multitude of information;
·      Encourage repeat visits with dynamic content, and;
·      Communicate our message clearly to newcomers and experts alike.

CNU has a 20-year history leading an urban planning and design
movement that rejects sprawl and advocates for thoughtful city
building strategies.  CNU’s newly developed message is that we work to
build places people love.  Our work falls roughly into three buckets:
·      Supporting our members (town planners and urban design professionals)
·      Building the campaign for urbanism (making it easier to build
great places through changing codes, standards, and requirements,
publishing research, and creating broad coalitions/partnerships around
these issues)
·      Inspiring leadership and growing demand for urbanism

At the same time, we need to ensure access to considerable information, such as:

·      Educational materials, including webinars, ppts, information
fact sheets, white papers, videos, etc.
·      A bookstore that integrates with our PayFlow Pro payment system
·      A Forums function for member discussion on a variety of topics
·      10-12 content types including news, events, jobs/rfps, initiatives, etc.
·      5-6 views for content types such as jobs/rfps, news, and events

We will simultaneously be developing a MemberSuite backend for member
management. This will require of that the website developer:

·      Integrate with MemberSuite for single sign-on for members
·      Develop a splash page integrated with MemberSuite database to
capture emails.

Additional integration will be discussed as needed, but may be limited
for budgetary reasons.

Anticipated Process/Tasks

Task 1: Site development and planning

Kickoff meeting with CNU to discuss overall project goals and site
structure (much of which has already been fleshed out by CNU staff).
CNU will present research on similar sites, along with a handful of
favorite sites for comparison. Developer shall bring his or her own
ideas.  The Developer will come out of initial meeting with enough
material to develop initial wireframes.

Deliverable 1: wireframes and initial design ideas

Date: Due within 3 weeks of kick off meeting with CNU. CNU will
respond to wireframes and contractor will incorporate revisions into
Task 2.

Task 2: Develop draft website design responding to wireframes

Developer shall propose design alternatives and solutions to meeting
all of CNU’s goals for the website (see above). CNU staff will
circulate alternatives with stakeholders (our Communications
Committee) for comment and Developer shall respond to those comments
within 2 weeks of receiving feedback from CNU.

Deliverable 2: website mock ups and proposed site maps

Date: Due within 3 weeks of receiving comments from CNU on the draft
website design.

Task 3: Final draft design and content gathering

Developer shall present narrowed alternatives for final design.  CNU
staff will gather notes and present final refinements and will send to
Developer.

Deliverable 3: Final draft mock ups

Date: Due within 2 weeks of receiving comments from CNU on the final
draft design.

Task 4.  Build website

Developer shall take final design notes and build the website
infrastructure in Drupal, integrating with MemberSuite.

Deliverable 4: Full website in test environment

Date: 6 weeks from receiving comments from CNU on final draft

Task 5: Populating the site with content and QA Testing

CNU will populate the new content types with text and images.
Developer shall, with CNU, run use case scenarios to test website
functionality.

Deliverable 5: Completed website ready for launch

Compose:
New website/CMS development for exciting non-profit


consulting at drupal.org



Date: 1.5 weeks after receiving QA Testing comments





Task 6: Launch website

Developer provides training to key staff on use of the website back
end. Release website to the public and invite a handful of CNU members
to beta test the site immediately upon launch.

Deliverable 6: Beta testing corrections

Date: As needed immediately after launch.


Important dates

May 29, 2014: RFP distributed
June 23, 2014: Deadline for proposals
June 30, 2014: CNU selects a developer
July 10th, 2014:  Kick off meeting; Work begins,
December 1, 2014: Website ready to launch


To Submit a Proposal

Proposals for this RFP must meet the following guidelines:

·      Detail proposed development process and timeline
·      No more than 5 pages
·      Budget
·      DUE COB June 16, 2014

Contact

Please send proposals by June 16, 2014 detailing your development
process, suggested timeline, and estimated bid for this work. You may
refer to www.cnu.org for an idea of the current content. Send to Tim
Halbur, Communications Director at thalbur at cnu.org.