Mountain Projects | Request for Proposal
RFP 2021 – WEB HOSTING AND MAINTENANCE
Scope of Work
Mountain Projects, Inc.,
Mountain Projects, Inc. is seeking proposals for a contractor to provide two years of web hosting, troubleshooting/maintenance, training and web development services as it relates to agency websites: Mountainprojects.org, SmokyMountainHousing.org, GetCoveredWNC.com, Haywoodtransit.com and others.
It is our agency’s intent to streamline technical services and increase online capacity, to make our programs and products more readily accessible through our online presence, and to effectively tell the story of Mountain Projects.
Mountain Projects has a content development and design team in place, and the chosen provider will collaborate with this team and the staff at Mountain Projects to develop and achieve the organization’s online goals.
These sites are built or are transitioning to WordPress and it is important that respondents to this RFP demonstrate capacity in WordPress. Each site has individual technical needs and specific work plans are under development. The chosen contractor should provide answers to the questions below. The chosen service provider should expect to charge a monthly fee for basic services with an hourly rate for expansion projects. Some web development projects will require an estimate of costs in advance of the work.
All proposals must be completed and submitted electronically and marked “RFP for Website Services” in the subject line, no later than Friday, April 30 at 12:01pm EST.
Inquiries & Proposal Submissions
All inquiries and proposal submissions related to this RFP should be submitted to Angeline Schwab, [email protected] and Patsy Davis, [email protected].
Proposal Requirements
All submissions will be accepted electronically. Proposals should be specific in terms of price and experience to allow Mountain Projects to evaluate and compare the qualifications and costs compared to other respondents. Proposals should include the following information and any other information and data you believe should be or desire to be considered in the selection process:
- Service Packaging (Please describe)
- Web hosting per month
- Web Development Costs by the Hour if needed
- Support Calls Costs
- Cost of additional bandwidth when/if needed
- Training Costs (Support)
- Module/Widget Updates (Support)
- E-commerce/Donations module description (Support)
- Connection to Newsletter Software
- Annual aggregated costs
- SEO Services
- Security of data, website
Please submit the following information with your proposal
- Basic Business Information
- Provide a short description of your company. Describe any concepts, techniques and management tools you intend to utilize in managing this project. (For example, how do you manage communications and timelines with your clients?)
- Your company’s size and location
- Number of years in operation
- Specific references of other website update/re-design projects you’ve completed in the last two years
- Names and professional specialties of all individuals on the team who will be responsible for this project. Include information that highlights their qualifications and expertise.
- Name of a single point of contact who will manage the working relationship with Mountain Projects Communications Staff.
- Training: Submit a short description on how you will provide training on use of the websites to Mountain Projects Staff.
- Technical Information: Please describe a preferred website hosting scenario, your experience with WordPress, specific software usage and network protocols.
- Fees: Please provide these fees for services in an Excel worksheet. Include or attach any price-packaging descriptions.
Mountain Projects is interested in receiving information about other content and/or feature options your company can provide that are not included in the list above. Mountain Projects encourages respondents to submit their ideas and to propose alternative recommendations, but with specific costs associated with such upgrades.
| Evaluation of Proposals will be quantified as follows: | ||
| Proposals will be evaluated by staff against the following criteria: | Total possible points for each evaluation criteria | |
| 1 | Response to the RFP | 15 |
| 2 | Costs | 20 |
| 3 | Demonstrated competence and professional qualifications necessary for scope of work | 20 |
| 4 | Experience in content management website construction | 10 |
| 5 | Ability to attend in-person meetings,(with covid precautions) if needed, within a 24-hour period | 10 |
| 6 | References that illuminate track record of providing excellent customer service | 10 |
| 7 | Availability of services between services agreement execution and April 2023 | 15 |
| Total Points | 100 | |
General Summary of Work for the Mountain Project Websites
Mountainprojects.org: Hosting, implementation of new designs; newsletter, database and ecommerce software solutions, module and widget updates, structural changes to navigation when needed.
SmokyMountainHousing.org: Hosting, implementation of new designs; newsletter, database and ecommerce software solutions, module and widget updates, structural changes to navigation when needed.
Mountainstrongwnc.org: Currently under contract with another provider.
GetCoveredWNC.com: Hosting, implementation of new designs; newsletter, database and ecommerce software solutions, module and widget updates, structural changes to navigation when needed.
HaywoodSeniors.org: Currently under contract with another provider.
Haywoodtransit.com: Hosting, implementation of new designs; newsletter, database and ecommerce software solutions, module and widget updates, structural changes to navigation when needed. Potential opportunity for implementing transportation scheduling software.
Other websites as needed.
Content Components
Content will be provided by staff and/or developed with the assistance of Buris Chalmers Creative and the selected consultant. All features of the Mountain Projects website must be easy to manage and updatable by non-technical staff.
Project Schedule
The following schedule is tentative and subject to change, but is being provided to give respondents an idea of the timeframes for this project.
April 15, 2021 – RFP available to prospective web development businesses
April 30, 2021 – Responses due no later than 12:01 PM EST (Please submit to [email protected] and [email protected])
May 14, 2021 – Review of responses will begin
May 28, 2021 – Selection announced
