Update: The deadline for proposals has been extended to July 26. We have also added FAQ section below

The Global Network Initiative (GNI) is seeking proposals from qualified and experienced web development agencies or freelance vendors to revamp our website and build a member engagement portal for GNI members. GNI encourages vendors to submit bids for both projects, as there will be synergies between the two, but vendors may also choose to apply for one or the other RFP alone. For individual project requirements, please see the RFPs linked below.

Download RFP for website 

Download RFP for portal

Interested bidders are requested to submit their proposals no later than July 20, 2023, via email to GNI Senior Communications Associate Ramsha Jahangir at [email protected], and Membership Associate Setu Bandh Upadhyay at [email protected] with “RFP Website/Portal ” in the subject line.

About GNI

The GNI was established in 2008, bringing together information and communication technology (ICT) companies, civil society organizations, academics, and investors working to enhance respect for freedom of expression and privacy in the face of government pressures, restrictions, and demands. 

FAQ

General

  1. Would you prefer to have one agency provide web services for both of these RFPs? Ideally, yes.
  2. Is there flexibility in the listed timeline(s) for the website & portal launch? Yes, we can be flexible although we are keen to get started and finish ASAP (latest by October for the website and the end of November for the portal)
  3. Are you looking to have a local vendor or are you open to vendors located out of your state, and even located abroad? We are happy to consider vendors regardless of their location. Vendors, however, will need to be able to sign a contract that stipulates US or UK law.
  4. Would members of the team be willing to have a discussion with us prior to the proposal submission deadline? Depending on the interest we can schedule a Q/A session. Please reach out if you would benefit from a Q/A discussion with the team.
  5. Would there be a ‘product owner’ for this project?  i.e. a team member to be a focal point of contact to provide yes/no answers? Yes. For Website, please direct queries to Ramsha Jahangir at [email protected]. For Membership Portal, Setu Bandh Upadhyay at [email protected]. 

CMS, content & hosting

  1. Do you have a CMS preference for the website? The current GNI website is built on WordPress. We are happy to continue using WordPress but also open to other CMS options, if better suited.
  2. How much content is there for migration, does it live in a database or in a form that can be extracted easily? Of the current content on the current websites, how much of it is to be rewritten vs. migrated vs. created? What percent of the pages will be part of the content build-out during the Development phase and what percentage during the Post-Launch phase? Most of the current content needs to be migrated and uploaded to the website. However, some new pages might need to be created and GNI will provide support in producing content for those. 
  3. Are there any other URLs we should know about other than the main site? We only want our main site revamped.
  4. Will a new hosting solution be needed for the website? We encourage vendors to include costs for hosting or third party hosting services in their proposals.
  5. Once the website goes live, what type of ongoing support and maintenance will be needed? We will require hosting, maintenance with updates, security and any other additional support.
  6. The current site is only in English. Is there any wish to make the site multilingual? We welcome companies bidding to offer this as an optional feature w/ associated additional costs.
  7. The RFP states, “We have a staff of seven full and part-time employees, all of whom work remotely.” Are any of these employees considered ‘IT-focused’? No. 
  8. Does GNI already have a brand/media guide already drawn up? (one that has verified logos, color palettes, etc.) We have a very basic brand guide with color palettes.
  9. What are your expectations on the extent of the brand refresh? Are you for example expecting us to do work on the logo? We prefer optimizing the existing logo and furnishing hi-res copies of it, while the “refresh” will just enhance the existing brand focusing on consistency. 
  10. What is your current data protection plan and any policies in place? We have a document retention policy that was updated post-GDPR.
  11. The membership portal RFP mentions “Two communication channels or message boards”. If you can share any more information on this, it would be really helpful. The message boards/channels will be used similarly to slack channels, members will be controlled by admin, no moderation is needed. 
  12. Will the member portal be integrated with any existing member management/CRM system? No, the portal will be a standalone system which may be connected to our website, but that’s not an absolute requirement.
  13. The RFP requests design work to be done. Has GNI already carried out User Experience research to better understand user actions taken on the current site and what users would like to see done on the newly revamped site? No we haven’t.

Payment

  1. Do we need to submit the rate of the professionals separately (web designers/ web developers) as per their function or should it be an aggregate rate? There is no strict requirement but we encourage vendors to break down costs in the proposal to help us understand the division of costs.
  2. Would you prefer a fixed-price contract or could a Time & Material-based contract be considered for a more Agile approach to planning? For development, we prefer a fixed-price contract. For maintenance, it can be T&M but we are open to multiple approaches.