Nonprofit website RFP template: what to ask before hiring

Describe the problem before specifying the solution

Open with your mission, the audiences you serve and the tasks your website needs to support. Include what is not working today. For example: program pages are hard to maintain, donation steps are confusing or visitors cannot find eligibility information.

If you already know the platform you must use, explain why. If the platform is undecided, invite recommendations and ask bidders to explain the maintenance implications. A long feature list without priorities makes it harder to distinguish essential work from optional ideas.

Include these sections in your RFP

1. Organization and goals: your mission, current site and the changes that matter.
2. Audience and journeys: the people using the site and their most important tasks.
3. Content and migration: approximate page and file counts, languages, archives and who edits content.
4. Systems and constraints: integrations, hosting requirements, data handling and account access.
5. Accessibility and testing: the required standard, evaluation approach and correction process.
6. Timeline and budget: deadlines, approval milestones and any approved budget range.
7. Deliverables: design, implementation, redirects, training, documentation and support.
8. Proposal requirements: scope, staffing, assumptions, exclusions, fees and ongoing costs.
9. Selection process: questions, submission method, evaluation criteria and decision dates.

The website RFP builder turns your answers into an editable text draft. You can copy it into your own document without downloading a PDF or providing an email address.

Ask for evidence you can compare

Request examples of similar constraints, rather than simply a portfolio of attractive homepages. Ask what the bidder actually delivered, who did the work and how they verified it. A relevant example might involve a small editorial staff, a complex migration or a donation platform you already use.

For accessibility, request a testing plan and a sample issue report. For integrations, ask how failures will be handled. For staff training, ask what editors will practice and which documentation they will receive.

Agree on a scoring rubric before proposals arrive

One illustrative rubric is 30% understanding and approach, 25% relevant evidence, 20% handover and support, 15% total cost and 10% schedule. Adapt the weights with the people who will approve the purchase, and follow your organization's purchasing rules.

Score proposals against the same scope. Clarify exclusions before comparing totals. A bidder who includes migration, training and manual testing is offering a different project from one who assumes your staff will do all three.

Leave room for discovery

An RFP can name an outcome without designing every screen. Invite bidders to identify risks, missing information and a reasonable first discovery phase. Ask how decisions will be recorded and how scope changes will be approved.

Use the redesign readiness checklist before issuing your RFP. It will help you identify unanswered questions that could otherwise produce inconsistent estimates.