Request for Proposal – Website Development

Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce – July 7, 2021

1.0          Project Summary

The Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce (Chamber) is accepting proposals to develop a comprehensive website. In addition to initial development, the Chamber is looking for a partner that will work directly with the Chamber team on incremental updates and developments after launch that will help keep the site up to date with website best practices.

1.1          Project Goals

The Chamber website aims to provide a best-in-class user experience for visitors to learn about and access the Chamber’s initiatives, events, and member/partners. Additionally, the website provides resources and content for businesses to learn best practices, relevant regional news, and understand the Chamber’s role in driving the economy in the Greater Spokane Valley.

1.2          Project Outcomes

To best achieve the goals outlined above, we have identified six key outcomes for this project:

1. Develop a visually appealing site that caters to key audiences (outlined in section 1.3) while also providing a professional user interface.
2. Provide a clear hierarchy of pages, posts, and core programs that allow visitors to quickly navigate across Chamber initiatives and events.
3. Develop a subset of page templates and functionality that allow the Chamber team to easily add new components, pages while remaining within the Chamber’s brand guidelines.
4. Develop an easy-to-use blogging interface that allows multiple team members to create various types of content and assign to any program or initiative.
5. Integrate the Chamber’s existing member portal and database, managed by ChamberMaster and Growthzone.
6. Maximize search engine optimization, including the maintaining of existing SERP positions.

1.3          Key Audiences

The Chamber’s target audience is the Greater Spokane Valley business community. There are five subsets, consisting of both members and non-members within this target audience:

1. Employers and business professionals who work for current and prospective Chamber member companies or invest in Chamber initiatives.
2. Individuals with an interest in attending or sponsoring Chamber events. (networking or professional development), specifically the Chamber’s signature events.
3. Entrepreneurs and small business owners.
4. Individuals working in all levels of government and policy, including lobbyists, politicians, and staff.
5. Any other business professional, civic leader, or journalist with an interest in the economic growth of the Greater Spokane Valley region.

2.0          Project Scope

The website must include best-in-class content display and curation and be built to allow the Chamber to make edits and add new pages post-launch. The platform must be easy to use and cost-effective for the Chamber to maintain after launch, but be able to dynamically highlight events, priorities and programs throughout the year.

2.1          Development Guidelines

Website components should include:

1. Visually appealing and consistent design, with each section having a common look and feel that is in line with the Chamber’s brand guidelines.
2. Easy integration with Chamber’s member portal, service of which is provided by ChamberMaster and Growthzone.
3. Ability for Chamber team to duplicate and edit functionality to other Chamber owned websites as new programs and initiatives launch.
4. Easy for Chamber team to write new blog content, including the adding of images, video, and menu/header/footer/sidebar customization.
5. A standardized set of page templates and functionality that can be applied to any and all sub-initiatives to appeal to their specific audiences while also clearly existing within the larger Chamber website.

2.2          Technology Specifications

The Chamber encourages creativity in proposals, however there are certain technology requirements. Specifically, the website must be built on a non-proprietary platform and developed with the latest standards for security and fraud prevention. Additionally, the Chamber must retain control of the selection of the host provider.

The website must:

1. Be built on WordPress content management system.
2. Be compatible with all current and supported versions of Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge.
3. Be responsive on all devices including desktop, tablet, and mobile.
4. Be ADA compliant and accessible to users with various disabilities.
5. Allow for the Chamber team to make edits to templates (back end) and add plugins and add-ons as necessary.

2.3          Tracking

The website must connect to the Chamber’s existing Google Analytics and Google Search Console accounts.

2.4          Content Overview and Migration

The current iteration of the Chamber website features hundreds of pages and posts. Proposals must include a plan for content migration from the current website, including recommendations for:

1. How much content to migrate.
2. How many assets to migrate (i.e. photos, videos, etc.).
3. Process for migration, including a long-term strategy for archiving old content.
4. Migration timeline, if different from the rest of the project.

3.0          Deliverables

The basic deliverables for the project include:

1. Proposed wireframes for all page templates.
2. Proposed sitemap (with input from Chamber team).
3. A staging version of website (to be tested by staff during development and then used as a staging environment post-launch).
4. Final website with content transferred from existing Chamber site.
5. Cost estimates for ongoing maintenance.

3.1          Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The Chamber values SEO and expects the vendor to integrate this critical component into all aspects of the project. This includes (but is not limited to): wireframes, page taxonomy, development, content migration, canonical URLs, and recommended plugins for future optimization.

3.2          Deliverables Check-ins

The Chamber also requires regular demonstrations and check-ins with key Chamber team members throughout the design, development, and testing process. This includes the review and feedback of deliverables above throughout development. Upon launch of the website, the Chamber team also requires all licensing for site photography (if applicable) as well as those images in their original format.

4.0          Budget

Please provide cost proposals to accomplish the scope outlines including pricing for discovery, design, planning, development, testing, and deployment.

Proposals should include two detailed budgets:

1. Platform build-out costs including project management, design, development, content migration, and launch.
2. Projected ongoing maintenance costs including turnaround time and rates for:
3. Regular site maintenance.
4. Unplanned updates (i.e. updates to CMS platform).
5. Updates to custom plugins or themes.

4.1          Payment Schedule

Proposals must offer a recommended payment schedule with a percent of the total amount of payment up front and subsequent payments as deliverables are met. If undetermined, the Chamber will make payments in four equal installments over the course of the engagement.

5.0 Submission Requirements

Proposals must be emailed to Sue Rusnak – Office Manager at info@spokanevalleychamber.org by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 14, 2021. Proposals should include the following:

1. Executive summary presenting a high-level synopsis of the vendor’s response to the RFP.
2. Vendor overview briefly stating the vendor and all sub-vendors participating in the bid and their respective components. Primary vendor is expected to manage all sub-vendors.
3. Vendor approach briefly describing the methods and approach used to manage, design, and develop the project, including proposed method of client correspondence and testing.
4. Three examples of related past work and references.
5. A timeline including a proposed structure for achieving goals, outcomes and deliverables identified in this document. *Also include how the vendor will indicate whether or not objectives have been met for each deliverable.
6. Detailed budget and itemized pricing including a fee breakdown by deliverable or phase, including estimates for ongoing maintenance. 

6.0          Evaluation Criteria

Chamber staff, and potentially external partners, will review all proposals. Any award to be made pursuant to this RFP will be based upon the proposal with appropriate consideration given to operational, technical, cost, and management requirements. Evaluation of offers will be based upon the vendor’s responsiveness to the RFP and the total priced quote for all items.

6.1          Proposal Scoring

The criteria below will be used to evaluate vendor proposals:

*Please note, the selected vendor must be an existing Chamber member to be considered for selection.

1. Outcome deliverables – 50 points
   1. The extent to which vendor’s proposed solution fulfills stated deliverables as set out in this RFP.
   2. Strategic aspects of the proposal such as customizability by Chamber team.
   3. The vendor’s experience working with Chambermaster and Growthzone and then ability to integrate with existing the Chamber member portal.
2. Vendor information – 15 points
   1. An assessment of the vendor’s ability to deliver the indicated services in accordance with specifications set out in this RFP.
   2. The vendor’s stability, experiences, and record of past performance in delivering similar services to similar clients.
   3. Availability of high-quality vendor personnel with required skills and experiences for the specific approach, including considerations on diversity and understanding of challenges this platform aims to address.
3. Diversity – 10 points
   1. The Chamber is interested in proposals from diverse suppliers, including small businesses and those owned by minorities, women, veterans, and other underrepresented groups.
   2. The Chamber is also interested in working with diverse individuals (i.e. project manager, development or creative leads) and requests a list of vendor team members who will be working on the project.
4. Cost – 25 points
   1. Overall cost of the vendor’s proposal and projected ongoing maintenance costs.

Maximum total points: 100

7.0 Contact

Proposals must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 14, 2021 – by email to:

Sue Rusnak – Office Manager – info@spokanevalleychamber.org

*Please submit any questions by email to:

Shelby Wilkins – Communications Coordinator – shelby@spokanevalleychamber.org