Request for Proposal: Website Redevelopment (Multilingual Content, SEO, Social Media Functionality)

Transcription

1 Request for Proposal: Website Redevelopment (Multilingual Content, SEO, Social Media Functionality) Summary Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA), a civil rights non-profit based in San Francisco, is seeking developers/consultants for a two-part website redevelopment project. Part 1 asks for long-term project planning consultation to house multiple websites under one hub and redevelop two sites for multilingual content, structure and navigation, and social media functionality. Part 2 asks for search engine optimization, WordPress upgrade, and general cleanup of site aesthetics. Applicants should read this RFP thoroughly to understand the exact project requirements and our organizational needs. This will be a concept to completion production. The purpose of this RFP is to provide a fair evaluation for all candidates and to provide the candidates with the evaluation criteria against which they will be judged. Contract Terms CAA will negotiate contract terms upon selection. All contracts are subject to review by CAA legal counsel, and a project will be awarded upon signing of an agreement or contract, which outlines terms, scope, budget and other necessary items. All content, coding, and graphics will become the sole property of CAA. Background of Organization CAA is a civil rights organization based in Chinatown, San Francisco. We were founded in 1969 by young community activists and have over 40 years of success creating long-term systemic changes that address oppression and inequity in marginalized communities. We primarily serve the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, but have a broad vision of civil rights and social justice for all. We have a legislative office in Sacramento called Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality (AACRE) ( a satellite office in Visitacion Valley, a project called API Equality-Northern California ( and a fiscal partnership with independently-run organizations Hyphen magazine ( and Alliance of South Asians Taking Action (ASATA) ( CAA is currently developing a new organization that will eventually become the central hub for CAA, AACRE, API Equality, Hyphen, ASATA, plus other future organizations. This new hub (currently unnamed) seeks to strengthen the effectiveness of all these organizations and projects by linking and maximizing resources and organizing power. This new hub will also act as an incubator for other emerging, progressive organizations. For Part Two of this RFP, applicants should be aware that this new hub will have its own website that will serve as the portal for all other websites. Once this hub is established, all organizations within this hub will have to interact in a way frontend and backend that facilitates and represents this relationship, and be easily managed by staff with limited time and resources.

2 CAA Website Development RFP Page 2 of 7 Audience CAA s primary audience members are Asian Americans, late-20s to 70s, baby-boomers, young progressive professionals, who are fluent in English or are bilingual in Chinese and English. They are well-versed using the Internet and and some use social media sites. CAA s secondary audience members are Chinese immigrants, whether recent or new, who are monolingual Chinese or limited-english proficient, with limited or no Internet skills. This is the audience that we re designing the bilingual content for. Our major stakeholders are our donors, board members, foundation and government grant officers, English-language and Chinese-language reporters, staff, and general supporters. Purposes, Background, and Objectives Purposes We have three main goals for this project: 1) Project Planning Consultation: work with staff to come up with a phased plan for redeveloping the CAA and API Equality sites that will eventually be housed under the new hub. Both sites will need bilingual or multilingual (English and Asian languages) navigation, structure, and content and social media functionality. 2) Search Engine Optimization: increase CAA site s searchability on major search engines and delete /v2 on the current URL. 3) Upgrade WordPress and provide general clean-up of CAA website aesthetics. Background Language needs: CAA conducted focus groups in May 2010 to assess whether our website needed to be bilingual to serve the needs of our monolingual/limited-english proficient Chinese constituents. It was decided that some Chinese translation was needed to provide information about our organization and activities to a Chinese-speaking audience, but not the entire website because the actual number of Internet users in this audience is small. Similarly, our project API Equality is growing and has a need to expand out to a pan-asian community of users. Anecdotally, API Equality has listed Vietnamese, Korean, Thai, Chinese, Tagalog, Hmong, and Cambodian as the languages needed for this audience outreach, but no evaluations have been conducted to confirm this. And, like CAA, API Equality s website users are mostly English-proficient, so the need for multiple Asian languages is also small. However, we are anticipating growth in user size as our programs grow, so even though the language needs may be small at the outset, the adopted technology should be scalable to adapt to future growth. Website searchability: The CAA website was originally developed in-house in 2004 and given the domain name In 2008, it underwent a significant redevelopment by a consultant to improve its appearance and make it easier for staff to update using WordPress Consequently, the site was given a new domain name which has made it hard to find using the major search engines. A quick Google of Chinese for Affirmative Action brings up the old site. This is a major problem and an immediate priority for our organization to fix.

3 CAA Website Development RFP Page 3 of 7 Social media needs: CAA has three social media sites: Facebook ( YouTube ( and Flickr ( We ve been using all three sites on their own but want to synergize them so they are reinforcing each other, bringing traffic to the website, and leveraging users own networks to promote awareness and interest in CAA. Scalability and flexibility are also important here as social media strategies and tools evolve. A note about API Equality: API Equality is a project of CAA with its own website and branding ( The current website was created in 2007 by a consultant and is currently updated by staff. The home page is managed by WordPress and the rest of the website by PHP, which has been difficult for non-technical staff to update. There are plans to migrate the entire website to operate on WordPress by a volunteer (date TBD). API Equality has two social networking sites: Facebook ( and Twitter ( Although CAA and API Equality have different websites, it is beneficial for both websites to share functionality and tools. For example, CAA, AACRE, and API Equality s sites all use the same CRM tool called Salsa to manage our online campaigns, records, and blasts. Salsa is a web-based CRM tool owned by Democracy in Action ( Objectives The entire project will be divided in two parts, with each part contracted separately with its own distinct project fee: Part 1: Project Planning Consultation Bilingual/Multilingual Websites Assist staff with evaluating and recommending options for housing and managing Chinese/Asian language(s) content on CAA and API Equality sites. Preference will be given to proposals that recommend options besides straight mirrors of the English language content. Social Media Functionality Recommend best strategies to: Install social sharing tools/widgets on CAA and API Equality websites that promotes traffic to our Facebook, YouTube, and Flickr pages and user s own social sharing accounts. Create an sign-up tool on our Facebook page that feeds into our supporter database in Salsa. Add widget to sites to display individual photos or albums from our Flickr account. All recommendations should be scalable, easily managed by non-technical staff, considers multilingual audience needs, and builds towards the new hub. Part 2: SEO, WordPress Upgrade, and Clean-Up ( only) Search Engine Optimization Get rid of /v2 in URL.

4 CAA Website Development RFP Page 4 of 7 Increase CAA site searchability on major search engines. Backend Upgrade to latest version of WordPress. Website Design and Aesthetics Allow images and videos to be displayed in the preview pane of each blog post. Clean up small style problems in what s happening and newsroom pertaining to tag words and next page functions. Ensure new added functionalities do not detract the design and branding of existing website. The two parts of the project are not sequential, meaning both parts can proceed simultaneously based on the recommendation of the hired consultant. Timeline This RFP is dated August 20, Proposers may request a copy be sent via by contacting Susan Hsieh at shsieh@caasf.org. Proposals are due no later than 5:00 pm PST, August 30, Proposals will be evaluated immediately thereafter. During this time we may require interviews at our office with our evaluation team on or about September 13, You will be notified if this is requested. The name of the candidate (firm) who has been selected will be decided on or about September 16, Negotiations will begin immediately with the successful candidate and should conclude no later than September 22, All other candidates will be notified on or about September 20, Both parts of the project must be completed and delivered by November 17, Budget Please provide several cost proposals to accomplish the scope outlined below. The budget must encompass all consultation hours, design, production, and software acquisitions necessary for the project scope. List pricing for: Part 1: Project Planning Consultation (Multilingual Content, Social Media Functionality) Part 2: SEO, WordPress Upgrade, and Clean-Up Applicants can bid for one or both parts. CAA will select consultants for one or both parts based on their applicable experience and proposals for either part.

5 CAA Website Development RFP Page 5 of 7 Scope and Guidelines Development Guidelines: The website developed by the successful candidate must meet the following criteria: Use a content management system like WordPress that will permit non-technical CAA staff to easily and instantly update website content on specific pages. Consistent Design Each section of the site should have a common look and feel. The use of photographs, fonts, layouts, and widgets should be consistent throughout the site. Easy to Navigate The site should be easy to navigate. Information should be grouped and presented in a logical manner and require no more than three levels of drill down for the user to find the desired information. Development of web pages to accommodate the proposed navigation scheme. Provide necessary software and licenses to maintain site internally or externally, as decided by CAA. Provide search capabilities using key words or phrasing that will identify content from throughout the site. Connection to Salsa. Salsa is a Customer Relationship Management platform provided by Democracy in Action (DIA) on a fee-per-month basis. For more information on Salsa please visit Ensure all new added functionality can be tracked and measured using our existing Google Analytics account. Project Management An assigned project manager will be made available to present information and coordinate with CAA staff, including a reasonable number of meetings to present design and development solutions. Once the website redevelopment has been completed and accepted by CAA, the website and all of its contents, software, and architecture become property of CAA. Site Specifications: CAA encourages creativity in the proposals submitted; however there are certain requirements for the website project. Your proposal must account for all of these requirements. Site must be compatible with the latest versions of IE, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, and Chrome browsers. Site must be built in accordance to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0, provided by the W3C and should also be easily accessible to the novice as well as the experienced Internet user. Fast Loading Pages The web site must be designed with a balance of text and graphics such that each page loads in 8 seconds or less on the average computer (using a 56K modem). Testing: Testing of site on all applicable platforms to ensure website works as promised. Explain testing plan through development process (i.e. focus groups, etc.). Delivery:

6 CAA Website Development RFP Page 6 of 7 Delivery and uploading of site to client for hosting by an outside third party (Laughing Squid). Staff Resources A successful planning effort is driven by an interdisciplinary team of participants. The core team will be driven by two roles: Project Lead: Responsible for sign-off on key decisions, providing project steering and maintaining relationships with outside stakeholders, responsible for keeping the project on schedule and within the budget, maintains communication between other team members: Susan Hsieh, Communications and Membership Manager Other team members and content stakeholders will include: Vincent Pan, Executive Director Susan Mooney, Associate Director Victor Hui, Administration and Technology Manager Tawal Panyacosit, Director of API Equality Proposal Guidelines and Requirements This is an open and competitive process. Proposals must be received by by 5:00 pm PST, August 30, 2010, to be considered. The proposal must contain the signature of a duly authorized officer or agent of the company submitting the proposal. If you wish to submit alternate solutions, please do so. The price you quote should be inclusive. If your price excludes certain fees or charges, you must provide a detailed list of excluded fees with a complete explanation of the nature of those fees. If the execution of work to be performed by your company requires the hiring of subcontractors you must clearly state this in your proposal. Sub-contractors must be identified and the work they will perform must be defined. In your proposal please provide the name, address, and EIN of the sub-contractor. CAA will not refuse a proposal based upon the use of subcontractors; however we retain the right to refuse the sub-contractors you have selected. Provisions of this RFP and the contents of the successful responses are considered available for inclusion in final contractual obligations. Your proposal must include a cost proposal as described above. All costs associated with the delivery of the project should be presented in a flat rate, fee for service format. Evaluation Criteria: The following criteria will form the basis upon which CAA will evaluate proposals. The mandatory criteria must be met and include: Suitability of the Proposal the proposed solution meets the needs and criteria set forth in the RFP.

7 CAA Website Development RFP Page 7 of 7 Expertise in recommending and communicating appropriate technical and aesthetic solutions as evidenced by the proposal and references. Aesthetic Capabilities Prior work demonstrates artistic and innovative, user friendly interfaces that engage communities and viewers. Candidate Experience Candidate has successfully completed similar projects and has the qualifications necessary to undertake this project. Value/Pricing Structure and Price Levels The price is commensurate with the value offered by the proposer. As a non-profit institution, CAA is able to accept pro bono service and recognize the provider to the full extent allowed by the Internal Revenue Service, including naming the proposer within the website and other collateral as a CAA supporter and partner. Depth and Breadth of Staff The candidate firm (if applicable) has appropriate staff to develop the site in the time frame needed. Proposal Presentation The information is presented in a clear, logical manner and is well organized. Demonstrated commitment to high service level agreements (SLA). Format for Proposals Please use the following as a guideline to format your proposal: Title Page: Chinese for Affirmative Action, Website Redevelopment Proposal, your company name, address, website address, telephone number, fax number, address, and primary contact person. Cover Letter: Signed by the person or persons authorized to sign on behalf of the company. Proposal: Discuss your proposed solution, including the features, benefits and uniqueness of your solution. You should also touch on your ability to deliver the project in the timeframe noted in Timeline. Qualifications: Provide the information requested in Qualifications. Budget and Fees: List budgets as requested above. Identify staff you anticipate working on the project and their hourly rates for work that may be needed for Part 1 and Part 2. or mail proposals to the attention of: Susan Hsieh CAA Website Redevelopment RFP 17 Walter U. Lum Place San Francisco, CA shsieh@caasf.org -END-