By Alfredo Ramirez, CMO at Prosal – an RFP platform that connects nice consultants, nonprofits, and different organizations by way of RFPs.
Request for Proposals (RFPs) are a vital instrument for nonprofits in search of companies from distributors or consultants. A well-crafted RFP attracts the precise companions and lays the inspiration for profitable tasks.
Pulling from expertise with hundreds of RFPs, Prosal shares 5 finest practices to reinforce your RFP writing course of. Every tip consists of further sources and concepts for getting the very best expertise for any RFP or hiring your subsequent companion.
1) Begin with Analysis Earlier than an RFP
The RFP actually ought to be the second step in your course of. Earlier than you even begin drafting your RFP, make investments time in thorough analysis.
Discuss to friends about their experiences with comparable tasks. Have interaction in on-line boards, e mail listservs, and immediately with distributors or companies. Learn different RFPs to know what works. This preparatory step ensures you create an informative doc that minimizes back-and-forth queries, resulting in extra exact proposals.
Listed below are some important tricks to kick off your venture efficiently:
- Meet with whoever might be impacted by the venture (workers, stakeholders, supporters) to combine all concepts and opinions firstly.
- Use sources like Google {and professional} networks to ask questions.
- Define a particular want or downside and what the perfect consequence of your venture seems like.
You could find much more suggestions and concepts about getting ready the analysis stage in this transient webinar recap on Writing Nice RFPs for Nonprofits:
2) Embody a Funds within the RFP
RFP price range transparency is the wage transparency battle of the consulting world. It’s a subject Prosal writes tirelessly about and the place one can find a few of our strongest passions.
Transparency about your price range is essential. Outlining a price range vary aligns expectations with potential service suppliers. It respects their time and yours by filtering out mismatched bids, resulting in realistically tailor-made proposals to your monetary capabilities.
To make sure there may be price range transparency, you need to:
- Establish monetary boundaries internally and externally that align together with your expectations and targets
- Throughout the analysis course of, ask how a lot comparable tasks at comparable organizations price.
- Embody a particular price range or budgetary vary in your last revealed doc (flexibility is OK and could be inspired)
3) Provide Engagement Alternatives with Consultants
Too usually, OOO emails are the automated reply when an advisor reaches out with a query. It’s extremely demoralizing! Put your self in our sneakers – would you spend 10-20 hours on a venture if the particular person you’re sharing it with received’t provide you with time to reply a query?
If you wish to make your self obtainable to consultants, you may:
- Think about scheduling workplace hours or a pre-bid assembly to deal with frequent questions and meet events
- Often replace all candidates if there are adjustments within the RFP course of
- Make sure you’re not setting out-of-office replies in the course of the proposal interval. In case you are OOO, don’t determine your self as the purpose of contact.
When you favor to satisfy with consultants immediately, contemplate a Request for Conversations.
4) Permit 2-4 Weeks Response Time
Present an affordable timeframe, ideally 2-4 weeks, for respondents to submit their proposals. This era permits companies, consultants, and distributors to craft considerate, detailed responses and exhibits respect for his or her time and workload. When you put within the work for the primary three suggestions, you’ll get the very best proposals attainable!
Why This Works:
- Extra time encourages extra thought of and detailed proposals.
- You show an understanding of the suppliers’ time constraints.
- The proposals you obtain might be of a lot increased high quality.
5) Broaden Your Attain When Sharing
Don’t restrict your RFP to your rapid community. Increase your attain by sharing it with totally different teams, listservs, and affinity networks. Publish your RFP on Prosal, a platform devoted to connecting nonprofits with top-tier consultants and companies.
There is no such thing as a scarcity of the explanation why this issues, however in the end, it’ll improve your possibilities of discovering the very best match in your venture and a variety of candidates and concepts from which to decide on.
Closing Ideas
Crafting an efficient RFP is a talent that may considerably influence the success of your nonprofit’s tasks. By following these finest practices, you’ll be able to entice the precise companions who perceive and are enthusiastic about your mission.
Prepared to search out the right match in your venture? Submit your RFP to Prosal at this time and join with a community of expert consultants and companies wanting to collaborate with you in your subsequent large enterprise.
