Looking to implement a new fundraising & alumni CRM? Here’s what to include in your tender document

Why are fundraising & alumni CRM tender documents important?

Although challenging, it’s of paramount importance that you devise a comprehensive fundraising & alumni CRM tender document at the first time of asking. Failing to do so can lead to potential long-term problems by selecting an unsuitable supplier and solution that doesn’t meet your requirements.

The purpose of implementing a fundraising & alumni CRM is to help your organisation meet its goals. The tender document therefore acts as a vehicle to clearly disclose these to potential suppliers, who can then explain how they can help you to achieve these.

Examples of these goals could include:

• Increase event and volunteer sign-ups by 5%
• Increase revenue by 5% per alumni campaign
• Gain key insights into alumni behaviour by how they interact with you

When writing up your tender document, it’s important not to focus solely on listing features and functionality. While this is a crucial part of the document, it’s equally as important to ensure that the supplier acknowledges the outcomes you wish to achieve in order for them to outline how they can assist.  

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What type of fundraising & alumni CRM tender document can you use?

Once your goals have been clearly defined, your next step is to decide on the type of document to send to suppliers.

The most common formats include the following:

Request for Information (RFI)

An RFI aims to gather information from potential suppliers or vendors about their products, services, capabilities, and other relevant details. RFIs are typically used as a preliminary step to assess the market and understand what solutions are available before moving on to more detailed procurement processes.

Request to Quote (RtQ)

An RtQ is a document that organisations send to suppliers, requesting both pricing and specific details about their products or services. This is a straightforward process where suppliers provide quotes based on the outlined requirements, before the university evaluates these quotes to make an informed decision.

Request for Proposal (RfP)

An RfP is a formal solicitation document that establishments use to invite potential suppliers or vendors to submit proposals for products or services. It includes detailed requirements, specifications, and evaluation criteria. Suppliers respond with comprehensive proposals outlining how they intend to meet your needs, often including technical details, pricing, and implementation plans. RfPs are used for more complex purchases where solutions need to be tailored to the university’s specific needs.

Top 3 steps to creating a comprehensive fundraising & alumni CRM tender document

Regardless of your university’s goals and requirements, there are 3 steps that will significantly help providers to fully understand these. Not only will this approach prove to be cost effective, but more importantly, it will support your ability to make an informed decision that will provide the long-term development you seek.

Step 1: Do your research and engage with suppliers

Quite often, suppliers such as ourselves make strategic choices in relation to which tenders we engage with. Key factors that influence our decision are the time-intensive nature of the process, along with how suitable we deem our solution for the respective tender.

Understanding your requirements as a customer helps to build a strong rapport from the outset. Just by expressing a genuine interest in how we operate as a provider and the team responsible for delivering our solution enables us to ensure a smooth process from initial consultation through to post implementation support.

It’s therefore crucial that you engage with suppliers to ensure you receive the required level of support and guidance. We strongly recommend reaching out to us prior to the official tender process, as we can share key insights beyond what is available on our website. And from our experience, this can be the approach that allows us to showcase our suitability and gain your trust.

Once the formal tender process begins, means of communication become very limited. Take full advantage of your research time by actively engaging with suppliers, clearly outlining your pain points and get a flavour for their level of suitability.

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Step 2: Plan a realistic budget… and share it!

Some believe that disclosing your budget can leave you looking vulnerable. This isn’t the case at all. You wouldn’t enquire about a new kitchen design without sharing a ball-park figure of your budget, would you? By the same token, providing this insight allows us to tailor a comprehensive solution in-line with your budget.

Another important reason to share this information is one of transparency. A reputable provider will assess how feasible your requirements are within the confines of your budgetary considerations. From here, there would be an open discussion about the best course of action, ensuring that your investment generates optimal returns in terms of functionality and value.

At Access, our team are on hand to provide their expert knowledge in relation to the achievability of your goals, while guiding you towards relevant, valuable resources.

Step 3: Avoid being vague

When sending a tender document through to us, we advise that you take a ‘quality over quantity’ approach.

While we are eager to hear from you, our experts can only offer guidance once valuable insights such as your pain points and proposed goals are provided.

For this reason, we strongly advise that you avoid applying spreadsheets that contain a number of binary ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions. Unfortunately, tender documents such as these do not provide us with the crucial information to understand your challenges and establish how we can fine tune our solution to support your requirements.

Instead, consider offering a more comprehensive narrative that delves into the intricacies of your needs, concerns, and aspirations. Providing context-rich details allows us to gain a better understanding of your situation and tailor our offerings with precision.

Through this approach, both parties are able to work collaboratively to help make your plans become a reality.

What information should you include in your tender?

Now that you have gained a clearer idea of the importance of transparency and sharing the fine details, it’s time to put this into practice. Below, we have shared the criteria you should consider, based on the good practices demonstrated by our customers:

• Tender process overview: Outline the steps of your tender process, such as pricing assessment, questionnaire completion, reference evaluation, and subsequent stages.
• Background: Provide a description about your university such as its structure and pain points, outlining the required solutions to the latter.
• Budget: Ensure transparency around these details and encourage the respective supplier to detail how they can assist within the confines of your budget.
• Summary of project goals: Outline details including key outcomes, success criteria and supplier selection criteria.
• Deliverables: Outline a list of assumed deliverables and who they are provided by.
• Software specifications and requirements: Enumerate the technical specifications and functional necessities of the software, including high, medium, and low priority functionalities.
• Scale and scope of work: Elaborate on the software specifications sought and the extent of the coverage you're aiming for. i.e. the number of licenses you wish to cover.
• Overview of current systems – Where applicable, outline your current key systems for handling information.
• Contract commencement and duration: Define the desired duration for your contract with the chosen provider.
• Confidentiality and freedom of information: Clarify your stance on confidentiality and the applicability of freedom of information principles.
• Tender conduct and conflict of interest: Establish guidelines for appropriate tender conduct and disclose any potential conflicts of interest.
• Procurement timeline: Present a clear timetable detailing the stages and deadlines of your procurement process.
• Tender evaluation criteria: Clearly define the criteria by which submitted tenders will be evaluated and measured.
• Submission guidelines: Provide the necessary contact details for submitting the tender, along with clear instructions of how to respond.
• Implementation strategy: Encourage prospective tenders to outline their proposed approach to software implementation.
• Product roadmap: Request insight into the future development trajectory of the offered solution.
• Pricing structure: Encourage tenderers to outline both fixed and variable cost breakdowns.

Also note that applying functionality tables to list your requirements can clearly outline key points, making it more accessible to the supplier. Including crucial details such as these ensure that you create an engaging, comprehensive tender that enables you to build a partnership with a supplier based on mutual understanding and trust.

Key takeaway: Contact our fundraising & alumni CRM experts

The key takeaway from this guide is simple: the more time invested into your research, the more rewarding the outcome.

At Access, we fully acknowledge the complexity that surrounds creating a tender document and the significant amount of time that is invested during this process. If you require additional support, please feel free to contact our specialists who will guide you in the right direction.

We look forward to working with you!