Sample Feasibility Study Request for Proposals (RFP)

A Request for Proposals (RFP) is a document that announces your project, gives a description of it and its goals, and solicits bids from consultants to complete it. If you’re considering launching a capital campaign, reevaluating your fundraising strategies, building a strategic plan, or building organizational capacity, you may be looking to work with a fundraising consultant on a planning and feasibility study.

Finding the best consultant for your nonprofit’s needs is a lot like hiring a new employee, and putting out a Request for Proposals is the equivalent of asking a pool of potential employees to send in their resumes. It a great way to see how multiple fundraising consulting firms would approach working with you on your project, as well as the details of the services they would provide and costs for doing so.

This Feasibility Study Request for Proposals template is ready for you to download and use today. Simply add the specifics about your organization, your project goals, and other details. You may need to tweak it a little bit to suit your particular needs, but the basics are all there. Keep in mind that you can adjust this RFP for other projects for which you are seeking assistance - it is a great framework to get you started.

Have questions? Feel free to get in touch! Contact Us

Okay, so you've revised our fundraising consultant RFP to suit your needs and it's all ready to go - what next?

The following is a general overview of the RFP process, but this may be more complicated than you're looking for - perhaps you're a small organization that just wants to get moving!

In that case, your process for obtaining consultant proposals could be as simple as contacting 2-3 firms you like the "look" and "feel" of, connecting with them over the phone to discuss your project, needs, and goals, and asking them to submit a proposal. This is entirely up to you and your organization's protocols.

(Tip: keep in mind the more firms you ask for proposals from and then invite to present or interview, the more time, attention, and effort will be required on your part. Keep it simple!)

If you decide you'll be going through the RFP process, here is a general overview to give you an idea of what this will look like:

• The first step you'll want to take is finding some consultants firms you'd like to invite to respond to the RFP and submit proposals. This can be done by asking other nonprofit organizations in your community or network if they have any recommendations.
  
  Another place to look is your local chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) where they may have a consultant directory (for example, here is the AFP of Southeastern Wisconsin's Consultant Directory). You can also simply do an internet search. For more on selecting firms, scroll down the page to "Some Additional Considerations".

• The RFP is posted or distributed by the organization to a selection of consultants as an attachment to an email that has a brief overview of your plans and key RFP dates (due date, etc.). It's nice to give consulting firms a window of at least 30 days to adequately respond to your RFP with their proposal.

• Prior to the RFP due date, you may want to consider a period of 1-2 weeks prior to proposal submission wherein consultants can ask the organization any questions they have about the proposed project.
  
  As consultants, we prefer a phone call whenever possible because it's generally less time consuming than writing and formatting Q and A's, plus we want to get to know the organization and have them get to know us a little better. Sometimes these proposal processes are not very personal, but at Holmes, Radford & Reynolds we feel that no matter the project, fundraising is always about people and human connection, so it is a nice opportunity to connect. Also, to get a little feel for chemistry between our firm and the organization and vice versa.

• Once all proposals are in, the organization reviews them and makes their preliminary decision on which firms they would like to invite a personal presentation from/interview with and alerts those firms to arrange when that will take place.
  
  The process for how you rate firms is entirely up to you. Some distribute the proposals amongst a selection committee, individually give each proposal a score, and interview the firms with the top 3-4 scores.

• These days, the presentation process can all be done over Zoom or other teleconference technology, but you may choose to have them take place in person. This presentation is just a little more in-depth overview of the consultants' process and deliverables, plus an opportunity for Q&A and a chance to get a better feel for chemistry.

• From there the organization decides on which firm they would like to work with. Ultimately this comes down to your own criteria, but you'll want to look at finding a balance of cost, services that suit your needs, the relevant experience of the firm, and, as mentioned before, chemistry. Each firm has different working styles and culture, and you'll want to find a good fit with your style.

• The organization then contacts the firms who were not selected - which can be done by email or phone. At Holmes, Radford & Reynolds, if we are not selected, we like to get some details as to why we were not chosen (or why a particular firm was selected) so we can find ways to improve our proposals and presentations.
  
  In the spirit of good sportsmanship, we have also started a tradition of offering our congratulations to the firm who does get selected. We understand that we will not get every contract we submit an RFP for due to one reason or another and there are no hard feelings, but it's helpful to get feedback on how or why the decision was made so we can learn and improve.

More Resources