Respond to each of those discussion questions
1. Request for Proposals (RFP) are defined as documents that describes a project's needs and asks for proposed solutions from qualified vendors (Peters, 2011). A Request for Proposal is needed when your policies, your funder's policy, or government regulations require one. Request for Proposal are also publicly advertised. Suppliers respond with a detailed proposal, not with only a price quotation, they provide information or negotiation after sealed proposals are opened, and the award of contract may not necessarily go to the lowest bidder(businessdictionary,2016).When responding to a RFP depending on the project needs the grantor may choose to target your RFP to specific firms. There are two types of Request for Proposals an Open RFP or Closed RFP. A closed RFP approach targets a smaller group of known firm's vendors that have come recommended from trusted sources or that you have worked with successfully in the past. By closing the RFP, you are indicating that only invited firms may respond. This approach works well if you have a network of vendors already and the project is an overall match to their skill sets (Supplier Select, 2014).
In an open RFP, any potential supplier is allowed to view the RFP documents and submit a response .Open RFPs are more common in government environments, where rules are in place to ensure that purchases decisions are unbiased. A variant of an RFP is an RFI (Request For Information).An RFI is typically issued earlier in the purchasing process, and is used to learn more about the purchase category by collecting information about the range of products or services on offer. RFI's usually solicit much shorter responses, and are often "open", even in the corporate sector. (Supplier Select, 2014).
The Request for Proposal are distinctive, however they should include certain information such as organizational background, short project description, project budgeting, project requirements and objectives. Organizational background is given to let the reviewer know all aspects, goals and objectives of the project. The short description of the project should be given to inform the reviewer of a more in depth vision of the goal at hand. The project description describes the characteristics that define a successful outcome in the initial assessment. When writing your project requirements make sure you define your audience, list required and desired features, note any system integration needs, indicate any preferred tools or systems and clarify any needs the program is seeking (Peters, 2011). Project Budgeting is important to include as well as any milestones and deadlines. Project requirements and objectives will be the most informative piece of information will you have to provide when responding to a Request for Proposal.
There are also certain steps that can be taken while responding to a RFP. The Standard Steps in the Request for Proposal process are to establish the project boundaries, identify key stakeholder and advisers, then communicate with the stakeholder, drafting the RFP and finally writing the RFP (Peters, 2011).
Responding to a Request for Proposal requires knowledge of your organization and involves a lot of evaluating and understanding certain vendors and consultants. Talking to stakeholder will give the grant writer understanding and comprehension of how the project will benefit their needs.
According to Chapter 5, The History of Evaluation Research the purpose of evaluation is conducted to learn whether a program or activity accomplished its intended objectives (Ward, 2009). The most common audience for evaluation is stakeholder or parties with a stake in a project such as program staff, beneficiaries of services, or collaborative organizations. Another step in responding to a Request for proposal is drafting a scoring criterion. Ranking your drafted Request for Proposal can often put you in the mind frame of the requested party.
The Grant Writer can always ask questions to make sure they have effectively responded to a Request For Proposal (Peters, 2011).Although there are different methods to respond to an RFP, preparation and organization is the key.
2. The request for a proposal (RFP) is sometimes required before applicants can submit a full grant proposal to an organization. It is a preliminary step in the grant proposal process. Major foundations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as government agencies, usually require applications and organizations to submit an RFP before moving onto the full grant proposal. The RFP is an overview of a project's needs and proposed solutions. The type of information specifically required in an RFP can vary from organization to organization. However, there are several components that should be included. You should generally include a very brief background on your organization, a short description of the project for which you are seeking funding, a budget, any important deadlines, and contact information. This sort of information is all important to promote fairness and openness in the grant approval process (Ward, 2009).
An organization needs to implement certain strategies and techniques to effectively respond to RFPs they receive. The criteria will vary based on the organization, but to ensure fair evaluations, there should be an objective checklist as a starting point. It may start with a basic checklist such as whether or not the RFP contains all of the required information. A board or committee who reviews the RFPs can then assess each RFP based on the standardized criteria developed. In certain circumstances it may be prudent to require all members of an RFP evaluation committee to sign a nondisclosure or waiver agreement so they do not disclose or discuss details to anyone else, and this will prevent any conflicts of interest. If an applicant spends hours of manpower and research developing a high-quality RFP then an organization should certainly give it a high-quality review to be fair. Consistency is crucial in this process. There is no 100% correct method for responding effectively to an RFP. The best thing an agency can do to rest assured each RFP gets a fair response is to establish their evaluation criteria, remove any conflicts of interest, and assess each case with standard measures (Ward, 2009).