Background:
The Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice works for social, racial, and economic justice globally. Our grantmaking and philanthropic advocacy programs support and enable LGBTQ and Intersex organizations to challenge oppression and claim their human rights. In pursuing our mission, Astraea engages in grantmaking by raising and distributing funds to social change programs, capacity building and leadership development through strategic programmatic support, philanthropic advocacy by expanding the community of donors that support LGBTQ and Intersex issues, and media and communications to increase the visibility and break isolation of our constituencies.
Since 2013, Astraea has grown significantly, and the Foundation is now laying the groundwork to invest in commensurate strengthening of its technology operating environment. With this RFP, Astraea seeks a collaborative partner to assess and document current information technology systems and environment needs and gaps, and to develop recommendations and a roadmap in service of building organization-wide integrated knowledge and information management system. The ideal partner will help the Foundation to gain a better understanding of how to strategically apply IT to achieve its mission.
Areas of focus include:
- Integrated Knowledge Management
- Financial Management
- Grants Management
- Digital Security
- Relationship Management
- Donor Management
- Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning
- Communications, including website
- Accessibility and Multi-language Support
- Development and build of an organizational intranet
The assessment will be critical in helping the Foundation to make informed and accountable decisions about: capital investment in technology; decisions about an acquisition strategy for technology; and decisions regarding whether new technology is compatible with current Foundation infrastructure.
The assessment should effectively evaluate key aspects of Astraea’s information systems, policies, and practices to create an actionable report that:
- Offers a technology systems roadmap to incrementally build toward an integrated information environment
- Outlines clear, mission-aligned criteria for comparing different solutions, and, where appropriate, makes specific software recommendations
- Establishes baselines and best practice for technology management, data security, and business continuity
- Clearly assesses the value of IT investments through the lens of increased cost-effectiveness, efficiency, and impact toward achieving the Foundation’s Mission
- Includes specific guidance on ensuring maximum accessibility of Astraea’s implemented solutions, as well as support for operating in multiple language environments
Outcomes and Approach
Anticipated outcomes from this significant infrastructure investment will include:
- Increased alignment between operating systems and Astraea core values, and organizational size and complexity
- Decrease in staff time spent on low-value, administrative tasks
- Increase in overall data quality and strengthened ability to analyze Foundation impact
- Strengthened relationship management processes and support
- Reduction in time in grantmaking processes lightening administrative burden for grantees and applicants
- Greater tech support for participatory grantmaking processes
- Increased data transparency for and ease of reporting to key constituencies
- Increased accessibility and linguistic support for all Foundation functions, including for constituent groups with low bandwidth access
The ideal approach will be collaborative, participatory, and inclusive. Systems needs should be primarily defined and determined by those most impacted by each system, and clearly defined performance metrics. The Foundation values inclusion over speed and anticipates that the scale and scope of this work will require several years to implement deliberately and sustainably. A successful roadmap will also need to rigorously assess priority order for each aspect of this systems upgrade.
Deliverables
The final report should include:
- An executive summary of findings
- A comprehensive IT Assessment Report, including an actionable roadmap and recommended process for implementing recommended solutions, including cost analysis.
Timeline
- March 29 |Applications due
- April 12-16 |Interviews with shortlisted applicants
- April 23 |Consultant(s) hired
Anticipated Project Timeline
- May 3 | Project Commences
- June 21 | First draft due
- July 26 | Full executive summary and report submission with the following annexes:
○ List of resources/references and relevant evaluative tools
○ List of key informants
Profile of the Consultant or Consultancy Firm
- Commitment to, relationships with and knowledge of social justice issues facing LGBTQI and feminist movements;
- Extensive and proven experience in the field of foundation technology assessment and implementation, with examples of successful projects with similarly situated public and private charities and foundations;
- Expertise in balancing values-orientation with effective organization-wide technology solutions
Application Process and Requirements:
Please submit an organizational profile that includes your qualifications to undertake this work and a 3-5 page proposal including: key personnel, summary of how you will approach the work, timeline (including the number of days you will need to complete the work) and a budget which includes your daily rate and any expenses you will likely incur. Additionally, we will require two references and a work sample relevant for this project.
Please submit your proposal and accompanying documents by March 29, 2021 to [email protected] with “Astraea IT Assessment and Roadmap Proposal” in the subject line. Unfortunately, we will only be able to respond to shortlisted candidates. Kindly email with ‘QUESTION: Astraea IT Assessment and Roadmap Proposal’ included in the subject line if you have any questions about any aspect of this request for proposals.
Thank you in advance for your interest!