Please send any questions regarding the AIUK Website RFP process to andrea.buccioni@amnesty.org.uk, elizabeth.griffin@amnesty.org.uk, and elly.crump@amnesty.org.uk. We will update this page with the answers to your questions.
Table of Contents
- Next Steps
- Accessibility
- Audience
- Budget
- CMS
- Content
- CRM
- Hosting
- Integrations
- Other
- Scope 2
- Strategy
- Technical
- UX and UI
- Ways of working
Next Steps
Q: What we can expect moving to the next stage?
A: The 8 highest-scoring proposals will progress to the Presentation phase. They will be notified by the end of Tuesday, 29th, or early Wednesday, 30th. The presentations will be held on November 4th, 5th, and 6th. Each session will be 1 hour and 30 minutes in duration, with 45 minutes for pitching your proposal and 45 minutes for questions from the panel. We will provide the finalists with some guidelines for the presentations. The presentation meetings will be held remotely via Microsoft Teams.
Accessibility
Q: With regards to accessibility, what do you mean by AAA when possible? AAA is a quite a big step up from AA and will impact our approach to design fairly significantly.
A: We are requesting a proposal outlining feasible ways to achieve AAA compliance in some areas you recommend as experts. AA is the minimum requirement, and that is acceptable as well.
Audience
Q: What user research if any has already been conducted? Do you have any preference on how user research should be conducted?
A: We have conducted various pieces of research in the past. This includes an accessibility audit and personas. Most of the research focuses on a general audience perspective rather than specific website user interviews or user testing. We will be happy to share these insights during the discovery stage. We are open to hearing your expertise on the most effective user research methods within budget, whether that involves personas, interviews, or other UX research techniques.
Q: For the user testing will you be able to recruit testers or should we propose recruitment for this as well?
A: Especially with diversity in mind, we would feel comfortable with a mixed approach. We can provide some specific profiles, and the agency would recruit additional users.
Q: What research, if any, has been completed on the comparative/competitive market, existing/aspirational users and audiences, stakeholders, etc., that may inform the strategy for the site redesign? Will this be available for onboarding and familiarisation with the awarded contractor?
A: We have created Personas in the past, along with user research on audience attitudes towards human rights and our brand, as well as accessibility testing and an audit. This material will be available for the Discovery phase.
Q: What is your average number of visits in a 12-month period and monthly?
A: 1.8 million active users over the last 12 months, with an average of 154,000 active users per month.
Budget
Q: Do you have a ballpark cost/range for the project? When considering our approach, it'd be helpful to know what you're thinking.
A: The budget range is £200,000 - £300,000 (exc. VAT). Please provide a detailed breakdown to help us understand the cost of your proposed solution. If you believe the budget is insufficient, please indicate this, and we can potentially prioritise certain features based on cost. Our goal is to maximise quality and efficiency within the budget. We are not seeking the cheapest solution but rather the most effective use of funds without compromising quality. As reflected in the scoring criteria, value for money is just one of several considerations.
Q: The RFP asks for a quote, but we typically offer estimates based on our current level of understanding of the functional requirements and our experience of similar projects. Would an estimate based on number of sprints be acceptable, or would you prefer fixed price?
A: Either way is fine, we are very flexible and conscious that the discovery phase results might challenge the needs and assumptions we are currently working on, so it does not have to be 100% fixed.
Q: The RFP contains some ideas about possible enhancements (such as Personalised Content Delivery by location and interest; editorial workflow; chatbot) and a Discovery Phase. How would you like us to handle the uncertainty in the quote?
A: Providing a range or options for each item sounds sensible. We are open to challenge these requirements through a robust user research and discovery phase and consider iterative and incremental approaches to test solutions before a hard launch.
CMS
Q: Are you open to considering a different content management systems (CMS) for your website development?
A: We are technology agnostic at this stage and open to any CMS, as long as they meet the requirements outlined in section 4.3.1 of the technical requirements. Your technical proposal should suggest an approach to CMS selection, considering costs, security, support, performance, UI, integration, future-proof capabilities, and how you would manage the transition from our current CMS (Drupal) to the proposed solution, drawing on your expertise and experience with other clients.
Q: The RFP seems to require a specific technical solution to be proposed in our response. Typically we wouldn’t recommend a single solution before conducting a full discovery phase. We focus on recommending CMS solutions that are right for our clients and their organisation as opposed to ones that are right for us. Therefore would you be open to us sharing some possible options, with pros and cons, or possibly sharing a potential recommendation based on what we know so far – with the caveat that this may change based on discovery?
A: We are happy for you to offer alternatives in your proposal. At this stage, we don't have a specific preference, but we need a solution that is highly usable, accessible, secure, future-proof, and capable of integrating with other systems—some of which are not yet defined. Please refer to section 4.3.1 of the RFP to understand our CMS requirements.
Q: There’s a mention of some limitations in content within your current CMS – could you provide examples of these? What would you like to be able to do that you currently cannot?
A: We need a flexible, cost-effective CMS that’s easy to maintain, open source, and widely used, with seamless updates. It must provide strong security, support, performance, and integration capabilities. We also require template management with full access for in-house changes, a customizable workflow for content management, and advanced form builder integration with our CRM. Additionally, it should generate XML sitemaps and include GDPR-compliant cookie consent management.
Q: Would AIUK be open to solutions that maintain the existing Drupal 10 CMS configuration as the technical foundation, with a revised frontend and information architecture?
A: Yes, we are not against Drupal 10 and would be happy to consider it again, as well as other CMS options.
Q: Your current platform is Drupal – have you had any issues with this platform that make you want to move away from it (e.g., resources, complexity, security)?
A: No. We would like to improve what we have with a user-centred approach.
Q: Do you have any CMS platforms in mind? For example, there can be considerations around resilience and scale that make hosted SaaS solutions popular, a headless solution may fit into a broader programme objective, or there can be business criteria that make Open Source a requirement?
A: We prefer Open Source and are open to headless CMS proposals.
Content
Q: Who is going to manage the content strategy and which content will be migrated?
A: At this point, we have not finalised exactly what content will be migrated. We are looking for a partner who can guide and support us in prioritising content, using an external perspective grounded in user needs and best practices. While a large portion of our content will be moved to the Knowledge Hub, our approach for the new website is to start fresh. The decision on what content will be migrated will be made collaboratively between AIUK and the agency, informed by the approved content strategy.
Q: When we spoke before you mentioned that you are conducting a content audit. It would be great to understand a bit more about what you are looking for from the partner in terms of content support – are you planning on carrying out the majority of this work in-house (ie. content audit, content model, content development/copywriting, migration/upload) or would you like some support with this?
A: We would like to get your support from a strategic information architecture perspective, helping us develop a sensible approach to categorising and displaying information in a way that is intuitive for users. We will be conducting a content audit in-house, as much of the website content will be migrated to the Knowledge Hub.
Q: How would you describe your organisation's content design skills and capabilities?
A: We have a Digital Comms team of 15 people who will play a pivotal role in this project. We will commit in-house resources for content creation and commission some external resources where necessary.
Q: Does AIUK’s current website management team have a predefined content governance and publication process, or is this expected as a requirement within this contract?
A: We expect to review this within this contract.
Q: Does AIUK envision the new site containing largely existing (albeit reformatted, edited, or modified) content from the current site, or will new content need to be created?
A: We plan to move a large volume of articles to the Knowledge Hub. For the current site, we want all the content to be reformatted and edited. Our team will assist with this, and we expect you to provide guidelines, strategy, and advice.
Q: Is there any plan to conduct an internal content audit prior to the redesign, with the goal of cleaning up and removing old content and documents?
A: We conducted a content audit last year and plan to allocate in-house resources to continue this work. We are seeking a partner to provide advice and lead this process within the contract.
CRM
Q: The tender says that you are you changing CRM systems but this won't be ready for when the website goes live, so it will need integrating to your current CRM. Can I ask the names of the current and future CRM please?
A: Our current CRM is CareNG, and while our future CRM has not yet been decided, it will likely be either Microsoft Dynamics or Salesforce.
Q: Can you provide more details on the current website-CRM integration?
A: The website touchpoints include web donations (one-off/monthly), membership, card donations (SagePay/Stripe), supporter actions and petitions, website registration data, join our email list, join our network forms (e.g., Feminist, LGBTI, etc.), other web forms (e.g., Pocket Protest, Webform Magazine), GiftAid webform files, community space forum, Amnesty members forum, or local group pages. Most data is exported from the website as CSV files automatically to an SFTP site. We then have processes in place to collect that data and import it into CareNG. While there are a couple of cases (e.g., website registration data) where we retrieve data directly from the Drupal database, generally speaking, CSV data will suffice, provided it is stored securely for us to collect automatically.
Hosting
Q: Would opting for managed hosting be a disadvantage in this project? We believe there are significant benefits to utilising our own hosting service and would like to understand if this aligns with your requirements.
A: We are open to hearing your proposals on hosting.
Integrations
Q: Can you please provide more detail regarding the required integrations?
A: We are currently using Engaging Networks for petitions, emails to targets, and handraisers. This is integrated with Drupal at present and should be integrated into the new website. We are using a built-in forms development for fundraising forms. For all donation/membership payments (such as one-off and regular giving, donation products, and fees for registration events and affiliation), we will need to ensure that the existing process of daily CSV files for payment transactions is maintained for processing into CareNG. Different files are produced based on product types (e.g. membership, in memory, group affiliation, etc.). We need to replicate this integration with CareNG on the new website and plan for integration with our new future CRM. The new system will be either Salesforce or Dynamics, and integration will occur in a subsequent phase after the CRM platforms and provider are selected. The supporter portal will be linked to the CRM work stream and developed as a separate product. The Amnesty Shop (https://www.amnestyshop.org.uk/) should be at least linked and accessible from the AIUK website.
Q: Which payment gateway do you currently use for donations?
A: We will be using Stripe soon.
Q: Could you give more details about the Knowledge Hub and the community platform you are envisioning?
A: You can access the briefs for the Knowledge Hub and Online Community. Please remember that if you plan to submit a proposal, you need to register your intention with Andrew Anderson (andrew.anderson@amnesty.org.uk) for the Knowledge Hub, and Andrea Buccioni (andrea.buccioni@amnesty.org.uk) for the Online Community Platform.
Q: Will the Supporter Portal RFP be available soon?
A: The first phase of the Supporter Portal will be linked to the CRM workstream, and follow its timeline (launch date in 2027). This means that the partner in charge of the CRM implementation will also handle the technical aspects of the Supporter Portal. We intend to commission the UX/UI of this portal as a second phase, after the website is launched in 2026. In short, the procurement process for the Supporter Portal UX/UI will not happen soon, nor will it follow the same stages as the Website, Knowledge Hub, and Activism Online Community platforms.
Q: Integrated search function: is the idea that search results on the site will show results from the knowledge hub?
A: We envision an integrated search function shared by the Knowledge Hub and website to provide meaningful results and a cohesive experience across products. We are open to different approaches to meet these needs.
Q: What’s currently powering the shop? Is redeveloping this part of the brief?
A: The Amnesty Shop is powered by Spark (osCommerce) and is not part of the brief.
Q: Does AIUK envision the “integrated knowledge hub” (referenced under section 3.2) to be a fully separate digital property or part of AIUK’s information architecture?
A: Not necessarily. We welcome proposals from the same supplier offering integration of the systems, as well as separate proposals that factor in the need for integration either at the front or back end.
Q: Please confirm whether this statement implies an expectation that this requirement includes the enablement of e-commerce capabilities: “We also want to consider how we can integrate experience with AIUK’s online.”
A: We are happy with how the Amnesty Shop works (Spark). However, we envision the new website to signpost and have some degree of integration, although not fully.
Q: You mention a “chat bot support (which will sit across our suite of digital products)” – could you provide more information on your needs and goals for this functionality?
A: We believe a chatbot could enhance the user experience by guiding users to the right areas of our website and products, helping them quickly find relevant content or features. The chatbot could also address questions and personalise user journeys by understanding preferences and common challenges, offering tailored recommendations and streamlining support.
Q: Could you share more about your marcomms/martech strategy, particularly as you’re moving to a new CRM over the next few years?
A: Marcomms/Martech strategy is part of the data stream within the Data, Digital and Technology Transformation Roadmap, which is still being scoped out, and we’re unsure of what the future will look like.
Other
Q: Can suppliers from other than UK countries submit proposals?
A: We are open to receiving applications from overseas. Please bear in mind that there may be taxation and data privacy considerations, so please reach out to us with details of your case. Additionally, the supplier should be able to work during UK office hours.
Q: Is there any flexibility on the format of the response (15 pages of word/PDF). For example could we create a presentation instead of a Word doc with approximately the same word count as 15 A4 pages?
A: You are welcome to use your creativity within those 15 pages, in any format, and may include links to expand on certain areas if needed. The 15 pages is an estimate, so it can be slightly more or less. Please use your discretion and creativity.
Q: In ‘7.3 Evaluation Criteria’ – could you please let us know how our team will be scored?
A: Explain how you envision the organisation of your team, including names, roles in the project, credentials/awards/certifications. Showcase a variety of skills, experience, capacity to deliver the project’s scope, and diversity. If there are specific areas where your team may have limited experience, be transparent and explain how you plan to address them.
Q: Can you describe a specific example of how you’d envision website personalisation to be executed?
A: While we have some ideas on website personalisation, we would want to work with our chosen partner to further develop and test opportunities for personalisation based on user needs and impact. One example of personalisation could be to show users content based on their location, for example opportunities for local activism or fundraising events.
Q: Are you open to contracting using a supplier’s standard terms and conditions, specifically designed for custom software projects like this one?
A: We would need to review any contract terms and conditions with our legal team.
Scope 2
Q: How many hours of Support do you currently have each month for your site? Would you like this figure to be maintained (or go up/down)?
A: The hours of support we rely on currently are not reflective of what we want to achieve, so we would prefer you offering us some options based on your understanding of our requirements.
Q: Scope 2 refers to 'continued enhancement of the site' – we are happy to make recommendations in due course, but for the purposes of estimating, could you describe optimisations over a typical quarter or items on your roadmap?
A: We are deliberately being open here so suppliers can offer how they envision a long-term partnership with us.
Q: In Scope 2, would you be open to suppliers recommending their own managed hosting service using best-in-class cloud hosting providers?
A: Yes, we are happy to hear about proposals.
Strategy
Q: Strategic goals – how do you see the prioritisation of income generation vs activist engagement? We’d recommend an audience-led approach – is this already in progress within the organisation?
A: Both income generation and activist engagement are equally important to delivering our strategy. You can find more details in the Strategy and Theory of Change documents.
Q: Do you have processes in place to measure the success of the strategic goals via the website?
A: Yes, we use website metrics to track monthly indicators.
Q: How far has the decentralised content vision been shared across the organisation, and how has it been received?
A: The Digital Transformation Roadmap includes a Change Management workstream to provide training and a communications plan. The AIUK team is keen to adopt the best technology to make their work more efficient and effective.
Q: What is the organisation’s appetite for Generative AI?
A: We would like to explore this safely and phased, and we are open to testing it.
Q: Are you currently doing anything in terms of geotargeted content? Perhaps across social?
A: Yes, we do geotarget ads on social media.
Q: Given the strategic goals identified within the RFP, have performance indicators aligned with those goals been identified?
A: Yes, we can share more detailed information on KPIs during the discovery phase.
Q: What organisational contemporaries, competitors, or comparators would AIUK identify as best-in-class or helpful references for inspiration?
A: We prefer not to give specific names at this stage, but we will explore potential inspirations during the Discovery phase.
Q: Are there specific organisational goals, events, or milestones that are driving the timeline for project initiation and launch?
A: This project has been planned as part of our Data, Digital and Technology Transformation roadmap.
Q: In the Appendix, there appears to be a broken link for 'Inclusive Communications Principles'. Could you please confirm the link to this document?
A: Inclusive Communications Principles
Q: Could you share your fundraising targets with us?
A: We have ambitious fundraising targets and aim to grow online income. We can share specific targets during the discovery phase of the project.
Q: How do different teams within Amnesty collaborate on digital projects (e.g., subject matter experts, policy)? How would you rate the digital literacy and maturity of the organisation?
A: The AIUK digital team works with most teams across the organisation; collaboration can happen by establishing project groups with key stakeholders. These project groups establish goals and objectives, run ideation sessions, create project plans and agree roles and responsibilities for implementing projects/campaigns. Digital literacy and maturity vary across the organisation and are something we are working towards improving.
Technical
Q: How large is your internal team of developers, and are they expecting to be involved in the project?
A: We do not have an in-house team of developers, and these tasks are handled by our current external web agency. We have a Technical Lead who serves as the main point of contact for them, as well as a Data team.
Q: Is there an existing set of 301 redirects to migrate?
A: Yes, planning for the migration and setting up proper redirections is part of the brief.
Q: What platform is currently integrated for Donations?
A: We are using a built-in forms development within Drupal for donations.
Q: Is your current external agency supporting the website with all content changes?
A: Content changes are handled by our internal team.
Q: Considering Amnesty's global movement, is there a requirement for multiple languages on the site?
A: Not within this contract, but we would like to future-proof the website for this in the future.
Q: Is site resilience a key concern?
A: The website has never experienced any security breaches, despite frequent attempts, and since 2016 we have maintained 100% uptime. Security and site resilience will continue to be critical to us when considering platform choice and hosting solutions.
UX and UI
Q: Does the scope for visual design include how the new design will be applied to other sites, such as the Shop?
A: It may be necessary to apply the new design to other platforms to offer a more consistent experience for users. This is not considered in this RFP.
Q: We noted the RFP for a brand strategy refresh and action plan. What are the timings for this work? Will the website reflect the brand refresh, or will changes come afterwards?
A: The new website and strategy will reflect the brand refresh, and we will ensure that the updated guidelines are provided in time for you to incorporate them into the website development.
Ways of working
Q: What is your preferred project management methodology (e.g., Agile, Waterfall), and are there any existing tools or platforms you prefer for communication and project tracking?
A: Our team is used to work with Agile. Microsoft Teams is the main communication platform AIUK use.
Q: Will the selected agencies working on other ITTs need to collaborate closely, and how do you envision coordinating between different suppliers?
A: We expect our partners to collaborate closely to ensure a seamless design of the various products in the Roadmap. The AIUK team will oversee and coordinate the process. You can access the briefs for the Knowledge Hub and Online Community. If you are interested in registering your interest in submitting a proposal, please reach out to andrew.anderson@amnesty.org.uk for the Knowledge Hub and andrea.buccioni@amnesty.org.uk for the Online Community.
Q: How would you describe the internal governance structure for this project? Who are the key internal stakeholders, and how do you envisage their involvement?
A: The Digital and Data Technology Transformation Programme is a significant investment, key to delivering AIUK's future strategy. It has complete buy-in from the organisation's Senior Leaders, with big ambitions and resources allocated. An Oversight Committee will be involved throughout, from procurement to the delivery of the roadmap products.
Q: Will the core AIUK project team have full sign-off authority throughout the project?
A: The project team will work with an Oversight Committee that includes the CEO and Senior Leadership Team, so they will be involved throughout the process.