Request for Proposal

Website Redesign & Development

This RFP is for design and development services for an updated website for the South
Carolina Chamber of Commerce

RFP Sent: Week of January 13th, 2020

Responses Due: February 14th, 2020

Questions/Submit RFP:
Kaziah S. Howard, Director of Marketing and Brand Strategy
(803) 255-2629
Kaziah.Howard@SCChamber.net

Goal for redesign completion: 2nd Quarter 2020

PLEASE NOTE: It is the expectation that anyone submitting an RFP is either a current
investor, or will join as an investor prior to commencement of this project

South Carolina Chamber of Commerce Overview

The South Carolina Chamber of Commerce (Chamber) is a statewide organization that
promotes pro-job and pro-business policies at the state and federal level. We bring
together businesses across the state through coordinated strategies, training
opportunities, and networking events. With a unified voice, we can make the biggest
impact. Our goal is to create the best business climate, so business can be at its best.

VISION: To make South Carolina the best place in the nation to live, work, and do
business.

We are located steps from the SC Statehouse and Main Street in Columbia, SC. The
Chamber consists of a well-versed staff that work tirelessly to make our events, public
policy, and investor relations the best it can be, while supporting our business goals. We
are a 501(c) 6 primarily. We also have affiliate groups- Education and Workforce
Foundation, Chamber PAC, Chamber Foundation, and SC Tire Council.

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Our Audience
The Chamber audience consists of businesses across the State of South Carolina. Our
primary focus is on businesses with 50+ employees, but we consider all interested
businesses that we see benefitting from investing in us. We call it investing versus
membership, because they are investing in the initiatives and benefits that the Chamber
has to offer above and beyond the resources that are accessible to the general public
(newsletters, website information, social, etc.). Our investors have varying degrees of
engagement with the Chamber, and each have their unique interests and reasons for
joining.

The main tenets of the Chamber include Public Policy and Investor Relations. Within
these areas, investors find value from:
 Committees dedicated to turning ideas into action
 Events that provide networking, educational, recognition, speaking, and
sponsorship opportunities
 Priorities at the statehouse to help support our vision
 Publications and News to keep them comprised on legislative issues, events,
news about our state, and more.

Our primary audience is looking for opportunities to affect public policy, market their
company, network, and keep up with their peers (i.e. law firms participating because
other firms do). They read WSJ and Cola Daily. They are most engaged on Twitter
(46.4%). They enjoy videos and Facebook Live. They like to hear about investor
successes and public policy updates on Facebook and Twitter, and about policy and
rankings on LinkedIn. They are split between mobile and desktop use almost 50-50.
They often ask, “What’s in It for Me?” when it comes to becoming an investor.

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New Website Objectives
 To increase the usability of our site(s) and make navigation for investors,
prospective investors, and the general public simple and straightforward
 Align our website to better display the benefits and values that we offer to our
investors and increase the perceived value of the Chamber to both current and
prospective investors.
 Make site “edit-friendly” for Chamber Staff that will be leveraging. Currently it is
not terribly difficult to use, but would like to gain more autonomy on editing the
site

Reference sites that provide a feel that we like:

 https://www.fordfoundation.org/
 http://movie-mark.com/
 https://www.kychamber.com/
 https://ncchamber.com/
 https://www.gachamber.com/
 https://www.catalyst.org/
 https://www.neverstopbelieving.org/
 https://www.khanacademy.org/
 https://www.ccsa.org/
 https://www.metmuseum.org/
 https://www.specialolympics.org/
 https://acumen.org/

Current Website- www.scchamber.net

Our Current Website is very content heavy due to the various groups, initiatives, events,
publications, etc. that the Chamber manages. Furthermore, the website’s last major
update was 2014-2015. This site does not serve us well anymore. The design doesn’t
reflect our brand, and the navigation is clunky and not at all intuitive. Even employees in
our own company have a hard time finding things on the website. Overall, it lacks a clear
path for our visitors to find what they want.

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New Website Functionality Requirements
Our new website will need:
 An easy-to-use content management system (CMS)
 Intuitive navigation
 Clean and focused design
 Cleanup of redundant navigation items, solution to incorporate/consolidate our 4
affiliate group websites, as well as a new election center site, and additional
issues pages (BIPAC) we are creating in the next couple months. (details below)
 All applicable content imported from current site
 Optimized with SEO best practices
 Clear path to conversion/lead generation
 Social media integration (share buttons, follow buttons, etc.)
 Email update sign-up form
 Contact Form
 Brand Guidelines Updates (details below)
 Security Update/Maximization- email obfuscation, malware/false login detection
 Page redirect module built in to accommodate future changes in the site
 Version/revert option on pages
o Cleanup of Staff and Board Directory to make easier to navigate for visitors to
site. Example: https://chernoffnewman.com/people/
 Improved event management setup- current setup is clunky and heavily manual
 Investor Portal revamp to improve use + additional resources based on their
engagement levels (investor level, board members, committees, sponsors, etc.)

Optional New Website Functionalities/Wish List

We would love to have the following in our new website, depending on how these
elements would impact timeline and/or budget. Please provide cost for these elements
separately and note if any additional design or development time that would be required.
 “Scheduled Publish” option for pages, so we can prep and schedule a
launch/relaunch of a page. (for example, our 2020 Competitiveness Agenda
being unveiled, we didn’t want to have anyone see until after our press
conference on it)
 Google Tag Manager and Analytics Implementation and Reporting
 Incorporation of a bio/headshot link on staff directory (to accommodate speaker
requests for bio)
 Scrolling Chamber Facts weaved throughout site- policy, investors, events, etc.
 E-Commerce Streamlined and add option to submit/pay for investors in portal

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Budget Details

We would like to look at a price breakdown for the following:

 Cost to build site
 Cost to handle maintenance needs of site
 Costs to help with additional needs/projects after initial build (hourly rate, project
rates/packages, etc.)
Note: We would prefer seeing a rollover option if project hours are not used
during month/quarter

While we of course prefer the most cost-effective solution, all reasonable proposals will
be considered and weighed based on their merits. Proposals that offer flexibility in billing
for non-required elements added to the website after initial launch will also be
considered.

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Other Helpful Information, Detailed notes on functionality and wish list items
 We understand that our idea of what a great site is may not perfectly align with
the realities of one another (i.e. to have great navigation, we can’t have/do xxxx
at all or the way that we want). Part of this process is an expectation that our
website vendor will help us to understand and adjust those types of items as we
arrive at them.
 Legislative Scorecard- This is an item that we had our current vendor build, and
we input data on. We will need to retain this product in our new site.
 Election Center- this will be built by an outside vendor, BIPAC
o It will be similar to this: https://vaelectioncenter.com/
o Bills we are watching
o Election Toolkit
o Video Interviews with Candidates
 Brand Guidelines Update
o Alteration Guidelines
o Logos for events (Annual Summit, Business Week, Salute to Small
Business)
o Complimentary/Accent Colors and Fonts
o Social Logo (Circular, single symbol)
o Revamp all- Large, Vector File, Transparent, Print, etc.
o Revamp naming nomenclature of logos
 We currently use Drupal, but are open to other options, so long as switching
does not consume up the budget and makes sense with functionalities listed
 Ecommerce Details
o We currently have options for payment and registration for various events
on our website. We would like to cleanup the process for payment as
much as possible.
o For Registration and payment, we currently do the following:
 Registrations are through Weblink/Atlas  Merchant Services is
through Authorized.net
 Business Week Registration is through Cognito Forms 
Merchant Services is through Stripe (currently setting up)
 Donate Now Options throughout our sites is serviced through
Anedot for donation form and merchant services
 Sponsorship and Investor signup is through Cognito Forms, with
details sent to accounting to invoice, no online payment currently
 Communication – Communication is important, we’ll have a fully dedicated
project lead on our end and would appreciate the same. Being kept in the loop as
the project moves through phases and understanding what will happen-when –
so that we can coordinate with our larger marketing pieces will be important.
 Customer Service – We want to make sure we’re taken care of, and the company
we select has ongoing healthy relationships with several existing clients.

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  No Outsourcing – We would prefer a vendor that doesn’t outsource.
 Experience –Any exp. related to us, our marketing goals, or industry preferred

Proposal Requirements
Please include the following in your proposal response:
 Overview of your company
 Overview of how you will meet our objectives
 Explanation of your proposed platform/CMS
 Outline of your website design & development strategy
 Proposed website timeline from kickoff to launch
 Details about your team
 Recent design & development examples
 References
 Any key differentiators about you?
 Pricing with optional elements line-itemed
 Terms & conditions

RFP & Project Timeline Details

RFP Sent: Week of January 13, 2020

Responses Due: February 14, 2020
Finalists Selected & Contacted: February 14-28, 2020
***We will want to bring in finalists for an in-person review***
New Website Launch Target Date: ASAP, looking to vendors to outline for us

Thank you for your interest in responding to this RFP for our new website. We look
forward to your response!

If you have any questions, please contact:

Kaziah S. Howard, Director of Marketing and Brand Strategy
(803) 255-2629
Kaziah.howard@scchamber.net

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