Nonprofit Website RFP Template (2026)

A nonprofit website RFP is a structured brief for vendors proposing a new or rebuilt website for a charity, foundation, or mission-driven organisation. It differs from a commercial website RFP because donation flows, accessibility, multi-language support, and tight budgets dominate scope. The 2026 nonprofit website RFP template covers 11 sections including donation integration, accessibility (WCAG 2.2 AA mandatory, often AAA), multi-language support, programme storytelling, and a weighted evaluation rubric. Many vendors discount nonprofit work — disclose your budget and ask about pro bono or reduced-rate programmes upfront.

Download .docx template Scoring rubric (PDF)

Best for: Charity websites, foundation sites, mission-driven organisation rebuilds.

What to include in your nonprofit website RFP

01
Mission & programmes Organisation mission, programme list, audiences served.
02
Audiences Donors, beneficiaries, partners, media — what each needs from the site.
03
Donation requirements Payment processor, recurring giving, donor portal, tax-receipt automation.
04
Accessibility WCAG 2.2 AA mandatory; AAA for public-sector partnerships.
05
Multi-language support Which languages, translation workflow, RTL support if applicable.
06
Content & storytelling Programme storytelling templates, impact-reporting modules, event listings.
07
CMS requirements Editorial workflow, multi-role permissions, low-tech contributor needs.
08
Timeline Often constrained by fiscal year — be explicit about budget windows.
09
Budget range Disclose. Ask about pro bono or reduced-rate work upfront.
10
Evaluation criteria Weighted rubric — see below.
11
Long-term support Many nonprofits cannot afford ongoing dev — request maintenance plan or training.

Scoring rubric (100 points)

Use this rubric to evaluate vendor responses. Weight each criterion by importance to your project. Total normalises to 100.

Criterion	Weight	What good looks like
Nonprofit experience	20	Two prior nonprofit projects with similar scope.
Accessibility expertise	15	WCAG 2.2 AA experience, ideally with audit-passing case studies.
Donation flow expertise	10	Experience with Stripe / Braintree / Donorbox integration.
CMS usability	10	Editor experience for low-tech contributors — content team can publish without dev.
Multi-language support	10	If applicable, prior experience with translation workflows.
Named senior engineer	10	Specific human, not a team.
Pro bono or reduced rate	5	Some agencies offer 10-30% nonprofit discount or pro bono hours.
Long-term support plan	10	Maintenance retainer or training to in-house team.
Pricing transparency	10	Fixed-fee, line-itemed.

Common nonprofit website RFP mistakes

No accessibility requirement — nonprofits face legal exposure under ADA and equivalent laws.
No editorial workflow scope — content team cannot publish without dev help post-launch.
Bundling donation flow with main site without separate scope — payment compliance gets missed.
Not asking about pro bono / reduced rate — leaves money on table.
No long-term support plan — nonprofit cannot maintain site within 12 months of launch.

Frequently asked questions

Should nonprofits use a different CMS than commercial sites?

Not necessarily. The criteria are editor usability for low-tech contributors and donation integration. Modern headless CMS (Sanity, Strapi) plus a structured editor experience works for most nonprofits.

Do agencies offer nonprofit discounts?

Many do — 10-30% reduced rates are common, pro bono hours sometimes available for mission-aligned causes. Always ask in the RFP, do not assume.

What accessibility level should a nonprofit website target?

WCAG 2.2 AA is the floor. For public-sector partnerships, government grants, or international donors, AAA may be required. Specify in the RFP and require audit-passing case studies.

Procurement standards & guidelines

Authority references for nonprofit website procurement frameworks. Use these when your RFP needs to align with public-sector or industry standards.

Federal Acquisition Regulation, Part 15 — Contracting by Negotiation (acquisition.gov) — the source US-government standard for RFP issue, evaluation, and award.
ISO 20400:2017 — Sustainable procurement guidance (iso.org) — international procurement framework many enterprise buyers reference in their evaluation criteria.
UK Procurement Policy Note 11/24 (gov.uk) — UK public-sector procurement guidance applicable to most agency / supplier RFPs.

Related RFP templates

Get in touch

Let's build
something together.

Whether it's a migration, a new build, or an SEO challenge — the Social Animal team would love to hear from you.

Get in touch →