AKF Website Development, Design & Training Consultancy Job

1. Background

The Madrasa Early Childhood Programme, an affiliate of the Aga Khan Foundation, was established in Mombasa in 1986 to improve access and quality of Early Childhood care and services in marginalised communities on the Coast of Kenya. Evidence-based success and growing interest across East Africa led to MECP being established in Zanzibar in 1990 and Uganda in 1993. Over the last 35 years, more than 8,000 teachers have graduated from MECP professional development courses and over 600,000 children reached through the programming. MECP is seeking to better bring this experience, expertise, and learning and create impact and influence at scale. Evaluations have demonstrated the positive impact MECP has had on access and quality of pre-primary education and on the educational outcomes of boys and girls. Recently MECP’s approach to supporting preschools and teachers at scale was recognized as the most effective when impact and cost were accounted for.**

While MECP has a long and proud history of creating impact, MECP has identified the need to share impact and learning to a broader national, regional, and global ECD community. To achieve this, MECP needs to develop a coordinated and accessible online presence.

2. Guide to this RFP

Our expectation is that this document will convey our vision but not convey that we have all the answers in creating an online presence. The preferred vendor will bring their own ideas and vision based on their industry expertise, guiding us to incorporate our goals into that vision.

3. Project Overview

The aim of the RFP is to engage a partner organization to collaborate with MECP and AKF to develop a high-quality digital presence (website), social media platforms/strategies, and other relevant online solutions to enable MECP to reach diverse interest groups including, but not limited to, parents, teachers, donors, government, ECD organization, etc. This must have a longer-term sustainable management plan to inform MECP on ongoing investment needs to maintain this digital presence.

4. Scope of Work

AKF and MECP is looking for digital communication developers who can build a digital presence, inclusive of a website, that is innovative, user-friendly, and aligned to MECP’s values including child-centered, playful, and professional. This website must be easy to update and maintain over time and provide user analytics that supports its continued development. The website will be the first touchpoint for most users, therefore MECP is seeking a digital developer that has both creative branding background as well as technical ability, with the capacity to work with the MECP team to develop a quality website in an organized, consistent, and timely manner.

4.1. Project design and communications

• Develop and deliver a collaborative project process that includes diverse voices from AKF, MECP, and key interest groups

• Maintain regular communication with project focal team in AKF and MECP

• Submit agreed documentation and deliverables on-time

4.2. Design Website

• Research, identify and recommend Content Management System (CMS) & appropriate Application Programming Interface (API).

• Set up a domain name and server space

• Ensure the website is designed through an inclusive and iterative process including MVP testing. This will include:

a) Content strategy and copywriting

b) Themes and concept direction (develop a mood board/creative direction)

c) Illustration and iconography aligned to the MECP brand

d) A wireframe and mock-up of the website that will be advised and approved by the MECP, AKF, and AKDN team.

e) Final design and live website

4.3 User experience

• Multimedia integration (i.e. social media, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.)

• Ensure website is user-friendly for the core interest groups

• Ability to connect to and communicate with visitors, and subscribe through the website to receive the newsletter, e-mail integration, etc.

4.4 Development

• Search engine optimization

• Front-end coding (HTML/CSS, animations)

• Back-end coding (CMS, 3rd party)

• Responsive optimization

• Testing & quality assurance

• Data analytics integration (data formats & segmentation i.e. graphs)

5. Budget

AKF and MECP will provide photographs and any other content for the website with guidance from the vendor. The vendor’s budget should include the cost of illustrations, licenses, etc.

6. Project deliverables

A phased approach:

• Phase one: Design and Ideation sessions to build the website concept.

• Phase two: Development, testing/feedback, and launch of the website.

• Phase three: Conduct a session to support MECP and AKF staff on how to navigate and maintain the websites.

We would like to be able to launch the website in January 2022

How to Apply

Criteria for Selection

Proposals will be rated based on the following criteria:

• Quality and cost-effectiveness of your proposal (development and budget proposal)

• Relevant past performance/experience, including samples of work and references.

• Creative and technical expertise/experience.

Format & Proposal Details

The following submission guidelines and requirements apply to this Request for Proposals:

• Only qualified individuals or firms with prior experience on similar projects should submit proposals.

• The technical proposal must not exceed five pages. This proposal should provide an overview of the proposed website, including branding considerations, technical capabilities, and solutions based on the Scope of Work. In addition, the technical proposal should provide a tentative schedule and milestones, with deliverables completed by December 20, 2021.

• A proposed budget should be provided that is no more than one page.

• Resumes of key personnel performing the work, accompanied by a portfolio that includes relevant previous work produced by your team.

• Three references who can speak to the work provided in your portfolio, as well as your working style.

All proposals should be submitted to akfkenya.procurement@akdn.org with the title MECP Website Development, Design, and Training no later than 5 pm on Wednesday, September 15, 2021.

Only selected individuals/firms will be contacted.