Call for tender – Website development and maintenance

FEPS – GENERAL INFORMATION

The Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) is the leading think tank of the European centre left political family. It works with almost 50 Member political Foundations and think tanks across Europe. It embodies a new way of thinking on the social democratic, socialist and progressive scene in Europe. It seeks to serve as a platform for innovative research, policy advice, training and debates to tackle the long- and short-term challenges that Europe and European integration faces today. It strives for more and better-quality democracy in Europe.

To do so, it forges connections and coherence among stakeholders from local, regional, national, European and global levels, and fosters dialogue between diverse stakeholders from the world of politics, academia and civil society.

FEPS’ work is in most cases carried out in the form of projects with its Members and partners. The outputs of said projects feed into the work of the broader progressive family – starting with the Party of European Socialists (PES), the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), their constituents and Member parties, as well as in the broader public debate.

Download the Call for tender – New website

PURPOSE OF THE PRESENT TENDER

The purpose of this tender is to select a company with experience in creating and managing websites in order to migrate the FEPS website (www.feps-europe.eu) to a new, more modern, user-friendly and up-to-date WordPress website.

The Company will, under the supervision and guide of the FEPS Communication Unit:

• Develop and design the new FEPS website in WordPress.
• Transfer all content from the previous FEPS websites to the new one.
• Maintain FEPS website and intervene when assistance is needed.
• Furthermore, the service provider can be asked to develop, design and maintain all FEPS project/event-related websites and all other FEPS websites assigned.

If selected through the present call for tender, FEPS offers the possibility of signing a five-year contract with no exclusivity and no minimum billing amount between October 2021 and September 2026 for website development services.

MAIN NEEDS

The core purpose of the new website is to increase the visibility and accessibility of FEPS work and materials in a coherent and attractive way and to support FEPS internal working processes. 

The Contractor should respond to the following needs:

• Develop a website based on WordPress.
• Provide FEPS with a ready-to-use, mobile-friendly and fully functioning website, which is constructed based on the minimum possible number of plug-ins.
• Migration of content from the current websites.
• Non-exclusive relationship: The FEPS team should be allowed to intervene directly, or by contracting third party companies, on the design and further development of the website.
• As far as ownership is concerned, the whole website and its domain will be owned by FEPS.

Non-exhaustive indicative list of main requirements:

Web migration and web management:

• Migration of the main FEPS website www.feps-europe.eu (Joomla Open source CMS) and the secondary websites www.progressivepost.eu/ (WordPress) www.fepsunitedfor.eu/ (WordPress)
• Assess and develop the re-designing of FEPS website focusing on usability, accessibility, quality of contents, ease of maintenance/update and cross-referencing materials
• Accessibility testing and providing proof of testing for various devices, platforms, browsers, as well as assistive technology
• Servers with streaming audio and video capabilities
• Integrating social media platforms
• Ensuring that all functionalities are measurable and trackable via Google Analytics
• Ensuring connectivity with FEPS’ CRM, ERP, data pipeline management and/or data warehouse to automate the systematic collection of business intelligence in a structured manner
• Providing functions for automatic site review

Continuous support:

• Supporting and maintenance
• Providing adequate staff training and tutorials
• Consultancy for new developments and ideas
• Accessibility consultancy, testing and providing proof of testing
• Providing additional website development services on a case-by-case basis (providing quotations on the amount of work needed in hours/days, timeline for delivery and total costs)
• Monitoring service levels incl. periodical testing for dead links.

Others:

• Punctual graphic design creation for the website and social media
• Landed pages creation in the case of our main events
• General advice on digital communications

Non-exhaustive indicative list of main characteristics of the new website:

– The new website should allow FEPS to:

• to present its projects in a more clear, coherent and attractive way,
• to promote FEPS publications,
• to announce events effectively,
• to advertise the network of experts,
• Install and maintain the necessary APIs to ensure website integration
• improve its SEO 

– Searchability and accessibility. The new website will host a lot of information related to many different thematic fields and activities of different nature (publications, events, audiovisual materials, experts…). All this information must be easy to find and accessible through different entry points.

– FEPS website has a very diverse audience: policy makers, academics, civil society, students, non-affiliated citizens… so it has to be conceived for a broad public with different knowledge about the foundation. The website should be intuitive and self-explanatory, first time visitors should find their way easily.

– Database. The website should be based on a comprehensive and user-friendly database.

– Flexibility. The new website will evolve over the time and new improvements and features will be developed on a permanent basis.

– Attractive design. Fresh, modern, elegant. This will be done in coordination with FEPS visual rebranding. The website will have to be consistent with the new FEPS graphic charter and branding.

– Autonomy. The back-office of the new website must be intuitive and as easy to use as possible so different FEPS staff members can work on it autonomously (with different roles and access levels to the admin panel), without depending on the webmaster for the daily management of the website.

– Archive. A comprehensive and evolving archive should be one of the main assets of the new website.

PARTICIPATION IN THE TENDERING PROCEDURE

Tender Process

FEPS reserves the right to conduct the tender process and select the successful tender. FEPS is not bound contractually or in any way to a bidder to this request for tender until FEPS and the successful winner have entered into a written contract. 

The key dates of this call for tender are the following:

1.  04/07/2021 => Deadline for the submission of applications: receive the offer in writing via email (ainara.bascunana@feps-europe.eu , roberto.paredes@feps-europe.eu , johan.robberecht@feps-europe.eu )
2. 16/07/2021 => Candidate selection
3. 13/09/2021=> Provisional starting date

The offer must contain the total cost VAT included. Any other costs or additional fees that may be charged in exceptional situations should be detailed and include applicable conditions. 

Tender documentation

The following documents must be submitted in the application:

1. Comprehensive budget overview broken down into different categories that allow to have a comprehensive understanding of the project costs.
2. A document responding to the call which outlines: your experience in web management, samples of your work and highlights any related experience working with political organisations and EU institutions.
3. CV

Tender qualitative evaluation criteria

In non-preferential order, the evaluation criteria used to assess the quality of the applications is the following:

• Qualitative criteria 1: Quality of the assurance mechanisms proposed by the tenderer to ensure the production of a high-quality service.
• Qualitative criteria 2: A cost proposal. Most economically advantageous tender providing flexibility in the desired dates.
• Qualitative criteria 3: Flexibility.

Applicants must be able to work in English.

Contacts

If the above request is of interest to your company, we invite you to liaise with Ainara Bascuñana (FEPS Head of Communication) and Johan Robberecht (FEPS Director of Operations) to request further information and submit your application.

All written offers must be submitted to roberto.paredes@feps-europe.eu (FEPS Head of Finance and Audit) and put in copy to johan.robberecht@feps-europe.eu (FEPS Director of Operations) and ainara.bascunana@feps-europe.eu(FEPS Head of Communication) .

Offers not provided in writing via email will not be considered.

TERMS OF PAYMENT

Prices must be fixed amounts in Euro.

The amount of VAT must be disclosed on the price offer and invoice. Services and items charged should be broken down as much as possible in the invoices order to have a comprehensive overview of the project costs.

Costs incurred in preparing and submitting tenders are borne by the tenderers and cannot be reimbursed

QUALITY ISSUES

In delivering the service the tenderer shall ensure the highest quality standards of which FEPS shall be the sole judge.

CONFIDENTIALITY AND CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The Tenderer undertakes that they will not at any time, either before or after the termination of this service, use or disclose or communicate to any person confidential information relating to the affairs of FEPS.

This restriction shall continue to apply after the termination of the service without limit in point of time.

To ensure the independence of terms of their contract, the winning tenderer will sign a declaration certifying that they have no conflict of interests in relation to the tasks to be undertaken and to inform FEPS’ Director of Operations should this status change.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

FEPS reserve the right to reject any and all proposals, in whole or in part, to advertise for new proposals, to abandon the need for services, and to cancel or amend this call for tender at any time prior to the execution of the written contract. FEPS reserves the right to waive any formalities in the call for tender process. FEPS may respond to questions or provide information from tenderers, and is under no obligation to provide such responses or information to all other tenderers.

By submitting a proposal, the tenderer agrees that:

• FEPS may copy the proposal for purposes of facilitating the evaluation of the proposal and agrees that such copying will not violate the rights of any third party
• It will not bring any claim or have any cause of action against FEPS based in any misunderstanding concerning the information provided or concerning FEPS’ failure, neglect or otherwise, to provide the bidder with pertinent information as intended by this call for tender

The accomplishment of a tendering procedure imposes no obligation on the FEPS to award the contract. Should the invitation to tender cover several items or lots, FEPS reserves the right to award a contract for only some of them. FEPS shall not be liable for any compensation with respect to tenderers whose tenders have not been accepted. Nor shall it be so liable if it decides not to award the contract.

CONTRACTING AUTHORITY

Foundation of european Progressive Studies (FEPS)

Avenue des Arts 46

1000 Brussels

EUPF 4 BE0896.230.213

www.feps-europe.eu