Web Developer - Smithsonian Institution - Contract Position

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Lara Koch
Lara Koch
Eighth Anniversary
in Jobs Board
Request for Quote
Online Engagement and Fundraising
Smithsonian Institution
Office of Advancement
March 23, 2020

INTRODUCTION
The Smithsonian Institution is a unique complex of 19 museums and galleries, the National Zoological Park, and nine research and cultural centers.  The Smithsonian is a national and world treasure and is dedicated to its founding mission, “the increase and diffusion of knowledge.”  Its exhibitions, programs, collections, and outreach touch the lives of millions of Americans every year, as well as many who visit us from abroad, and the massive body of inter-disciplinary research conducted by its staff helps humanity preserve our past, understand our present, and chart our future. 

The Office of Advancement oversees and guides the fundraising efforts of the entire Smithsonian and is home to the central advancement organization for the Institution.  In addition to raising significant support for a variety of Smithsonian initiatives, the Office of Advancement provides support services to advancement offices across the Institution.  The office engages with staff throughout the Smithsonian in accomplishing their goals in communicating with supporters and stakeholders. There are approximately 80 staff members in the Office of Advancement.

The Office of Advancement Communications of the Smithsonian Institution has a requirement for front-end web developer to build new donation form experiences on the Blackbaud "Convio" Luminate Online Platform for the Online Engagement and Fundraising team within the Office of Advancement. The successful candidate will have experience developing robust, interactive and responsive web experiences that drive users to take direct action, engage with Smithsonian content and donate. Experience working in a large organization in which collaboration and multiple approvals are required is necessary. 

STATEMENT OF WORK
The contractor shall provide front-end web developer support services to assist with online marketing and fundraising initiatives for the Director of Online Engagement and Fundraising in the Office of Advancement through January 15, 2021.

The contractor shall perform tasks including:

 
  • Develop front-end web experiences and conversion elements built within the Blackbaud “Convio” Luminate Online platform to support OA online marketing and fundraising campaigns, including creating unique landing page engagement experiences and their associated calls to action, including quizzes, and eCards, to be used in:
    • FY20 Spring Member Drive (May-June 2020)
    • FY20 Smithsonian Birthday Campaign (August 2020)
    • FY20 Fiscal Year-End Campaign (September-October 2020)
    • Calendar Year-End Campaign (October-January 2020)
    • Smaller and ongoing campaigns, such as holiday campaigns (Memorial Day, July 4th, Halloween, Indigenous People's Day, Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving)
  • Manage donation form suite within the Blackbaud "Convio" Luminate Online digital marketing platform, including:
    • Building donation forms and links for online fundraising campaigns
    • Adjusting donation form behavior to show conditionalized content based on campaigns
    • Iterating form types in response to testing for different segments, including:
      • One-time donors
      • Monthly donors
      • Members
    • Maintain donation form documentation, and update and train new and existing staff on forms as necessary
  • After scope approval by supervisor, manage assigned Online Engagement and Fundraising JIRA Service Desk Requests, including assisting teams across the Office of Advancement, unit members of the Smithsonian Membership Coop, and Advancement units across the Smithsonian with technical troubleshooting, platform expertise and implementing online marketing and fundraising best practices on donation forms and other web experiences.
  • Leverage Blackbaud “Convio” Luminate Online’s API to streamline and optimize conversion elements such as email collection and donation asks – as well as any other microconversions – embedded in non-Luminate experiences.
  • Build and implement tools that enhance conversion source tracking on the Blackbaud “Convio” Luminate Online platform and from other web properties built on Drupal that flow data into Luminate.
  • Implement Google Analytics and other available analytics tools to overlay behavioral tracking (including custom goals/events, etc.) and potentially push relevant data to Blackbaud “Convio” Luminate Online.
  • Advise internal team and external consultants as necessary on projects integrating digital technology and marketing/fundraising, and the feasibility and scope of front-end development that involves Blackbaud “Convio” Luminate Online.
  • Assist with web-based optimization testing using Google Optimize.
  • Use Atlassian products JIRA and Confluence to project manage all assignments, and create and update documentation.
Ideal candidates should have expertise within the Blackbaud "Convio" Luminate Online platform, HTML and CSS, client­side scripting languages and libraries, and successful online marketing and fundraising best practices.

PLACE OF PERFORMANCE
The selected contractor will perform a majority of the work at its own facility. The contractor may from time to time be required to visit in person at the Smithsonian Office of Advancement offices in Washington, DC. 

The selected contractor should be expected to communicate with the Director of Online Engagement and Fundraising via email, JIRA, and an online chat program used during business hours.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS
All vendor project team members will submit security forms and nondisclosure agreements to the Office of Advancement Human Resources department for clearance and access badges to the Smithsonian. All vendor programmers and quality control team members will be granted access to Smithsonian servers and all necessary IT functions. They will also be given temporary Smithsonian accounts which are to be used only for work pertaining to Office of Advancement Communications projects. Upon completion of the project these accounts will be closed.

 
  • Expert understanding of and experience with the Blackbaud “Convio” Luminate Online platform, including the Donations, Survey, and PageBuilder modules;
  • Expert understanding of and proficiency with Drupal 8 and most recent previous versions;
  • Expert understanding of web markup, including HTML5 and CSS3;
  • Expert proficiency with client­side scripting languages and libraries (e.g.: JavaScript, jQuery) to create rich interactive content as well as the ability to integrate the Convio Open API and/or custom server­side code to produce dynamic pages;
  • Experience with ReST­based APIs, JSON,  XML;
  • Expert understanding of responsive design, standards, and frameworks (e.g., Bootstrap, Grid, Flexbox);
  • Expert understanding of current web design, UX, and UI standards and trends as well as Web Accessibility implementation standards;
  • Demonstrated quality assurance skills including meticulous attention to detail and experience with version control;
  • Expert understanding of web analytics, particularly Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager, including implementation;
  • Proficiency with Google Optimize web testing platform;
  • Expert understanding of nonprofit digital fundraising/marketing and correspondence with donors and members, supporters, and the general public;
  • Expert understanding of developing cross­browser and cross­platform compatible web solutions and data flow;
  • Experience in user testing preferred.
SUBMITTING YOUR QUOTE
Price quotes should be a firm, fixed price using a fixed hourly rate. Include average total number of hours available each week. Please including pricing for the base year for the award and up to four option years. Option years will only be exercised upon mutual agreement of contractor and Smithsonian Institution.

Submit quotes by electronic mail to kochl@si.edu. Quotes are due by the close of business on April 6, 2020. Quotes should contain the following information:

Plan of Accomplishment: Provide a narrative explanation addressing the technical competence, the technical vendor’s capabilities, qualifications and approach to satisfy the requirements of this statement of work. For this particular project, please consider a flat fee for developing one unique comprehensive layout in responsive format, with alternate presentation options (such as a “long” and “short” version of form) Please include resume with quote.

Previous Experience: Provide specialized experience and demonstrated technical competence in performing similar work as requested herein.  Please provide examples of other organizations where you have provided similar services, including details about the tools and platforms you used to accomplish your goals. In particular, please include details regarding your familiarity with and previous use of the Blackbaud Convio Luminate Online digital marketing platform. Submit a summary of jobs for each example of similar efforts performed as well as one reference per job preferably completed within the last five years. 

Cost: Address pricing of the work as requested herein. Price should be submitted in the format of price per hour of labor. The price proposals shall be all-inclusive.

EVALUATION FACTORS FOR AWARD
The Smithsonian reserves the right to evaluate proposals and award a contract or contracts without discussion. Proposals shall be evaluated in accordance with the following criteria being applied to the information requested above:   

Plan of Accomplishment and Previous Experience shall both be granted more weight than Cost. Award of a contract shall be made to the responsive, responsible Offeror, whose combined cost and technical proposal is, in the opinion of the review committee, determined to be the most advantageous and in the best interest of the Smithsonian Institution

Insurance Requirements
Prospective contractors are required to have Commercial General Liability Insurance. If you are the selected contractor and you do not have insurance and you do not wish to take out your own policy, you may elect to join the Smithsonian Institution’s Commercial General Liability Policy for Contractors. The premium charged varies with the dollar amount of the contract. 

DUNS Number
A DUNS number is a unique nine-digit identification number and is needed to register with the System for Award Management (SAM). DUNS numbers are provided through Dun and Bradstreet at no charge.  

System for Award Management (SAM)
It is a requirement that current and prospective recipients of contracts and purchase orders awarded by the Smithsonian Institution must complete registration and maintain an active record in the System for Award Management (SAM). The SAM requires a one-time business registration, with annual updates, and allows vendors to control the accuracy of the business information they enter.

If your quote is selected for award, your valid and active registration with SAM must be verifiable by Smithsonian Institution staff administering this procurement prior to contract award, and any modifications or amendments to awards.

Legislative and Administrative Requirements
  1. Service Contract Act – If services to be performed are covered by the Service Contract Act (SCA), as amended, the SCA shall apply to all work performed under the contract. Individuals submitting quotes are encouraged to verify the wages and fringe benefits determined by the U.S. Department of Labor to be payable for the Labor Category and within the location that work performance will occur.
 
  1. Background Investigation – Contractor employee assigned to the Smithsonian Institution under this contract will have an association with the Smithsonian Institution that will be greater than thirty days, and will need to access staff-only areas of Smithsonian Institution controlled facilities and leased spaces. Therefore, the employee shall be required to receive a Smithsonian Institution credential, and will be required to undergo and pass an appropriate background investigation.
 
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