Website RFP Deadline

Monday, August 16, 2010

Covenant House Academies
2959 Martin Luther King Blvd.
Detroit, MI 48205

Website RFP
PROPOSAL SUBMISSION
Individuals or firms wishing to submit proposals should do so by no later than 5:00 p.m., August 16, 2010 by submitting the proposal and, materials indicating the firm's qualifications and a project timeline to Covenant House Michigan. Please submit the proposal and any questions concerning this RFP to:

ATTN: Melissa Golpe
Covenant House Michigan
2959 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Detroit, MI 48208
(313) 463-2005
mgolpe@covenanthouse.org

BACKGROUND
Covenant House Academies operates three schools for at-risk youth ages 16-22 to get their high school diploma. The first school opened in 2005. Covenant House Academies and Covenant House Michigan (CHM) are sister organizations; however, Covenant House Academies should maintain its own identity.

CHM works with homeless youth ages 18-22 in providing short-term housing. CHM also assists them in establishing a foundation for life, which includes job training, money management, and life skills.

Covenant House Academies helps provide an education for students who have not had success in the traditional high school setting. The school offers a self-paced environment for students to complete their high school diploma.

SCOPE OF SERVICES
Covenant House Academies is seeking a website that will be stored on a CHM owned server. The individual or firm selected should be able to register the domain name, but all ownership will belong to Covenant House Academies. Proposals can also include changes to the proposed website outline listed.

The finished website should accomplish the following:
* Provide visitors the option to translate the website into Spanish
* Provide visitors with information about Covenant House Academies
* Have a consistent look and feel to all pages (fonts, graphics and color schemes)
* Load rapidly and provide easy navigation between pages.
* Contain links to other related websites
Be registered with the major search engines to ensure the website is listed
* Be Search Engine Optimized so the website can be found when Internet users search for the website using keyword phrases.
* Use a Content Management System (CMS) capable of being maintained and updated by Covenant House Academies personnel
* Allow Covenant House Academies personnel to easily create and add new website pages if needed
* Social network “share” links throughout entire site for Facebook and Twitter and other sites
* Increased storytelling via visual techniques/multi-media (photos and slideshows, Flash, graphics, video)
* Calendar
* Password protected login for students
* Tracking system to determine site hits
* Blog-style articles

Target Audience
Students ages 16-19, who are at-risk
Parents of students at risk
Professionals, organizations, teachers and community leaders who work with at-risk students ages 16-19

Proposed Website Outline
Home Page
• Event Calendar (Calendar listed on the right side of the home page)
• Enroll Now (Click on box to enroll in school)
• Search bar (on home page)

About Us
• Background
• Mission/Vision
• Superintendent
• Board
• FAQ
• Youth Vision Solutions, Management Company

Why Choose CHA
• Free tuition
• Year round enrollment
• Quality education
• Curriculum
• Vocational program
• Partners

Schools
• East Campus (have its own page)
• Central Campus (have its own page)
• Southwest Campus (have its own page)

(Information to be listed on each schools page is as follows:
o Building Administration
o Community Service Centers
o School Hours
o Student Testimonials

Students
• Expectations (Code of Conduct)
• Student Login
• Alumni Testimonials

Parents
• Parent Login
• Parent Connect (Link from Wayne RESA to allow parents to track students’ work)
• Parent Expectations

Employment

Contact Us

Links
• Covenant House Michigan (link)

WEBSITE DESIGN
The website should have a modern, contemporary design, that utilizes the existing the Covenant House Academies logo and color scheme to be compatible with the marketing materials currently being used. The new website should use several main navigation links or graphics, with drop-down lists of sub-pages so the user can easily navigate to any website page within the website.

WEBSITE SEARCH
There should be a search box so that visitors can enter keywords and phrases, and see a results page with links to pages within the website that matches the keywords entered in the search box.

Website is expected to be similar in sophistication to that found at www.heritageacademies.com

HOSTING
The website will be housed on a server and it is anticipated that Covenant House Academies personnel will update page content as needed.

Optional proposals to provide this service should quote an hourly price to perform such service or alternatively may propose a monthly fee to maintain all pages.

TECHNOLOGY
Website technology should utilize standard programming language such as PHP and use mySQL or equivalent database. JavaScript, XHTML, Drupal, Ajax and other technology can be used for this project.

PROPOSAL PREPARATION
Firms submitting proposals shall be responsible for any and all costs and/or expenses associated with preparing such proposal.

PROPOSAL EVALUATION
Proposals will be evaluated based on previous experience creating similar websites, quality of previous work, time to completion and price.

Proposals should include a list of similar websites created in the last three years with the web address and a contact person and a project timeline. Proposals should also indicate any software products to be used in creating the website for Covenant House Academies.