VADP website redesign proposal
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Submitted to:
Aug. 30, 2011
Michael Stone
Virginia Campaign Coordinator
National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
1716 E. Franklin Street - Suite 210
Richmond, VA 23223
Phone: (804) 205-7832
E-mail: michael@ncadp.org
Background/approach:
Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (VADP) is seeking a website redesign as part of an
overall effort to strengthen and refine message and direction. The new site should effectively
convey VADP’s key messages to its diverse audiences; should serve current active members and
partners by providing advocacy information and timely messages, etc.; should help position the
VADP as an authority in the field for media, researchers, etc.; should support solicitation of
donations; and should highlight current news and events.
The site should be integrated with VADP’s Facebook presence, and positioned to integrate with
other social media such as Twitter and YouTube, as VADP’s social media/communications plan is
developed. Additional customization to the VADP Facebook page is also suggested.
In addition, it should integrate smoothly with Salsa, the software package which VADP is
purchasing to handle records management, advocacy, and fund development.
Alternative approach:
During preliminary discussion, VADP board members suggested alternatives to a full-fledged
redesign, such as using WordPress templates or updating graphics and easy-to-change design
elements of the current CMS site. Those options are all viable and may be preferable, perhaps in
the short term; webbones would be happy to assist with this option as requested/directed, at our
hourly rate (see below).
Technology iderations:
Salsa: As mentioned above, the site must integrate with the incoming Salsa package VADP is
adopting.
Social media: \nitial social media products to augment are Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. All
should integrate with the website in a successful way, either by widgets or content pulled in.
Platform: The site must be built for ease of update by VADP personnel. The current site uses
Joomla, a CMS programming system. We do not work in Joomla and do not propose to develop the
new site in that technology (unless there is a compelling reason to stay with it, in which case we
could research resources). However, we feel that if a CMS is desired, Expression Engine or
Wordpress will provide comparable functionality and cost, and would propose working in those. In
general, a CMS can be slightly more expensive to develop at the outset, and offers greater ease in
updating, but more difficulty in making style or organizational changes to the site. An HTML site,
which is a second option, is slightly less expensive from the outset, is slightly more difficult to
update, but is easier and less expensive to “grow.” Either choice will work for the VADP site, and
since cost is comparable, that can be an internal decision independent of budget.
Pricing: webbones charges $65/hr for development and $55/hr for maintenance, charge on the
quarter hour for actual time worked, and offer a 10% discount for nonprofits. We are happy to
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structure, design and words for the web
VADP website redesign proposal
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charge VADP our nonprofit rate. Please note though that programming costs such as those
involved in the CMS or template build are charged at a higher rate and unfortunately cannot be
discounted.
Statement of needs:
To design and develop the new site and integrate it with VADP’s Facebook presence, we will need
access to the server, Facebook account, and other applicable technical information, current and
proposed site content in electronic text files, and photos and graphics files. We will also need
timely and decisive direction and approval of design and content.
Deliverables:
Note: The deliverables below are estimated for the purposes of this proposal; if the list of
deliverables changes, work and compensation can be revised as needed.
Discovery: We start with preliminary research, including industry standards, best practices for
similar sites, etc. We will follow this with a brainstorming meeting on main website messages,
primary audiences, look and feel, content, requirements, etc. (We realize that some of this has
been begun both by VADP staff and in our meetings.)
From our research and the meeting we write a creative brief, which defines direction, messages,
look and feel, and acts as a roadmap to the design process.
We will also develop the Information Architecture (IA) of the site -- the site tree, or organization of
the site -- to define categories needed, what pages go under each, etc.; this will dictate the site's
infrastructure.
Finally, we also define technology needs, including platform, maintenance, any functions
requested, etc. Please note that specialized applications or features which are identified during
this process are not included in this proposal and can be priced and considered separately for
inclusion in this redesign.
Time: 10-14 hours @ @ $58.50/hr nonprofit development = $585 - $819 - Note: there will be no
charge for this deliverable.
Design: Working from the information outlined above, we will develop a design comp of the site's
landing page. We will present this and modify the design per your feedback, creating up to two
more modified versions of the design as needed. Once we have final approval of the design, we
will create a coordinated second level page design and a special feature page for your approval.
(Note: At our June meeting there was some discussion of a new/refined logo. If VADP pursues this,
it would be good to be in the final stages before website design begins.)
Time: 10-16 hours @ $58.50/hr nonprofit development = $585 - $936
Graphics and template: Once the designs are approved we will convert the graphics into web-
ready format and create templates ready to be populated (HTML, Expression Engine or
Wordpress, per decision of VADP). Site templates will be built using current web best practices -
optimized for search engines; using CSS-driven design; and accessible.
We will use just one of these three options:
Time for Expression Engine template build: programming estimated at = $4,100
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structure, design and words for the web
VADP website redesign proposal
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In addition to development, choosing the Expression Engine platform requires a one-time
fee of $300.
Time for Word Press template build: programming estimated at = $2,625
Time for HTML template build: 10-14 hours @ $75/hr programming = $750 - $1050
Writing/e
all content;
ng content: For the purposes of this proposal, we anticipate that VADP will provide
if writing/editing are needed, we can provide that service at our hourly rate.
Build: We will build out pages and populate them with content and graphics provided by VADP,
estimated for the purposes of this proposal at 30 pages. As part of the build, we will include key
words and meta tags (provided by VADP) on each page to help with search engine optimization
(SEO). A word about SEO and accessibility: We build the site in a way that makes it accessible to
special needs users, and makes it easy to find for search engines. We also follow recommended
SEO practices like adding keywords and meta tags. However, further SEO is beyond the scope of
this proposal.
Time: 12-18 hours @ $58.50/hr nonprofit development = $702 - $1,053
Salsa integration: Preliminary discussion indicates that there will be little work required from the
website development side to integrate Salsa into the site - rather, pages using Salsa’s function
will link to a site that have a VADP template but are housed on Salsa’s servers. However, there will
undoubtedly be some integration required (pulling in “donate now” function, newsletter signup
field, etc.). In most cases code or “widgets” are provided to make these functions simple to
incorporate. If it develops that any significant programming is needed, we will immediately notify
VADP and work toward a solution.
Time: 2-4 hours @ $58.50/hr nonprofit development = $117 -- $234
Social media integration: Guided by our discovery work, we will beef up VADP’s current
Facebook page. Each CMS and third party widgets offer a variety of ways to pull in Facebook,
Twitter and YouTube content. After further discussions, we will choose one or more ways to
integrate the social media content into the website.
Time: 6-8 hours @ $58.50/hr nonprofit development = $351 -- $468
Check, load and launch: We review the site and ask that VADP test it as well, to ensure that all
links work, all programming works, etc. We troubleshoot any problems we see. We then move the
site to production so that it is "live", and check again.
Time: 1-3 hours @ $58.50/hr nonprofit development = $58.50 - $175.50
Training: If desired, we can offer basic training on any applicable aspect of website maintenance,
including use of Contribute should VADP choose that route, at our hourly rate.
Total estimated cost:
si $2,563.50 - 3,916.50
WordPress: $4,438.50 - 5,491.50
Expression Engine: $6,213.50 - 7,266.50
Maintenance: We are happy to provide maintenance at our hourly maintenance rate of $55/hr.
We bill only for work performed and bill on the quarter hour and offer a 10% discount for
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structure, design and words for the web
VADP website redesign proposal
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nonprofits as well. We perform standard maintenance within three business days or less, unless
another agreement is made with the customer.
Payment terms:
* webbones bills monthly for the duration of the project as work is completed.
* Payment is due upon receipt of invoice.
Note: webbones bills only for time worked and bills on the quarter hour.
Thanks for the opportunity to submit this proposal.
webbones, LLC
structure, design and words for the web
