database consultant

The Chaffee County Community Foundation (CCCF) is looking for an independent contractor to design and build a shared-access volunteer database for Chaffee County organizations focused on food programming and organizational needs. The database will use commercially available, off-the-shelf software (COTS). This remote position will increase Chaffee County’s food system and nonprofit capacity by allowing the sharing and more efficient use of volunteers across multiple organizations and programs. 

About CCCF

The Chaffee County Community Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization established in 2018 that envisions a resilient Chaffee County where residents, nonprofits, businesses, and governments are thriving, interconnected, and well resourced. Our core mission is to act as a catalyst to inspire positive change through the power of philanthropy to enrich the lives of all people in Chaffee County. Originally conceived in 2006, CCCF didn’t take form until early 2018 when a dedicated group of individuals formed its founding board out of the Envision Chaffee County process. Resourced by ten visionary Founders Circle donors, former Pikes Peak Community Foundation Executive Director Michael Hannigan worked with the founding board of directors to launch the CCCF. Its first full-time Executive Director, Chaffee native Joseph Teipel, was hired in mid-2019.

Having initially launched in late 2019, CCCF’s Emergency Response Fund (ERF) was re-activated in response to COVID-19. To date, CCCF has raised over $410,000 for the ERF, and distributed more than $330,000 to over 350 Chaffee households and 28 Chaffee nonprofit organizations. As a part of this work, CCCF designed and convened the Food Access Cohort (FAC) grant program, which was designed to bring together food assistance organizations in Chaffee County to meet each other, engage in planning, and ultimately, identify a core project (or projects) to pursue together that would build their capacity to meet both short and long-term needs of food assistance in Chaffee County.

Food Access Cohort Organizations:

  • Guidestone Colorado

  • Creekside Gathering Place

  • The Grainery Mission

  • Chaffee County Resource Center

  • Salida Community Center

  • SOIL Sangre de Cristo

  • The Foodshed Alliance

  • Ark Valley Helping Hands

  • Colorado Farm to Table

What we’re looking for

This RFP is a result of the Food Access Cohort’s work – they have identified the need to be able to better understand their volunteers’ interests, availability and constraints while increasing the efficiency and number of ways to community with them about needs and opportunities. It is also clear that some organizations have larger lists of volunteers than they can fully utilize while others struggle to find volunteers. This database should be simple, user-friendly, and allow trusted organizations to have a central repository of all potential volunteers as well as the CRM functionality to coordinate and track communications with those volunteers. CCCF seeks a consultant with a proven track record of database design, implementation, and training. This consultant should be willing to work creatively with CCCF and its Food Access Cohort organizations to carry out the Scope of Work detailed below.

The definition of success for this project is met when all organizations are able to be comfortable using the database on their own AND can see how continuing a collaborative volunteer database is value-added for their organization (ie they are willing to pay for a service

scope of work

This consultant will be contracted and paid by CCCF, and work closely with the Food Access Cohort organizations. The following scope of work is demonstrative, not exhaustive of the full scope. Consultants are encouraged to propose changes or additions to this scope in their proposals. The consultant will deliver the below deliverables using a combination of in-person, virtual, and electronic interviews, surveys, research, and conversations with the Food Access Cohort and CCCF as well as any others as deemed necessary.

Deliverables:

1.     Understanding & defining the need

  • Work with FAC and CCCF to understand the data and communication needs (including emails, SMS, and pre-recorded phone calls functionalities) related to identifying, recruiting, utilizing, and cultivating volunteers

  • Build process & data map to illustrate the flow of information and define what information and functionality is needed

  • Define & draft shared use processes and agreement(s)

2.     Build database

  • Research and present minimum of two COTS database/CRM solutions to FAC and CCCF members. Each option should include a lay-person’s overview of pros, cons, and pricing models for comparison. FAC members and CCCF will select which solution to pursue

  • Customize or setup database/CRM solution to correspond to process and data maps & functionality needs

  • Build a simple Google or other platform questionnaire to be sent to organizations’ current lists of volunteers to gather identified information for import into database.

  • Gather, clean, and import all existing volunteer information into database/CRM

3.     Train FAC members & CCCF

  • Train CCCF on database/CRM solution administration

  • Train FAC members on its functionality & ensure user comfort

  • Develop a terms of use statement and written agreement

  • Define and provide data standards document

  • Written step-by-step document on the basic operation of software

  • Provide “post-live” support for a maximum of 20 hours during normal business hours.  This is defined as up to 2 hours of support per organization.

Proposals & timeline

Successful proposals will highlight the collaborative and proactive approach of the consultant as well as understanding of database/CRM systems, data and communications flows, and software training.

Proposals should include or address:

1.     Name, contact, website, and at least 2 professional/client references including contacts

2.     Answers to these questions:

  • Describe your database/CRM work as an independent consultant.

  • What are key elements of data mapping?

  • How do you help clients define their data needs?

  • How do you approach complex database training needs with a variety of technology skills in clients?

  • What did we not include in this RFP that you think is important?

Proposals are due September 28th, to joseph@chaffeecommunity.org.

Proposals should break down costs within their fee to show hourly rate, sub-contractors needed, and other expenses.