Templates | Miscellaneous-RFP-Grants Management System Example

RFP-Grants Management System Example

Pdf Summary

The Chicago Horticultural Society (“the Garden”) issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) on June 2, 2020, seeking vendors to provide a Grants Management System (GMS) to handle government and private funding administration. Proposals were due by June 10, 2020, with demonstrations and full proposals following in June and July.<br /><br />The Garden operates the Chicago Botanic Garden, a 385-acre facility with extensive gardens and habitats, serving about one million visitors annually and boasting a large membership base. The Garden aims to enhance grants management efficiency by implementing an automated, user-friendly GMS that serves as the central record for all award data and documents, supports internal routing and approvals, automates notifications, and offers robust reporting.<br /><br />The Garden manages over 200 proposals annually with a team supporting 20+ Principal Investigators (PIs) managing roughly 40 government grants and 60 private grants, totaling approximately $7.5 million in expenditures. The preferred GMS must include compliance with federal grant requirements, internal and external reporting, financial tracking, subrecipient management, integration with existing systems (e.g., Microsoft Outlook, Financial Edge, Raiser’s Edge), and data security capabilities.<br /><br />The RFP process includes vendor pre-proposal submissions, introductory and comprehensive demonstrations, and full proposals. Vendors must detail company background, experience, implementation approach, pricing, technical support, security practices, and provide references. The Garden prioritizes minority and women-owned business participation, aiming for 35% of contracting expenditures.<br /><br />The proposal evaluation focuses on quality, service capabilities, and cost, with the right to reject proposals or modify the process. Confidentiality of submissions is mandated, and vendors must disclose any conflicts of interest.<br /><br />Attachment materials outline required forms, including a Substitute W-9 for tax purposes, and detailed schedules listing desired GMS features, technology platform requirements, information security standards, and disaster recovery protocols.

Keywords

Chicago Horticultural Society

Grants Management System

Request for Proposals

Chicago Botanic Garden

government grants

private grants

grant compliance

financial tracking

vendor evaluation

minority and women-owned business participation