How to Create an RFP That Actually Gets Results: The 2026 Playbook

Most Requests for Proposals (RFPs) are terrible. According to Govlab research, this supports the recommendation above.

They are bloated, vague, and stuffed with jargon that scares away the exact talent you are trying to attract. If you are a nonprofit leader or a project manager looking for a web development partner, sending out a bad RFP is the fastest way to ensure you end up with a mediocre vendor who is good at filling out forms but terrible at solving problems.

In 2026, the game has changed. The digital landscape is more competitive, and the best agencies are more selective than ever. Top-tier agencies and developers don’t have time to decipher a 40-page document that doesn’t tell them what you actually need. They review dozens of inquiries a week, and they prioritize the ones that show clear thinking and professional maturity. They want clarity, strategy, and a partnership—not a guessing game.

When you send a confused RFP, you signal that you will be a confused client. You signal that approvals will be slow, goals will shift, and success will be hard to define. High-quality vendors will simply delete your email and move on to the next opportunity.

This guide isn’t about filling out paperwork. It is about how to create an RFP that acts as a strategic weapon to find the best partner for your mission. It is about shifting the dynamic from “vendor procurement” to “partner selection.” By following this playbook, you will save months of wasted time and thousands of dollars in potential project rework.

Why Most RFPs Fail Before They Are Even Sent

The biggest mistake organizations make is treating the RFP as a shopping list. You list every feature you think you need—a blog, a donation portal, a CRM integration, a specific type of slider on the homepage—without explaining the outcome you want to achieve.

When you do this, you attract “order takers.” These are vendors who will build exactly what you asked for, collect their check, and leave you with a product that doesn’t actually solve your business problem. Order takers do not ask questions. They do not challenge your assumptions. They simply execute instructions. While this sounds safe, it is actually dangerous. If your instructions are even slightly off the mark regarding what your users actually need, you will build a robust, bug-free bridge to nowhere.

A successful RFP does three things:

1. Filters out the noise: It scares away unqualified vendors immediately. A well-written RFP sets a bar of professionalism that low-quality “churn and burn” shops cannot meet. It makes it clear that you require strategic thinking, not just code assembly.
2. Attracts strategic partners: It signals to top talent that you are serious and organized. When a great developer reads a great RFP, they get excited. They see a problem they can sink their teeth into and a client who understands the value of their expertise.
3. Focuses on outcomes: It asks for solutions, not just features. It shifts the conversation from “How much for a contact form?” to “How can we increase our inquiry rate by 20%?”

If you are hiring a marketing agency or a tech partner, your RFP is your first impression. Make it count. You are marketing yourself to them just as much as they are marketing themselves to you.

Phase 1: The Pre-RFP (The “Discovery” Phase)

You cannot write a good RFP if you don’t know what you want. Before you open a blank document, you need to do the internal work. This is where 90% of projects go off the rails—not during development, but right here, before the project even starts.

Many organizations skip this step because they feel an urgency to “get the ball rolling.” They assume that they can figure out the details once they have hired someone. This is a fallacy. If you do not have internal alignment before you hire a partner, you will spend your budget paying the partner to sit in meetings while your team argues about priorities.

1. Define the Problem, Not the Solution

The most powerful RFPs describe a gap between the current state and the desired future state. They do not dictate the bridge between the two.

Instead of saying, “We need a new WordPress website,” say, “Our current donor conversion rate is 0.5%, and we need to increase it to 2% to sustain our programs.”

See the difference? The first limits you to a specific tool (WordPress). It assumes you know that the CMS is the problem. The second invites experts to tell you the best way to solve the problem. Maybe you don’t need a full redesign; maybe you need a custom landing page system. Maybe the issue isn’t the website at all, but the speed of your hosting or the complexity of your donation form. Leave room for their expertise.

By defining the problem, you allow the vendor to act as a consultant. They might suggest solutions you have never heard of, technologies that are more efficient, or approaches that save you money.

2. Secure Your Budget

Do not issue an RFP without a budget range. Period.

There is a myth that hiding your budget gives you negotiating power. It doesn’t. It just wastes everyone’s time. If you have $50,000 and the solution you need costs $150,000, you need to know that immediately. Without a budget range, you will receive proposals ranging from $5,000 to $500,000. This makes comparing them impossible because the vendors are proposing entirely different tiers of service.

Top vendors will not reply to an RFP with “Budget: TBD.” They assume you are fishing for prices and aren’t ready to buy. They assume you have not secured funding and that the project is high-risk. Be transparent.

If you truly do not know what the budget should be, do some preliminary research. Call a few peers in your industry. Look at guides on pricing. Establish a “Not to Exceed” number. Even a wide range (e.g., “$75k – $125k”) is infinitely better than no number at all.

3. Align Your Stakeholders

Who has the final say? If your Board of Directors needs to approve the design, but they aren’t involved until the end, you are setting yourself up for a “swoop and poop”—where a high-level exec swoops in at the last minute and craps on everything.

This happens constantly. The project team works for months, makes decisions, and builds a product. Then, two weeks before launch, the Executive Director sees it for the first time and says, “I don’t like blue.” Panic ensues. Rework costs skyrocket. The timeline collapses.

Get their buy-in on the goals now, not later. Create a RACI matrix (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) before you write the RFP. Determine who is the single voice of authority. If you cannot get internal alignment on the goals now, no external vendor can save you later.

Phase 2: Structuring the Perfect RFP

Now that you have your strategy, it’s time to write the document. Keep it lean. If your RFP is longer than 10 pages, you are probably overcomplicating it. You are not buying a fighter jet; you are building digital infrastructure.

Length does not equal rigor. In fact, a concise RFP demonstrates that you know exactly what is important and what is irrelevant.

Here is the structure that wins in 2026.

Section 1: The Executive Summary

This is the hook. In three paragraphs, explain who you are, what you are trying to do, and why it matters. This section determines whether the vendor keeps reading.

• Who: “We are [Organization Name], a nonprofit dedicated to…” Briefly describe your mission and your scale (e.g., local, national, global).
• The Pain: “Our current digital infrastructure cannot handle our volunteer intake, causing us to lose 30% of applicants. Our staff spends 20 hours a week manually entering data.” Quantify the pain whenever possible.
• The Goal: “We are seeking a partner to build a custom intake portal that automates vetting and increases volunteer retention. We aim to reduce admin time by 50%.”

Section 2: Project Background & Scope of Work (SOW)

This is the meat of the document. Be specific but outcome-focused. Context is critical here. Explain the history of the project. Have you tried to solve this before? Why did it fail? What systems are currently in place?

Instead of a dry list of requirements, group them by user needs (User Stories).

• Bad: “System must have login, search, and export.” This is dry and lacks context.
• Good: “Volunteers need a dashboard where they can track their hours and download tax forms without calling staff. Administrators need to export these hours into a CSV format compatible with QuickBooks.”

This narrative style helps the developer understand the flow of data and the human element behind the features.

If you are looking for a standard format to get started, you can download a proven rfp template to save yourself hours of formatting time. Using a solid template ensures you don’t miss critical technical constraints, like accessibility standards or data migration needs. It also helps you organize your thoughts so you don’t accidentally leave out major components like “User Training” or “Post-Launch Warranty.”

Section 3: Technical Constraints

If you have existing systems, list them here. This is non-negotiable territory. If a vendor cannot work with your existing CRM, they need to know that now.

• “Must integrate with Salesforce NPSP via API.”
• “Must be hosted on AWS due to organizational policy.”
• “Must comply with WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards for federal funding compliance.”
• “Must pass a third-party security penetration test.”

If you are unsure about technical needs, admit it. Ask the vendor to recommend the best stack. Say, “We are currently using Drupal but are open to migration if a compelling case is made.” For complex needs, you might be looking for custom web applications rather than a standard site build. Understanding the difference between a brochure site and a web application is vital for selecting the right vendor category.

Section 4: Budget & Timeline

State your budget range. “Our budget for this project is between $75,000 and $100,000.” Be clear if this includes licensing fees, hosting costs for the first year, or just development services.

State your deadline, but explain why. “We need to launch by September 1st for our Fall Gala.” If the date is flexible, say so. Rigid, arbitrary deadlines are a red flag for quality vendors. If you demand a 3-month turnaround for a 6-month project, experienced vendors will know you are setting them up to fail.

If your project is large, consider breaking the timeline into phases. “Phase 1 MVP launch by September, Phase 2 features by December.” This approach reduces risk and gets value into the market faster.

Section 5: Evaluation Criteria

How will you pick the winner? Be honest. Vendors need to know if they should focus their proposal on their creative portfolio or their technical architecture.

• 30% Technical Approach (How well do you understand the problem?)
• 30% Relevant Experience (Have you solved this specific problem before?)
• 20% Cultural Fit / Communication Style (Can we work together for 6 months?)
• 20% Cost (Are you within our range?)

This transparency builds trust. It tells vendors that you aren’t just looking for the cheapest option. It also forces your internal team to agree on what matters most. If the Board thinks “Cost” is 80% of the criteria, but the Project Manager thinks “Technical Approach” is 80%, you have a conflict to resolve before you publish.

Phase 3: The “Secret Sauce” (Outcome-Based Requests)

To truly stand out, you need to flip the script on how you ask for solutions. Most RFPs stifle innovation by prescribing the “how.” The best RFPs focus entirely on the “what” and the “why.”

Standard RFPs ask: “How will you build this feature?” Great RFPs ask: “How will you help us achieve this business goal?”

The “Scenario” Method

Instead of asking for a feature list, provide a scenario. This is a simulation of real-world usage.

• Scenario: “A donor visits our site on a mobile device during a disaster relief campaign. They want to give $50 in under 60 seconds. Currently, this takes 4 minutes and requires pinching and zooming. How would you solve this flow to minimize friction?”

This tests their strategic thinking, not just their coding ability. It forces them to show you their design process. Do they talk about mobile wallets like Apple Pay? Do they talk about reducing form fields? Do they talk about page load speed?

• Scenario 2: “Our content manager needs to publish a press release urgently on a Saturday night from their iPad. Currently, they need a developer to push code. Describe the editing workflow you would build to empower them to do this independently.”

According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), clearly defining these performance outcomes significantly reduces the risk of scope creep later in the project. When you agree on the result, the method can be flexible. This flexibility is where the magic happens. It allows the developer to pivot if a better technology emerges halfway through the project, as long as the outcome remains the same.

Phase 4: Distribution and Selection

Do not just post your RFP on a public job board and hope for the best. That is how you get spam. That is how you get hundreds of generic replies from bots and unqualified teams.

1. Curate Your List

Research 3-5 agencies that specialize in your industry. If you are a nonprofit, look for agencies that build high-trust nonprofit websites. Look at the footers of websites you admire. Ask for referrals from partners.

Send the RFP directly to them with a personalized email. “I saw your work on [Project X] and thought you would be a great fit for our upcoming initiative.” This personal touch significantly increases the likelihood that a busy agency will make time to respond.

2. Allow a Q&A Window

You will miss something. You always will. Your RFP will have ambiguities. Give vendors a 1-week window to submit questions. Do not answer them one by one. Gather all questions, answer them in a single document, and send the answers to everyone who is bidding. This levels the playing field and ensures everyone is bidding on the same scope.

This process also tells you a lot about the vendors. Who asked smart, probing questions? Who asked lazy questions that were answered in the document? Who asked nothing at all? The quality of the questions is a strong predictor of the quality of the work.

3. The Interview (The “Vibe Check”)

Paper proposals lie. People don’t. A proposal can be written by a professional copywriter, but the actual work will be done by developers and designers. Once you shortlist 2-3 vendors, get them on a video call. Do not just let them present a slide deck. Have a conversation.

• Do they listen or do they talk over you?
• Do they ask “why” questions?
• Do they challenge your assumptions? (You want a partner who challenges you).
• Ask them: “Tell us about a project that went wrong and how you fixed it.” If they say they’ve never had a project go wrong, run away. They are lying.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake #1: The “Kitchen Sink” RFP

Asking for everything under the sun because you are afraid of missing out. This bloats the budget and confuses the vendor. Stick to the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) for the initial launch. Focus on the core value. You can always add the “nice-to-haves” in Phase 2. A bloated RFP results in a bloated software product that is hard to use and expensive to maintain.

Mistake #2: Unrealistic Timelines

“We need a custom enterprise platform in 4 weeks.” No, you don’t. You need a miracle. Fast, Cheap, Good—pick two. If you rush the timeline, you will pay for it in technical debt later. Technical debt is the cost of reworking code that was written hastily. It slows down every future update. Be realistic about how long quality takes. A standard custom website often takes 12-16 weeks. A complex web app can take 6 months or more.

Mistake #3: Judging Solely on Price

The cheapest vendor is often the most expensive in the long run. If one bid is 50% lower than the others, they either didn’t understand the scope, or they plan to hit you with “change orders” for every little thing.

Low-cost vendors often lack project management layers, Quality Assurance (QA) testing, and strategic oversight. You will end up doing that work yourself. Organizations like the NIGP: The Institute for Public Procurement emphasize that “best value” does not mean “lowest price.” It means the best combination of quality, service, and cost. Calculate the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) over 3 years, not just the build cost.

The “2026” Nuance: AI and Automation

You might be tempted to use AI to write your RFP. Be careful. AI is great for formatting and spell-checking, but it is terrible at strategy. An AI-generated RFP reads like a robot wrote it. It lacks the nuance of your specific organizational culture and the emotional weight of your mission. It will produce a generic document that attracts generic vendors.

However, you should expect your vendors to use AI. The landscape of development has changed. Coding assistants and AI design tools have made certain tasks much faster. You want a partner who utilizes these tools to save you money, not one who is stuck in 2020.

Ask them: “How do you leverage AI in your development or design process to improve efficiency?”

• Good answer: “We use AI to automate code testing, generate dummy data, and speed up initial wireframe concepts. We also use it to check our code for accessibility violations.”
• Bad answer: “We use AI to write all our code” (Security risk! AI code often has vulnerabilities) or “We don’t use AI at all” (They are falling behind and likely charging you for manual hours that could be automated).

Furthermore, ask about data privacy. If they use AI tools, are they feeding your proprietary data into public models? You need to ensure your partner has an AI usage policy that protects your intellectual property.

Conclusion: It’s About Partnership, Not Paperwork

An RFP is not a legal trap; it is an invitation to dance.

You are asking a team of experts to dedicate their time and talent to your mission. Treat the process with respect, and you will get respect in return. The best agencies evaluate you just as hard as you evaluate them. They are looking for clients who are reasonable, organized, and collaborative.

The document you create is a proxy for your organizational culture. If it is chaotic, they will assume you are chaotic. If it is thoughtful, they will assume you are thoughtful.

If you are ready to start but feel overwhelmed by the technical details, consider booking a consultation to refine your strategy before you go to market. A few hours of expert planning can save you months of headaches. We can help you translate your business goals into technical requirements that vendors actually understand.

Remember:

1. Outcomes > Features. Define the “what” and “why,” leave the “how” to the experts.
2. Budget transparency creates trust. It allows vendors to propose realistic solutions.
3. Short and sweet beats long and boring. Clarity is the ultimate sign of competence.

Now, go write an RFP that makes vendors excited to work with you.