Request for Proposal (RFP) Salesforce System Enhancement & Optimization

RFP issued by Umoja Community Education Foundation (UCEF) for a Salesforce consulting engagement. Submission deadline: 9/02/2026 11:59 PST. Questions due by 8/10/2026 to Dr. Ahmed Naguib at anaguib@umojacommunity.org.

About the Engagement

UCEF is seeking proposals from a qualified Salesforce consulting firm or independent consultant to upgrade and improve its existing Salesforce environment. This engagement is scoped for a small firm or single consultant with deep, hands-on Salesforce configuration and development experience. The goal is to make the system more automated, better organized by department, and cleaner at the data level.

Salesforce underpins program operations, reporting, and data management across UCEF, including a Research & Evaluation function reliant on accurate, scalable data systems.

About Umoja

Umoja (a Kiswahili word meaning unity) is a community and critical resource dedicated to enhancing the cultural and educational experiences of African American and other students. The organization promotes student success through a curriculum responsive to the legacy of the African and African American Diasporas.

Current Environment

• Salesforce edition: Enterprise, Service, Marketing Cloud
• Approximate number of users: 20 Internal Users, 80 Customer/Partner Users
• Key existing objects/data model: Custom partner records, program reporting objects related to accounts, Marketing Cloud Growth, Einstein Activity Capture
• Existing automation: Flows, Process Builder
• Existing integrations: Campus Partner Portal, Eventbrite, Adobe Sign
• Reporting tools: Salesforce Reports, Dashboard, and Tableau
• Known pain points: Duplicate contacts, manual task assignment, inconsistent departmental use and access

Project Objectives & Scope of Work

The selected vendor will deliver four workstreams:

Workstream 1 — Automation & Task Assignment

• Assess current automation (Flows, Process Builder, Workflow Rules, Apex) and identify gaps, redundancies, or deprecated tooling
• Design and build automated task assignment and record routing (e.g., based on program, region, role)
• Build notification, reminder, and follow-up automations to reduce manual tracking
• Create or refine validation rules and approval processes
• Consolidate and migrate legacy automation into a scalable, Flow-based architecture
• Document all automation logic and decision points

Workstream 2 — Department-Specific Applications

• Gather requirements from teams (e.g., Research & Evaluation, program operations)
• Design and build custom Lightning apps, objects, record types, page layouts, and tabs tailored to each department
• Configure permission sets, profiles, and role-based access
• Build department-specific reports and dashboards
• Ensure applications are scalable, maintainable, and aligned with organizational data standards

Workstream 3 — Contact Automation Cleanup

• Audit the contact data model and existing contact-related automation
• Perform data cleaning, deduplication, standardization, and integrity checks
• Repair or rebuild contact automation (duplicate/matching rules, data-entry validation, flows)
• Establish data standards and lightweight governance for ongoing maintenance
• Document standards for internal staff

Workstream 4 — Executive & Operational Dashboards

• Design, build, test, and document eight dashboards for leadership, covering:
  • Human resources
  • Technology
  • Performance management
  • Communications
  • Facilities
  • Compliance
  • Contracts
  • Agencywide initiatives
• Propose source strategies for data not currently in Salesforce (native capture, integration, or manual updates), noting licensing or maintenance costs
• Include supporting reports, objects, fields, and data-capture processes

Requirements

Deliverables

• Discovery summary: Findings and prioritized plan from current environment assessment
• Automation & task-assignment build: Configured, tested Flows and routing logic (Workstream 1)
• Department applications: Configured apps, objects, layouts, permissions, and dashboards (Workstream 2)
• Contact cleanup: Deduplicated/standardized contact data, repaired automation, and documented data standards (Workstream 3)
• Dashboard design package: Recommended KPIs, data-source map, automation vs. manual classification, integration recommendations, and approved mockups (Workstream 4)
• Executive & operational dashboards: Eight built and tested dashboards with supporting reports and refresh/subscription configuration (Workstream 4)
• System documentation: Data dictionary, automation inventory, and configuration notes
• Knowledge-transfer session(s) and a maintenance/recommendations memo

Qualifications

• Salesforce Administrator certification (required); Platform Developer I certification (strongly preferred)
• Hands-on experience with Salesforce configuration/development (objects, fields, relationships, validation rules, automation, Apex)
• Experience designing custom applications and configuring user permissions, profiles, and roles
• Demonstrated experience with data cleaning, deduplication, and data-integrity work at scale
• Strong knowledge of relational data models, normalization, and data integrity
• Ability to translate operational needs into technical solutions and communicate clearly with non-technical stakeholders
• Experience delivering scoped projects on time and within budget as a small firm or independent consultant
• Experience designing and building executive-level dashboards and KPI reporting in Salesforce (Tableau/CRM Analytics a plus)
• Plus: Experience in nonprofit/higher-education sectors or with Nonprofit Cloud/NPSP
• Plus: Familiarity with SQL or related data tools

Proposal Requirements

• Overview of firm/consulting practice, including years of Salesforce experience and certifications
• Relevant experience: 2-3 examples or case studies of comparable work (automation, custom app builds, data cleanup), ideally in mission-driven or education contexts
• Proposed approach and methodology for each workstream
• Dashboard approach: Source strategy for data not in Salesforce, with an example of comparable dashboard/KPI work
• Project plan and timeline, including key milestones
• Team/staffing: Who will perform the work and their qualifications
• Cost proposal (fixed fee by deliverable/milestone preferred; hourly rate with not-to-exceed cap acceptable)
• References: At least two client references for comparable engagements
• Assumptions and dependencies: Any requirements from UCEF (access, staff time, decisions)

Budget & Contract Terms

This is a fixed-scope consulting engagement as an independent contractor (no employee benefits). Payment is milestone-based, tied to accepted deliverables.

Evaluation Criteria

• Relevant Salesforce expertise and certifications (30%)
• Quality and clarity of proposed approach (25%)
• Demonstrated experience with comparable projects (20%)
• Cost and value (15%)
• References and reliability (10%)

Mission alignment and communication with non-technical staff will also be considered.

Timeline

• RFP issued: 7/23/2026
• Deadline for vendor questions: 8/10/2026
• Responses to questions shared: 8/13/2026
• Proposals due: 9/02/2026
• Vendor interviews (if any): 9/03/2026 - 9/11/2026
• Selection & notification: 9/15/2026
• Project kickoff: Late September 2026
• Estimated project completion: 6 - 8 months