Maryland Alliance of Public Charter Schools

Request for Quotes

Grant Management System

Release Date: 11/15/23

Introduction

The Maryland Alliance of Public Charter Schools (MAPCS) is a 501(c)3 non-profit non-partisan organization that serves as a voice for charter school communities so that we can offer support to new and existing public charter schools, and drive the discussion around innovative educational practices that lead to positive outcomes for students. On September 27, 2023, MAPCS was awarded the 2023 Charter Schools Program (CSP) grant to increase the number of high quality charter schools in Maryland over the next five years. As part of this grant, MAPCS will be bidding out for a number of services and products.

SCOPE OF WORK

MAPCS invites proposals from qualified companies for the services described below. During the contract period, the Vendor will maintain contact with Stephanie Simms, the Director of Operations and CSP Program.

Development of a personalized Grant Management System:

  • Work with MAPCS to customize a Grant Management System to meet the needs for applicant applications, external notifications, autoset reminders, external reviewers, site visit reviews, grantee finance and compliance tracking/monitoring, reporting both for the total grant allocation as well as individual grants.

  • Additional functions may be identified once MAPCS begins to use the product.

  • Ability to interface with a financial accounting system.

  • Ease of adding new grantees, making changes to online grant application,  monitoring of the grantees, and reporting functions is important.

  • Tech team assigned will continue to work with MAPCS until all components of the system are up and running. Ongoing technical support is offered.

  • Reference/utilize templates, etc. from existing Smartsheet data that was used to monitor previous grant.

  • Ability to easily access the complete data file at end of the period.

  • Secure document repository for submissions of monitoring documentation

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Respondents must demonstrate the following:

  • Support for charter schools and their role in public education and respect for their unique legal status and autonomy.

  • Experience working with non profit organizations awarded Federal or State Grants; expertise with those that also disperse subgrants is a plus.

  • The ability to work in collaboration with a diverse group of people with a positive, professional and solutions oriented attitude.

  • System must accommodate outside users interface, as well as staff required systems.

INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED BY THE CONTRACTOR

Provide a quote fulfilling the scope of work to include at a minimum the following:

  • Background information and qualifications for the expert or experts to fulfill the contract.

  • Product Details (include the types of Grant Management Services your company can provide to our organization, i.e., Online portal, Interface with multiple users, interface with QuickBooks Accounting (or other accounting system), Reporting, Reviewer Access, Individual grant reporting and Portfolio grant reporting, Set-Up Personalization, Tech Support, and any other offerings available.

  • Pricing for initial setup of system and year to year annual cost products listed above and in the Scope of Work

  • Value Added Details, if applicable.

  • History of charter school experience within the State of Maryland/Nationally.

  • Descriptions of previous relevant work, including any samples

  • A detailed description of the services to be provided including a timeline, persons responsible and key deliverables.

  • Ability to complete the Scope of Work:  Vendors should comment on their ability to complete the scope of work listed above, being sure to list any items they do not feel they would be able to complete, and any additional items they are able to provide above the scope. 

  • Software Preferences and Cost Expectations: Vendors should detail which software package(s) they will be using and who is responsible for paying for such services. 

  • If there is a limited number of users at price points, that should be expressed.

  • A proposed budget for services, including all expected costs and the expected number of hours devoted to the contact.

  • List of Accounting System software integrations or sync

  • A minimum of three (3) references.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

Quotes will be evaluated on the following criteria:

  • Qualifications and experience,

  • Demonstrated knowledge of financial management for quality start-up charter schools

  • Relevance of the proposal to the scope of work and project rationale,

  • Descriptions and samples of previous work, and

  • Timeline and costs of services.

CONTRACTING

The award will be made to the prospective contractor that best meets MAPCS needs and requirements. All aspects of the evaluation criteria will be taken into consideration in awarding this contract - i.e., MAPCS uses a “best value” standard rather than a “lowest bid” standard. As this project will be funded through Federal funds, Federal procurement rules for a request for quotes and a contract are in effect.

GOVERNING LAW

This contract shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Maryland, excluding its conflicts of law provisions, and any litigation with respect thereto shall be brought to the courts of Maryland. The Contractors shall comply with all applicable Federal, state and local laws and regulations.

INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR

The Contractor shall perform all services as an independent Contractor and shall at no time represent that the Contractor is an employee of MAPCS.

NEGOTIATION AND REJECTION

MAPCS reserves the right the right to reject and and all proposals, to waive any informality or irregularity, to define equals, to negotiate with the best proposed offeror to address issues other than those described in the proposal, to award the contract to one other than the lower offeror, or to not make any award if it is determined to be in the best interest of MAPCS.

TIMELINE

  • Prospective respondents may ask questions via email until the quote deadline.

  • Quotes will be reviewed by MAPCS staff in the 15 business days following the deadline.

  • Respondents may be asked to respond to clarifying questions in writing during the first 10 days of the review period.

  • MAPCS will off the contract within 15 business days of the deadline, if at all feasible.

SERVICE PERIOD AND TERMS

The contract will be from NOA until September 30, 2024, with the possibility of four option years.

QUOTE CONDITIONS AND INFORMATION

Quotes will be received by MAPCS until November 29, 2023. Quotes must be submitted via email. Please use “RFQ-Financial Services” as the subject line of the submission email. Questions regarding this request for quotes can be submitted to Stephanie Simms by email at stephanie@mdcharters.org.

Contact:

Stephanie Simms
CSP Project Director 
1500 Union Ave, Suite 1330
Baltimore, MD 21211
stephanie@mdcharters.org
(410) 919.9678