Once the platform is live, the vendor’s long-term commitment to customer service, system reliability, and regular maintenance becomes critical. This section of the RFP asks vendors to detail the level of support they offer, including service availability, update cycles, incident response, and business continuity plans. These details are essential to ensure the platform performs reliably and securely long after implementation.
Vendors must outline the support services offered to ensure smooth daily operations and fast issue resolution. This includes both technical and general user support, with clear SLAs and escalation procedures.
“Critical issues, such as system outages or security breaches, are responded to within one hour, 24/7. A dedicated emergency support line is available.”
Vendors must describe how the platform is updated and maintained over time, including transparency into release schedules and upgrade processes.
“Customers are notified two weeks in advance of major releases, with release notes and rollback plans provided.”
Nonprofit platforms often rely on integrations with tools like Salesforce, so compatibility with third-party systems is vital. Vendors must ensure timely QA testing against CRM updates.
“We test all Salesforce-integrated features against new Nonprofit Cloud releases in a sandbox environment prior to public rollout.”
Vendors must commit to quickly resolving bugs and vulnerabilities after launch. The RFP should confirm expectations around patch turnaround.
“Security vulnerabilities are triaged and patched within 72 hours. Clients are notified of the fix with validation steps.”
A formal SLA protects the nonprofit from excessive downtime or slow response. Vendors should include an SLA that details platform availability and remediation procedures.
“Our SLA guarantees 99.95% uptime, with planned maintenance restricted to midnight–4 a.m. local time. Downtime events are communicated within 30 minutes.”
Vendors must demonstrate that they can sustain service during unexpected failures. This includes technical redundancy and formal disaster recovery protocols.
“Data backups occur hourly with a recovery time objective (RTO) of 2 hours. Our infrastructure supports automatic failover across regions.”
The platform must include procedures for identifying, reporting, and resolving security incidents.
“We notify clients within 48 hours of any confirmed unauthorized access to donor data, including full disclosure of remediation steps.”
Ongoing access to updated materials helps internal teams stay informed and self-sufficient. Vendors should provide high-quality support content for staff beyond the go-live date.
“Each client receives a custom training portal with onboarding videos, admin how-tos, and quarterly update webinars.”