REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)
Donor Retention & Integrated Direct Response Fundraising Agency
ChildFund India
1. ORGANISATIONAL CONTEXT
ChildFund India’s Individual Fundraising unit leads the strategy and management of individual giving programmes, including monthly giving, one-time donations, digital fundraising, and donor stewardship.
The division is headed and managed by the Director of Business Development and Sustainability and the Individual Fundraising team.
Donor servicing and all transactional payment clearance processes are currently handled by the in-house team. ChildFund India currently maintains a substantial donor database comprising of Monthly Giving Donors and Single Giving Donors
These segments include:
- Active donors (contributed within the last 24 months)
- Multi-year repeat donors
- Lapsed donors (no contribution within 13–60 months)
ChildFund India seeks to engage a qualified agency to design and implement an integrated, data-driven Donor Retention and Direct Response Programme aimed at strengthening donor engagement, improving retention rates, and maximizing lifetime value across segments.
2. PURPOSE OF THE RFP
The purpose of this RFP is to invite proposals from experienced agencies to:
- Strengthen donor retention and renewal rates
- Reactivate lapsed donors
- Convert one-time donors to monthly giving
- Upgrade existing donors
- Improve donor lifetime value (LTV)
- Deliver integrated multi-channel donor journeys
The selected agency will act as a strategic partner to ChildFund India for a period of one (1) years, with performance-based renewal.
4. SCOPE OF WORK
The selected agency will design, manage, and implement an integrated donor retention programme covering:
4.1 Strategy & Planning
- Develop a comprehensive donor retention strategy
- Create annual and quarterly campaign calendars
- Define donor journey frameworks (new, active, loyal, lapsed)
- Establish KPI dashboards and performance benchmarks
4.2 Donor Segmentation & Data Analytics
- Perform donor segmentation using giving behaviour and engagement data
- Develop predictive models for churn, upgrade potential, and reactivation
- Support data selection for campaigns
- Provide actionable insights and recommendations
4.3 Retention Campaign Management
Design and execute multi-channel retention journeys, including:
- Welcome journeys (within 48 hours for new donors)
- Thank-you and impact communications
- Renewal and anniversary campaigns
- Failed mandate recovery workflows
- Lapsed donor reactivation campaigns
- Monthly donor stewardship journeys
Channels may include:
- Email
- WhatsApp/SMS
- Tele-calling
- Direct mail (where applicable)
4.4 Donor Upgrade & Monthly Giving Conversion
- Convert single-gift donors to monthly giving
- Upgrade existing monthly donors
- Identify mid-value donor pipeline for major giving
4.5 Creative Development
- Donor-centric messaging and storytelling
- Email and digital creative
- Retention communication templates
- Testing of creative approaches
4.6 Testing & Optimisation
- A/B testing of messaging, channels, and timing
- Continuous optimisation based on performance data
4.7 Reporting & Review
- Monthly performance reports
- Quarterly strategic reviews
- KPI tracking:
- Retention rate
- Reactivation rate
- Monthly giving conversion
- Upgrade rate
- Donor LTV
- Cost per retained donor
5. DELIVERABLES
The agency will provide:
- Donor retention strategy document
- Segmentation and donor journey framework
- Annual campaign plan and budget tracker
- Communication calendar
- Creative assets and templates
- Monthly and quarterly performance reports
- Testing and optimisation reports
7. AGENCY ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
The agency must demonstrate:
- Minimum 2–5 years of experience in NGO fundraising/direct response
- Must: Proven track record in donor retention and monthly giving programmes
- Experience with multi-channel fundraising (digital + tele + DM)
- Strong data analytics and segmentation capability
- Ability to deliver measurable growth in retention and LTV
- Compliance with data protection and confidentiality standards
- Experience with child-focused or international NGOs will be an advantage.
8. PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS
- Agency background, key NGO clients, relevant case studies
- Retention strategy and donor journey approach
- Segmentation methodology and technology tools
- Testing and optimisation plan
- Year 1 campaign calendar and implementation timeline
- Coordination model with ChildFund India teams
- Sample dashboards and KPI measurement approach
- Reporting and review mechanisms
- Detailed financial proposal in INR
10. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
- Proposals must be submitted to email id () in PDF format
- All documents must be signed by an authorised representative
- Proposal validity: 30 days
- ChildFund India reserves the right to accept or reject any proposal without assigning reasons
- ChildFund India is not bound to accept the lowest bid
Required documents:
- Certificate of incorporation
- PAN, GST registration
- Client references
12. CONFIDENTIALITY & COMPLIANCE
The selected agency must:
- Comply with DPDP act and other applicable data protection laws
- Maintain strict confidentiality of donor data
- Sign ChildFund India’s safeguarding and data security policies