REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS – WILPF UK WEBSITE PROJECT 2023

About WILPF International, WILPF UK and WILPF Trust

The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is the oldest international women’s peace organisation active today, founded in 1915, with Sections worldwide. WILPF’s mission is to prevent and end war through the analysis of root causes; ensure that women are represented at all levels in the peace-building process; defend the human rights of women and men; and promote social, economic and political justice. All our work is viewed through a feminist lens. WILPF UK is a Section of WILPF International and has a wide variety of campaigns, including Climate Justice; Women, Peace, and Security; and Disarmament.

Our Structure

WILPF UK’s activities are coordinated by an elected Executive Committee which includes the Secretarial team, a Treasurer, a Membership Secretary, a Communications Team Coordinator, two International Representatives, the Branch Secretaries and other elected members. Within the UK there is a local branch structure. Currently, these are in Brighton, Hove and District, London, Orpington, and Scotland.

WILPF has consultative status with United Nations ECOSOC, UNCTAD and UNESCO, and has special consultative relations with FAO, ILO and INICEF. (See abbreviations list below). WILPF UK has recently become a Company limited by guarantee, and its full title is Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom UK Section Limited. The Company Number is 14007981.

WILPF UK cannot be a charity because of the UK Charity Commission regulations, which do not allow a registered charity to engage in political campaigning except in limited circumstances. However a charitable organisation has been set up (WILPF Trust: Charity Commission Number 1136098) which covers human rights issues. This is separate from WILPF UK, but an explanation (in the form already agreed) needs to be included in our website.

Who the Website should address

Our goals for the new website include engaging with existing members, those familiar with WILPF UK but not members (e.g. members of partner or allied organisations), and the general public. The new website will offer visitors and people unfamiliar with WILPF a chance to learn what WILPF is and what we do. The website needs to be our shop window, to show clearly the diversity and depth of our campaigning, so that people are drawn in, and really want to join and be active in WILPF.

Financial: Membership, Donation, Merchandise

The new website must make it easy for interested members of the public to donate, subscribe to the newsletter, and become members. It must also allow existing members to renew their membership subscriptions. Our goals also include a functional online shop that is easy for both shoppers and WILPF UK members doing the dispatching to use.

Information to be Included

The new website must engage both existing members and interested enquirers. It needs to be a place where they can efficiently learn about or confirm the details of upcoming events, our campaigns, our Annual Reports (past and current) and general policy statements or other statements on current issues. It should also include information about our branches and their activities, and give contact details. Links to WILPF International website and others need to be included.

WILPF UK’s new website will include our history, but focus on our work in the present moment, and be inviting and engaging for members and non-members alike.

Other requirements:

• Adherence to accessibility standards that make it easy to use for people with low vision and other disabilities
• Website must have a logical user-friendly framework and be very easy and intuitive to navigate
• Website must be fully accessible on mobile phones and smaller devices
• Predictable and knowable long-term as well as short-term costs
• Sufficient flexibility to allow for future changes if required e.g. additional pages
• A search facility should be included
• Pages should support a variety of media (e.g. videos), also illustrations, graphics and
  photographs
• Social media should be easily integrated into several pages
• User-friendliness is absolutely key
• The WILPF UK website must be easy to update and manipulate from the back end: there will be many topical and timely items on the website that will need regular posting, updating,
  and removing.

Developer and WILPF UK working together

It is essential that the web developer communicates with WILPF UK consistently throughout the development process and is able to explain the process and outcomes to the WILPF UK executive members to enable them (or a subcommittee thereof) to offer feedback. The developer should also be skilled in communicating their process and progress to an organisation with varying levels of technical and web literacy. The designer and WILPF UK will have regular Zoom meetings.

Updating the website

The developer will also train designated individuals on how to update/edit the website, though as mentioned, this ought to be a simple process, not one that requires specialised knowledge. WILPF UK individuals need to be trained in making more substantial amendments, e.g. adding extra pages. The developer will provide a “how-to use” guide when the website is completed and handed over.