There are some new realities to be faced and with these realities new skills to be acquired and structures to be put in place. Firstly, no-one forces any organisation to tender for anything. For voluntary sector organisations and charities, this is a time for review and a clear decision to be taken at trustee level – Do we wish to tender and thus contract to deliver statutory services? It is essential that organisations take a good hard look at the procurement process and decide whether or not it is for them. If it is decided to proceed down this route, there are implications which go to the very heart of the voluntary and charitable sector in England. In order to be successful it may be necessary for:

• organisations to make significant changes to the way in which they operate;
• trustees and governance structures to cope with new demands at levels well in excess of the current expectations;
• organisations to function in ways which are similar to those operated by private companies;
• the quality and standard of a wide range of management functions to be improved in order to demonstrate that all areas of risk have been effectively addressed;
• policies and procedures which are not currently necessary to be put in place;
• senior management and trustees to be involved in the tendering process. This function cannot be left to the fundraiser.

Tendering procedures

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• Expression of interest (EoI)
• Issue of tender documents to those who have responded

The selection phase -

• Submission of pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ)
• PQQ is scored

The award phase -

• Applicants successful at PQQ notified.
• Invitations to tender (ITT).
• Submission of tender documents, probably including the method statement.
• Tender documents scored.

Contract -

• Either: The contract is awarded,
• Or: Short-listed applicants are invited to make a presentation
  and then the contract is awarded

This process will be varied according to the actual procedure being used, i.e open, restricted, negotiated or competitive dialogue, but these elements feature in all tendering procedures.

The difficulties having been addressed, it is clear that there is a window of opportunity which will exist in the short to medium term. With the exception of some situations, where the "lowest price" selection methodology is used, the scoring of tenders does not depend on price. The more frequently used system is known as Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT). First of all the price is scored. This contributes between 10% and 40% to the overall score. The rest of the tender is then scored against a set of criteria which together make up the "quality" element. Each criterion is assessed separately and then brought together to make up the balance of the total score.

As the quality element makes up between 60% and 90% of the overall total, for those who understand how this system works there are clear opportunities which enable organisations to hold their price. Eventually the time will come when the methodology is well understood and then price will revert to being the main factor.

Common errors made in the tendering process

• Missing the call to tender;
• Failing to express interest and therefore not receiving the documents;
• Failing to submit a pre-qualification questionnaire which debars the organisation from the tender award phase of the process;
• Not providing the information required;
• Not answering the questions but providing information which can be regarded as "marketing";
• Basing the responses on unsupported assertions rather than evidenced claims;
• Not including the key documentation;
• Failing to adequately demonstrate effective management of risk throughout the organisation;
• Failing to ensure an anonymous response – for example by including the organisation's logo on the package, or by using a postal system which identifies the "sender" on the package;
• Missing submission deadlines.