Tendering describes the process of putting together and submitting a bid (in competition with others) for an advertised contract. Most voluntary and community organisations who get involved with this will be tendering for a contract to deliver a social welfare, health, education or training service on behalf of a public sector body. But there are other areas of work and other bodies who may advertise contracts that the sector is able to tender for.

The process of purchasing services through advertising contracts and inviting tenders is often referred to as procurement.

Smaller community and voluntary organisations can find that the process of tendering for public sector contracts is beyond their resources. It can be a very technical and bureaucratic process, governed by a whole range of central government and EU directives. However, Government is keen to increase the sector’s role in public service delivery and various initiatives have been designed to support the sector to develop its ability to tender for public sector contracts. This overview introduces key aspects involved in tendering and negotiating for contracts and suggests where to go for further advice.