St James Church Digital Services Communications Partner
 

1. Introduction

St James Anglican Church is an historic English‑speaking Anglican church located in the historic center of Porto, serving an international and local congregation. Over the past several years, the church has modernized its digital presence to better support worship, communication, and community engagement.
 

The church is now seeking proposals from a small, locally based digital services firm or team, ideally located in downtown Porto, to manage ongoing digital services. The objective is to transition from a volunteer‑led model to a more professional and sustainable third‑party partnership.  The scale of work is modest and steady, appropriate for a small organization with predictable, recurring needs rather than large project-based engagements.
 

2. Background & Current State

The church’s digital infrastructure has been established and stabilized and includes:

• A modern church website (see the newly created site here)

• Google Workspace for Nonprofits

  • Domain‑based email accounts

  • Shared drives and calendars

• Established visual and graphic standards (you may view them here)

• Active social media presence (see Facebook page here) Instagram under consideration

• Email newsletter template (see example from Sept 2025 here) and distribution workflows

• Sunday service videography and publishing

• Creation of monthly digital assets (social posts, flyers, banners:  see examples shown in email newsletter of Sept 2025)

• Light evolution of standards as needed (rebranding is not required)
   

3. Objectives of This RFP

The goals of this RFP are to:

• Identify a reliable, responsive locally-based digital partner

• Ensure continuity and resilience of church digital services

• Reduce dependency on individual volunteers

• Establish predictable costs and service expectations

• Enable future, incremental improvements without over‑engineering
   

4. Scope of Services

Proposals should address experience and capabilities in the following areas.
 

• 4.1 Website Management

  • Routine content updates (text, images, events; this role is not intended to include custom feature development unless separately scoped and approved.

  • Minor layout or styling changes

  • Performance, security, and plugin/theme updates (especially WordPress related, and translation plug in maintenance)

  • Basic SEO and accessibility best practices

  • Coordination with English speaking churchwardens who will provide content
     

• 4.2 Google Workspace Administration

  • Ongoing administration of pre-existing Google Workspace for Nonprofits

  • Email account setup and removal as church personnel changes

  • Shared Drive permissions administration, guidance, and maintenance of its structure

  • Basic training, as well as security and account training for clergy and staff twice a year conducted on premice in the church's Well House
     

• 4.3 Graphic & Visual Standards

  • Adherence to existing brand/graphic standards

  • Creation of bi-monthly digital assets (event flyers, banners) using content provided by a coordinating Churchwarden or Digital Ministry Services lead
     

• 4.4 Social Media Support

  • Post the provided content to existing platforms; assume one post a week, with content provided by a coordinating Churchwarden or Digital Ministry Services lead.

  • Light content adaptation for platform norms 

  • Basic performance awareness (an understanding of what works / what doesn’t, and the demographic profile of platforms)

  • Potential for additional content calendar support
     

• 4.5 Email Communications

  • Communications should follow guidelines made for existing Constant Contact e-newsletter templates (roughly 2x month; see example here)

  • Support should include list management and data privacy compliance (requires EU GDPR law awareness)

  • Scheduling and distribution support under direction of coordinating Churchwarden or Digital Ministry Services lead.

  • Troubleshooting delivery issues
     

• 4.6 Sunday Service Videography & Posting

  • On-site video capture of Sunday service (held 11am to noon) using a streaming service (currently using Zoom, but other platforms may be considered). 

  • Services are expected every Sunday unless the church communicates otherwise in advance, with additional services to be expected around Christmas and Easter.

  • Skills required include basic editing, titling and publishing to a service (e.g., YouTube). A link must then be provided on the website by end-of-day Sunday following the service

  • Equipment familiarity (the current set up includes a rudimentary laptop pointed at the lectern, but a more sophisticated approach is desired -- perhaps consisting of dual iPhones set up on stands (micing already pre-exists). Light equipment setup and take down is expected.

  • Backup and contingency planning for absences is required; volunteer parishioners might be trained for this purpose.
     

5. Desired Partner Profile

The church is particularly interested in partners who:

• Are a small digital studio or consultancy (not a large agency)

• Have a physical presence in Porto

• Have high levels of English proficiency.

• Are comfortable working with non‑profits and volunteer organizations

• Value reliability, clarity, and responsiveness over complexity

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6. Proposal Requirements

Please include the following in your response:

1. Primary point of contact

2. Company / team overview and history

3. Porto location, team composition and individual skill sets.

4. Relevant experience (especially with non‑profits or churches)

5. Describe how you would deliver the services outlined above

6. Examples of similar work (links encouraged)

7. Proposed service model:  Retainer‑based, hourly, or hybrid

8. Estimated monthly cost range

9. Describe how your team typically works with volunteer-led organizations.

10. Any assumptions or exclusions
     

7. Timeline

The timeline for the RFP is as follows:

• RFP issued:  Apr 3, 2026

• Questions due:  Apr 10, 2026

• RFP submissions due:  Apr 17, 2026

• Shortlist interviews:  Apr 22 - May 8

• Partner selected:  May 11, 2026

• Engagement starts:  May 18, 2026`
   

8. Evaluation Criteria

Proposals should be submitted in English, and will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Fit with the church’s mission and scale

• Demonstrated relevant experience

• Local presence and availability

• Clarity of proposed approach

• Cost transparency and sustainability

• Communication style and responsiveness
   

9. Submission Instructions

Proposals should be submitted electronically in PDF format to:
 

Matthew & Anne Dodds

Digital Ministry Leads, on behalf of St James Anglican Church 

matthewdodds@gmail.com
 

Questions may be submitted by email prior to the question deadline.
 

10. Thank-you!

We are seeking a dependable partner who can steward the digital foundation already in place and help it evolve thoughtfully over time. We thank you for your time in creating a thoughtful proposal.

 

 

 

 

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