If your association is applying for a grant that includes a new website, the quotation you attach matters. It has to convince the funder that the cost is reasonable, and it has to protect your association for the whole grant period - usually two or three years. Here is what a good quotation should contain.
1. A one-time price and a monthly price, kept separate
Funders want to see what is spent once and what is spent every month. Ask for:
- The build: design, development, content migration, domain setup and training, as one fixed price.
- Support: hosting, security updates, backups and technical support, as a fixed monthly price.
- Optional extras: for example monthly content uploading or social media graphics, priced separately so you can leave them out.
2. A fixed total for the full grant period
The quotation should multiply the monthly price by the number of months and show one total for the whole period. If the supplier can raise prices after the first year, your budget is no longer fixed. Ask for prices to be fixed for the full term in writing.
3. What happens to your old website
Most associations already have years of articles, photos and documents online. The quotation should say clearly that all existing content will be moved to the new site, including documents and the news archive, and that old links will be redirected where possible.
4. Who owns what
This is the point most often missing. The quotation should state that the association owns:
- the domain name (registered in the association's name, not the supplier's),
- all content, photos and documents,
- the database, and
- the source code, once the build is paid.
It should also say that the supplier will hand over the code, a database export and documentation if you change supplier. Without this, you can end up locked in.
5. Licences and recurring charges
Ask the supplier to list every recurring cost: theme or plugin licences, security licences, hosting, and the domain. A website that depends on premium plugins can carry yearly charges that are not in the quotation. If there are none, the quotation should say so.
6. Support response times
"Support included" means little without a number. Look for a stated response time (for example, within two working days) and what is covered: bugs, security issues, small layout changes.
7. Reporting for the funder
Many funders ask for evidence that the website is being used. If yours does, ask for:
- visitor statistics (visitors, page views, most visited pages),
- a log of enquiries received through the website, and
- a report you can download for each quarter.
It is much easier to have this built in from the start than to add it later.
8. VAT, validity and payment terms
Check whether VAT is included or added, how long the quotation is valid, and when payments are due - for example 50% on acceptance and 50% at launch, with monthly fees invoiced quarterly.
A short checklist
Before you attach a quotation to your application, check that it shows:
- a fixed one-time price and a fixed monthly price
- a total for the full grant period
- migration of all existing content
- ownership of domain, content, database and code
- all recurring charges (or "none")
- support response times
- reporting, if your funder asks for it
- VAT, validity and payment terms
If you would like a quotation that covers all of this, get in touch - I prepare formal, itemised quotations for associations, NGOs and cultural societies in Malta.