Request for Proposal (RFP) Compensation Structure & Career Framework Design

1. Organizational Background

United Way for Greater Austin is a mission-driven nonprofit with approximately 110 employees dedicated to breaking economic barriers and building opportunity for all. As we grow we seek to review and redesign our compensation infrastructure to ensure:

• Internal equity
• Market competitiveness
• Transparency
• Alignment with our mission and long-term workforce strategy

2. Purpose of the RFP

We are seeking a qualified consulting firm to review analyze and redesign our compensation and job architecture framework including:

• Market benchmarking
• Job structure and classification
• Career progression pathways
• Mapping current employees into the new structure

The selected firm must demonstrate experience with nonprofits of similar size and complexity.

3. Vendor Credentials & Qualifications

Proposals should reflect an approach scaled to our size and resources. Required qualifications include:

Relevant Experience

• 510 years in compensation total rewards or human capital consulting
• Proven success delivering compensation projects for nonprofits including:
  • Job architecture and compensation frameworks (grades levels titles salary ranges)
  • Practical pay strategies aligned with sustainability
• Experience mapping employees into new structures addressing equity and compression issues

Nonprofit & Compliance Expertise

• Familiarity with reasonable compensation standards and audit-ready documentation
• Understanding of stewardship of limited resources

Professional Credentials

• Identification of lead consultant(s)
• Preferred certifications:
  • Certified Compensation Professional (CCP)
  • SHRM-SCP or SPHR
• Equivalent experience considered

Methodology & Market Data

• Clear approach for:
  • Benchmarking roles using nonprofit-relevant data
  • Establishing salary ranges for applicable labor markets
  • Balancing internal equity with external competitiveness
• Identification of cost-effective nonprofit-relevant data sources

Stakeholder Engagement

• Experience guiding executive leadership and managers through compensation decisions
• Ability to deliver actionable outputs without ongoing consultant dependency

References

• At least two nonprofit references from similar projects within the past five years
• Brief summaries of comparable engagements

4. Budget Alignment

Total project budget not to exceed $50000 (inclusive of all fees and expenses). Vendors are encouraged to propose phased or scalable approaches prioritizing high-impact deliverables.

5. Scope of Work

The project will deliver practical actionable solutions within the defined budget.

A. Review & Assessment

• Analyze current compensation philosophy benchmarking guide and plan
• Evaluate roles titles and reporting structure
• Identify gaps risks and opportunities

B. Benchmarking & Market Analysis

• Conduct or validate benchmarking using nonprofit salary data
• Recommend peer organizations and labor markets
• Analyze competitiveness by role level and function

C. Compensation Infrastructure Design & Employee Mapping

• Develop a comprehensive framework:
  • Pay grades and salary bands
  • Job levels and classification methodology
• Map employees to new structure with documented rationale

D. Job Architecture & Documentation

• Standardized job descriptions aligned with new structure
• Job posting templates
• Physical requirement assessments (as needed for compliance)

E. Career Growth & Progression Framework

• Design career progression model
• Define advancement and lateral movement pathways
• Provide promotion management guidelines

F. Implementation Support

• Guidelines and templates for managers
• High-level implementation roadmap

G. Compensation Philosophy Development

The selected consultant will:

• Facilitate a process with organizational leadership to define or refine United Way for Greater Austins compensation philosophy ensuring it authentically reflects our mission values and strategic priorities.
• Establish clear guiding principles for pay decisions including target market positioning (e.g. 50th percentile or other competitive ranges) approaches to geographic differentials (if applicable) and philosophy on internal equity.
• Articulate a comprehensive approach to total rewards including the relationship between base pay benefits professional development and other elements of the employee value proposition.
• Develop a professionally rigorous yet accessible compensation philosophy document suitable for board approval and adaptable for staff communication.

H. Multi-Year Financial Projections

The consultant will:

• Develop detailed financial projections illustrating reasonable year-over-year compensation increases across a three-year planning period.
• Incorporate multiple drivers of compensation cost including:
  • Cost of living adjustments (COLA) based on reasonable inflation assumptions
  • Merit increases reflecting performance-based pay growth
  • Market movement and competitive adjustments
  • Organizational growth projections including new roles and staffing expansion
  • Equity adjustments needed to address gaps identified through the assessment and job-mapping processes
• Provide at least three projection scenarios (conservative moderate and aggressive) including clearly documented assumptions for each.
• Present annual compensation cost impacts for each scenario in both dollars and as a percentage of the operating budget.
• Offer practical guidance for integrating these projections into annual budget planning and long-term financial strategy.

6. Deliverables

Proposals must specify deliverables including:

• Compensation philosophy and framework documentation
• Pay grade and salary band structure
• Benchmarking summary and analysis for 85 positions
• Employee mapping to new grades and ranges
• Create streamlined internal job description and a separate job posting version using current job descriptions in partnership with HR and the respective hiring managers
• Career progression framework
• Implementation guidance and roadmap

7. Cost Proposal

Provide clear itemized pricing including:

• Review and analysis of current plan
• Design of new framework and employee mapping
• Development of job descriptions and templates
• Career progression framework
• Optional implementation support

Total budget capped at $50000.

8. Firm Qualifications

Include:

• Firm overview and relevant experience
• Experience with nonprofits of similar size (110 employees)
• Case studies or examples of similar engagements
• Key team members and roles
• Nonprofit client references

9. Proposal Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated on:

• Nonprofit compensation expertise
• Quality and clarity of approach
• Experience with similar-sized organizations
• Alignment with mission-driven values
• Cost and value
• Usability of deliverables

10. Timeline

• Project start: March 9 2026
• Completion: May 22 2026
• Include key milestones in proposal

11. Submission Instructions

• Submit proposals electronically to:
  Ashley Mitchell Chief People Officer
  Email:
• Questions due by: February 18 2026
• Submission deadline: February 23 2026