Most briefs start with a list of pages and features. That list is useful, but on its own it describes the website you imagine rather than the problems you need it to solve. Suppliers fill in what is missing with their own assumptions, and the proposals end up reflecting those assumptions more than your needs.
Start with what the site has to do
Describe the outcomes the website is responsible for: donations, event sign-ups, volunteer applications, service referrals, campaign actions, and information people rely on. Say which matter most. When the budget forces a choice, suppliers can then propose the trade-off you would make yourself.
- Your audiences, in priority order, and what each needs to do
- The systems the site must connect to, such as the CRM, payment provider and email platform
- How much content there is, and how much of it should move
- Who will edit the site, and how often
- Accessibility expectations, such as WCAG 2.2 AA
- The budget range, and any fixed dates
Say how much you have to spend
Many charities leave the budget out, hoping to see what suppliers suggest. In practice the proposals then range from a small template site to a large bespoke platform, and none of them can be compared. A budget range lets suppliers show what they would do with the money you actually have.
A brief that describes problems gets proposals that solve them. A brief that lists features gets prices for the list.
Be honest about the integrations
Donations, Gift Aid declarations, event bookings and supporter records usually flow into a CRM. Integration is often the largest single cost in a charity website project, and the one most often underestimated. List each system, what should pass between it and the website, and whether that already works.
Leave the solution to the suppliers
- Describe problems and priorities, not page layouts
- Ask suppliers to explain their reasoning, not only their price
- Ask how they would handle content migration and redirects
- Ask what your team will need to do, and when, during the project
If writing the brief raises more questions than it answers, that is a sign to do discovery first. A short piece of paid discovery often produces a brief, and a costed plan, that makes the procurement that follows far simpler.
