Terms of Reference for Website Hosting, Design & Content Management System

Vumbuzi Impact Africa Foundation (VIA Foundation) is a pan-African, not-for-profit common-benefit foundation established in 2023 and registered in Kigali, Rwanda. VIA Foundation exists to accelerate and scale ecosystem restoration across member countries of the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100), with a focus on strengthening locally led solutions.

The Foundation was authorized by the African Union Development Agency, which hosts the AFR100 Secretariat, in response to a major gap in global restoration finance. Although Africa holds ambitious restoration commitments, most funding is managed by institutions based in the Global North, creating power imbalances and barriers that limit access for locally rooted organizations. VIA Foundation was created to address this challenge directly.

VIA Foundation is the first African institution purpose-built to finance, train, and monitor restoration champions, local organizations and enterprises that mobilize communities to restore degraded land and build resilient local economies. As a trusted intermediary between donors, investors, and local institutions, VIA Foundation channels funding high-quality, locally led restoration projects; designs blended finance solutions that combine public, philanthropic, and private capital; and builds partnerships to support a new restoration economy for Africa.

To date, VIA Foundation finances and manages 131 locally led restoration projects across Africa through the TerraFund partnership, delivering measurable ecological, economic, and community impact while shifting power and resources to African leaders on the ground.

3.1 Website Design & Development

• Design and develop a fully new, modern, responsive website aligned with VIA Foundation’s approved brand and design guidelines.
• Implement a clean, modern design with strong visual storytelling referencing the aesthetic quality of comparator sites while ensuring it distinctly reflects VIA Foundation's African identity and restoration mission.
• Develop all key site sections: Homepage, About, Services, Portfolio/Impact, Partnerships, Team, News/Blog, Jobs & Consultancies, Contact.
• Ensure all pages are available in English, with the possibility of easily expanding the website to include parallel French content in the future.
• Embed impact metrics and data displays (e.g., projects supported, hectares, jobs, trees) that can be manually updated easily by VIA Foundation staff.
• Integrate or embed multimedia content including video (e.g., YouTube/RestoreLocal) and photo galleries.
• Implement a news/blog/publications section.
• Ensure compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards.

3.2 Content Management System (CMS) Configuration

• Set up and configure a modern, secure CMS platform (Drupal or equivalent, subject to VIA Foundation approval).
• Create custom page templates aligned with VIA Foundation's visual brand.
• Configure user roles and permissions appropriate for the internal team.
• Establish content editing workflows that allow non-technical staff to update all page types without developer assistance.

3.3. Minimum CMS Capabilities

• Staff can create, edit, publish, and unpublish pages and posts without developer involvement.
• Staff can update impact statistics and key numbers.
• Staff can add team members, job listings, and publications.
• Role-based access control: at minimum, an Administrator role and an editor role.
• Media library with image optimization built in.
• Simple news/blog publishing workflow.

3.4 Hosting, Performance & Security

• Set up and configure hosting on Microsoft Azure, including environment setup, domain configuration, and SSL certificates.
• Implement automated daily backups with at least 30-day retention.
• Optimize site performance for Core Web Vitals targets (LCP < 2.5s, FID < 100ms, CLS < 0.1), accounting for mobile and low-bandwidth users.
• Implement basic cybersecurity measures: firewall, malware scanning, DDoS protection, and secure login protocols.
• Establish an uptime monitoring system and define response SLAs for critical issues.
• Ensure GDPR-aligned data protection practices and a compliant cookie consent mechanism.

3.5 AI search optimization & Analytics

• Implement on-page AI search optimization best practices across all pages and posts (meta titles, descriptions, structured data, sitemap, robots.txt).
• Integrate Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and Google Search Console.
• Configure basic analytics dashboards accessible to the VIA Foundation team.

3.6 Handover & Training

• Provide complete technical documentation covering the site architecture, CMS configuration, hosting setup, and maintenance procedures.
• Deliver all CMS credentials and access credentials to VIA Foundation via a secure handover process.
• Conduct a live training session (minimum 2 hours) with the VIA Foundation core team covering CMS usage, content editing, basic troubleshooting, and publishing workflows.
• Provide a simple CMS User Guide in English that staff can reference independently.

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