RFI: grant management system

The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) No. 5400018614 seeking a comprehensive web-based grant management system to replace its current infrastructure. The RFI targets a solution that will support strategic planning, grant application processing, grants accounting, and compliance monitoring for state and federal grant programs distributed to approximately 90 school districts and 200 additional grant recipients. Key deliverables include an interoperable system capable of data output mapped to Common Education Data Standards (CEDS) for federal reporting and integration with the SC Enterprise Information System (SCEIS). The procurement seeks a Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) or Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution that can support approximately 40-50 internal users and 1,250 external users. Critical evaluation criteria include system functionality for managing federal grant programs like IDEA, ESSA, and Perkins, robust integration capabilities, security measures, and comprehensive training and support services. The RFI was initially posted on September 10, 2019, with questions due by September 24, 2019, and full responses required by October 8, 2019, at 5:00 p.m. EST.

Potential respondents must be registered vendors in both the SC Enterprise Information System (SCEIS) and the Federal System for Award Management (SAM). The current system environment includes HMB Inc's Grants Management System (contract ending 8/10/2020), an in-house grants accounting system called GAPS, and Title1Crate for document management (contract ending 10/2/2020). While no specific budget was disclosed, the SCDE indicated funding would be sourced from a mixture of federal and state funds, managing approximately $850 million in grant revenue. The department will not sign Non-Disclosure Agreements but will treat submitted information as part of the procurement file. Importantly, this RFI is exploratory and will not directly result in a contract award, with any future solicitations to be posted on the SC Business Opportunities (SCBO) website. Vendors were instructed not to include pricing documentation in their responses, suggesting a subsequent competitive procurement process will determine final contract terms and vendor selection.