Foster Management Software System

City of Tulsa Finance Department
October 22, 2026
Request for Proposal 27-913
Addendum #1
Please note the following changes which have been made for clarification to this Request for
Proposal. This addendum must be listed as Addendum #1 on the ACKNOWLEDGMENT
OF RECEIPT OF ADDENDA/AMENDMENTS of the bid package as verification that you have
received and are aware of the information contained herein.
QUESTIONS/CLARIFICATION/CHANGES:
QUESTIONS:
1. Annual Budget: In Section VIII, Question 9, the maximum annual budget amount appears to be
blank. Could you kindly confirm whether the City has established an annual budget or anticipated
funding range for this project? $8000
2. 24/7 Foster and Veterinary Support: Does the City require live human assistance around the
clock, including qualified veterinary personnel, or would a combination of automated assistance
and escalation to City-designated staff be acceptable? No, the 24/7 assistance requirement does not
cover software-related support only. The vendor must offer continuous (24/7) assistance with
questions related to foster and veterinary support.
3. Expected System Usage: Could you provide an approximate number of staff users, active foster
families, volunteers, annual applications, and animal records the system is expected to support?
Staff Users: 25
Active Fosters: 250
Volunteers: 25
Annual Applications: at most 1000
Animal Records: This system would not maintain extensive animal records. The only animal
information contained in the system would be limited to the animals actively in foster. I would say
at most 500.
4. Data Migration: Is there an estimated volume of existing records, forms, and attachments that
would need to be migrated into the new platform? There will be no migration of records, forms, or
attachments. The City will be starting with a clean slate.
5. Cloud Architecture: Would the City consider a hybrid cloud-based SaaS architecture that
incorporates separately managed, U.S.-based backup and security services, provided all applicable
security and data protection requirements are satisfied? The City is open to considering a hybrid-
cloud based SaaS architecture.
6. Data Backup and Delivery: Does the City have preferred formats or secure transfer methods for
the nightly full-data delivery required under Exhibit B? For this please use the Critical
Questionnaire. https://forms.cloud.microsoft/g/u2XWtVAAwz
The form is encrypted, but the vendor should not include sensitive information. ("Advanced
Firewall with antimalware" rather than "Cisco Firepower 3160") If the vendor has a security
professional, that'll ensure the best answers and protection of their information. The data Rider is
marked Required on page 15.

RFP 27-913 | Foster Management Software System | Issue Date: October 15, 2026
7. Microsoft 365 Integration: Are there specific Microsoft 365 authentication, single sign-on (SSO),
or email integration requirements that the City expects to implement during the initial deployment?
The City would like SSO but will not be integrated with any Microsoft 365 authentication or email
integration as we are wanting the application to have a standalone communication system.
8. Service Level Expectations: Has the City established specific uptime, Recovery Time Objective
(RTO), or Recovery Point Objective (RPO) requirements that vendors should consider when
preparing their proposals? Uptime: The percentage of time the system must be running and
available 99.5% uptime.
RTO - System must be back online within 2 hours.
RPO - No more than 15 minutes of data can be lost.
1. Section VIII, Question 9 refers to a maximum annual cost, but the dollar amount appears
blank. Could you confirm the intended budget limit? $8000
2. Does the 24/7 assistance requirement cover software-related support only, or must the
vendor also provide operational foster and veterinary guidance? No, the 24/7 assistance
requirement does not cover software-related support only. The vendor must offer
continuous (24/7) assistance with questions related to foster and veterinary support.
3. Is there a preferred implementation timeline or target go-live date? Ideally 90-120 days.
CHANGES:
Was:
Commercial General Liability: $2,000,000.00
$1,000,000 each occurrence (Annual Aggregate)
Workers' Compensation (Statutory limits)
Cyber Liability (Annual Aggregate) $5,000,000.00
Is Now:
Commercial General Liability: $2,000,000.00
$1,000,000 each occurrence (Annual Aggregate)
Technology Professional Liability (Errors & $2,000,000.00
Omissions / E&O) $1,000,000 per claim (Annual Aggregate)
Workers' Compensation (Statutory limits)
$5,000,000.00
Cyber Liability $1,000,000 per claim
(Annual Aggregate)
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RFP 27-913 | Foster Management Software System | Issue Date: October 15, 2026
Request for Proposal
27-913
Professional Services for:
Foster Management Software System
Department: Tulsa Animal Services
NIGP Commodity Code(s): 962-06, 208-68, 208-11, 958-23
RFP Schedule
EVENT DATE
RFP Issue Date 10/15/2026
Pre-Proposal Conference No Pre-Proposal Conference
Deadline for Questions 10/26/2026
Submit to assigned buyer via email. 10 Days prior to RFP due date
Proposal Due Date 11/04/2026
Mail or deliver to City Clerk address. Proposals are
opened the day after the due date.
If You have any questions or need additional information, contact the Assigned Buyer:
Donny Tiemann | dtiemann@cityoftulsa.org
All questions should be emailed with RFP 27-913 in the subject line.
Submit proposals (sealed) to:
Office of the City Clerk
City of Tulsa
175 E. 2ND St.
Suite 260
Tulsa, OK 74103
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RFP 27-913 | Foster Management Software System | Issue Date: October 15, 2026
I. OVERVIEW AND GOALS:
The purpose of this Request for Proposal (RFP) is to secure professional services to
provide a cloud-based shelter foster platform. The solution must support foster
management, volunteer coordination, animal transport, and community assistance
programs for the City of Tulsa Animal Shelter. The City seeks a solution that
streamlines intake, simplifies foster recruitment and communication, and provides an
integrated platform for managing animals throughout their foster journey.
We enthusiastically look forward to receiving your proposal.
II. BACKGROUND:
The City of Tulsa Animal Services (TAS) currently relies on manual, staff-driven
workflows to manage foster onboarding, communication, volunteer coordination, as
well as surrender-intake requests. Interested fosters and community members
access application forms through the City of Tulsa website, where submissions are
collected primarily via Microsoft Forms. Staff must then manually review each
submission, communicate with applicants individually, and determine the most
appropriate placement or service pathway for each animal.
These manual processes create operational bottlenecks, slow evaluations, and delay
placement decisions-especially during periods of high intake or limited staffing. The
absence of automated routing, centralized case management, and integrated
communication tools further impacts TAS's ability to efficiently manage fosters,
transports, volunteer participation, and other community-based support activities.
The City of Tulsa Animal Services is seeking a modern, cloud-based solution that will
modernize these workflows through a configurable, foster-focused platform that will
streamline application intake, strengthen coordination and communication with
volunteers and fosters, support transport and off-site program activities, and enable
more timely and effective placement and pathway planning for animals in need.
III. TIMELINE:
The schedule below provides estimated dates for the RFP and contracting process.
The City of Tulsa may adjust this schedule as needed.
EVENT DATE
RFP Issue Date 10/15/2026
Pre-Proposal Conference No Pre-Proposal Conference
Deadline for Questions 10/26/2026
PROPOSAL DUE DATE 11/04/2026
Begin proposal evaluations 11/06/2026
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RFP 27-913 | Foster Management Software System | Issue Date: October 15, 2026
Interviews with Respondents 11/16/2026
(anticipated)
Negotiations with apparent successful 11/19/2026
Respondent begin (anticipated)
Execute contract (anticipated) 11/25/2026
Begin service delivery (anticipated) TBD
IV. SCOPE OF WORK:
The selected Respondent shall provide a fully cloud-based foster services system
designed to support high-volume shelter operations and the complex coordination
needs of foster, volunteer, and transport programs. The system must facilitate
streamlined foster onboarding, volunteer engagement, animal placement
management, transport scheduling, and communication throughout the foster
lifecycle. The system must meet all functional, operational, compliance, and
reporting requirements described by TAS.
The system must require no City-managed hosting, servers, VPN, or infrastructure,
and must be engineered to perform reliably in high-traffic shelter and foster
environments.
The Respondent shall:
A. Application and Portal Management
1. The system must provide a configurable online application portal for foster
onboarding, surrender requests, and volunteer engagement.
2. Legacy foster, surrender, and volunteer forms must be migrated into the new digital
application format.
3. The City website must be updated to redirect users to the new cloudbased portals.
B. Workflow Automation and Application Processing
1. The system must automatically route submitted applications to the appropriate
staff queues based on predefined rules.
2. The system shall include automated functionality for the intake and processing of
foster and surrender applications, thereby minimizing the need for manual staff
intervention.
3. Staff must receive training in application review, communication features,
dashboards, and workflow tools.
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RFP 27-913 | Foster Management Software System | Issue Date: October 15, 2026
C. Animal Pathway, Case Management, and Off-Site Program Support
1. The system must allow staff to review, evaluate, and assign animals to appropriate
pathways using a centralized dashboard.
2. The system must enable scheduling and coordination of foster pickups.
3. The system must store and display animal records including breed, weight, sex and
name to aide in foster matching only.
4. The system must support consistent documentation and decision-making for
animal pathway planning.
D. Communication and Engagement Tools
1. The system must support integrated communication (email/SMS/app messaging)
between staff, fosters, volunteers, and community members. Any proposed
integration with the City's Microsoft 365 environment, including email relay,
impersonation or delegated access, and single sign-on (SSO), shall be identified in
the proposal and reviewed and approved by City IT Security before connection. The
Respondent shall describe authentication methods, permissions, and data flows
and demonstrate compliance with the City's current security standards.
2. The system must generate automated reminders, follow-ups, and task assignments
for staff and volunteers.
3. The system must provide user-friendly, publicly accessible interfaces that enable
community members to engage with and participate in Tulsa Animal Services
programs.
4. The vendor must offer continuous (24/7) assistance with questions related to foster
and veterinary support.
E. Reporting and Program Analytics
1. The system must provide reporting tools to track program performance, application
volume, foster activity, and animal outcomes. The Respondent shall support
scheduled delivery of City data for disaster recovery, business continuity, and
analytics, consistent with Exhibit B's nightly full-copy and data dictionary
requirements. Describe the delivery format, secure transfer method, completeness
checks, and how the City can use the delivered data for recovery and analytics
independently of the hosted service. Identify any restoration dependencies,
software or licensing requirements, limitations, and costs. Describe backup
retention, recovery point and recovery time objectives, restoration testing, and
disaster recovery and business continuity procedures; final service levels shall be
established with the City during contract negotiations. Describe available
integration capabilities for EPL and ERP, including potential pet licensing and cash
donation data exchanges, interfaces, data mappings, security, City resource needs,
and separate costs. These are potential integrations for City evaluation;
implementation scope and responsibility shall be included only as expressly agreed
in the resulting contract.
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RFP 27-913 | Foster Management Software System | Issue Date: October 15, 2026
F. System Accessibility and Usability
1. The system must be accessible from mobile devices, tablets, and desktop
browsers.
G. Security, Compliance, and Access Control
1. The system shall adhere to City of Tulsa IT security standards related to user
access, data protection, network security, and auditability. Whenever a Data Rider
is required, a City IT Security assessment of the Respondent's security environment
is also required; execution of the Data Rider alone does not satisfy this requirement.
The Respondent shall cooperate with the City's Seller Due Diligence Program
described in Exhibit B and provide the evidence requested for the risk assessment.
The assessment and disposition of identified risks shall be completed to City IT
Security's satisfaction before production access to City data or connection to City
systems. The Respondent shall state whether its proposed solution or any optional
integration stores, processes, or transmits payment card data, or can affect the
security of a payment card environment and describe any payment processor and
allocation of responsibilities. PCI applicability shall be determined by the City
based on the proposed payment workflow. If applicable, the Respondent shall
demonstrate compliance with applicable PCI DSS requirements and provide
relevant validation evidence for its role before payment functionality is enabled.
Payment card processing is not assumed to be included in this RFP; any such
functionality and associated costs require express agreement in the resulting
contract.
V. DELIVERABLES:
The products, reports, and plans to be delivered to the City will include:
1. Configured Online Application Portals
Delivery of fully configured foster, surrender, and volunteer application
portals, including workflow automation and routing rules.
2. Workflow, Dashboard, and Communication Setup
Implementation of automated workflows, staff dashboards, and integrated
communication tools (email/SMS/inapp messaging).
3. OffSite Program and Animal Record Management Tools
Configured features for transport scheduling, foster coordination, volunteer
activities, and animal record tracking.
4. Reporting and Analytics Suite
Deployment of reporting tools to track program performance, application
volume, foster/volunteer activity, and animal outcomes. Include configuration
and validation of the nightly data delivery and data dictionary required by
Exhibit B, with documented formats, transfer procedures, recovery
dependencies, and analytics use instructions. Any EPL or ERP integration
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RFP 27-913 | Foster Management Software System | Issue Date: October 15, 2026
expressly included in the contract shall include interface documentation and
City acceptance testing.
5. RoleBased Access, Security Configuration, and Compliance
Documentation
Completed userpermission setup and documentation demonstrating
compliance with City IT and privacy standards. Include completion of the City
IT Security assessment, documented disposition of identified risks, and
approval of any Microsoft 365 integrations and SSO before production use.
Provide PCI validation evidence only where the City determines PCI applies to
the agreed solution.
6. Training, GoLive Support, and Ongoing Maintenance
Delivery of training materials and sessions, golive readiness validation,
launch support, and defined ongoing support services.
VI. PERFORMANCE METRICS AND CONTRACT MANAGEMENT:
Performance Metrics
The following performance metrics highlight key priorities that will be analyzed
with the awarded Respondent collaboratively during the life of the contract. This
is not an exhaustive list, but rather an indication of significant performance
metrics of interest to the City of Tulsa.
The City looks forward to working with the awarded Respondent ("Seller") to
define additional important performance metrics during contract negotiations.
The final set of performance metrics and frequency of collection will be
negotiated by the successful Respondent and the City prior to the finalization of
an agreement between parties and may be adjusted over time as needed.
Performance Metric Data Source Data Data Collection
Collection Responsibility
Frequency
Completed Deliverables Scope of work Weekly or bi- Vendor
weekly
Project status meetings, Seller Weekly or bi- Vendor prepares and
including delivery of weekly delivers materials;
agenda, progress updates, customer reviews and
risks, action items, and confirms completeness.
follow-up documentation.
Training completion rate Training Per Vendor collects training
attendance onboarding metrics; customer
logs, post cycle or reviews results
training surveys annually
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RFP 27-913 | Foster Management Software System | Issue Date: October 15, 2026
Contract Performance Monitoring
As part of the City of Tulsa's commitment to becoming more outcomes-oriented,
we seek to actively and regularly collaborate with awarded Respondents to
enhance contract management, improve results, and adjust service delivery
based on learning what works. Reliable and relevant data is necessary to drive
service improvements, ensure compliance, inform trends to be monitored, and
evaluate results and performance. During the regular meetings that occur
throughout the term of the contract, it is anticipated that the following topics will
be regularly discussed:
* Current status of performance metrics
* Topics of interest or concern to the Respondent
* Discussion and troubleshooting of challenges
* Review of activities on the horizon
* Review of budget and spending this year-to-date
VII. INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBMITTING A PROPOSAL:
A. Proposals must be received by 5:00 p.m. on
Wednesday, November 4, 2026, Central Daylight Time.
Please place proposals in a sealed envelope or box
clearly labeled "RFP 27-913, Foster Management
Software System".
Proposals received late will be returned unopened.
B. Interested Respondents should submit:
One (1) unbound original and three (3) bound copies of
the proposal plus one (1) digital copy (USB drive).
C. Proposals shall be delivered and sealed to:
Deputy City Clerk
City of Tulsa
175 E. 2nd St.
Suite 260
Tulsa, OK 74103
D. All interested Respondents (Sellers) are required to register with the
Buyer in order to receive updates, addenda or any additional information
required. You can learn more about the registration process on the
following website:
https://www.cityoftulsa.org/government/departments/finance/selling-to-
the-city/register-as-a-vendor/.
The City is not responsible for any failure to register.
E. Inquiries or questions to the Buyer requesting clarification regarding the
Request for Proposal must be made via e-mail and must be received prior
to the end of the business day on Monday, October 26, 2026.
Donny Tiemann, Project Buyer dtiemann@cityoftulsa.org
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RFP 27-913 | Foster Management Software System | Issue Date: October 15, 2026
Any questions regarding this RFP will be handled as promptly and as
directly as possible. If a question requires only minor clarification of
instructions or specifications, it will be handled via e-mail. If any
question results in a substantive change or addition to the RFP, the
change or addition will be forwarded to all registered Respondents as
quickly as possible by addendum.
F. Proposals will be opened on the morning after the due date, at 8:30am, at
the:
Standards, Specifications, and Awards Committee Meeting
175 East 2nd Street, 2nd Floor
City Council Chamber
VIII. RESPONSE QUESTIONS AND PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS
To be considered, interested Respondents should submit or address the
following questions or information requests:
1. Describe how your system supports online application portals for foster,
surrender, and volunteer onboarding.
2. Provide a real-world example or workflow demonstration.
3. Provide evidence (VPAT, certification, or test results) that your public-facing
portal meets WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility requirements.
4. Explain how your system tracks animal records, including breed, weight, sex and
name that will aide in foster matching.
5. Describe how your organization provides 24/7 communication and support for
foster and veterinary inquiries, including available communication channels,
staffing model, and expected response times.
6. What communication channels are supported (email, SMS, inapp messaging)?
For Microsoft 365 integrations and SSO, identify proposed authentication
methods, relay or impersonation requirements, permissions, data flows,
dependencies, and costs for City security review.
7. Describe the reporting tools included and provide sample reports for key metrics
(application volume, foster participation, transport activity, animal outcomes).
Describe scheduled backup/data extract delivery, recovery and business
continuity capabilities, recovery objectives and testing, data dictionary content,
analytics formats, dependencies, and costs. Address Exhibit B's nightly full-copy
requirement and identify any exceptions. Describe available EPL/ERP interfaces
for potential pet licensing and cash donation exchanges, distinguishing included
capabilities from optional work and separately priced costs.
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