Map the current system before the RFP

Selection principle

A consultant can scope visible work more honestly than a list of desired features.

Staff can describe frustrations, but nobody has one view of the records, handoffs, integrations, owners, and workarounds involved.

Use it in the selection process

Start with these decisions

1. Name each system of record and the accountable business owner.
2. Trace one representative record from entry through reporting or service delivery.
3. Mark manual workarounds, duplicate entry, exports, and undocumented dependencies.
4. Separate confirmed facts, staff observations, and questions for discovery.

Pause point

Do not let an impressive proposal replace accountable nonprofit judgment

Use redacted examples during early selection. Do not place donor, client, patient, student, employee, credential, payment, or other protected information in a general map or RFP.