Client: Montana Legal Services Association (MLSA)
Sector: Nonprofit Legal Services / Legal Ai
Location: Helena, Montana
Proposal Deadline: September 14, 2026 at 5:00 PM MST
Project Overview
Montana Legal Services Association, or MLSA, is seeking an experienced branding, graphic design, and website development partner to complete a major rebranding initiative and build a new website.
MLSA is a nonprofit law firm that has provided free civil legal services to low income people throughout Montana for 60 years. While the organization and its services have grown significantly, its brand identity has remained largely unchanged. MLSA now wants to modernize its visual identity, messaging, and website to better reflect the organization it is today.
The selected vendor will help MLSA evaluate whether its organization name should change, develop a new visual identity and messaging system, create supporting brand materials, redesign and rebuild its website, migrate existing content, and help plan the public rollout of the new brand.
MLSA is looking for a vendor with strong experience in nonprofit branding and graphic design. Experience working with nonprofit or legal aid organizations will be particularly valuable.
Budget: $25,000 to $30,000 (as stated in the RFP)
Key Features and Requirements
- Brand Discovery and Research
The selected agency will conduct a review of MLSA’s existing brand, messaging, and positioning.
This includes stakeholder interviews, reviewing current brand assets and communications, researching the competitive landscape, and helping MLSA determine how its brand should evolve.
- Organization Renaming Analysis
MLSA wants the agency to evaluate whether the Montana Legal Services Association name should remain or change.
The vendor will provide recommendations based on MLSA’s goal of reaching a broad and diverse audience.
The analysis should also consider how other MLSA maintained websites, including MontanaLawHelp.org, could be integrated into the broader brand and digital strategy.
- New Brand Identity
The agency will develop a modern and cohesive visual identity for MLSA.
Deliverables are expected to include:
- Logo
- Color palette
- Typography
- Logo usage guidelines
- Imagery and photography guidelines
- Brand style guide
- Presentation PowerPoint template
- Business card
- Letterhead banner
- Multiple design concepts should be presented to MLSA for review and feedback.
- Brand Messaging and Positioning
The selected agency will also help define how MLSA communicates its value and mission.
This includes:
- Core brand message
- Tagline
- Positioning
- Key messages
- Storytelling and messaging options
- Brand transition messaging
The new messaging should help MLSA connect with potential clients, donors, funders, community partners, and members of Montana’s legal community.
- Website Redesign and Development
This is not only a branding engagement. It also includes a complete website redesign and build.
The selected vendor will design and develop a new MLSA website that incorporates the new brand identity, messaging, and visual direction.
MLSA is open to different CMS platforms, so the RFP does not require WordPress or another specific CMS.
Website requirements include:
- New website design and development
- New CMS as needed
- Content migration from the existing website
- Website search functionality
- Spanish language content support
- Accessibility implementation
- Quality assurance testing
- Browser compatibility testing
- Documentation for MLSA staff
- Training for MLSA website editors
The website should make MLSA’s services easier to understand and access, with particular attention given to client accessibility.
- Rebrand Launch and Implementation
The agency will develop a rollout plan for introducing the new brand to the public, partner organizations, donors, and other stakeholders.
This will include implementation recommendations and messaging to support the transition from the existing brand to the new identity.
Project Schedule
The RFP was released on August 3, 2026.
Proposals are due September 14, 2026 at 5:00 PM MST.
The successful vendor is expected to be announced by October 5, 2026.
The contract is expected to be signed and work to begin by October 26, 2026.
The branding work is expected to continue through June 2027, with major milestones for discovery, visual identity development, the brand style guide, and the implementation plan.
Important Note: The RFP lists February 30, 2027 as the deadline for completing the brand audit, stakeholder interviews, and review of current branding. Since February 30 is not a valid date, agencies considering this project should confirm the intended deadline directly with MLSA in writing.
Proposal Requirements
Proposals cannot exceed 10 pages.
Vendors must respond to every requirement listed in the RFP and should restate each requirement before providing their response.
The proposal should include company information, relevant nonprofit experience, references or testimonials, project methodology, proposed timeline, milestones, team involvement, detailed pricing, potential additional expenses, hourly rates, and compensation requirements.
The proposal must also remain valid for 60 days following receipt.
Late proposals will be automatically disqualified.
What MLSA Will Look for
MLSA will evaluate agencies based on several factors, including experience with nonprofit and legal aid organizations, branding and graphic design expertise, ability to work with multiple stakeholder groups, customer service, timely delivery, previous branding work, overall value, pricing, and the clarity of the proposal.
This appears to be best suited for an agency that can handle both the strategic branding side of the engagement and the technical website design and development work.
Contact Information
Name: Hilary Shaw
Position: Not stated in the RFP
Email: hshaw@mtlsa.org
Phone: Not provided in the RFP
All communication concerning this RFP must be sent in writing to Hilary Shaw at the email above. MLSA specifically states that unsolicited calls and emails outside the RFP communication process will not be accepted.
For proposal submissions, the email subject line should include:
Rebrand Vendor for Montana Legal Services Association
Check the details of this project here:
New Lead_MLSA_Montana_WebRedesign_Rebranding_GraphicDesign_$25Kto$30k
This could be a good opportunity for agencies with a strong portfolio in nonprofit branding, visual identity, UX and website development, particularly those comfortable managing a project that combines strategy, design, messaging, development, accessibility, content migration, and stakeholder collaboration.
The $25,000 to $30,000 budget is fairly tight considering the full scope, so agencies will need to structure their team and approach carefully. However, for a smaller experienced agency that can handle branding and development efficiently under one team, this may be worth reviewing.
If branding, nonprofit work, and full website redesign projects are part of your agency’s strengths, take a closer look at the RFP and decide whether the scope and budget make sense for your team before submitting.
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To your success!
Chris Upscale Johnson
Web Agency Success Coach
Upscale Method