How GovRFP Works: From Finding a Contract to Submitting Your Proposal

GovRFP automates the two most time-consuming parts of government contracting: finding relevant opportunities and writing competitive proposals. This guide walks through the complete workflow so you know exactly what to expect.

Step 1: Set Up Your Business Profile (5 minutes)

The first time you log in, GovRFP walks you through a six-step setup wizard. This is where you tell GovRFP everything it needs to match you with the right contracts.

What you'll enter:

• Business description: 2–4 sentences about what your company does. This is used by the AI to score opportunities and generate proposal content.
• NAICS codes: The industry codes that describe your services (up to 5). Every SAM.gov contract is tagged with a NAICS code, and this is how GovRFP knows which contracts are in your lane.
• Location: Your state and any other states where you're willing to work.
• Certifications: Any small business certifications you hold (8(a), WOSB, SDVOSB, HUBZone, etc.). These filter opportunities to set-aside contracts where you have an advantage.
• Contract size range: The minimum and maximum contract values you typically pursue. Filters out contracts too small to be worth your time or too large to be realistic.
• Alert preferences: How and when you want to be notified about new opportunities (email, daily digest, deadline reminders).

You only set this up once. You can update it anytime from Settings.

Step 2: Discover Matching Opportunities (Daily, Automatic)

Every day, GovRFP queries SAM.gov's API and pulls in new contract opportunities that have been posted in the last 24 hours. It then runs each opportunity through an AI relevance scoring engine that evaluates:

• Does the NAICS code match yours?
• Is the place of performance in your preferred states?
• Does the set-aside type match your certifications?
• Is the contract value within your preferred range?
• Does the agency, description, or title suggest relevance to your business?

Each opportunity gets a relevance score from 0–100. You see the highest-scoring opportunities first in your feed.

What this means for you: Instead of searching SAM.gov yourself and manually filtering through dozens of irrelevant results, you log into GovRFP and see the opportunities that actually match your business — ranked by how relevant they are.

Step 3: Review and Track Opportunities

When you see an opportunity you want to pursue, you can:

• Save it for later review
• Mark it as pursuing to move it into your Pipeline
• Track it through to submission using the Pipeline's Kanban board (Saved → Pursuing → Drafted → Submitted → Won/Lost)

The Pipeline gives you a visual overview of everything you're working on, organized by stage. You can see at a glance which opportunities are approaching deadlines, which have drafts in progress, and which are waiting on your team.

Step 4: Get Alerts for New Matches

Once your profile is set up, GovRFP monitors SAM.gov continuously and sends you alerts when new high-scoring opportunities appear. You can configure:

• Immediate email alerts: Get notified when a new opportunity scores above your threshold
• Daily digest: A summary of all new matches from the past 24 hours
• Deadline reminders: Alerts 7 days and 3 days before response deadlines for opportunities you're pursuing

Deadline reminders are especially valuable. Government RFP deadlines are absolute — there are no extensions for "I forgot." Missing a deadline means your proposal is rejected regardless of how good it is.

Step 5: Generate a Proposal Draft

When you're ready to write a proposal for an opportunity, click "Generate draft" from the opportunity detail page or from your Pipeline.

You'll be prompted to upload the RFP document (typically a PDF from SAM.gov's attachment links). GovRFP's AI then:

1. Parses the RFP: Extracts the Statement of Work, evaluation criteria, formatting requirements, and all "shall" requirements from the document.

2. Builds a compliance matrix: Lists every requirement extracted from Section C of the RFP, so you can track which ones your proposal addresses.

3. Generates proposal volumes: Writes a first draft of your Technical Approach, Management Approach, Past Performance volume, and Price Outline — using your business description, your past performance entries, and the specific requirements from the RFP.

The generation typically takes 30–90 seconds.

Step 6: Review and Edit the Draft

The AI draft is a strong starting point, not a finished product. You should review every section and:

• Add specifics the AI couldn't know: Your team members' names and qualifications, proprietary methodologies, specific tools and platforms you'll use.
• Verify the compliance matrix: Check that every requirement from the RFP has been addressed in the draft. Click requirements in the matrix to highlight where they're covered.
• Adjust the tone and emphasis: The AI writes in a standard professional style. Edit to match the evaluation factors — if price is weighted heavily, make sure your pricing section is robust; if management approach is weighted heavily, expand that section.
• Check the past performance volume: GovRFP pulls from your stored past performance entries and selects the most relevant ones. Make sure it selected the right examples for this specific RFP.

Step 7: Export and Submit

When your draft is ready, export it:

• Export to Word (.docx): A formatted Microsoft Word document ready for final editing and submission. Most federal agencies accept Word or PDF submissions.
• Export compliance matrix (.csv): A spreadsheet listing every RFP requirement and which section of your proposal addresses it. Include this as an exhibit in your submission — it shows evaluators you've addressed every requirement and makes their review easier.

From there, you submit your proposal through the method specified in Section L of the RFP — usually through SAM.gov's beta.SAM.gov portal, email, or a agency-specific submission system.

What GovRFP Doesn't Do

It's worth being clear about what GovRFP is and isn't:

• GovRFP generates a first draft, not a final submission. The AI writes based on the patterns of successful proposals and your specific inputs, but you must review, edit, and refine the output.
• GovRFP does not submit proposals on your behalf. Submission always happens directly between you and the government agency.
• GovRFP is not a substitute for expertise. For complex, high-value proposals, working with a proposal professional is still valuable. GovRFP handles the time-consuming mechanical work so you can focus on strategy and differentiation.

Getting the Most Out of GovRFP

The more you put in, the more you get out:

Build your past performance library: Every contract you document in your past performance library becomes available for the AI to pull into proposal drafts. Add at least 3 entries when you first set up your account. Add more over time.

Keep your profile current: Update your NAICS codes, certifications, and contract size preferences as your business evolves. The relevance scoring is only as good as the profile you maintain.

Use the pipeline actively: Track every opportunity you're seriously considering. The pipeline isn't just for organization — it helps you see your workload, identify deadline conflicts, and make better decisions about where to invest proposal effort.

Respond to deadline alerts: When GovRFP sends a 7-day deadline reminder, treat it as an action item. Seven days sounds like a lot of time, but government proposals take longer than you expect to review and finalize.

The businesses that win with GovRFP are the ones that treat it as a core part of their business development process — not a one-time tool they try when they happen to remember it.