Request for Proposal: The Community Fund for Women & Girls 30th Anniversary
Description
The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven (The Foundation) seeks an experienced and qualified marketing and public relations firm or individual consultant to work with us to create and deliver a marketing campaign to promote the 30th anniversary year for the Community Fund for Women & Girls.
Background
The Community Fund for Women & Girls (W&Gs), a component fund of The Community Foundation focused on the social and economic advancement of women and girls, will celebrate its 30th Anniversary in 2025. The Community Fund for Women & Girls and the designated funds benefitting it (25 total) currently have an endowed balance of $4.49 million.
To mark 30 years of advancing women and girls and to draw attention to and emphasize evidence-based practices of investing in them, The Community Foundation and W&Gs will plan activities for 2025 that achieve the following goals:
- Build awareness of the Community Fund for Women & Girls
- Reach a wide and diverse demographic, including age diversity
- Engage new and existing donors
- Raise gifts to add to the Fund’s endowment
- Add new named designated funds that will add to the grantmaking pool each year
- Add new legacy gifts
- Celebrate women as philanthropists.
In keeping with W&G’s goals since 1995, the 30th Anniversary of W&Gs is an opportunity to chart a future vision and acknowledge and celebrate the 95 visionary women who came together to build the region’s charitable endowment focused on the advancement and celebration of women and girls in Greater New Haven.
Previous anniversaries have been marked by fundraising campaigns and large public events to raise awareness of women and philanthropy, celebrate women's achievements, and raise the profile of W&G and The Community Foundation in the region.
Scope of Work
The Community Foundation seeks a vendor to work with The Foundation to develop a multi-platform marketing and fund development campaign for the 30th anniversary of the Community Fund for Women & Girls. The vendor will collaborate with The Foundation staff to craft messages and develop a theme for the year, identify content for the campaign that ties into the development strategy, identify target audiences and the best delivery platforms including (but not limited to) social media advertising and organic posts, email and direct mail, and traditional media.
Note: The Foundation already works with a social media vendor responsible for its advertising on the Google and Meta platforms. Working directly on The Foundation’s platforms to optimize audience targeting is beyond this scope of work. It is The Foundation’s expectation that social media ad content created by the selected consultant/vendor for this campaign will be provided to The Foundation’s existing social vendor for placement, and that the two vendors will collaborate on delivery timing and audience definition.
Planning
Starting in December, 2024, the selected vendor will work with The Foundation staff to develop a yearlong marketing/communications plan and identify content for promoting the anniversary and its events.
Awareness Campaign
Starting Jan. 1, 2025, the campaign will begin building awareness of the anniversary and the opportunities for people to give or start funds.
Content elements for this awareness campaign may include:
- Short history story of the fund’s founding and the history of the Fund’s growth of endowment and grantmaking capacity
- Profiles highlighting fund founders
- “There from the start” profiles of effective Greater New Haven nonprofit partners have received W&Gs funding since their founding.
- The release of a report commissioned in collaboration with the W&Gs partner, the Aurora Foundation, on the status of women in Connecticut
- Profiles of recent donors or fund holders
- Profiles of women & girls in Greater New Haven doing remarkable things
- The Fund’s Theory of Change and key elements of its Strategic Plan
Anniversary events
The Fund is planning several events to celebrate its anniversary. These include an in-person kick-off gathering with founders and major donors along with four larger public events. The vendor will create promotions for each event, event materials that amplify the goals of the Fund and encourage giving and post-event follow up. The planned events are:
Early 2025: Kick-off event (in-person)
March – Honoring the Past (virtual)
Aligned with Women’s History Month, the March event will honor the founding of the Fund, highlighting founding donors as well as current donors who make the work possible.
May/June – Groundbreaking Achievements (virtual)
Highlights of the achievements of grantee partners.
Early Fall – Girls Empowerment Summit (virtual or in-person; TBD)
Late Fall – Culminating Event (in-person)
Large event with keynote speaker with national recognition.
Qualifications
We are open to working with a single firm or consultant in this work. In addition to extensive strategic thinking, marketing, communication and development expertise, some of the skills and qualifications we seek include:
- Strong storytelling abilities
- Design expertise for digital and print
- Experience working with fund development
- Strong analytical, listening, and written and verbal communications skills; and
- Organized, thorough, insightful and collaborative project management.
The Proposal
The consultant(s) should include and/or address the following information in their response to this RFP:
- A description of the proposed approach, activities and related budget;
- Examples of recent work;
- History of the consultant’s practice with an emphasis on the nonprofit or philanthropic marketplaces;
- The consultant’s consulting philosophy, strategy and approach;
- The consultant’s leadership, organizational and ownership structure, including affiliated organizations and subsidiaries;
- The professional resumes of the proposed team members; and
- The consultant’s references of comparable and representative current clients, including contact person, email and phone number.
Professional Fees and Expenses
The response to this RFP should include a proposed fee including an estimate of additional “out-of-pocket” expenses.
The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven seeks diversity in its vendor and contractual relationships. If the respondent or its firm has any characteristics that would allow The Foundation to fulfill on that intent, please include that information.
The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven reserves the right to select or to reject any or all proposals.
Thank you in advance for your interest in The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven and your anticipated response to this RFP.
Timeline and Submission
The consultant’s response should be delivered via email no later than Monday, December 2, 2024, to Matthew Higbee, Director of Communications,
