OGEECHEE-CANOOCHEE RIVERKEEPER®
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
for
DESIGN OF A PROGRAM EVALUATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND OUTREACH STRATEGY
Ogeechee-Canoochee Riverkeeper (OCRK) seeks proposals from consultants interested in designing a program evaluation for our four current program areas, focusing explicitly on building the effectiveness of our communications and outreach in support of our work. This evaluation will be used in the development of our next strategic plan in 2009.
Deadline for Submission of Proposals – August 31, 2008
Deadline for Completion of First Draft of the Evaluation – December 1, 2008
Deadline for Final Evaluation document and Recommendations for Outreach and Communications Strategy – March 1, 2009
Deadline for Presentation to Board of Directors – June 30, 2009
Budget for Consulting Fees and Expenses - $10,000
BACKGROUND
Ogeechee-Canoochee Riverkeeper (OCRK) was formed in 2005 to reverse an unacceptable trend: the increasing pollution of our once pristine rivers and the multiplying threats to our way of life. Our mission is to ensure that every river, creek, and stream in the Ogeechee watershed runs clean and pure. In pursuit of this goal, OCRK strives to amplify the voices of concerned citizens and to strengthen their efforts to protect their rivers and their communities. By raising awareness and aggressively responding to critical issues with the commitment and support of this dedicated citizen network, OCRK is an advocate for the Ogeechee River basin and its people.
Ogeechee-Canoochee Riverkeeper has two comprehensive programs to monitor for pollution, educate the public, and advocate for the best use of our waters. These are the Clean Communities Initiative and the Healthy Waters Agenda.
The goal of our Clean Communities Initiative is to bring people together, community by community, in sustained efforts to protect their local waters. This initiative focuses on issues locally so that people understand the impact that pollution has on their lives and in their own backyards. Hometown Waters and Watershed Watch are the two components of the Clean Communities Initiative. Hometown Waters is designed to ensure that people in our communities know where their drinking water comes from, where their wastewater goes, and how their water can become polluted. Watershed Watch collects accurate information on the health of our waters, identifies sources of pollution, and holds polluters accountable.
The goal of our Healthy Waters Agenda is to promote clean water throughout the Ogeechee watershed by focusing on regional issues that affect the basin as a whole. The Healthy Waters Agenda recognizes that some pollution problems cannot be solved through local action alone. Other problems are so common throughout the watershed that one regional effort is more sensible than a hundred local ones. The Healthy Waters Agenda addresses these issues by uniting individual communities in a broad-based effort to eliminate threats to clean water, restore our rivers, and protect them for future generations.
PROGRAM EVALUATION PROJECT
Our project mission is to identify new or existing ways to build support for our work to protect the Ogeechee and Canoochee Rivers through effective communications and outreach.
Ogeechee-Canoochee Riverkeeper board and staff will work with a consultant during a six to eight-month period beginning no later than September 10, 2008.
The specific tasks involved are outlined below.
1. Develop a detailed work plan for the project
This would include working with a team of OCRK staff and board to schedule all of the activities and to develop a methodology for the evaluation, identify people from the categories below to be interviewed or surveyed, outline a method to present the results of this evaluation to the board and staff, and summarize how recommendations on communications and outreach will be developed. Volunteer resources are available to help defray costs in survey collection, conducting interviews, and designing the instruments and/or interviews;
2. Guide development of survey instruments and/or in-person interview questions
The consultant will work with staff to determine which people from the categories listed below will be interviewed or surveyed, and develop questions for each category. Upon completion of the surveys and interviews, the information will be used to write a final evaluation report and make recommendations for changes to communications and outreach strategy.
Persons surveyed and/or interviewed for the evaluation may include:
OCRK Board of Directors (Program Committee and others)
Current and former OCRK staff members
Program participants from each of the four programs
Government officials
Elected officials
OCRK’s current and former funders
Key members and river advocates
River front landowners
Important community leaders who are not associated with OCRK
Other knowledgeable observers
3. Prepare the drafts of the 2008 program evaluation and provide recommendations for communications and outreach strategy (including an estimated budget for an enhanced strategy).
Write the first draft of the 2008 program evaluation for review by board and staff. In consultation with the OCRK staff and LEAP board committee, write the final evaluation report and recommendations for communications and outreach strategy presentation at the June 2009 Board Meeting;
4. Presentation of communication and outreach strategy recommendations at the June 2009 Board Meeting.
DURATION AND SCOPE OF WORK
The project is expected to take approximately six months. It is important that the budget be no greater than $10,000 including travel expenses to conduct board/staff training.
It is assumed that the contractor will work in their own premises with their own equipment. OCRK staff will provide background information and materials to assist in the process.
Three meetings with the consultant and key staff and board will be held: September 2008, December 2008, and February 2009 to present the first draft of the evaluation.
Expected products of this project:
1. A work plan for the evaluation process, including a detailed timeline and recommended number of participants to be surveyed and interviewed.
2. First draft and the final version of the complete evaluation.
3. Recommendations for changes in communications and outreach following the review of summaries of interviews and surveys conducted during the project.
4. Presentation to Board of Directors on recommendations for communications and outreach strategy.
PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS
The proposal should include a cover letter including a statement that will bind the respondent to the provisions of the proposal if it is selected, and a statement that the bid proposal will remain valid for 90 days from the date of submission. The proposal should be a plan for the design and implementation of the program evaluation process described above.
The proposal should also include an estimated budget for no more than $10,000, which reflects the costs of the tasks described in this RFP. It will need to include the fees; travel, lodging and food costs for the contractor(s), and any other costs associated with the project.
A description of the qualifications of all of the individual(s) and/or organization(s) who will be involved in the project should be included. It should summarize relevant evaluation experience with capacity building or grant making, especially for nonprofit organizations of the size and complexity of OCRK. References and resumes should be included for all persons involved.
PROCESS
One printed copy of the proposal and support materials should be received at the address below no later than August 15, 2008. Interviews will be scheduled shortly thereafter and a decision will be made in early September 2008. OCRK reserves the right to reject all submissions and reopen the request for proposal process and/or to propose that competing applicants submit a new joint proposal.
Chandra Brown
Riverkeeper/Executive Director
Ogeechee-Canoochee Riverkeeper
PO Box 1925
Statesboro, GA 30459
cbrown@ocrk.org
866-942-6222
