CHICAGO (Nov. 8, 2024) – The Caucus is issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) to assist with the Chicago Metro Recycling Education and Outreach (REO) Campaign. Please see the Marketing Services RFP (PDF file) or review the text of this document below.

Update on Dec. 5, 2024: The Caucus has provided responses to all of the questions received by potential bidders. View all of the questions and answers here.

Request for Proposals for Comprehensive Marketing Services for the Chicago Metro Recycling Education and Outreach (REO) Campaign

I. Purpose

The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus (the “Caucus”) is an awardee under U.S. EPA’s Consumer Recycling Education and Outreach Grant Program. The Caucus seeks proposals from marketing firms to provide services to assist the Caucus in achieving the three primary goals of the REO campaign:

1) To increase recycling participation throughout the Chicago Metro region (defined as the 275 municipalities falling within Cook, DuPage, Lake, Will, Kane and McHenry Counties), and especially in areas that have not historically had strong participation in recycling programs.

2) To improve the quality of materials placed in the recycling stream by reducing contamination and “wish-cycling” by waste generators.

3) To include information about the availability of products made from post-consumer recycled content materials for residents and businesses.

Attachment A contains a summary of the Chicago Metro REO Campaign and more specific information about the role and deliverables the marketing firm will be responsible for within the campaign.

This Request for Proposals (RFP) includes the following sections:

  • Section II – Budget and Project Duration
  • Section III – Submittal Information
  • Section IV – Background
  • Section V – Project Supervision
  • Section VI – Project Deliverables/Scope of Services Sought
  • Section VII – Qualifications Information
  • Section VIII – Selection Process

II. Budget and Timeline

The Caucus will consider proposals with a total budget of up to $862,000. The Caucus seeks to award a contract by February 1, 2025. The scope of services must be completed by March 31, 2027.

III. Submittal Information

To be considered, proposals must be received via email in PDF format no later than 3 p.m. CST, December 20, 2024, at emakra@mayorscaucus.org.

Proposals must be organized as follows:

  1. Cover letter
  2. Introduction/Company Overview
  3. Qualifications of Key Personnel
  4. Portfolio/Examples of Past Work
  5. Methodological Approach/Scope of Services
  6. Proposed Project Schedule and Key Milestones / Deliverables
  7. Proposed Project Budget (See Attachment B)
  8. Proposed Budget Justification (See Attachment B)

There is no page limit for proposals, but applicants are encouraged to be as concise as possible in providing the above listed materials.

All questions should be directed to Edith Makra in writing at emakra@mayorscaucus.org.  The deadline for submitting questions regarding this RFP is 3 p.m. CDT, Nov. 27, 2024.  Responses to all questions received will be posted on the Caucus’ website alongside the original RFP by 3 p.m. CDT, December 5, 2024.

IV. Background

Firms or individuals responding to this RFP are expected to review the information regarding the campaign provided in Attachment A.  The selected contractor will be responsible for developing and implementing a multi-media marketing campaign to promote consumer/residential recycling across the Chicago Metro region. Marketing assets and messaging must be developed to appeal to a broad audience, and especially to communities that have traditionally been underserved by government programs. The Caucus and its partners (listed in Part V below) have a significant amount of regionally applicable information that will be shared with the contractor at the outset of the campaign.

V. Project Direction and Oversight

The selected contractor will work under the direction of Edith Makra, Caucus Director of Environmental Initiatives, with significant communication with the Chicago Metro REO Outreach and Education Specialist being hired by the Caucus as a component of the larger grant-funded project. The consultant will also be working with and interacting with personnel from the Caucus’ partners on this project including DuPage County, Kane County, McHenry County, Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County, Solid Waste Agency of Lake County and Will County. Applicants should plan to attend at least five (5) project meetings in or near Chicago over the course of the project timeframe, and should budget travel expenses as necessary.

VI. Project Deliverables/Scope of Services Sought 

The following project deliverables must be integrated into proposals in the Methodological Approach/Scope of Services section. Please also include a timeline for each of the following phases of the project (beginning no earlier than February 1, 2025, and ending no later than March 31, 2027).

  1. Design, develop and deploy a regional, multi-media marketing campaign to promote consumer recycling, including a visual campaign brand and taglines. The design phase for the campaign brand and for major assets, including the website, must include opportunities for the Caucus and its partners to provide feedback on multiple design drafts through an iterative process. The firm will be required to integrate the finalized brand and taglines into multiple campaign assets, including designs for social media posts, billboards, mass transit ads, and movie theater pre-trailer and lobby ads. The firm will be required to prepare a marketing plan that addresses the marketing content to be developed and how the content will be deployed across physical and social media. Roughly 40% of the advertising budget should be allocated to placements in disadvantaged communities within the Chicago Metro Region.
  2. Coordinate and implement ad buys.
  3. Develop and launch a REO campaign website to include an asset library, information on recycling right/reducing contamination, and direction on how to more effectively “buy recycled.” All ads and other assets developed for the REO campaign must include a QR code or other link to the website. All domain, hosting, security and CMS fees must be integrated into the proposal budget for the duration of the contract.
  4. Translate all marketing assets into Spanish and a subset of key assets into Mandarin, Polish, Arabic and Hindi.
  5. Track and report marketing analytics to the Caucus on a quarterly basis following launch/deployment. This must include analytics for the website and all social media platforms used and estimates of reach for physical ads.
  6. Develop a transition plan for enduring web-based assets including the website and any social media profiles developed as part of the campaign. This plan must include training the Caucus on the website CMS for basic updates and a description of ongoing maintenance needs.

In both their narrative proposal and budget submissions, applicants must describe how each deliverable will be accomplished (i.e., through staff time, subcontracting, or both), and how much of the total proposed budget is allocated to each task. See Attachment B: Proposal Budget. Budget detail must include hours to be worked by project team members with hourly rates and proposed subaward budgets, if any.

VII. Qualifications Information

The following qualifications information must be presented clearly in appropriate sections of the proposal:

  1. Background information including, but not limited to, an overview of the firm or business, number and type of employees, principals or partners, and lead office location for the project.
  2. Areas of specialization, any specialized social messaging or public information campaigns developed and deployed in Illinois or the greater Midwest, and other information that would indicate an ability to accomplish this project.
  3. List the personnel who will be assigned to the project and describe their education, experience/qualifications and licenses. Provide a project team organizational chart and copies of resumes. Identify the project manager, and each other project team members’ specific role and areas of responsibility on the project.
  4. Identify subcontractors, if applicable, and describe their specific responsibilities. Provide background information and qualifications for each proposed subcontractor. In the case where a specific subcontracting entity has not been identified, describe the approach to procuring subcontracted services and assuring quality of subcontractor performance.
  5. Describe your involvement in projects of similar size and scope in Illinois or the greater Midwest and provide samples (either physical samples and/or a list of links to web-based work). Provide the name, email address and telephone number of three references.
  6. Evidence of insurance including coverage limits for the following coverages:
    1. General Liability
    2. Auto Liability
    3. Worker’s Compensation
    4. Professional Liability

VIII. Selection Process

The Caucus will review all proposals which are submitted by the deadline.  The Caucus reserves the right to reject any or all proposals or to cancel the review process at any time. It also reserves the right to request additional information or clarification from applicants.

The Caucus and the project partners will rank proposals on a 100-point scale based on the following criteria:

Quality of Proposal: 10 points

Strength of Qualifications: 35 points

Methodological Approach: 35 points

Appropriateness of Budget: 20 points

The Caucus reserves the right to interview respondents to provide an additional opportunity to present their proposed approach and qualifications. Such interviews would be conducted by staff from the Caucus and its partners. A recommendation to contract will be presented to the Executive Director of the Caucus for final approval.

IX. Professional Services Agreement

Note that acceptance of federally required terms due to the federal source of funding are non-negotiable. The Professional Service Agreements must grant to the Caucus, its partners, and the U.S. EPA an irrevocable right to use all logos, designs, assets and products resulting from this project in perpetuity.