County of Marin Seal

OVERVIEW

The Marin Complete County Committee is seeking a qualified individual or organization to coordinate countywide census outreach activities to insure a complete count for Census 2020 in Marin.

Please note that separate grant funding opportunities will be available to community-based organizations in each of the four undercounted jurisdictions (San Rafael, West Marin, Marin City, Novato) to assist in deployment of outreach activities in those communities. A process to apply for these grant funds will be made available following the award of the Lead Countywide Outreach Agency.  

Key Dates

  • Issue Date: May 8, 2019
  • Q&A Session with Marin Census Staff: May 17th, 2019
  • Proposal Due Date: May 24, 2019
  • Award Date: By June 25, 2019

Process

  • The proposals will be reviewed by the Marin Complete Count Committee (CCC) staff team.
  • The proposals will be evaluated based on the evaluation criteria set forth below.
  • The Marin CCC staff team will recommend award of the contract to the Marin CCC Steering Committee who will then provide their recommendation to the Marin County Board of Supervisors.

Schedule

  • The term of the contract agreement is anticipated to start July 1, 2019 and conclude December 31, 2020.

Budget

  • Provide a budget not to exceed $120,000 that demonstrates how the scope of services will be delivered.
  • The County will pay the contractor based on monthly itemized invoices documenting appropriate project related deliverables and expenses.

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

In order to maintain uniformity, each organization must submit a written proposal, which shall be limited to a maximum of 5 pages (excluding cover letter, front and back covers, and exhibits). 

The following information is required:

  1. Cover Letter: A letter signed by a principal or authorized representative who can make legally binding commitments for the entity.
  2. Organization and Personnel Experience: A profile of the organization’s experience, including the names and experience of key personnel who will be providing services. At a minimum, this should include the project manager/principal agent, key staff member(s) in charge when project manager/principal agent is unavailable, and an organization chart identifying only those who will perform work for the proposed project and the percentage of each individual’s time devoted to this project. 
  3. Scope of Services. Proposer shall submit a general description of the deliverables and timelines to complete the project. See below for a more detailed description of the Scope of Services.

All applications should be submitted electronically to info@marincensus2020.org by 5:00pm on May 24th, 2019. If you cannot submit electronically, please contact Daniel Soto at daniel.soto@cityofsanrafael.org or by phone at (415) 485-3064 for alternative delivery options.

SELECTION CRITERIA

The criteria for evaluating the proposals submitted will take the following items into consideration:

Scoring Description Total Possible Points
Organizational Experience Applications will be scored from 0-10 based upon their organization’s experience coordinating outreach. 10
Countywide Experience/

Capacity

Applicants will be scored from 0-25 based upon their organization’s reach throughout all jurisdictions in Marin County. 25
Reporting Experience Applicants will be scored from 0-10 based upon their organization’s experience successfully developing effectiveness metrics and performing grant reporting. 10
Translation Services Applicants will be scored from 0-10 based upon their organization’s capacity to perform written and spoken non-English translation services.

10
Hard to Count Communities Applicants will be scored from 0-25 based upon their organizations experience providing direct services and culturally-appropriate outreach to HTC communities in Marin County. 25
Dedicated Staff Applicants will be scored from 0-25 based upon their capacity to provide census-knowledgeable dedicated staffing for countywide outreach. 25
Readiness Applicants will be scored from 0-25 based upon their demonstrated pre-existing knowledge of the Census, engagement thus far in Census2020 work (including SwORD tool), and demonstrated capacity to launch and manage a coordinated Census Outreach immediately following contract execution. 25

 Total Possible Points

130

Social Equity Preference Points

Female Staff Majority 5 preference points will be awarded to organizations that can show majority female staff and/or volunteer composition. 5
Non-White/Caucasian Majority Staff 5 preference points will be awarded to organizations that can show majority non-white/Caucasian staff and/or volunteer composition. 5
Location within HTC Tract Up to 10 preference points will be awarded to organizations that are headquartered in a census tract with a high HTC Index. HTC Index will be based upon the California HTC Index found here: https://marincensus2020.org/about/hard-to-count-communities/ 10

SCOPE OF SERVICES

Potential candidates must demonstrate: 

    • Experience developing and coordinating effective grassroots outreach countywide;
    • Ability to develop effective messaging strategies tailored to individual communities;
    • Ability to organize large groups of residents and evidence of existing working relationships with networks of community-based organizations (CBOs) in hard-to-count communities;
    • Ability to work collaboratively with a network of CBOs, local governments and across a broad spectrum of sectors to coordinate and leverage resources and networks;
    • Ability and knowledge to interface with the Statewide Outreach and Rapid Deployment (SwORD) mapping portal, including collecting, storing, and analyzing tabular/or spatial data and ensuring data quality in formats such as Excel, .csv or others using geographic information systems; and
    • Organizational capacity (staffing and leadership), history, and track record of successfully providing the requested services.

Responsibilities include:

    • Facilitation of the Marin CCC Steering Committee, quarterly Marin CCC meetings, and participation on Marin CCC staff team;
    • Coordinate funding and grant opportunities for census outreach activities from Statewide, Region 3 Community Based Organization (United Way of Bay Area), Northern California Grantmakers, and other local philanthropic sources to avoid duplication and address any funding gaps;
    • Collaborate with United Way of Bay Area to provide partner education, support, training, resources, and consistent messaging countywide;
    • Utilize the SwORD portal to regularly upload partner census activities in a timely manner and identify any gaps in outreach and mobilization;
    • Conduct and coordinate subcommittee meetings to develop outreach strategies and specific implementation measures for the Implementation Plan;
    • Provide partnership support in conducting outreach activities, including census messaging toolkits and training, to deployment partner(s) for each of the hard-to-count communities (Marin City, West Marin, Novato, and San Rafael). In addition, coordinate countywide census messaging for all Marin communities;
    • Establish “community action teams” to carry out outreach elements identified in the Strategic and Implementation Plans;
    • Assist in the development of a plan to establish, manage, announce and activate locations of Questionnaire Assistance Centers and/or Questionnaire Assistance Kiosks.
    • Assist Census Bureau staff to coordinate publicization, recruitment and training of census enumerators in hard-to-count areas; and
    • Ensure all census outreach and messaging is culturally relevant and linguistically appropriate;
    • Engage trusted messengers in trusted environments to help the public participate in the census; and
    • Other tasks as needed.
Image of Ellen LaPointe

Request for Proposals open until May 31, 2019

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – To ensure that all Bay Area residents are counted accurately and completely in the 2020 census, approximately $1 million in grants will be awarded to local nonprofits for census education and outreach efforts, a collaborative group of funding organizations announced this week.

The Bay Area Census Funders Collaborative – a partnership of Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the East Bay Community Foundation, Northern California Grantmakers, and numerous other funders – has been created to help ensure a fair and complete 2020 census count.

“Here’s why we need an accurate count: So that Californians get the right level of federal funding for public programs and the right amount of representation in Congress,” said Nicole Taylor, president and CEO of Silicon Valley Community Foundation. “We’re giving grants to Bay Area nonprofits to make sure everyone – including hard-to-count populations like children, the elderly, immigrants and homeless people – is counted in census 2020.”

There are some unprecedented challenges facing the 2020 census, however, including significant underfunding of the Census Bureau, the proposed addition of question about respondents’ citizenship, and the new online census questionnaire.

“When census information is not accurate, the rights of the most vulnerable are threatened and equality is undermined. We are delighted to partner with leaders in the philanthropic community who understand how critical it is that each and every one of us is counted in the 2020 Census,” said President and CEO Ellen LaPointe of Northern California Grantmakers.

To help meet the census’ challenges, the funders collaborative published its first Request for Proposals on Monday, April 15. At least $1 million in grant funding will be awarded to nonprofit groups for outreach and education efforts focused on the 2020 census. Grant applications must be submitted by Friday, May 31, 2019, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time.

“The importance of the census count is often under-estimated,” said President and CEO James Head of the East Bay Community Foundation. “The East Bay, in particular, is home to a significant number of hard-to-count communities. Through this collaboration, we expect to support a range of innovative strategies to encourage full participation and ensure an accurate count, because this impacts not just the state’s influence but the power of local communities.”

The grants will be awarded to nonprofit organizations working to engage and promote the participation of hard-to-count communities in the nine-county Bay Area (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma counties).

The collaborative will host six information sessions throughout the region to review the RFP, eligibility, application process, selection criteria, and grant timeline.

To learn more about the funding collaborative and information session dates, times and locations, visit ncg.org/2020-census.

Media contacts:

Sue McAllister, VP, marketing and communications, Silicon Valley Community Foundation
650.450.5513 or sjmcallister@siliconvalleycf.org

Kayla Ballard, communications manager, Northern California Grantmakers
415.872.1019 or kballard@ncg.org

Stacey Manley, VP, communications, East Bay Community Foundation
510.208.0827 or smanley@eastbaycf.org

About Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Silicon Valley Community Foundation advances innovative philanthropic solutions to challenging problems. We engage donors and corporations from Silicon Valley, across the country and around the globe to make our region and world better for all. Our passion for helping people and organizations achieve their philanthropic dreams has created a global philanthropic enterprise committed to the belief that possibilities start here. Learn more at siliconvalleycf.org.

About East Bay Community Foundation
The East Bay Community Foundation is committed to advancing a Just East Bay. We partner with donors, social movements, and the community to eliminate structural barriers, advance racial equity, and transform political, social, and economic outcomes for all who call the East Bay home. Learn more at ebcf.org.

About Northern California Grantmakers
Northern California Grantmakers is an association of great people doing great work. We bring together foundations, nonprofit organizations, government, and business to tackle our region’s most pressing social issues. We pool resources, share information, and learn from each other, making our collective impact far greater than if we were going it alone. Learn more at ncg.org.

Retrieved from https://ncg.org/news/ensure-accurate-local-census-count-1-million-grant-funding-available-nonprofits.