Having been on the receiving end of many Requests for Proposals over the years, I’ve seen the many different ways non-profits approach the weighty task of hiring a direct marketing agency.

Since this partnership is an important one, and likely to affect your fundraising program for a number of years, I have prepared a checklist of items that may make your task a bit easier and more efficient. Some items fall into the category of “Doing your “Pre-RFP Homework,” while others are about the RFP process itself.

Check the Rep

Before issuing an RFP, check with your colleagues – especially those at organizations similar to yours in size and mission. They’re your best source of information about the reputations of agencies you might consider. Who are they working with now – and whom did they work with in the past? What do they like and dislike about them? Who do they think is hot – and who’s not? What kind of results have they had? You can also check with vendors you trust, to learn about agencies they’ve partnered with successfully.

Join the Club

Professional organizations like the Direct Marketing Association, Association of Fundraising Professionals, Direct Marketing Fundraisers Association and other groups can be a great way to learn who’s out there. Attend any conference and you’ll be exposed to many vendors eager to work with you.

Check out the websites and publications of the professional organizations for news and information about who’s doing what for whom. Of course, reading industry publications is another important way to learn about your competitive environment and the services providers available to you.

Inquire Within

What specific goals are you trying to attain in your program? Do you wish to ramp up a small program to a larger scope? Breathe new life into a mature program? Acquire new donors quickly? Upgrade an existing donor base?Integrate many programs into a cohesive whole? All of the above?

Try to outline realistic goals and set the expectations of your Board of Directors and superiors appropriately. At the same time, you need to consider the capabilities of your in-house staff. Do you need to add people to get the job done? What are the skill sets you need on staff?

Define the Relationship

Some folks want a “one-stop shopping” kind of relationship, whereby one large agency provides all or most of the services you require. You need to determine whether you feel that one company can be good at everything – or would you prefer to choose “best of breed” subcontractors?

Some organizations have a “lead agency” that provides some of the services, out-sources others, but is the single point of contact for the organization have an extremely qualified, committed staff, because this option will be a great deal o work for you internally.

Some organizations struggle mightily in this task, while others pull it off gracefully. Again, you must have firm grasp of what you can realistically do yourself, what areas require outside help, and how to manage multiple relationships efficiently.

Don’t Reinvent the Wheel

If you’ve done an RFP in the past, or you can get one of your peers to share one created for a similar organization, deleting all proprietary information, of course, you’ll at least have a starting point in creating you

r own document.

Take your time on this document. The more detailed and comprehensive you make it, the more likely you are to find a partner who turns out to be a good fit.

Creating a good Request for Proposal — and evaluating all the responses — is a daunting task. If you don’t have the time to put into it, or simply don’tfeel up to the task, there are a number of excellent consultants who are adept at guiding you through the process of finding the partner who is right for you.

Be Exclusive

Don’t invite the whole industry to respond to your RFP. Organizations that undertake too broad an agency search often pay a heavy price in terms of time and effort. I have seen a planned two-month search turn into an exhausting six-month epic.

For example, let’s say Organization #1 sends out 25 RFP’s. Several staffers become overwhelmed by the task of going through 25 highly detailed documents, each of which can contain 50 – 100 pages or

more of dense material.

There’s so much material to go through, it becomes difficult to differentiate one group from another. Eventually, the 25 agencies are slowly whittled down to about a dozen, and then to a “short list” of 5 or 6 who

make full presentations, face to face. Clearly, to consider 25 proposals, you may be biting off more than you can chew.

Like any direct response endeavor, the better your list, the better the result. If you can start with a “pre-qualified” list of 5 –10 agencies, your task will be much easier.

For example, Organization #2, decides not to send out the RFP immediately, but to send a “Prescreening Questionnaire” first. They send the questionnaire to approximately 10 to 15 companies. Right off the bat, they can rule out agencies that do not give the right responses. Then, they have a “Round 2” face-to face-interview. They don’t ask for a full presentation, just a “getting to know you” meeting with perhaps 5 or 6 remaining agencies.

At this point, Organization #2 gets a personal impression each individual company and its people. Do you feel any chemistry or excitement? Who sounds like the real deal and who sounds like an empty sales pitch? Now, perhaps Organization #2 can narrow the field again.

Finally, only a small number of agencies are asked to write a full proposal, and fewer still get to do a detailed strategic and creative presentation in person.

This multi-round approach is easier on the client, because you can exclude a number of agencies quickly. It’s also much fairer for the agencies involved. Those who really don’t have a good shot at the business are spared the large expenditure of time, effort and out-of pocket expenses associated with a fullscale pitch.

Set a Realistic Time Frame

This is a big decision. One that’s going to affect you – for better or worse – for a long time. Don’t expect to complete the whole process in a couple of weeks. What’s the right amount of time? It varies by the size and complexity of the RFP, but a good rule of thumb is to plan for at least six to eight weeks.  

Ask the Right Questions

The “right questions” for your program will depend upon your mission, the size of your organization and the kinds of services you require. But there are certainly some general questions that would apply to almost any organization. For example, you certainly need to know what clients the agency has now, and what kind of results they have helped them achieve – over the long term. Ask for real case studies and references so you can talk to their clients.

You can also ask for references from organizations that are no longer with that agency. Find out why they left.  Sometimes it’s just a changing of the guard at the client organization or a personality conflict versus a failure to perform.

You can learn a lot about someone by the company they keep. Find out what partners the agency works with – and how well they work together.

Trust Your Gut

This business, like most others, is all about relationships. What’s your gut feeling about these people? Once you’ve moved past the requisite capabilities presentation, think about your

team on a personal level. Did they come up with any keen insights about your program? Did you “click” with them?

Usually you can tell in a short period of time whether or not you like someone, feel impressed by their knowledge and comfortable that you will be able to work with them. Finally, make sure you meet your “real team.” Are the people making the pitch the same ones who will be doing the work?

This article is by no means a comprehensive analysis of the RFP process, but I hope it helps you get off to a good start. Good luck and good hunting!

Tags: Davinci, direct marketing agency, direct response agency, fundraising, fundraising agency, fundraising professionals, hire direct response agency

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