2_Statement_of_Work.docx

Statement of Work:

Member Recruitment System Corporation for National Community Service (CNCS) AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (AmeriCorps NCCC)

1.0 Background

The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) is a federal agency that engages more than 5 million Americans in service through its core programs. The mission of CNCS is to improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic engagement through service and volunteering. AmeriCorps NCCC is a ten month, full-time, team-based residential national service program for young men and women ages 18-24. The program is built on the belief that civic responsibility is an inherent duty of all citizens and that a national service program can effectively work with local communities to address pressing needs. The specific mission of AmeriCorps NCCC is to strengthen communities and develop leaders through direct team-based national and community service.

AmeriCorps NCCC has five regional campuses located in Baltimore, Maryland; Sacramento, California; Vicksburg, Mississippi; Denver, Colorado and Vinton, Iowa, and members complete service projects in all 50 states and the U.S. territories in partnership with nonprofit organizations, state and local agencies, and community and faith-based groups.

AmeriCorps NCCC maintains two programs, Traditional NCCC and FEMA Corps. Traditional NCCC is a program where members perform a variety of service projects, such as leading youth development activities, constructing and rehabilitating low-income housing, performing environmental clean-up, helping communities develop emergency plans, and addressing other pressing local needs. AmeriCorps NCCC members are assigned to one of the five regional campuses, placed into teams of approximately ten members, and complete three to four projects, of six to eight weeks in length, responding to local community needs in every state.

FEMA Corps is an AmeriCorps NCCC program for young adults developed in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) who want to gain professional skills in emergency management while serving with FEMA on disaster response and recovery efforts. The members work solely on emergency management and long-term recovery activities within FEMA helping to coordinate services for disaster survivors.

2.0 Objective

The Contractor shall provide all management, labor, travel, materials, and applicable equipment to perform all of the necessary services contemplated under this single award in an orderly, timely and efficient manner. This contract will be awarded as Firm Fixed price (FFP) using the Lowest Price Technically Acceptable methodology. The Contractor must have the expertise and experience in developing a quote to support the objectives presented below.

The contractor shall provide AmeriCorps NCCC with a recruitment program that achieves the following specific objectives.

· Contacts, interviews, evaluates and registers enough acceptable applicants to fill all AmeriCorps NCCC Traditional and FEMA Corps program vacancies when required each fiscal year.

· Establishes and maintains a contractor-provided electronic portfolio that complies with CNCS cybersecurity and privacy policies. The portfolio will contain a file of every potential program member identified including their contact information, demographic and educational information, their level of interest, how they learned about the program, a history of their communications with NCCC, and program information shared with them. This information will be entered into the CNCS member management system once it is implemented.

· In coordination with AmeriCorps NCCC managers, develops and implements an annual recruitment plan. The recruitment plan will identify educational organizations, community organizations, and service organizations where the contractor will provide program presentations, address attendee questions, provide information interviews and collect contact information. Strategic priorities for the marketing and recruitment plan will be developed by NCCC in collaboration with internal stakeholders, including the Office of External Affairs for the Corporation for National and Community Service.

· Travels an estimated forty-two (42) weeks a year to locations identified in the annual recruitment plan and provide a minimum of sixteen (16) NCCC program presentations a week at schools, colleges, universities, career fairs, conferences, community organizations, or other similar types of groups.

· Schedules recruitment presentations with the groups identified in the annual recruitment plan.

· Meets with similar types of service organizations, stakeholders and program alumni throughout the fiscal year to obtain information on potential applicants and career opportunities for program graduates.

· Builds relationships with employers that would benefit from employing AmeriCorps NCCC graduates because of their training, discipline and experience. Identifies the skill sets and member experiences that would make program graduates attractive to employers.

· Identifies program candidates that have the skills and experiences being sought by employers, which combined with the additional skills, experiences, and certifications gained at NCCC will create a strong applicant pool for employment.

· Conducts an examination of the AmeriCorps NCCC target membership and determines how the program meets their career goals, skills improvement and personal interests. Use this information to develop potential marketing strategies that encourage the audience to submit an application. Distributes print and electronic recruitment marketing material including brochures, posters, videos, and distribute them via print, electronic and social media.

· As detailed in the approved marketing strategy, employs social media, email, SMS, electronic referral networks, etc. to disseminate marketing material. Develops position and program descriptions to post on electronic job boards and employment search engines that will encourage applications from potential members. Develops an algorithm of the characteristics of successful members and use it to collect leads from electronic labor exchanges. Works with AmeriCorps NCCC to encourage partnerships with other Federal agencies to use these tools to recruit for similar programs across the agencies.

· Provides monthly status reviews to senior AmeriCorps managers that include contacts made, interviews performed, presentations provided, information distributed, progress on meeting the recruitment plan performance goals and any other relevant information.

· Performs statistical analyses of recruitment activities performed for each quarter of the fiscal year to measure the success of the recruitment plan in generating applicants. Presents the results in-person at regular status reviews.

3.0 Scope of Work

The contractor will provide expert-level recruitment services to fill all of the 1,200 Traditional NCCC and 1,000 FEMA Corps vacancies within the class schedule of each fiscal year. These numbers may fluctuate based on the number of classes available each year. The contractor will provide a recruitment staff that is familiar with all of the CNCS programs including AmeriCorps NCCC. The recruitment staff will identify and interview applicants, provide an evaluation of the applicants’ potential success in AmeriCorps NCCC, and provide follow-up information on NCCC or other CNCS programs. The contractor will respond to applicant inquires within 24 hours of being received by the recruitment team.

The contractor will work with AmeriCorps NCCC Headquarters staff to develop program presentations, interview questions and candidate evaluation templates (one set for members and one set for team leaders). At the direction of Headquarters staff, the contractor will develop an annual recruitment plan in April and May for the following fiscal year that incorporates marketing, outreach and recruitment strategies. The plan will include performance goals for each type of recruitment activity. It must include provisions to help AmeriCorps NCCC meet the goals of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act of 2009, to increase the number of members from disadvantaged circumstances to 50%. Once this plan is approved by NCCC Headquarters and implemented, the contractor will report on the progress in meeting the performance goals at the monthly status report to senior NCCC managers.

The contractor will identify, schedule and attend activities that will generate program applicants. The contractor will provide program presentations at schools, colleges, universities, career fairs, conferences, civic and service organizations, and other locations where potential members are in attendance. Whenever the contractor provides a program presentation they will be available to perform information interviews with potential members and register them in the CNCS member management system or the contractor’s electronic portfolio. The contractor must establish and maintain relationships or partnerships between AmeriCorps NCCC and organizations with similar missions that can assist in identifying potential program applicants or share applicant names. The contractor will provide them with program presentations and materials.

The contractor will provide and maintain a secure recruitment tracking and data management database that meets the CNCS FISMA standards. The recruiters will create a member profile in the database for each potential candidate that they contact, interview, or provide with information. The member profile will include the following for each potential candidate: contact information, name, age, address, telephone number, email address, the name of the school they are attending (with their anticipated graduation date) or from which they graduated and what interests them in NCCC. The recruiters will also include how the applicants heard about AmeriCorps NCCC and the dates when program information was provided to them. Once the CNCS member management system is implemented, the contractor will only be required to enter contact information for potential candidates into this system and will forgo entering information into the contractor’s recruitment database.

The contractor’s database will also include information on recruiter presentations and meetings with other service organizations, alumni and stakeholders. The recruiters will record the nature of these interactions, e.g. meetings, presentations, data sharing, etc., who was engaged in the interactions and where and when they occurred. This information will be entered into the CNCS member management system once it is implemented. The contractor will use information from either the contractor or CNCS databases to produce reports, tables and graphs that show the best sources of applicants, the most efficient use of recruitment resources to attract new members, and the value of alumni and other partner organizations in encouraging young people to apply to the program.

The contractor will develop marketing tools and products that make NCCC stand out from other programs. The contractor will use social media and marketing techniques to attract and maintain potential members’ interest using the most current program information. The contractor will develop an algorithm of the characteristics of successful members and use it to collect leads from electronic labor exchanges and candidate search engines to identify program candidates. The contractor will also provide traditional media, e.g., television, radio, newspapers and magazines with information on the program and its activities. The contractor will promote the establishment of links to AmeriCorps NCCC on other service organizations websites.

The contractor will provide monthly status reports to senior AmeriCorps NCCC managers including the National Director, Deputy Director, Director of Operations and Director of Outreach. The status reports will list the number of program presentations provided and to whom, the number of applicant informational interviews performed and the number of applications generated by presentation. The contractor will report on their progress in meeting the goals of the annual recruitment plan. The contractor will also present data and analyses summarizing the success of various recruitment activities in generating applicants.

4.0 Experience and Professional Attributes

To perform the requirements set forth in paragraph 3.0 Scope of Work above, the contractor must meet all of the following:

A. Contractor Experience

1. Have at least three years of experience in identifying, interviewing, and evaluating applicants for a service program and providing follow-up information when requested.

2. Experience in creating, entering and maintaining applicant portfolios containing contact, demographic and personal interests information.

3. Experience in developing presentations, meeting and conference curriculum, and developing exhibit displays. This includes setting up and providing audio and video support.

4. Experience working with a national or community service program that supports a member base of at least 1000 members.

5. Experience in providing program presentations to schools, civic organizations, career fairs and other venues, providing satisfactory answers to attendee questions, collecting contact information from potential program members and providing follow-up information.

6. Experience in establishing and maintaining records of all contacts and interactions with service organizations, alumni and stakeholders.

7. Experience in informing and identifying potential applicants via social media, electronic job boards, search engines and traditional media.

8. Experience in quickly providing the correct information in response to questions or requests for information by telephonic communication, electronically or by mail.

9. Experience in providing customer service to different levels of leadership, giving presentations to senior program managers, adjusting to changing program priorities and providing requested information in a short period of time.

10. Experience in performing statistical analysis of recruitment data and presenting the results in various oral, written and graphic formats.

11. Experience in developing marketing tools for use in various types of media.

5.0 Deliverables

The contractor will provide the staffing, supervision, supplies, services, travel, materials, equipment, facilities, and other infrastructure required to manage a recruitment program for the AmeriCorps NCCC programs. This includes the following:

Establish and maintain an electronic portfolio for AmerCorps NCCC that complies with CNCS cybersecurity and privacy policies. The portfolio will contain a file of every potential program member identified including their contact information, demographic and educational information, their level of interest, how they learned about the program, a history of their communications with NCCC, and program information shared with them. An updated version of this portfolio will be provided to NCCC by the last day of every month. This information will be entered into the CNCS member management system once it is implemented.

In coordination with senior NCCC managers, develop and deliver an annual recruitment plan by June 1st for the following fiscal year. The recruitment plan will identify educational organizations, community organizations, and service organizations, by community, where the contractor will provide AmeriCorps NCCC program presentations, address attendee questions, provide information interviews and collect contact information.

On the last day of every month, provide an updated database for AmeriCorps NCCC that includes the names and contact information of representatives of similar types of service organizations, stakeholders and program alumni that act as a source of potential applicants or can provide career opportunities for program graduates

Develop and maintain print and electronic recruitment marketing material for AmeriCorps NCCC including brochures, posters, and videos. This material will be updated twice a year and delivered to AmeriCorps NCCC managers for approval on January 1st and July 1st. Once they are approved, the vendor will distribute them via print, electronic and social media.

Provide monthly status reviews to senior AmeriCorps managers. The status reviews will include contracts made, interviews performed, presentations provided, information distributed, progress on meeting the performance goals of the annual recruitment plan and any other relevant information.

Perform statistical analyses of recruitment activities performed for the periods October through December, January through March, April through June and July through September within one month after the end of each period and presented in-person at the next monthly status review. The analyses will include evaluations of the success of the current recruitment plan in generating applicants and any suggestions for amending or improving it.

6.0 POST AWARD

The contractor will participate in kick-off and close-out meetings by phone.

7.0 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

Work will be performed remotely. There must be access to telephones, email, and the internet during working hours (8 – 5:30 pm) in the Eastern Time zone.

CNCS will provide system access and training as needed.

8.0 TRAVEL

The contractor shall not travel, other than local travel, on a cost reimbursable basis under this task order without the contracting officer or its representative’s prior approval. The contractor should submit a request for travel authorization by electronic means at least five (5) days in advance of the anticipated travel, except for unusual and compelling circumstances. The request must support the need for travel and specify the destination, duration, and estimated cost. Approved travel will be reimbursed at the Federal government prevailing rate (See http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/home.do?tabId=0 to obtain rates).

9.0 PROPOSED PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

From date of award for 12 months with four (4) option years.

10.0 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

All contractor developed processes and procedures, including but not limited to data collection systems and instruments, datasets, plans, and other forms of intellectual property created during this contract, shall be the property of the Government.

· 10.1 All documentation and electronic data and information collected by the Contractor and generated in support of this contract shall be Government property, and shall be returned to the Government by the end of the performance period.

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