DSU260816-CAMPAIGNCO_qa.pdf

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Addendum 1 RFP - Comprehensive Campaign Consulting Services -

DSU260816-CAMPAIGNCO

Questions and Answers

The work/ clarification/ answers listed in this addendum shall be considered part of the Bid/ RFP document for the referenced project/ product/ services, etc.

Below are questions and answers regarding subject RFP. All questions are written in black color font and the answers are provided in red color font.

1. Section number: II (Appendix A, Scope of Work), Paragraph number: Communications & Branding, Page number: 43, Text of passage being questioned: “Production of professionally designed campaign collateral and creative assets, including print and digital materials, presentation templates, event signage, donor impact pieces, and reusable marketing resources.”

Question: Should the fee proposal include hard production costs such as printing, video production, photography, paid media, and signage fabrication, or are those treated as reimbursable expenses passed through against a budget the University has approved? If they are to be included, what quantities and deliverable volumes should bidders assume so that proposals are comparable?

Answer: Hard production costs (printing, video production, photography, paid media placement, and signage fabrication) should be treated as itemized reimbursable expenses against a University-approved budget, not folded into the retainer or phase-based fee — see the “Reimbursable expenses with details of each item” line on the Attachment 6 pricing sheet. The University is not prescribing fixed quantities or deliverable volumes; each firm should state the assumptions (e.g., expected print runs, number of events, media spend range) underlying its cost proposal so responses can be compared on a consistent basis.

2. Section number: II (Appendix A, Scope of Work), Paragraph number: Communications & Branding, Page number: 44, Text of passage being questioned: “Campaign website strategy.”

Question: Is the consultant expected to design and build the campaign website, or to provide strategy while University staff execute the build? Answer: The scope described in Appendix A

(“Campaign website strategy”) is limited to strategy — messaging, site architecture, and content direction for the campaign website/microsite. The consultant is not required to design or build the site; University staff will execute the technical build.

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3. Section number: II (Appendix A, Scope of Work), Paragraph number: Campaign Operations, Page number: 44, Text of passage being questioned: “CRM optimization and donor pipeline management.”

Question: What constituent relationship management system (CRM) does Institutional Advancement use today? Answer: DSU's Institutional Advancement office currently uses Blackbaud's Raiser's Edge as its constituent relationship management (CRM) / donor database system.

4. Question: As a privately held company who does not disclose private financial information but is in excellent financial standing. Are we still able to submit a proposal without sharing this information?

Answer: Yes. Attachment 7 (Financial Responsibility Questionnaire), Section 2, allows

Offerors without audited statements to submit reviewed/compiled statements, internal financial statements, bank/credit references, or other supporting documentation at the

University’s discretion. A privately held firm is not required to disclose information it does not otherwise make public, provided it submits sufficient alternative documentation under

Attachment 7 to allow the University to evaluate financial responsibility. Firms should note that failure to provide adequate financial information, or information demonstrating insufficient financial capacity, may affect scoring per Attachment 7, Section B.4.

5. Section number: Appendix A, Paragraph number 3, Page number 43, Text of passage being questioned: Review Campaign readiness assessment Question: What campaign readiness activities have already been performed? Answer: DSU has established a Phase I working group that meets regularly to guide early campaign planning and leadership engagement. The University is now taking the next readiness step by engaging, through this

RFP, a campaign consulting firm to execute Phase I alongside that working group.

6. Section number Appendix A, Paragraph number 5, Page number 43, Text of passage being questioned: Case for Support - A professionally written, donor-centric case for support that clearly articulates the University's vision, fundraising priorities, institutional impact, and philanthropic opportunities.

Question: What campaign fundraising priorities have already been established? Answer: For Phase I

(the Athletic Transformation Campaign), the fundraising goal has been identified: $10 million, allocated as $5 million for a new athletic field, $2.5 million for student scholarship support, and $2.5 million for community and economic impact. The campaign has also reached a soft-launch stage, with the campaign website live. Broader Phase II comprehensive campaign priorities — spanning academic priorities, scholarships, endowment growth, research, capital projects, and community engagement, per Appendix A — will be further defined and refined in partnership with the awarded firm.

7. Section number Appendix A, Paragraph number 3, Page number 42, Text of passage being questioned: The selected firm must be capable of rapidly mobilizing with University leadership

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Question: What does DSU view as having been successful in its last campaign, and what is it interested in doing differently in this campaign? Answer: DSU's prior campaign(s) relied significantly on government/public funding as a funding source. This campaign marks a deliberate shift: it is centered on philanthropic fundraising — private, individual, corporate, and foundation giving — as the primary driver. That shift from government-funding-dependent to philanthropy-centric is the most significant difference DSU is looking to achieve with the support of the awarded firm.

8. Section number Appendix A, Paragraph number 3, Page number 45, Text of passage being questioned: Desired Timeline

Question: Does DSU have an anticipated campaign timeline for public launch? Answer: The RFP does not set a fixed calendar date for public launch. Appendix A’s Desired Timeline calls for gift table refinement and executive recommendations within 30 days, principal gift strategy and dashboard implementation within 60 days, and public launch readiness within 90 days of consultant mobilization. The University expects the awarded firm to help finalize the specific public launch date as part of Phase I campaign strategy and gift table work.

9. Question: What is the current state of the Athletic Transformation Campaign specifically (i.e., progress toward goal, revisions to the initial goal, etc)? Answer: The Athletic Transformation

Campaign has a $10 million goal: $5 million for a new athletic field, $2.5 million for student scholarship support, and $2.5 million for community and economic impact. The campaign is currently in a soft-launch phase and the campaign website is complete; DSU's priority now is to scale outreach, solicitation, and gift activity toward full public launch.

10. Can DSU share the Campaign Readiness Assessment that is referenced in the RFP Answer: The

Campaign Readiness Assessment contains internal prospect and organizational information that DSU does not consider appropriate for public release via this addendum. DSU will share relevant findings with the awarded firm during onboarding, and may share select excerpts with shortlisted finalists during the oral presentation stage under a mutual non-disclosure agreement.

11. What is the current volunteer structure, if any, being utilized by DSU? Answer: DSU currently has an active Phase I working committee engaged in campaign planning. Expanding this into a full campaign volunteer structure — including a Campaign Steering Committee, Campaign Cabinet, and broader volunteer leadership, as outlined in Appendix A (Governance & Leadership) — is part of the awarded firm's scope of work.

12. To what extent does DSU expect the awarded firm to directly execute campaign activities like prospect management, as opposed to providing review and strategic guidance on internally led work Answer: The University expects a hands-on engagement rather than a review-only advisory role. Per Appendix A, the selected consultant will “serve as an extension of the

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University’s External Affairs Division,” providing both strategic counsel and implementation support — including direct support for donor cultivation, solicitation coaching, and prospect pipeline development — alongside executive advisory to University leadership. The precise day-to-day division of labor will be defined with the selected firm based on the staffing model proposed and the capacity of the University’s internal advancement team.

13. What technology is currently being used to identify and track prospective/realized donor giving against campaign goals? Answer: Donor giving and progress against campaign goals are tracked in

Raiser's Edge (Blackbaud), the same system referenced above.

14. Section number Appendix A, Paragraph number 3, Page number 43, Text of passage being questioned: Campaign Strategy

Question: How many records are in DSU’s constituent database? Answer: DSU is not publishing an exact constituent database record count in this public addendum. General order-of-magnitude and segmentation information will be shared directly with the selected firm during onboarding and due diligence. Firms should size their proposed approach based on comparable comprehensive campaigns at public universities and HBCUs of similar scope, as described in Appendix A.

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