ESBD_548784_1786635760300_RFP 26-20 Direct Mail Magazine Svs (Career Focus).pdf

RFP #26-20 Direct Mail Magazine Services – Career Focus 1

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) #26-20

Direct Mail Magazine Service – Career Focus

PROPOSED SOLICITATION SCHEDULE

This schedule may be modified or changed at the sole discretion of SJCCD.

DATE ACTION

August 13, 2026 RFP issued.

September 1, 2026

Virtual Pre-Proposal Meeting (non-mandatory)

9:30 a.m. Central Time

Request a link to the virtual meeting by sending an email to the Procurement Contact by close of business Friday, Aug. 21, 2026.

September 2, 2026

Questions and/or Clarifications Deadline

Requests for questions and clarifications regarding RFP documents shall be submitted through the Questions tab in IonWave by 5:00 p.m. Central Time to be considered.

September 4, 2026 Issuance of final addendum, if necessary.

September 11, 2026

Proposal Submission Deadline

All proposal documents shall be submitted before 2:00 p.m.

Central Time in IonWave.

The RFP opening will take place digitally through IonWave immediately following time due. A list of vendors who submitted will be made available upon written request to the Procurement Contact.

September 15, 2026 Hardcopy Sample Products received at: SJCCD Contracts and Purchasing Services, 4620 Fairmont Parkway, Suite A2.208, Pasadena, TX 77504

November/December Recommendation of award and approval to enter into contract.

Award will be announced after approval received.

E-Bidding Website: IonWave:

https://sanjac.ionwave.net

PROCUREMENT CONTACT

Melissa Fuqua, Buyer 281-998-6378 melissa.fuqua@sjcd.edu https://sanjac.ionwave.net/ mailto:melissa.fuqua@sjcd.edu

RFP #26-20 Direct Mail Magazine Services – Career Focus 2

SCOPE OF WORK

1. General

San Jacinto Community College District (“SJCCD” or “College”) is soliciting sealed proposals from qualified firms to provide Direct Mail Marketing Campaign Services – Career Focus for a targeted audience of residents in the SJCCD taxing district (consisting primarily of East Harris County).

All work performed must be in compliance with existing federal, state and local codes, statutes and requirements.

SJCCD is a public community college district organized under Chapter 130 of the Texas Education Code and is tax exempt in the State of Texas.

This Scope of Work covers the requirements to provide SJCCD with Direct Mail Magazine Services

– Career Focus, which shall include, but is not limited to the services and specifications listed below.

2. Services

2.1. Print Publication

2.1.1. Targeted to residents who live within the College taxing district and employees and students outside of the College’s taxing district.

2.1.2. Complete turnkey design services with provided content

2.1.3. Provide online service to upload / submit content

2.1.4. Include up to three rounds of revisions for each publication, incorporating consolidated feedback provided by the College

2.1.5. Furnish three editions per year – January, May, October

2.1.6. Complete design layout (content provided), mail preparation and execution to residents that live within the SJCCD plus additional list(s) provided by the College

2.1.7. Additional 100 copies for delivery to the SJCCD office

2.1.8. Provide a final, reader-accessible PDF of each issue that meets current digital accessibility standards, including properly tagged content, a logical reading order, searchable text, descriptive alternative text for meaningful images, accessible links, and appropriate document properties

2.1.9. Contractor shall provide mailing list based on the specifications of the target zip codes

2.2. Online edition for each issue

2.2.1. Responsive for PC, tablet, mobile and social media

2.2.2. Vendor to host the publication and provide a specific URL for SJCCD

RFP #26-20 Direct Mail Magazine Services – Career Focus 3

2.2.3. Supply Website Page Analytics, including but not limited to: visitors, unique visitors, page visits, click through rates, breakdown of traffic across platforms

2.2.4. Supply data capture from unique visitors, including name, address, and email (if applicable)

2.2.5. Provide a two-week multi-channel social media campaign (posts and visuals to be created by the vendor based on what is provided) to promote each issue

3. Specifications

3.1. 12-page, self-cover, self-mailer, full color on both sides (4/4) magazine

3.2. Size: Flat size: 16.75 inches × 10.875 inches; finished size after folding: 8.375 inches ×

10.875 inches.

3.3. Paper stock and paper weight shall be 80# or 100#, gloss

3.4. Offset print – no web press

4. Delivery and Installation

4.1. All items shall be shipped FOB destination as stated in SJCCD’s standard terms and conditions.

4.2. Contractor shall provide mailing list based on the specifications of the target zip codes (zip codes provided by SJC).

4.3. Firm shall ship 100 copies of the completed direct mail marketing campaign magazine directly to the SJCCD External Relations, 4624 Fairmont Parkway, Suite 210, Pasadena, TX 77504.

5. College Locations

5.1. District Offices – 4620 Fairmont Parkway, Pasadena, TX 77504

5.2. Central Campus – 8060 Spencer Hwy, Pasadena, TX 77505

5.3. North Campus – 5800 Uvalde, Houston, TX 77049

5.4. South Campus – 13735 Beamer Road, Houston, TX 77089

5.5. Maritime – 3700 Old Hwy 146, La Porte, TX 77571

5.6. Generation Park Campus – 13455 Lockwood Rd., Houston, TX 77044

5.7. Edge Center – 13150 Space Center Blvd., Houston, TX 77059

6. Pricing

6.1. Solicitation Firm Pricing

6.1.1. Respondent shall propose firm net pricing for the term of the solicitation with discounts marked.

RFP #26-20 Direct Mail Magazine Services – Career Focus 4

6.1.2. Prices must be stated in units of quantity specified in solicitation requirements. In case of a discrepancy in computing the amount of the response, the unit price quoted will govern.

6.1.3. SJCCD is a tax-exempt entity:

6.1.3.1. It is the respondent's responsibility to be familiar with applicable tax implications and the respondent shall be liable for all such costs associated with their response.

6.1.3.2. SJCCD reserves the right to purchase or compare pricing available, or made available from, cooperative purchasing agreements and other governmental contracts.

6.2. Annual Pricing Adjustments:

6.2.1. Prices must be held firmly for the first term of the awarded contract, after which a price adjustment may be requested.

6.2.2. All price adjustment requests must be based upon labor cost and/or product cost as appliable to the purchase, and documentation of the price increase is required as outlined in this Section.

6.2.3. Awarded contractor must provide SJCCD Purchasing Department with a written price adjustment request a minimum of 30 days before the contract renewal.

6.2.4. For any contract renewal in which a price adjustment is requested, the renewal year pricing will be determined by adjusting the current year pricing by the average inflationary/deflationary effect, as reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

(BLS):

• Labor/Products: Consumer Price Index of All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for

Houston, Texas, between the current or prior year as compared to the year preceding the current or prior year of the contract. The CPI-U, as published by the BLS, is a measure, over time, of the average change in prices in a fixed market basket of goods and services and covers approximately 80 percent of the total populations, including wage earners, clerical workers, as well as groups such as a professional, managerial, and technical workers, the self-employed, retirees and others not in the labor force.

6.2.5. SJCCD reserves the right to accept or reject any price adjustment requests. A rejection of a price adjustment may result in the termination of any agreement, contract, purchase order, or other agreement without fault or obligation.

6.3. Tariff-Based Price Adjustments

6.3.1. Not discarding the foregoing statements above, SJCCD recognizes the imposition of tariffs or trade restrictions may impact the suppliers’ ability to maintain pricing.

6.3.2. Suppliers may notify SJCCD of the impact, supported by credible cost data. Credible cost data would include documentation as follows:

RFP #26-20 Direct Mail Magazine Services – Career Focus 5

• Copy of the official tariff schedule or notice (E.G., from the U.S. International Trade Commission, or Customs and Border Protection (CBP)).

• Federal Register notice showing the imposition of the tariff with effective dates and Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS codes) including reference to the HTS code for the product.

6.3.3. SJCCD reserves the right to request the following as evidence of payment of tariffs:

• https://www.cbp.gov/trade/programs-administration/entry-summary/cbp-form-7501 (Entry Summary): This shows tariff duties paid upon entry to the U.S.

• Commercial invoice showing the importation of goods and/or bill of lading or shipping documents indicating international sourcing, the duty or tariff amounts listed, and/or supplier name as importer of record or a third-party custom broker.

6.3.4. SJCCD will engage in good-faith negotiations to consider price modifications, substitute goods, or alternative sourcing arrangements, with the goal of minimizing disruption to public services and maintaining the continuity of supply.

7. Special Requirements

7.1. All contractors, subcontractors or company representatives working at any college property or college facility shall wear a clearly visible name tag, badge, embroidered or labelled uniform shirt, or other personal or company identification at all times. Failure to comply with this requirement could result in removal from the campus until corrected.

8. Contact Person

8.1. The firm shall appoint a representative who will be the single point of contact for all

College services.

9. Contract Term

9.1. The contract term, if any, for contract(s) awarded from this solicitation will be one (1) year with renewal options of four (4) one-year time periods, based on the same terms and conditions with future pricing revised according to the attachment titled CPI-W Based Price Adjustment Calculations, and subject to the termination provisions as further described in the sample contract terms and conditions on the Attachments tab section of this solicitation.

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RFP #26-20 Direct Mail Magazine Services – Career Focus 6

EVALUATION CRITERIA

An Evaluation Committee will review all proposals according to the criteria stated herein. The committee’s evaluations will be based on all available information, including qualification statements, subsequent interviews/presentations, reports, discussions, reference checks, and other appropriate review.

Proposals will be evaluated using the following criteria:

Factor Points

Section 1: Qualifications and Experience of Firm & Personnel 10

Section 2: Scope Understanding, Approach, and Product 25

Section 3: Sample Products 20

Section 4: References 10

Section 5: Exceptions to Sample Contract 5

Section 6: Price Proposal* 30

Total 100

* The price proposal for each firm will be evaluated in comparison with the other firms’ price proposals;

however, the number of points possible may be evaluated in proportion to each respondent’s evaluation score received for Section 2: Scope Understanding, Approach, and Product

RFP #26-20 Direct Mail Magazine Services – Career Focus 7

PROPOSAL RESPONSE REQUIREMENTS

All proposal response requirements must be submitted through IonWave. The system does not allow a proposal submission unless all requirements have been met, including Attributes and Response Attachments. These requirements include, but are not limited to, the following:

Written Proposal:

Written Proposal shall be submitted as a Response Attachment in IonWave and shall include responses to Section 1 – 2. Written Proposals shall be a single PDF document with a maximum of twenty (20) pages (numbered 1-20). Sections must be in order and clearly labeled as outlined below.

Include a cover sheet that includes your firm’s name, representative, and contact information.

Coversheet does not count towards the 20-page limit.

1. Qualifications and Experience of Firm and Personnel

1.1. Include a description of the firm including firm’s history and size. Provide information regarding how long the proposer has provided the services requested in this RFP.

1.2. Include a project-staffing plan and organizational chart for all proposed key staff members who will be assigned to this project. Identify their respective responsibilities for this project. If personnel substitutions are contemplated on a contingency basis, they should also be identified.

1.3. Describe previous experience with SJCCD or other public entities and/or colleges. Include how many public entities and/or college accounts are in your current client base.

• Did your company perform satisfactorily to the terms and conditions of the last award given to your company?

• Were there any discrepancies, issues or complaints reported concerning your organization’s performance?

1.4. Address customer service strategies for delivering a high level of customer service and handling customer complaints. Describe how your organization handles complaints, comments, or suggestions received.

2. Scope Understanding, Approach, and Product

2.1. Describe how your product/services meet the Scope of Work and specifications listed in this RFP. Address any variances or exceptions between your proposal and the scope/specifications.

2.2 Explain how your firm determines priorities among clients when working on multiple deadlines for clients.

2.3 How does your firm receive artwork files?

RFP #26-20 Direct Mail Magazine Services – Career Focus 8

2.4 How does your firm handle the revision process? Is there a limit to the number of revisions? What happens if the limit is exceeded due to SJCCD requesting additional changes or due to the firm’s not making all requested revisions?

2.5 Describe your firm’s mail marketing preparation process. Include in the process timeline the estimated days for your firm to create the magazine and complete the mail out.

2.6 Provide details on how the magazine is shipped and delivered, and how your firm handles damaged or late deliveries.

2.2. Provide information about how the product was designed and developed. Include how long it took to complete the milestones from start (beginning of the magazine design) to finish (magazine mail out). Milestones should include, but are not limited to story budget, content deadline, first draft, revision, second draft, third draft, final approval, and expected turnaround time for each draft and from the final approval to in-home dates.

3. Sample Products

3.1. Provide at least one (1) finished sample magazine and at least one (1) magazine design idea for how proposer would design SJCCD’s specific publication, submitted in the following formats:

• Electronic copies shall be uploaded as a Response Attachment document in IonWave.

• Hardcopy samples must be received by September 15, 2026, by 5:00 p.m., submitted to:

SJCCD Contracts and Purchasing Services Attention: Melissa Fuqua 4620 Fairmont Parkway, Suite A2.208 Pasadena, TX 77504

4. References

Submit references in the Attributes tab in IonWave for the following:

4.1. The proposer shall provide at least five (5) references on recent projects for which the proposer's company is currently providing or has provided the same type and level of service required in this RFP within the past three years. Include the name, telephone number, and valid email address of a reference person who may be contacted for further information. It is highly preferable that these references are other colleges or public sector accounts comparable in size or larger.

4.2. All references will be contacted by email. Evaluations will be based on responses received from references. It is advisable to notify your references ahead of time that a reference will be requested by email.

RFP #26-20 Direct Mail Magazine Services – Career Focus 9

5. Exceptions to Sample Contract

Submit the following as separate Response Attachments in IonWave:

a. Restricted Terms and Conditions Form; available to download under the Attachments tab. The College’s evaluation of this section will be based on Firm’s acceptance of Restricted Terms, as outlined in the Sample Contract.

b. An exception includes any addition, deletion, or other modification to the sample contract. If you select Yes to “EXCEPTIONS TO SAMPLE CONTRACT” under the Attributes tab, you must submit a written summary of each exception to the sample contract. The summary shall include supporting justification that clearly identifies the specific reference, page, section, and sub-section of the change, relevance of the change, the vendor’s rationale for the change, and benefit to the College for accepting the change for the submitted exceptions to be considered in the evaluation.

Any exceptions not explicitly stated may not be considered during contract negotiations, if any.

The submittal of exceptions to terms and conditions does not guarantee the College’s acceptance of exceptions. The College reserves the right to accept or reject any exceptions as necessary to negotiate a mutually beneficial contract.

6. Price Proposal

Submit pricing on the Line Items tab in IonWave for the following:

Line Item 1. Cost to design per issue.

Line Item 2. Print cost per issue for a quantity of 270,000 Line Item 3. Postage per issue for saturation for a quantity of 270,000 Line Item 4. Online editions, total cost per edition Line Item 5. Cost charged for the mailing list annually Line Item 6. Not to Exceed Shipping for 100 copies to the SJCCD District Office, 4620

Fairmont Parkway, Pasadena, TX 77504.

Line Item 7. Cost for creation and housing online edition per edition, not inclusive of social media campaign costs.

Line Item 8. Cost for two-week, paid social media campaign, per Scope of Work, Section 2.2.5. If you do not charge, put $0.00.

Pricing Notes:

• The quantity provided is an estimate. The numbers may change with each issue based on the carrier routes and number of homes delivered to.

• The College considers a $0 bid to mean that services will be provided within the overall price proposal. If you cannot provide a service, please mark the line as no-bid.

RFP #26-20 Direct Mail Magazine Services – Career Focus 10

Upload a Response Attachment document, if needed, to provide details of any costs not listed in the Line Items section. List any value-added services your company provides, and if the services are not included in the price proposal, clearly indicate the respective fees for additional services.

Any costs not explicitly stated in a proposal response shall not be charged to the College.

The College reserves the right to consider pricing submitted through Line Items, Line Notes, and Response Attachments.

List of Response Attachments:

All forms are available to download under the Attachments tab in IonWave. Except when listed as Optional, all Response Attachment documents are required and failure to provide a required document may deem the proposer non-responsive and disqualify the response from consideration for award.

Document Naming Standards: Use the following naming standards before uploading documents to IonWave. Failure to use proper Document Naming Standings could result in errors in evaluating your proposal:

• Document Naming Standards: Your Firm’s Name, Document Type (as listed below), RFP#

• Example: ABC Company, Written Proposal, RFP 26-20

Include the following documents in the Response Attachments tab in IonWave.

1. Written Proposal

2. Sample Products - Electronic copies

3. Conflict of Interest form

4. Proof of Insurance Requirements

5. Restricted Terms and Conditions Form

6. Exceptions to Sample Contract (optional)

7. Additional Costs Not Included in Pricing (optional)