JA - Donated Media_FE - Redacted.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Office of Acquisition, Logistics, and Construction (OALC)

Enterprise Procurement Office (EPO) Strategic Acquisition Center (SAC)

5202 Presidents Ct, Suite 103 Frederick, MD 21703

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION UNDER

SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES IN ACCORDANCE WITH REVOLUTIONARY FEDERAL

ACQUISITION REGULATION OVERHAUL (RFO) 12.201-1

(PER VA CLASS DEVIATION FOR FAR PART 12 DATED 14 OCT 2025)

(1) Identification of the agency and contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a “Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition Under Simplified Procedures in Accordance with RFO 12.201-1.”

This sole source justification under simplified procedures for certain commercial items is executed by the Office of Acquisition, Logistics, and Construction (OALC), Enterprise Procurement Office (EPO), on behalf of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Office of Suicide Prevention (OSP).

(2) The nature and/or description of the action being approved.

The Government proposes to award a sole-source, base plus two options, firm-fixed-price contract to The Advertising Council, Inc. (Ad Council) of New York, NY, to develop, implement, and evaluate a national donated-media public service campaign for the Office of Suicide Prevention (OSP). The campaign will use only donated media, free advertising space and airtime provided by media partners and is essential for reaching large, nationwide target audiences.

The contractor will deliver an evidence-based campaign and demonstrate measurable improvements in help-seeking behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs. The campaign must also show the ability to reach all Veterans, including those who do not use VA services, as well as Service members, National Guard members, Reservists, and their families and friends.

OSP intends to continue a multi-year campaign supported by donated and earned media, expanding public awareness without additional media-buying costs to the Government. Required elements of the campaign include: meaningful return on investment, clear strategy, Veteran engagement, creative and innovative design, measurable impact, and independent evaluation.

(3) A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the estimated value).

Ad Council must perform the following activities, which broadly include:

a) Develop, execute, and optimize a national donated campaign that relies solely on donated media and include, but is not limited to, the following creative elements: television, radio, print, outdoor, digital, social media, mobile, website development, and strategic partnership opportunities.

b) Apply best practices including audience and message segmentation to the campaign.

c) Monitor campaign performance for targeted audiences including collection of formative data to inform message design, process metrics and measures of effectiveness associated with campaigns.

d) Continuing development and execution of multi-million-dollar-value donated media distribution strategies that include the pitching and redistribution of OSP campaign material through an established, large national network.

e) Report regularly to OSP via conference calls and written progress and summative reports.

OSP requires the Ad Council to bring together partners from business, nonprofit, and entertainment sectors to help share the agency’s suicide-prevention messages. Their role is to broaden awareness, build understanding, and encourage action on the critical national priority of preventing Veteran suicide.

The Ad Council will produce, distribute, and promote campaign materials by drawing on its nationwide network of marketing and communications professionals who donate their expertise and media resources. This includes accessing pro-bono or reduced-cost media placements, creative talent, and promotional support.

For the contract to succeed over multiple option years, the Ad Council must show that it can continue securing donated media time and space to run OSP public service announcements and related content. The campaign also requires strong performance monitoring and evidence of measurable impact on public-health issues across the United States.

This work directly supports VA’s mission to reduce Veteran suicide.

The base period of this contract shall begin September 28, 2026, and end on September 27, 2027. This contract shall include two (2) 12-month option periods, to continue the work initiated during the base period; the option period(s) may be exercised at the discretion of the Government.

The estimated dollar value is for the base period. The total aggregate estimated value of this contract, including all options, is .

(4) An identification of the statutory authority permitting competition other than full and open competition.

The statutory authority for restricting competition is 41 U.S.C. § 1901, Simplified acquisition procedures, as implemented by the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO) Subpart 12.201-1, Simplified procedures. In accordance with statutory authority 10 U.S.C. 3204(a)(1), this justification documents the circumstances of the contract action that the property or services needed by the agency are available from only one responsible source or only from a limited number of responsible sources and no other type of property or services will satisfy the needs of the agency.

(5) A demonstration that the proposed contractor's unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires using the authority cited.

Ad Council is a full-service communications firm that demonstrates a unique capacity to provide the services requested to successfully execute the activities supported with this contract and perform the objectives identified in the scope of work.

The nature of the requirement necessitates the use of an entity with an established, large-scale national donated-media infrastructure, longstanding federal public-service campaign experience, and pre-existing strategic partnerships capable of generating and sustaining multi-million-dollar donated media value. Based on market research and historical performance, the Ad Council is the only source reasonably available that meets all mandatory components of this requirement.

As the nation’s premier provider of public service communications, the Ad Council possesses the unique expertise, return on investment, demonstrated experience, evaluation, distribution methods/capacity and qualifications necessary to complete this vital work to help prevent Veteran suicide and improve Veteran mental health.

The Office of Suicide Prevention (OSP) requires a contractor to obtain, manage, and deploy donated national media across television, radio, print, outdoor, digital, social media, mobile, and emerging platforms. The required knowledge, skills and resources cannot be built within performance timelines of the contract and is not broadly available in the commercial marketplace. The Ad Council maintains exclusive, longstanding relationships across all 210 U.S. media markets and consistently secures over $1 billion annually in donated media, a scale unmatched by any other firm. Public Service Directors routinely prioritize Ad Council campaigns over other PSA providers due to its reputation, quality, and distribution model, ensuring placement levels required for OSP’s national suicide-prevention messaging.

Moreover, the Ad Council is uniquely structured as the only national public-service communications organization with demonstrated ability to deliver full creative development, targeted audience segmentation, strategic partnership activation, and comprehensive message optimization at nonprofit rates. Its Board-level partnerships with major U.S. corporations and media platforms enable incremental donated support unavailable to commercial advertising vendors, directly enhancing VA’s ability to reach diverse Veterans, families, and influencers.

The Ad Council is also the only source with a validated, evidence-based campaign measurement framework aligned with congressionally mandated requirements. Its established methods for monitoring reach, engagement, recognition, and behavioral impact, paired with documented measurable outcomes in multiple national public-health campaigns, ensure OSP receives reliable, reportable performance data. This is necessary to comply with oversight mandates and demonstrate tangible public-health impact.

Market research through independent research and historical data confirms that no other business possesses Ad Council’s integrated donated-media network, nationwide distribution infrastructure, strategic partnership ecosystem, federal public-service campaign experience, or capacity to sustain multi-option-year donated placements at this scale. The Ad council has been in existence since 1942, creating relationships with virtually every major U.S. media company (TV, radio, print, digital, out-of-home (OOH), etc.). It operates as a neutral, central convening body, trusted to fairly channel donated media inventory for non-commercial, public service use, which distinguishes it from all other agencies. As a non-profit, the Ad Council is not perceived as competing for paid media placements, reducing friction with media partners. Additionally, the Ad Council possesses proprietary digital platforms and logistical workflows for distributing assets tailored for thousands of media outlets both nationally and locally. Their systems ensure proper tracking, reporting, and optimization for the government’s campaign. There is no other single entity that maintains the breadth or depth of media distribution for pro-bono campaigns. The Ad Council has a roster that includes collaborations with Fortune 500 companies, leading advertising agencies, and federal/state agencies. They are well versed in federal requirements (branding, accessibility, clearances) and contracting mechanisms. Commercial advertising agencies do not maintain national donated-media pipelines, and none demonstrated ability to secure donated placements or mobilize pro-bono creative labor at the levels required.

Given the critical national importance of Veteran suicide prevention and the necessity for expansive, high-value donated-media distribution, Ad Council is the only source capable of meeting OSP’s requirements.

(6) A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as possible, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by part 5 and, if not, which exception under part 5 applies.

In accordance with RFO 5.101(a), a notice of intent to sole source was published to SAM.gov on 7/30/2026 and closed on 8/11/2026. This sole source justification will be published to SAM.gov no later than 14 days after the award as required by RFO 6.301(a).

(7) A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

No award shall be made until the Contracting Officer determines the cost to the Government to be fair and reasonable. This determination will be based on a comparison of current contract pricing, an Independent Government Cost Estimate, historical pricing (if available), and other information as made available.

(8) The market research conducted and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

Small Business Availability - SBA Dynamic Small Business Search (DSBS) and GSA eLibrary were searched using NAICS code 541810 (Advertising Services), limited to SDVOSBs. DSBS returned zero results; GSA eLibrary returned 26 results, none of which demonstrated the donated-media capacity, national distribution network, or campaign scale required for this acquisition. None of the firms identified demonstrated the combination of capabilities required to perform this acquisition, including the capacity to secure over $1 billion in donated media annually, maintain active distribution relationships across all 210 U.S. media markets, and design and deliver a large-scale, evidence-based national campaign relying solely on donated media at the scale and duration required by OSP.

Based on the market research described above, the Rule of Two is not satisfied, as there is no reasonable expectation that two or more SDVOSB or VOSB concerns capable of meeting the Government's minimum requirements. As described in Section 5 above, Ad Council is the only source capable of meeting OSP's needs.

(9) Any other facts supporting using other than full and open competition.

Independent research through publicly available data shows the Ad Council has a documented history of evidence-based national health campaign design/deployment and of obtaining at least $30 million donated media per campaign (or $1 billion overall per year). For the contract with OSP, the Ad Council recently surpassed over $150 million in donated media which equates to sixteen times return on investment (ROI).

(10) A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed an interest in the acquisition in writing.

In response to the Notice of Intent to Sole Source posted on 7/30/3036 on SAM.gov, two sources expressed written interest in this acquisition via email:

Name: Zayam Design Entity Type: Not registered in SAM Address: Houston, TX

United States

Name: High Scale Inc.

Entity Type: Women-Owned Small Business Address: 655 S Santa Fe Ave

Los Angeles, CA 90021

(11) A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required.

All future requirements will be handled on a case-by-case basis. Should it be determined that the OSP has a future requirement for this type of service, the Government will conduct further market research to determine if any additional businesses can provide these same services and consideration will be given as to whether the future acquisition should be competitive.