RFP SECONDARY #CV24-108 - California Service Corps Pipeline Building

The State of California, specifically the Governor's Office of Service and Community Engagement (GO-Serve), is seeking a qualified contractor to develop and execute a comprehensive pipeline building strategy for the California Service Corps. The primary objective is to familiarize key target audiences across the state with the California Service Corps, generate interest from prospective service members, and engage new recruitment contacts for high school and college-bound audiences. Required deliverables include creating a network of 500 grassroots-level trusted messengers, developing outreach kits and materials in English and Spanish, managing 10-15 event/conference exhibitor registrations, and sponsoring 3-5 events. The contractor must possess strong project management skills, extensive knowledge of targeted grassroots audience outreach, and ability to manage subcontractors if necessary. The evaluation will use a secondary "high-score" method, with 100 possible points for technical evaluation and 50 points for cost evaluation, requiring a minimum technical score of 50 to advance. Key dates include a non-mandatory webinar on December 19, 2024, at 12:30 PM PST, with written questions due by December 23, 2024, and proposal submissions due on January 29, 2025, at 5:00 PM PST. The contract term will run from March 10, 2025, to March 9, 2026.

The procurement requires a minimum of 3% participation by Disabled Veteran Business-Owned Enterprises (DVBE) and 25% participation by Small Businesses (SB). Additional points may be awarded through DVBE incentives (1-5%) and SB preferences (5%). The total contract amount is $500,000, with a preferred budget breakdown including 10% for formative research, 14% for strategy development, 63% for creative asset production, 8% for event/conference activities, and 5% for reporting and evaluation. Currently, no incumbent vendor is working on this effort, and the outreach will primarily focus on the Central Valley and Bay Area regions, though the work will span the entire state. The current distribution of paid service members is approximately 34% Youth Service Corps, 32% AmeriCorps California, 30% #CaliforniansForAll College Corps, and 4% California Climate Action Corps. Contractors must be legally qualified to do business in California and registered with the Secretary of State. The solicitation allows for potential subcontracting up to 49% of tasks and requires the creation of materials in English and Spanish, with potential expansion to additional languages based on research findings.