Fundraising Consultant

About this position

Organizational Profile
My Friend’s House mission is to be a trusted partner in a supportive community, providing our expertise to create a safe haven for women today and empowering them to reclaim and rebuild their lives tomorrow.
Serving the Georgian Triangle since 1991, MFH provides a wide range of support services to abused women, women at risk of violence and their children. Services include safe refuge, therapeutic counselling, information, education and advocacy. On average, 200 women and children are sheltered, 600 women and children receive outreach and transitional support and counsellors respond to over 1,500 crisis calls each year.
MFH is governed by a Board of Directors, with the Executive Director serving in an ex-officio capacity. The Board of Directors is responsible for ensuring that MFH achieves in the following areas:
• Overall integrity of the organization – including vision, mission and direction
• Quality of programs and services
• Financial soundness
• Compliance with all statutory requirements
• Responsiveness to the needs of the community

Invitation
My Friend’s House is seeking proposals from qualified consultants/firms to complete a Fundraising Plan which will guide the organization over the next three to five years. The successful candidate must have extensive fundraising and strategic planning experience, including the ability to a Human Resource structure to support the plan. Additionally, the candidate must have the ability to conduct all required research, coordinate and facilitate the planning process including internal and external stakeholder interviews, and create a strategic planning document that is measureable.

Scope
The purpose of the Fundraising Plan is to examine all aspects of My Friend’s House organizational structure to uncover gaps and opportunities that will increase or expand ways to raise funds. The plan will provide a road map for achieving long-term financial sustainability for My Friend’s House. The current annual fundraising goal at My Friends House is to raise a minimum of $400,000. The Fundraising plan should have focus on reducing the number of signature events held per year and instead focus on building the Annual Giving program for generating sustainable annual funds, stewardship opportunities, and recommendations for donor segmentation and donor retention and acquisition goals and strategies.

Deliverables
The Fundraising Plan will provide comprehensive recommendations, a timeline or calendar with action plans for program implementation for 3-5 years, focused on increasing revenue and will be provided to the Board for implementation. Where relevant, costing (both initial investment and operating will be provided for each recommendation).

The assessment will include:
 Stakeholder Interviews
In-depth, one-on-one interviews with the Executive Director, key staff, key Board members, key funders and other external constituents to understand what is working and what isn’t in terms of revenue generation.
 Document Review
All organization documents, policies, procedures, financials, systems, and materials to understand the internal and external processes for raising money are reviewed.
 Organizational Assessment
Key elements of the organizational structure are assessed to determine how well they contribute to fundraising effectiveness including; Mission, Vision & Values, Program Delivery and Impact, Board Structure and Staffing, Marketing and Communications, Systems, Infrastructure and Operations.
 Revenue Stream Analysis
A look at all current and potential revenue streams to uncover opportunities for increases, including but not limited to: Individual Donors, Foundation Grants, Corporate Giving, Events, Earned Income and Government.
 Fundraising Infrastructure Review
All aspects of the organization’s back-end functionality for raising money, including donor database, materials, systems, technology, marketing and training in order to uncover areas for increased efficiencies.

Review donor database information to determine donor segments, areas of focus and opportunities for fundraising.
Review of stewardship materials and current practices to provide recommendations for improvement.

Guidelines for Proposal Development
We respectfully request that all submissions include the following headings with the appropriate content:
 Executive Summary
 Scope, Approach and Methodology
 Project Management Approach and Work Plan
 Declaration of Experience and Qualifications
 Detailed and Itemized Pricing
 References
 Firm/Consultant Overview

Fees and Invoicing
The maximum upset limit for the Strategic Plan is $9,000 including professional fees, administration and other disbursements.

The invoicing schedule will be as follows:
 25% upon acceptance of proposal by the Board;
 25% upon completion of one-quarter of work;
 25% upon completion of half of work;
 25% upon the acceptance of the final report as deemed satisfactory by My Friend’s House Board.
Evaluation
Submitted proposals will be evaluated upon the following criteria:
 Experience of Primary Consultant -20%
 Experience and Qualifications of Key Team Members -15%
 Measurable Strategy/Quality of Approach & Proposed Methodology -25%
 Understanding of Objectives -20%
 Work Plan, Schedule, Cost and Level of Effort – 20%

General Conditions and Bidder Instructions
Consultants are to provide three (3) hard copies of their proposal, plus one electronic version no later than October 5, 2018 in MS Word or PDF format to:

Alison FitzGerald, Executive Director
My Friend’s House

selection@myfriendshouse.ca

Box 374, Collingwood, ON L9Y 3Z7

Proposals must be prepared in accordance with the conditions outlined. Failure to do so may result in the disqualification of the proposal. All costs related to responding to this RFP are the responsibility of the consultant/firm.