Request for Proposals: Consultant for rural, disaster philanthropy

Overview

The Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP) was founded in 2010 to pioneer the practice of strategic disaster philanthropy. Since then, it has grown in its ambition, envisioning a world where the impact of disasters is minimized through thoughtful, equitable and responsible recovery for all. CDP has a $33 million budget and a team of more than 25 staff members working remotely across the U.S.

Since 2014, CDP’s longest-standing fund, the Midwest Early Recovery Fund (ERF), has been a crucial part of CDP’s ability to advance the equitable and long-term recovery of marginalized communities before and after a disaster. ERF fills a persistent gap in post-disaster funding, especially at the local level, where, too often, communities struggle with identifying sufficient resources to address the unmet needs of those most vulnerable to the impact of disasters because of systemic inequities.

By providing grants and technical assistance to local, culturally-aligned organizations, we strengthen their capacity to offer recovery services to meet the needs of those disproportionately affected and promote solutions that lead to equitable, holistic community recovery. From the inception of ERF, CDP has utilized it as a model for other CDP grantmaking and other funders. The learnings, expertise and resources developed through ERF are shared broadly.

We are seeking a consultant to conduct research and facilitate a collaborative process with CDP staff that will result in a deeper understanding of donor interest in rural, low-attention disasters and a situational analysis of rural, low-attention disasters across the US. The data and guidance will inform decision-making and drive improvements in program development and implementation. The consultant will also develop a written report for external dissemination in collaboration with CDP as guidance for rural, disaster philanthropy.

Proposals must be submitted by Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. Central.

Scope of work

We aim to understand donor interest and/or barriers to interest in funding rural, low-attention disasters. Additionally, we seek leadership and collaboration with CDP staff on the development of a report that details an analysis of rural philanthropy and rural disasters, with guidance and recommendations for rural, disaster philanthropy.

This project will help us answer overarching questions such as:

Who funds rural disaster response and recovery? Who funds in rural America, especially at a regional or systems level?
What motivates funders to fund in rural America? What types of organizations and activities are they funding?
What are the unique considerations and recommendations for rural disaster philanthropy?
What are the gaps in rural, disaster funding? What are the barriers to rural funding?
What is CDP’s role as an intermediary in rural, disaster funding?

We anticipate this work starting in November 2024 and being completed by March 31, 2025.

CDP’s team will use these findings to inform future planning for the Midwest Early Recovery Fund and broader funds management and coalition-building strategy and to guide messaging for marketing, communications, grant writing and fundraising.

Expected engagement and deliverables

Below is a list of phases and deliverables with the anticipated time required for completion. These are illustrative, and bidders should feel free to adjust as needed, including the time anticipated for completion, with some description/justification of why.

Phase: Project design

Consulting with CDP staff to inform the questions, methods and deliverables.
Finalizing research design and project milestones.

Anticipated time: 8 hours/1 day

Phase: Desk research: Rural philanthropy and the intersection of disaster

Consulting with the CDP project lead to inform the desk review.
Designing and conducting a desk review that looks into existing reports and other resources that are primarily focused on data or knowledge related to rural philanthropy and rural disasters that can help answer the overarching questions.

Anticipated time: 64 hours/8 days

Phase: Data collection

Collecting data using quantitative and/or qualitative methods (e.g., survey, key informant interviews) to explore any themes that emerged from the desk review and support answering the overarching questions.
Analyzing qualitative data.

Anticipated time: 48 hours/6 days

Phase: Consultative analysis & report development

Consulting with CDP project lead with rural disaster expertise, co-create a rural disaster philanthropy report which will include an analysis of rural, low-attention disasters across the U.S. and recommendations for funders.

Anticipated time: 32 hours/4 days

Phase: Preparation and submission of deliverables

A report for internal use, containing, at a minimum, the key findings, a more in-depth discussion of findings, any identified solutions or recommendations, a list of resources reviewed during desk review, and methodology.
A slide deck that follows CDP’s brand guidelines summarizing findings that are useful for education within CDP.
A written report for external sharing that follows CDP’s brand guidelines and contains an analysis of rural, low-attention disasters and insights on rural philanthropy along with guidance and recommendations for rural, disaster philanthropy.
An opportunity for CDP to review and provide feedback and/or clarifying questions on deliverables.

Anticipated time: 32 hours/4 days

Throughout: Provide updates to CDP throughout the project and communicate about progress and any issues that may arise. Please factor in regular meetings with the CDP project lead throughout the above-outlined phases.

Consultant background and characteristics

Familiarity with rural philanthropy within the United States as well as disaster recovery.
Background in working on similar projects and skills in applied research methodologies or techniques (including conducting key informant interviews) relevant to the scope of work.
Experience with and interest in presenting findings in creative ways that help the client understand the project and its outcomes while setting up the client to successfully operationalize the findings for future work.
Not required but preferably lived experience of a disaster and/or humanitarian emergency or experience using or benefiting from philanthropic resources.
Understanding of equity and a commitment to applying an equitable approach to the project.
Demonstrated ability to work efficiently and independently to meet deadlines.

We encourage minority, woman-led, rural and solo-led organizations.

Budget

Include the anticipated number of work days.
We don’t anticipate any travel needed for this project.
The proposal budget should not exceed $27,500.

Proposal guidance

To respond to this RFP, please submit a proposal of no more than five pages that contains:

Name and contact information of the project lead.
Experience and qualifications, including brief biographies of team members who would work on the project and description of the overall approach to evaluation/research work.
The organization’s racial and intersectional equity practices and experience (DEI, DEIJ, etc.).
Thumbnail scope and project approach with timelines per activity and deliverables.
Budget cost, including the anticipated number of work days for each phase.
Three references that have in-depth and proven knowledge of the applicant’s expertise and relevant work experience.

Additionally, we welcome the submission of any supporting materials that will help CDP better understand your work and the proposal.

Timeline

Last day to notify CDP of intent to ask questions: Oct. 3, 2024
Last day to submit RFP questions to CDP: Oct. 9, 2024
CDP will provide written responses to questions (sent to all entities that pre-indicated intent) by: Oct. 14, 2024
Proposals due by: Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. Central
Review of proposals: Oct. 23-25, 2024
Interviews: Oct. 29-31, 2024
Consultant selected and agreement signed by: Nov. 8, 2024
Deliverables completed by: March 31, 2025

Contact

For questions or to submit a proposal, please email:

Cari Cullen
Director, Midwest Early Recovery Fund
cari.cullen@disasterphilanthropy.org
320.266.4391

About the Center for Disaster Philanthropy

The mission of CDP is to leverage the power of philanthropy to mobilize a full range of resources that strengthen the ability of communities to withstand disasters and recover equitably when they occur.

CDP is a trusted partner, expert and authoritative resource helping hundreds of individuals, foundations and corporations boost the impact of philanthropic giving in response to disasters and humanitarian crises by supporting equitable recovery and addressing root causes of vulnerabilities worldwide.

In 2023, CDP awarded $22.1 million through 93 grants to 91 grantee partners worldwide; demonstrated thought leadership through 14 webinars, 21 external commentaries, 128 blog posts, 34 featured speaking engagements and other events; and served nearly 20 philanthropic partners through consulting efforts.

In 2020, CDP was a featured nonprofit for the 14th Annual CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute.

CDP is fully accredited by the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance and has consistently earned Charity Navigator’s Four-Star Charity rating and Candid’s Platinum Transparency seal.

As an organization grounded in racial and intersectional equity, our team members are deeply committed to strengthening communities most vulnerable to disasters because of systemic inequities. We are guided by our values of integrity, boldness and innovation, humility, and empathy in all that we do in pursuit of our mission.

Definitions

The following are definitions CDP uses for key terminology used within this RFP and relevant to the project.

Disaster – A disaster is a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society at any scale due to hazardous events interacting with conditions of exposure, vulnerability and capacity, leading to one or more of the following: human, material, economic and environmental losses and impacts.

Funders – Philanthropic groups that provide financial support to charitable organizations. For CDP, funders include public, private, family, corporate and community foundations (or similar donor structures), and high-wealth donors (individually or through donor-advised fund management companies). Philanthropic-serving organizations are also part of CDP’s primary funder audience.

Philanthropy – Definitions of philanthropy vary but it has been described as the use of private resources – time, treasure, talent, ties – for public purposes. For this project, CDP understands philanthropy to mean the individuals and institutions that use private resources to advance charitable outcomes.

Low-attention disasters – Low-attention disasters are most often identified by all or some of the following indicators: limited national or regional media coverage; little or no regional or national disaster response; disproportionally-affected marginalized or chronically under-resourced populations; high percentage of damage to housing (25% or more); insufficient community infrastructure or ability to develop or sustain recovery operations; and no FEMA Individual Assistance declaration.

Rural – The Midwest Early Recovery Fund currently defines rural based on population density and isolation. While several frameworks could be utilized to understand the density and isolation of populations, we use the Rural-Urban Continuum Codes (RUCC) as our baseline. This fund will focus on and prioritize counties that receive a RUCC score of 3-9, with 9 being the highest priority (less than 5,000 people and non-adjacent to a metro area) and 3 being the lowest priority (less than 250,000 people).