Proposal Deadline: 12:00 PM EST, May 23, 2022
Introduction and Background
Building Bright Futures State Advisory Council, Inc. (BBF) is seeking a dynamic and talented Communications consultant or team to support the organization’s external communications for the period of July 1, 2022-June 30, 2024.
BBF serves as Vermont’s Early Childhood State Advisory Council, the mechanism used to advise the Governor and legislature on the status of children in the prenatal period through age 8 and their families. BBF’s mission is to improve the well-being of children and families in Vermont by using evidence to inform policy and bringing voices together across sectors and within regions to discuss critical challenges and problem-solve. BBF maintains the vision and strategic plan for Vermont’s Early Childhood system. BBF has a multi-tiered infrastructure consisting of 12 Regional Councils, the State Advisory Council, and committees that move the Vermont Early Childhood Action Plan (VECAP) forward. BBF informs this infrastructure by identifying and presenting the most up-to-date high-quality data through Vermont’s Early Childhood Data and Policy Center, the VECAP Data Dashboard, and the State of Vermont’s Children report. BBF’s regional and statewide infrastructure allows them to have a presence in every corner of the state. This network allows for the communication and escalation of barriers, and challenges and recommendations from both regions and from the State Advisory Council to policy makers. As decisions are made, the BBF infrastructure facilitates changes to the Early Childhood system to improve the lives of children and families across the state.
The Consultant(s) will support a dynamic team dedicated to our social impact and mission-oriented efforts, and work collaboratively to produce, improve, and finalize content to provide consistent and effective communication to our 450-person network and non-traditional audiences. Communication and marketing strategies are necessary to more effectively conduct our business. Our team of skilled professionals with broad expertise in human service policy and governance, data systems, and early childhood development can be leveraged to provide thought leadership through diverse communications strategies. Responsibilities of the contractor include:
- Develop, manage, and execute BBF’s comprehensive communications plan that includes paid, earned, social, and owned media and advertising.
- Increase awareness and clarity of BBF’s mission and role within Vermont’s early childhood community among target audiences.
- Write and edit short-form content for communications materials and tools, including but not limited to meeting or program announcements, content-oriented blogs, website updates, press releases, advisories, statements, reports, grants, newsletters/emails, etc.
- Editing of long-form content written by the BBF team (data and policy briefs, reports).
- Provide rapid response and support for communications opportunities in local, state, and national news.
- Manage production calendar to support project management of communications needs.
- Review and update the BBF website and content updates with WordPress.
- Promotion of brand awareness and management.
- Coordination with BBF staff on social media which is managed in-house.
The Consultant selected from the RFP will be engaged after competitive evaluation by BBF. The Consultant will bring diverse skills to support Building Bright Futures’ strategic external communications as described in the Scope of Work on page 2 of this RFP.