UNHCR RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS FROM SUPPLIERS FOR PSFR FRAME AGREEMENT

Transcription

1 UNHCR RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS FROM SUPPLIERS FOR PSFR FRAME AGREEMENT In Annex 1 (Terms of Reference) in paragraph 1.4 (Call-off process) you make reference to parties agreeing on a "target mix work to be conducted on-site at UNHCR premises". Could you please clarify what is meant by this? If this involves agency staff traveling to your offices, would travel costs be reimbursed? Each Statement of Work (SOW) will be specific to the project and it is likely that most projects will indeed involve traveling to UNHCR headquarters in Geneva, to one of our regional offices and/or to specific national fundraising offices. However, it is also anticipated that a portion of the work will be done at the agency/consultant premises. Anticipated travels will be detailed in each specific SOW at the beginning of the project. Travel costs will be reimbursed as per the UN general rules and conditions, which will be based on cheapest, most direct economy fare and a Daily Subsistence allowance (DSA) for all other expenses for hotel and meals, etc. The DSA for Geneva is currently USD372 per day. As part of our proposal, we are requested to supply availability for several resources such as Senior Consultant, Analyst etc (Section 4 - Services Proposal). Would third party outsourcing be an acceptable solution for the resources we do not have in-house? Third party outsourcing is an acceptable solution, however, firms should specify whether resources are in-house or external and provide details as to their experience with the specific third party resources and the type of business agreement between the firms. Could you provide any further clarification on your 2010 total budget for these services (media spend and agency fees)? No details can be provided at this time in regards to our 2010 budget related to these services. Selected partners will be informed of the budget for specific pieces of work with the SOW as described in Annex I (1.3) and Annex VII of the proposal. Please provide the context of requested Creative Development and Branding and Digital Strategy and Implementation. Are both core areas focused on accomplishment of specific private fundraising goals, or are there broader marketing, branding, and public relations goals? All three areas can lead to large cross-departmental mandates within UNHCR s Division of External Relations (DER) which encompasses the Communications, Public Information, Donor Relations and Resources Mobilization (DRRM) and Private Sector Fundraising (PSFR) units. Mandates

2 related to Digital Strategy and Implementation can also lead to important organizational mandates which have implications outside of Private Sector Fundraising (PSFR) and DER. However, and while there are different possibilities at stake here, the current focus of pieces of work related to Creative Development, Branding and Digital Strategy all have for goal to deliver increased public engagement and awareness for UNHCR leading to increased financial support for refugees. Are there any restrictions on the types of private funds that the UNHCR is allowed to raise? Can the UNHCR raise endowment funds? Capital funds? This is an area that has not yet been explored by UNHCR. At this stage it is assumed that the response to the question would vary if we are looking at implementing an endowment fund for UNHCR (a United Nations entity) or for one of our National Associations (independent NGOs). This would need to be explored further. You can read more about UNHCR National Associations in another response below. How long has UNHCR been raising private sector funds? UNHCR strategic private sector fundraising programme began early in 2000s although some fundraising has taken place in a small number of countries for much longer. The last three or four years PSFR has been making significant headway. PSFR s long term goal set by UNHCR s Senior Management Committee is to contribute to 10-20% of UNHCR s annual budget set at 3,041 billion for How are donor records kept? What software is used? Are donor records centralized or independent by region? How much history is included in donor records (from beginning of private sector fundraising)? Donor records are kept by each of our National fundraising offices. There is currently no common structure and/or software to keep donor records. Some offices will have longer donor history as they were set-up some years before others. However, UNHCR PSFR has stringent processes in place to compare all Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) between markets and fundraising activities. Referencing Annex I, 1.2 what are the annual activities currently taking place to identify, cultivate and solicit funds from donors? Is there a development plan that we can reference to gauge current staff activities? Different national offices will have different solicitation and cultivation activities within our global strategic framework which sets out our priorities for investment. We currently largely recruit donors through Face to Face fundraising. Other activities include direct mail, DRTV, online solicitations, major gifts solicitations and corporate and foundation fundraising. In terms

3 of fundraising with individuals, our focus is on recruiting monthly committed givers. Are volunteers utilized in private fundraising efforts? Are there any development advisory boards or other volunteer leadership structures in place? At the international level, The Council of Business Leaders is a network of major multinational corporations committed to advancing UNHCR s mission of protecting refugees and resolving refugee problems worldwide. Members of the Council support UNHCR by offering strategic advice and by leveraging their core competencies, networks and resources in line with UNHCR s Global Strategic Objectives. The council s role can be compared to an advisory board. At the national level, currently PSFR operates within a dual structure including National Associations that are independent NGOs established to support UNHCR private sector fundraising activities in various countries, and Branch Offices that are an integral part of the United Nations system, with a dual role of delivering UNHCR s core mandate of refugees protection and fundraising for the organization. Volunteers with a fundraising role are currently mainly used in National Associations as part of the Associations board of directors. However, it would be true to say that volunteer fundraising is very limited compared to many NGOs. Referencing Annex 1, 1.3.1, can we have access to the UNHCR s PSFR 2007 strategic plan with five-year goals and objectives? The five-year plan is not available as part of this RFP, however it will be shared with selected business partners in due time. In the Terms of Reference point 3, Current Environment, it states that services required from selected partners may also encompass the delivery of work on a national level. My organisation is UK based and supply fundraising services for a wide cross-section of charities. We work for a large number of international charities. However, all of our appeals are aimed at individuals based in the UK and Ireland. We do not send appeals outside of this territory. We do offer provision of support in all three large areas mentioned: Fundraising Strategy Creative development and branding Digital strategy and Implementation I would like clarification - Is it worth completing the RFP with you knowing we would only be available to do work in the UK/Ireland? Are you wanting all your external service partners to require an international presence?

4 UNHCR PSFR is seeking to develop business relationships with firms that can easily respond to a variety of service requests to support our staff in the development of fundraising, creative and digital endeavors at the international, regional and national levels as per the regional and market structures presented in Annex 1 point 3. While consultation services can be transported to different markets easily, firms that do not currently deliver services in more than one country or that are not currently working at setting up such a structure may have difficulties in delivering mandates in countries with different legal systems and regulations related to fundraising. However, as UNHCR is not looking at making only one firm as preferred supplier, it is worth mentioning that firms with an outstanding national record and interested at working internationally will be well considered as part of this RFP. Finally, a number of our major markets are English speaking (including Canada, the USA and Australia) with some more limited operations in the UK itself. With regards to human resource for the Creative Development and Branding / Digital Strategy and Implementation (Annex I) the criteria set out for the various resource profiles is highly specific to fundraising, are there more detailed criteria specific to the Creative and Digital Strategy elements? There are no additional details on the resource profiles at this time. This request for proposal was issued to seek business partners to support UNHCR s Private Sector Fundraising network in its development. While larger mandates, specifically in the area of Creative, Branding and Digital may lead to cross departmental projects involving other units within the organization, the current focus of pieces of work to come out of this RFP all have for overall goal to deliver increased public engagement and awareness for UNHCR leading to increased financial support for refugees. Fundraising Has the 2009 fundraising target been met? If yes, was it exceeded and by how much, if no, what was the shortfall? What have you found to be your most successful fundraising propositions/themes/situations? How many monthly donors does UNHCR currently have and how are they geographically spread? Is there a region where most growth in monthly donors is expected? Is face to face recruitment carried out across all regions? What degree of fundraising growth are you planning over the coming five years? PSFR reached 95% of its fundraising target in As of January 2010, we have close to 140,000 monthly donors internationally, spread mainly across Spain, Italy, Australia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Japan and Germany. The Most

5 growth from monthly donors is expected from these same regions for the coming year. Currently, face to face is not carried in all of our fundraising markets but PSFR s aim is to do so. PSFR s goal is to reach 100 million USD by the end of 2012, thus to double our revenue in the next two years. Company assessment Do you require any additional supporting financial information other than that indicated on the vendor registration form? We do not require additional supporting financial information other than the vendor registration form as part of this proposal. We may require additional information when we proceed to the formal selection of preferred suppliers. Management of Human capital To what extent will successful vendors need to be able to deliver a HR function of coaching, training and mentoring Private Sector Fundraising staff? There are no requirements for any firm to fit all the criteria presented as part of this request for proposal. Any firm who can demonstrate experience at servicing international NGOs with variety of services in the specific category for which they are applying, or experience at delivering outstanding international performance to the for-profit sector in a specific category in a fashion that could be easily applied to an INGO, or the ability to deliver outstanding services on a national level that could easily be applied to an international level may be considered as preferred supplier. Global reach How important is it that successful vendors have resource located in the geographical regions? Is it adequate that we have resource in the UK that can travel to the geographical regions and that we have extensive experience of working with international NGOs? Any firm who can demonstrate experience as described above with human resource that can travel to the geographical regions presented as part of this RFP will be considered as a potential preferred supplier. References We are asked to provide 'best of class' examples. Is there a view on how many examples UNHCR would like to see?

6 Firms are free to present as many 'best of class' examples that they feel are needed to demonstrate their experience in the various service areas for which they are applying for as part of this proposal. Activities outsourcing processes Could UNHCR clarify what evidence they would like to see in relation to this section. In this section, firms are asked to explain their business relationship (sisters companies or other types of corporations) and the accountability systems they have established with their current third party suppliers, if any. Will Statements of Work include the placement of staff at a UNHCR office. For example, would the partner vendor be expected to provide a staff person on-site in a UNHCR office for weeks or months at a time. It is not excluded that partners be asked to provide a staff person on-site in a UNHCR office for weeks or months at a time on an occasional basis, however it is not the main aim of the current RFP. This RFP aims at UNHCR PSFR to develop relationships with experienced and knowledgeable partners which can support the PSFR network in its development in the coming years on an ad-hoc basis. Consultation mandates with a combination of on-site and off-site work is more the type of mandates that are envisioned at this time. Again, as UNHCR is looking to potentially engage with more than one supplier at the end of this process, not one supplier will be expected to fulfill all potential services which may be required from UNHCR. Knowing that the nature of international NGO work sometimes involves emergencies, how long after issuing an SOW would you typically expect the partner vendor to begin work. The majority of the mandates that are envisioned at this time are not related to emergencies per say although these are not excluded. Mandates that may touch upon emergencies will relate to the development of strategic global approach and improved systems and infrastructure which will in turn allow PSFR to respond better to emergencies. Discussions related to delay in delivering services when it comes to emergencies will take place with Preferred suppliers who will be asked to support UNHCR PSFR in emergency related mandates and will take place once suppliers have been selected. Firms that have excellent track record in this area are invited to mention it as part of their response to this proposal. Do you have an ideal for the way in which the partner-vendor-to-partnervendor relationship would look. One worldwide vendor in direct mail or strategic services, for example, that would come together on a regular basis

7 to meet with a partner vendor in charge of strategy or execution oversight? Or a partner vendor who provided fundraising, branding and digital services in one a geographical area coming together with other geographically- based partner vendors to ensure congruous implementation worldwide? We do not currently have an ideal of the preferred suppliers structure that will be put in place after this selection process. The selection of suppliers will largely depend on the response to this RFP and the evaluation of the proposals received. We are flexible on the number of suppliers that will acquire this status, per category. A supplier may be selected for one, two or three areas. Another one may end up as the exclusive preferred suppliers for a specific area. This will depend on the quality and quantity of proposals received. How do you see the fundraising partner vendors engaging with UNHCR fundraising personnel? PSFR is planning for long-term significant relationships with its suppliers. Relationship will vary according to mandates issued. A supplier selected for the excellence of services delivered in many of the services required is likely to develop very close ties with UNHCR internationally. This will create the opportunity for dialogue and increased interaction over time on both specific projects and overall strategic direction. How do you see the fundraising partner vendors engaging with UNHCR communications personnel? The communication unit is a separate entity within the Division of External Relations (DER). Although we do envision that some mandates will cross both departments, PSFR will be spearheading any mandates issued as part of this proposal. "private sector funding activity" is not defined, I believe I have asked already but do you mean non governmental rather than just corporate /private sector company? Private Sector Fundraising encompasses all fundraising with individuals, NGOs and voluntary bodies, corporations and foundations. Government Fundraising is not part of PSFR s mandate and is handled by DRRM (Donor Relations and Resource Mobilization), another unit within UNHCR Division of External Relations. * you say "digital strategy and implementation" - not clear if that is implementation of the digital strategy or implementation or all the above.

8 This may vary according to mandates. Generally speaking, "digital strategy and implementation" encompasses the implementation of the strategy elaborated. Some mandate may pertain only to strategy, others only to implementation. Many of the mandates in this area are likely to be crossdepartmental, so experienced, strategic and hands-on digital partners are sought.