Request for Proposals: Branding, Graphic Design, and Web Design Services

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1 Request for Proposals: Branding, Graphic Design, and Web Design Services Summary of Essential Information Connecticut Legal Services, Inc. (CLS) seeks to retain a design consultant to support a top-tobottom rebranding effort for the organization. Hiring date: July 15, 2018 Proposed beginning of design work: January 1, 2019 Note that CLS rebranding process will immediately follow on an organizational strategic planning process scheduled for the second half of We expect to retain a branding consultant simultaneously with retaining a strategic planning consultant, and we will ask the branding consultant to communicate with the strategic planning consultant periodically, so that relevant information gathered by the strategic planning consultant can inform the rebranding process. Proposed completion date: Within a month of July 1, 2019 Respond to: Joshua Perry, jperry@connlegalservices.org Organizational Overview and Rebranding Goals Connecticut Legal Services (CLS) is Connecticut s largest private, nonprofit law firm, dedicated to improving the lives of low-income people in Connecticut by providing access to justice. We provide free civil legal services to low-income people in 122 communities statewide. Our work ranges from protecting the elderly from wrongful evictions to standing with domestic violence victims as they seek restraining orders and divorces to fighting for educational opportunity for children with learning disabilities. CLS is proud of its achievements over the forty years since its founding in We have made equal justice a reality for some of Connecticut s most vulnerable people, and our advocacy has helped to lift countless people out of poverty. But our work is far from done, and demand continues to far outstrip supply: Tragically, we turn away three cases for every case that we take. Far too many people in Connecticut are not given a fair chance in court, and far too many still languish in poverty. To do better for our clients and our community, we are looking to refine our messaging and create a set of communications tools that will help us:

2 Connecticut Legal Services Rebranding RFP / 2 Recruit more private funding. Only 2% of our annual budget is raised from individuals and private corporations. Only another 4% is raised from private foundations. We need to do a better job of reaching and wooing potential donors. Improve our systemic advocacy. CLS looks to improve its clients lives and strengthen Connecticut s communities both through individual representation in civil cases and through systems-level advocacy to increase fairness in the justice system and build the social supports that lift people out of poverty. Effectiveness at systems-level advocacy, which often happens at the state legislature, requires conveying our message clearly to policymakers, media, and advocacy partners. Effectively convey our impact through data, images, and narrative. To recruit more private funding and to improve systemic advocacy, we need to better convey our impact for Connecticut and its most vulnerable communities. We need to be able to tell our clients stories, visually and through compelling narratives, and also to present hard data on our work and its value. Welcome and engage our clients and partners. Frequently, our clients find us through partner organizations like domestic violence shelters or senior centers that refer people in need to our offices. Sometimes, clients find us through the internet and other digital media. Our light is always on for current and potential clients, and as a community-oriented organization we want our website and other communications tools to be our virtual plate-glass-window a welcoming portal for service-providers and clients to find us as partners and advocates. More clearly establish our brand identity. At least three key elements of our brand personality need to come through more clearly in our branding and all of our communications work: o CLS is a law firm of expert advocates who take on difficult cases on behalf of some of Connecticut s most vulnerable people. Our work is important, and our clients are in crisis. We need to convey that fundamental seriousness through our branding: Our clients, and everyone else who comes into contact with us, should appreciate our professionalism. And we want the media and policymakers to see us as serious-minded experts with experience and integrity. o Our seriousness is not dispassionate. We care deeply about our work and our clients. We are fierce advocates for the things we believe in. We need to convey our passion and the essential warmth and humanity that motivate our work. o While serious, our branding cannot be stodgy. We need our branding to speak to our creativity and drive to innovate the drive that we believe can make us a national leader in our field. Project Deliverables Wherever applicable, deliverables must be provided in formats suitable for both print (vector files in AI/EPS) and digital (JPG/PNG). Brand study and marketing consultation to clarify CLS audiences, brand positioning, impact for key stakeholders, and best approaches to branding and messaging. We

3 Connecticut Legal Services Rebranding RFP / 3 anticipate that the discovery component of this process will be significantly shortened if the designer leverages information gathered by the consultant who will be facilitating our strategic planning process in the second half of Consultation with CLS strategic planning consultant to coordinate information gathering/discovery efforts, minimize redundancy, and ensure that CLS strategic plan informs and advances our rebranding work. Logo suite, with the following specifications: o The logo will work well both in color or black and white; o The logo will work well both in print and online, whether on CLS website or on social media; o The logo will work well across a range of application, including as signage in CLS offices; o We may wish to discuss the possibility of at least one logo variation to be used with CLS various projects or departments. Brand standards manual detailing CLS logo suite; brand components, including a primary color palette and a secondary color palette that can be used for data visualizations, and typography; usage guidelines; identification of interior paint specifications consistent with brand color palette; and any printer information needed for branded items. Suite of print collateral, including: o Letterhead, both digital and suitable for printing; o Envelopes; o Business cards; o Program brochure. New website, with the following specifications and functionality: o Content Management System (CMS) that supports CLS staff (non-programmers) in making content-based edits, either WordPress or Drupal; o Donation/Payment System integrated with Blackbaud, CLS Constituent Relationship Management platform, and possible integration with a peer-to-peer fundraising platform; o Event calendar with event registration; o Responsive page layouts; o Document upload (via CMS) and download (via links); o newsletter signup integration; o Map integration; o Tutorial/orientation for CLS staff in the use of the website s content management system; o It is important that the website be designed in a way that allows us to convey the impact of our work both through telling our clients stories and through visually-compelling presentations of data. We seek a design that uses visuals effectively and does not rely too heavily on text. Other materials, including: o A template for an e-newsletter; o template; o Facebook cover;

4 Connecticut Legal Services Rebranding RFP / 4 o Twitter page. Consult on a content strategy for CLS website and social media accounts. Notes on Project Deliverables Words. CLS will develop the content for all of the required deliverables, in part based on feedback from the design consultants during the brand study and marketing consultation. We also anticipate that we will emerge from our 2018 strategic planning process with a clearer set of key messages. Images and Video. We recognize that we have a lot of work to do in developing images for our website and other public-facing communications tools. CLS is considering contracting separately with a photographer or videographer to create still images and/or video for its website and other platforms, depending on feedback from the design consultants. However, we would be interested in seeing an addendum to the proposal that discusses creating, purchasing, or collecting compelling images/video for use in the project deliverables. Audiences. We hope that the designer, as a function of our deliverables, will give us guidance on their perception of our key audiences. At the release of this RFP, we envision that the primary audiences for our website include private funders; policymakers; and clients and potential clients. Secondary audiences may include media; justice system stakeholders; community partners and other nonprofits; and regional and national peer organizations. Proposal Format Please try to be as concise as possible in responding to this RFP. Responses should not exceed 8 single-spaced pages, not counting attachments, and must be delivered via to jperry@connlegalservices.org. Proposals should adhere to this format: 1. Introduction and executive summary of no more than 1 page. 2. Describe your overall proposed approach to branding and design process. Please be sure to speak to the following questions (although not necessarily in this order or format): a. What is your preferred customer communication process? b. What is your approach to working with customers to build a brand identity? What discovery or other information gathering do you need before engaging in that process? c. CLS intends to hire a strategic planning consultant simultaneously with hiring a design consultant. We will ask the two consulting firms to communicate such that the discovery and information-gathering portion of the strategic planning process can be leveraged to significantly inform and, ideally, to shorten the discovery portion of the rebranding process. Please indicate any experience that you have in similar scenarios; reflect on any concerns that you might have about the envisioned process; and discuss how you might collaborate with the strategic planning consultant.

5 Connecticut Legal Services Rebranding RFP / 5 d. CLS, as indicated above, needs to do a better job of conveying its impact through narrative, images, and data. What possibilities do you envision for incorporating impact data into CLS website and other communications materials? 3. Proposed project schedule. 4. Project cost proposal, including a breakdown of costs. 5. Brief company profile, with a focus on relevant experience. 6. Attachments: a. Three references. If possible, we would appreciate references whose work or needs appear to have relevance to CLS work and proposed project. b. Three case studies. If possible, we would appreciate case studies that appear to have relevance to CLS work and proposed project. c. Biographies of key project personnel. Evaluation Process and Timeline This RFP will be released on April 30, Proposals are due by 5:00 pm EST on June 8, Before June 8, we will respond via and phone to any questions about the RFP (jperry@connlegalservices.org, ). We will review proposals, conduct interviews, and select a final vendor by July 1, Vendors whose responses have not been selected for further negotiations or award will be notified via . Terms and Conditions 1. Work for Hire: All deliverables will be owned by CLS, its successors and assigns. 2. Costs of Preparing Responses: CLS will not pay any vendor costs associated with preparing responses to this RFP. 3. Responses Property of CLS: Materials submitted in response to this RFP will not be returned. 4. RFP Amendments/Cancellation/Reissue/Reopen: CLS reserves the right to change the RFP Schedule or issue amendments to this RFP at any time. CLS also reserves the right to cancel or reissue the RFP. 5. No Obligation to Enter a Contract: a. The release of this RFP does not compel CLS to enter any contract. b. CLS reserves the right to refrain from contracting with any vendor that has responded to this RFP, whether or not the vendor's response has been evaluated and whether or not the vendor has been determined to be qualified. Exercise of this reserved right does not affect CLS s right to contract with any other vendor. c. CLS reserves the right to request an interview with any vendor and/or a demonstration from any vendor prior to entering a contract with that vendor. If a

6 Connecticut Legal Services Rebranding RFP / 6 vendor declines the request for an interview or demonstration for any reason, the vendor may be eliminated from further consideration. 6. Multiple Contracts: CLS reserves the right to enter contracts with more than one vendor as a result of this RFP. 7. Non-Endorsement: The selection of a vendor pursuant to this RFP does not constitute an endorsement of the vendor's services. The vendor agrees to make no reference to CLS in any literature, promotional material, brochures, sales presentations, or the like without the express written consent of CLS.