National Estuary Program Puget Sound Marine and Nearshore Grant Program SOLICITATION FOR PROPOSALS: Website design and content creation December 1, 2014
WEBSITE DESIGN AND CONTENT CREATION SOLICITATION FOR PROPOSALS CONTENTS Important Dates... 2 Overview... 3 Project Design... 5 Funding Information... 7 Application submittal... 7 Application Review Process... 8 Questions... 8 IMPORTANT DATES December 1, 2014 December 15, 2014 12:00 PM (noon) December 18, 2014 December 24, 2014 12:00 PM (noon) December 29 January 16, 2014 January 21, 2014 January 2015 Sept 2016 Approximately Solicitation posted End of question period Posting of questions and answers Submission deadline Application review period Successful applicants notified Project implementation This solicitation is provided by the Puget Sound Marine and Nearshore Grant Program (Grant Program), coled by Washington Departments of Fish and Wildlife and Natural Resources. The program is funded by the Environmental Protection Agency to implement priorities of the Puget Sound Action Agenda to protect and restore Puget Sound habitat and ecosystem function. It is anticipated that $100,000 will be available for this opportunity. Washington Departments of Fish and Wildlife and Natural Resources reserve the right to amend this solicitation for administrative or technical purposes, or to make no awards. Beach Education and Outreach Grant Application Page 2 of 8
OVERVIEW The Puget Sound Marine and Nearshore Grant Program (Grant Program) is one of seven lead organizations tasked with managing and distributing federal funds for the protection and restoration of Puget Sound. The Grant Program is a partnership between the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, and administers funds awarded by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. The funds are used to implement priorities of the Action Agenda for Puget Sound to protect and restore habitat and ecosystem functions. Project Objective The overall objective of this solicitation is to create a Shore Friendly website to engage residential shoreline landowners on the topic of shore armor and compel them to action either by investigating this issue, signing up for a workshop or other experience in their area, or obtaining technical assistance. Background Previously, the Grant Program contracted with the social marketing firm Colehour + Cohen and partners to develop the Social Marketing Strategy to Reduce Shoreline Armoring in Puget Sound, also known as the SMS (available on our program website). This project developed a social marketing behavior change strategy designed to influence priority segments of the marine residential shoreline landowner population to remove or forgo hard shoreline armor. Hard shoreline armor negatively affects Puget Sound marine ecosystems in a number of ways, including depriving beaches of sediment, destroying valuable forage fish spawning habitat, and many others. Reducing or forgoing hard armor is an important priority for Puget Sound. As a continuation of the SMS project, the Grant Program is funding five local entities (e.g. counties, conservation districts, NGOs) to develop pilot programs to implement the social marketing recommendations of the SMS on a local level. Each project targets different segments of the shoreline landowner population, and offers different incentives to landowners to help overcome their barriers and motivate them to choose alternatives to armor. While the intention of these five projects is to implement the SMS locally, there is still some important work that needs to be done on a regional level. Specifically, the SMS recommends that the region promote a theme of Shore Friendly, with a key piece being a Shore Friendly website to unify the various programs being implemented on a local level. This website is part of a broader Shore Friendly social marketing concept, as detailed in the SMS. The primary audience for this website is residential marine shoreline landowners in Puget Sound. The purpose of the Shore Friendly website is to: - Directly address landowner s barriers to removing or forgoing hard armor - Act as a resource hub for state and local entities implementing the SMS - Assist in changing the social norm about shoreline armor on a regional level Beach Education and Outreach Grant Application Page 3 of 8
Project Goals The overall goals for this project are: 1. Provide a website that meets current usability standards and audience s needs 2. Design and program an engaging and visually compelling Shore Friendly website 3. Generate appropriate content for the Shore Friendly website in collaboration with a committee of experts that will be convened by the Grant Program 4. Hosting and maintain website for approximately one year or until permanent host is secured The Grant Program is seeking a contractor with the skills, vision, and expertise to design and program the Shore Friendly website. The Grant Program cannot provide a permanent home for the website, so it is important that the site be designed in a way where it can be transferred easily to another state agency at a later date (details provided in the Technical Parameters section below). In addition, the contractor will need to arrange for the hosting and updating of the website for a period of up to one year from the launch of the site, either through in-house services or by providing a content management system to the Grant Program. For more details on the technical parameters, usability requirements, and functional parameters of the website, please see the corresponding sections below. The contractor will also need to develop appropriate content for the website in coordination with the Grant Program. This involves using the research from the SMS, which divides shoreline landowners into different population segments based on the characteristics of their properties, describes the desired behaviors for these segments, and recommends approaches to messaging. Some elements to consider: - The three main barriers for residential shoreline landowner to remove or forgo hard armor, in order of importance, are erosion, cost, and permitting - Armor removal is NOT an appropriate action for everyone; rather, there are a suite of options that are available, depending on the characteristics of their property - Shoreline armor is not well understood by landowners, and many do not realize that it may not be necessary and that it has negative effects on Puget Sound s ecosystem health Content should be appealing, informative, and appropriate. The Grant Program will assemble a steering committee of experts to help locate content, guide content development, and provide expert opinion and scientific knowledge when needed. Sub-contracting is allowed; however, the contractor is ultimately responsible for the timely and appropriate delivery of this content. Beach Education and Outreach Grant Application Page 4 of 8
PROJECT DESIGN Technical Parameters The most important technical parameter of this project is transferability: the contractor must arrange for the hosting and maintenance of the site for up to one year after launch, and the site must be designed so that it can easily be transferred to another entity. Some other technical parameters to consider: - We own the domain names of ShoreFriendly.com and ShoreFriendly.org - Contractor must arrange to host the site for up to one year - Contractor must arrange for the maintenance and updating of the site, either by providing these services in-house or providing a content management system to the Grant Program - Contractor must obtain permission and keep permission on file for all photos, graphics, etc. - Contractor is required to conduct technical testing - Must be Linux and/or Windows compatible (for compatibility with state agencies) Usability Requirements Research from the SMS has shown that Puget Sound residential shoreline landowners (or household decision-makers ) tend to be male, over 60 years of age, college educated, above the median income level, and distrustful of overly simplified messaging. This presents an interesting set of parameters for the Shore Friendly website, as it needs to have simple and intuitive user interface that can appeal to an older generation, as well as contain the capacity for users to investigate shoreline armor on a deeper level. Functional Parameters The Shore Friendly website should engage shoreline landowners in the topic of shore armor, and compel them to action either by investigating this issue, signing up for a workshop or other experience in their area, or obtaining technical assistance. Shore armor is an issue that is not well understood by landowners in Puget Sound. Research from the SMS has shown that shoreline landowners, as a whole, want to do the right thing for Puget Sound, but are not necessarily informed as to what the right thing is. The Shore Friendly website should build upon the existing environmental ethic among shoreline landowners to move the cultural norm towards more natural, functional shorelines. Tasks The following tasks should be included in your proposal: 1. Technical creation of the website 2. 20 hours of coordination with Grant Program staff and WDFW web technical staff. 3. Four two-hour meetings with Grant Program staff and the expert committee. 4. Four two-hour presentations. Each presentation should include a PowerPoint or other visual presentation: a. Draft content and design b. Draft website and style manual c. Usability/functional testing results and redesigned website d. Final website and style manual 5. Writing and producing a website style guide. 6. Site testing a. Technical testing Beach Education and Outreach Grant Application Page 5 of 8
b. Usability testing 7. Monthly billing and reports. 8. 12 hours of content, design, and technical work within the 12 months after the initial public website launch 9. Maintenance plan for monthly content updates (in-house or content management system). Content management system should, at minimum, allow for: a. Editing of existing pages (both text and imagery) b. Adding new pages c. Deleting existing pages d. Editing the navigation menu e. Associating individual web pages with menu categories f. Adding/removing downloadable files (PDFs, Word docs, Excel spreadsheets, etc.) 10. Website analytics a. Guide for conducting website analytics b. Website analytic reports (twice during the 12 months after initial public website launch) Deliverables All written reports and documents shall be provided in Microsoft WORD and delivered in digital format. 1. Detailed Scope of Work (1 draft, 1 final. Final due 15 days after contract signature) 2. Usability testing with primary audience. Final written report (1 draft, 1 final) 3. Presentations (4) 4. Style Guide written document (1 draft, 1 final) 5. Content management plan 6. Written permissions and all rights for all photos and graphics contained in the website Permission to reproduce and distribute any and all related website content, and materials developed under the contract 7. Final website and corresponding materials Timeframe Work on this project should begin by February, 2015, and finish by July 31 st, 2015, with an additional 12 months of public launch and hosting. This includes time for beta testing, feedback, and refinement. This timeline is fixed, and we cannot grant any time extensions. Beach Education and Outreach Grant Application Page 6 of 8
FUNDING INFORMATION Budget $100,000 is available for this project. This includes all the tasks and deliverables described above, such as site design, content generation, hosting, and maintenance. Please include all costs when generating a budget. All discussions of award funding level, scope, and project implementation schedules are preliminary until contracts are finalized. The contractor assumes full risks for any costs incurred prior to the execution of contracts. The Grant Program reserves the right to negotiate final project elements with successful applicants. Final award amount and scope may differ from what is proposed based on the needs of the Grant Program. The Grant Program reserves the right to reject all proposals and make no award under this solicitation, or award less than the full amount of funding available. Source of Funding Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) provides these grant awards under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10. Awards are administered though contracts with WDFW. All awards are subject to both state and federal terms and conditions. Method for Reimbursement Contractors will be reimbursed for the actual cost of producing the products and events as agreed to in the Statement of Work, up to the amount agreed upon. The contractor will invoice the Marine and Nearshore Grant Program for expenses. APPLICATION SUBMITTAL All proposals must be sent electronically to Phillip.Thompson@dfw.wa.gov no later than noon on December 24 th, 2015. Proposals should be limited to a maximum of 6 pages typed, single spaced, 12-point font, with no less than 1 inch margins. Proposals should, at minimum, address the following questions: 1. Describe your vision for this project and how you would accomplish the tasks and deliverables. Describe the tasks (listed in Tasks section above) in greater detail. 2. What unique experience, talent, or vision does your organization bring to this project? What would you bring to this project that others could not? 3. What examples of previous work would help illustrate your approach to this project? Please describe and provide links to at least three relevant projects. 4. Please provide a general scope of work and timeline, including milestones, hourly rates, and estimated costs. Beach Education and Outreach Grant Application Page 7 of 8
APPLICATION REVIEW PROCESS A selection committee will review and evaluate submissions based on proposed approach, budget, and relevant experience. In the event that the committee is unable to select a single vendor WDFW shall arrange telephone Q&A sessions with the 2 or 3 leading vendors. The outcome of those sessions can be used for the final decision. WDFW also reserves the right to split the project to 2 separate vendors if that is deemed the most beneficial course to achieving WDFW s goal. Proposals will be rejected as non-responsive if they do not meet the intent of this solicitation. QUESTIONS Questions about this solicitation should be sent to Phillip.Thompson@dfw.wa.gov. The deadline for submitting questions is December 15 th at 12:00pm (noon). Questions will be answered directly through email, and a final question and answer document will be posted on WEBS after December 15 th. Any other communication will be considered unofficial and non-binding on the Grant Program. Applicants are to rely on written statements issued by the Grant Program. Beach Education and Outreach Grant Application Page 8 of 8