Label
Councilwoman Williams/Councilman Sarantou
R-Tree Toledo Grant Award
Agenda Review
10/16/2024
Title
From: Councilwoman Williams Response Requested: ASAP
Councilman Sarantou
Councilwoman Williams asks:
What is the scope of work for communications for the ReTree Toledo Grant?
Councilman Sarantou asks more specifically:
• What is the scope of duties for $100,000 communications person?
• Why can’t our MarCom do this work?
• Please share the bids that were submitted, dollar amounts, etc.
Body
Referral Response:
TO: Toledo City Council
THROUGH: Abby Arnold, Deputy Mayor
FROM: Megan Robson, Director DPS
Rachel Hart, Director Communications
The 6.1 million Re-Tree Toledo grant award is an unprecedented investment in City of Toledo’s urban tree canopy. The grant’s three main objectives over the next four years:
- Plant 10,738 trees in areas to restore and expand the urban forest to help close a “tree equity gap.”
- Train 56 students to become future arborists and urban forestry professionals through a planned workforce development program.
- Educate residents and 1,600 students about the benefits of trees to increase awareness and active participation and support of urban forestry stewardship.
The grant budget established in our agreement with the USDA allocated $135k for contractual services in support of the project, to include project management and communication services. We initially believed both these functions could be achieved under the same contract, but upon reviewing the results of our first RFP, we determined a separate contract with a dedicated communications consultant would allow the city better options when it came to vendor selection. The contract for project management has already been awarded, and supplemental budget is requested to ensure enough budget for the purchase of printed materials and paid advertising to be included in the communications contract. We are able to graciously supplement these contracts with funds from the Urban Forestry Commission Trust Fund which derives from the sale of City mulch, and ensure a robust communication and outreach effort over the remaining 4 years of the project.
What is the scope of work for communications for the ReTree Toledo Grant?
The consultant will deliver a communications plan and four-year strategy to convey message about the benefits of trees, promote the residential tree program opportunity, and engage the public to become neighborhood tree ambassadors and forest stewards. The program messaging will be essential factor in the success of this grant’s investment. The consultant will be collaborating closely with the City and some of its grant sub-recipients KTLCB and Woodlawn Foundation.
The consultant will be responsible for the following tasks:
• Media Engagement:
1. Create and implement an earned media campaign including press releases, op eds, and media interviews.
2. Create and implement a paid advertisement campaign that may include digital, radio, tv, or print advertising.
3. Create content and schedule for social media campaign on the City of Toledo'’s social accounts.
i.e. CoT and KTLCB Instagram, Facebook & LinkedIn
4. Assist with creation of feature stories for the Mayor’s weekly newsletter.
• Community Engagement:
1. Collaborate on the creation and promotion of workshops with local institutions and organizations.
1. KTLCB will attend and present at 40 community events. The consultant will help strategize with the City and its partners additional opportunities to share the key messages.
2. Develop educational materials and flyers for school outreach programs.
3. Create and implement a public outreach campaign focused on designated census tract areas.
4. Collaborate on the creation of a Tree Ambassador program.
5. Create and implement a volunteer canvassing strategy for target neighborhoods.
• Deliverables will include:
o Full communication strategy and budget for 4 years
o Collaboration on community engagement plan and production of any needed materials
o Landing page on the City of Toledo website.
o Social media, newsletter, and video content
o Paid advertising buy and all necessary ads (billboards, radio, digital)
o Yard signs for newly planted trees (USDA requirement)
o Request a tree flyers
o Proper tree care door tags
o Spanish translations as needed
Why can’t this work been done by our MarCom(Dept)?
New projects require a lot of work upfront to get them off the ground. From creating strategy and messaging, to building content and designing materials, ordering printed materials, filming video, and building out paid advertisements, it can take the full comms team a month or more of dedicated time, pulling us away from current daily tasks. For large scale projects that are also short term, the cost of building all these materials in house often doesn’t produce the return on investment we get when building materials for city events, services, and initiatives that will be ongoing.
The cost of adding 1 additional public information coordinator to our team would be around $140k per year. Ultimately, we would spend more than half a million dollars on a dedicated internal employee by the time the project ends. This $100k contract provides tremendous value to the city, allowing existing team members to continue managing our existing communication channels - including 5 newsletters, a website, a podcast, a dozen social media channels, as well as media relations, community engagement, and event support for all city departments.
Finally, it’s important to note the department will be involved in implementation of the communication, integrating social, email, and web content provided by the consultant will be managed by our team. We will work in collaboration with a consultant to create efficiencies that allow the department to stay lean and manage our resources in the most effective way possible.
Please share the bids that were submitted, dollar amounts, etc.
Bids received are shown below and scored on evaluation criteria given in RFP. The review of each proposal will be based upon ten criteria. Award will be made to the proposal with the highest cumulative point total.
It’s important to note the bids include money for purchasing paid advertisement and printed materials, in addition to professional services like video production, strategy, and design.
