Community Listening and Engagement

Please note the below information information is included as a PDF in Related Documents.

1. Introduction & Background

At present, City of Bismarck staff are looking to establish a consistent way to engage with the public to help find commonalities and data points that will help inform decision-makers (staff and elected officials) in our organization.

The City of Bismarck is a municipal government with about 900 employees (about 650 FTE and 250 PTE) that serves the 75,000 citizens in North Dakota’s Capital and second-largest city. The City of Bismarck provides a variety of services through its 15 departments:

• Administration
• Bismarck Airport
• Bismarck Event Center
• Bismarck Veterans Memorial Public Library
• Central Dakota Communications Center (CenCom)
• Community Development
• Engineering
• Finance
• Fire
• Human Resources
• Legal
• Municipal Court
• Police
• Public Health
• Public Works

2. Goals

The purpose of this Request for Proposals (RFP) is to invite businesses that specialize in engagement and communications software to propose new solutions for our organization and the citizens we serve. Our goal is to employ a set of tools to assist staff with gathering input from the entirety of our citizenry. This process will serve our community by creating a streamlined and efficient mechanism for gathering varied opinions on all topics and presenting them in a simplified, straightforward, easily understandable format that will allow decision-makers to make informed decisions.

We’re currently seeking a qualified vendor to support development in the following areas:

• Online Listening
  • Tool(s) to find, aggregate and display online sentiment regarding the City of Bismarck and any topical conversations that may arise through online platforms.
• Community Collaboration Engagement
  • Tool(s) to allow the public to share prompted and unprompted responses
    • These tools may include interactive texting, emailing and/or voicemail options for surveys or questionnaires.
    • These tools may also include the ability to host online asynchronous public hearings and meetings with the ability to manage public input and other associated content.
• Social Media Management
  • Tool(s) to schedule organic and paid content, as well as edit posts, engage with the public and analyze results from these posts through a variety of platforms including, but not limited to:
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Threads
    • X (Formerly Twitter)
    • LinkedIn
    • YouTube
    • Vimeo

Note: While these three areas have been identified as critical areas by the City of Bismarck Communications Strategist, the City of Bismarck retains the right to select an organization based on one, two or three of the mentioned areas.

3. Instructions for Submissions of Proposals

Request for Proposals (RFP) responses must be received by the City of Bismarck Administration Office (221 North Fifth Street / P.O. Box 5503, Bismarck, ND, 58501), no later than April 21, 2024, at 11:59 PM CST. Applicants should provide a digital copy in PDF format and at least five hard copies. The digital copy may be emailed to Kalen Ost at kost@bismarcknd.gov For security reasons, you must enable JavaScript to view this E-mail address. .

Each consultant assumes full responsibility for the delivery and deposit of the completed proposal package on or before the deadline. The City of Bismarck is not responsible for any loss or delay concerning the delivery of the proposals.

Consultants whose proposals are not accepted will be notified as soon as the selected consultant has been approved. If contract negations fail with the first selected consultant, the City of Bismarck will defer to the next highest-ranked consultant to begin contract negotiations.

Information to be included in the proposal:

• Letter of Transmittal
• Profile of Consultant
• Qualifications
  • Name of project manager, his/her qualifications and experience, qualifications and experience of other key personnel who would be associated with the project, and all applicable contact information.
  • The proposal shall describe the experience of the consultant in preparing community listening tools in like-sized communities. The proposal shall include at least 3 references of clients with whom the consultant has had similar projects and the names of key personnel who worked on the referenced projects.
• Approach/Methodology in Completing the Project
  • Describe how your organization approaches collaboration and listening to citizens who live in various communities and what priorities you highlight to ensure the best information is gleaned and shared.
• Description of Tools and Platforms
  • Online Listening
  • Community Collaboration Engagement
  • Social Media Management
  • Asynchronous Meeting Platforms
• Budget Information
  • An estimated, itemized budget that presents a breakdown of proposed one-time and ongoing costs.
  • Include any factors that can move price points such as the number of administrator/user profiles, or cost increases based on the city population.

4. Timeline

The City of Bismarck’s budget cycle runs from January 1 to December 31. The budget committee typically meets in early June to establish the City’s preliminary budget. This preliminary budget is then discussed throughout July and August and is typically approved in August or September. The budget is then implemented as part of that next January.

Upon approval from the budget committee and subsequent acceptance of the budget, City staff would work with your organization to begin the 2025 rollout of the platforms’ functionalities.

Our goal would be to meet with submitting RFP organizations virtually or in person, in the first two weeks of May 2024, to determine which organization’s proposal will be delivered to the budget committee.

5. Important Details

GIS Integration: With the ever-evolving world of technology and information sharing, one avenue that may be explored is how information collected through community listening activities could be displayed by the City of Bismarck’s GIS.The City currently maintains an enterprise license agreement with ESRI for GIS. With the enterprise agreement, all departments can use GIS data and nearly all do. Updates to GIS layers are centrally managed with staff allocated to focus areas for layer updates. A map gallery ( https://bismarcknd.gov/20/GIS-Maps ) is maintained on the City’s website that consists of static GIS map postings. Please include any ESRI integrations your organization utilizes and any requirements that may be necessary for City staff to utilize data created through the community listening process.

Revisions: The consultant is responsible for making all necessary revisions to the proposal until the proposal has been presented to the committee in May.

Contract Amendments: Any issues with meeting the requirements of the contract must be communicated to the project manager so that any necessary changes can be investigated, and any necessary contract amendments made.

Dates: All dates in the RFP are subject to change at the discretion of the City of Bismarck. A notice of changes will be provided to appropriate respondents.

6. Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated by a locally developed selection committee. The selection committee will rank, score, and select a consultant on the following pre-determined scoring criteria:

• Qualifications and experience of consultant | 10% weight
• Understanding the project requirements and scope of the project | 20% weight
• Approach/methodology in completing the project | 20% weight
• Approach/methodology to complete the project on time and within the budget | 20% weight
• Proposed cost to complete the project | 30% weight

Consultants will be interviewed by members of the selection committee via an in-person or remote electronic meeting. If warranted, based on the number of proposals, a cut-down meeting will occur prior to these in-person or electronic meetings, based on the selection committee’s review of the written proposals.

7. Other Considerations

The City of Bismarck reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, make counter proposals and/or engage in negotiations with any or all firms or individuals, waive any requirements or otherwise amend this RFP, or cancel the RFP in order to achieve the City’s goals and objectives for this site. Any changes in the status of the RFP will be brought to the attention of all parties that provide contact information for updates. The information contained in this RFP represents the City’s best information at the time of the release of the RFP and the City reserves the right to modify any term or condition contained herein.

Except as otherwise specifically agreed to in writing by the City, all consultants submitting proposals shall provide and pay for all materials, labor, transportation, charges, levies, taxes, fees and/or other expenses incurred, including all costs to prepare a response to this RFP, travel and presentation costs, and all other services and facilities of every nature whatsoever necessary for the preparation of the RFP. It is neither the City’s responsibility, nor practice, to acknowledge receipt of any proposal as a result of the RFP process. It is the proposer’s responsibility to ensure that a proposal is delivered and received in a timely manner.

The City of Bismarck is an Equal Opportunity Employer and adheres to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the American Disabilities Act (ADA), and other related civil rights legislation. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 assures that no person or group of persons may, on the basis of a person’s nation of origin, race, color, disability, sex, age and/or income status, be excluded from participation, be denied the benefits of, or be otherwise subjected to discrimination or harassment under any and all programs or activities administered by the City of Bismarck or any of its locations.

No member of the Board of City Commissioners or member of the evaluation committee for this RFP, and any other officer, employee or agent of the City of Bismarck who exercises any functions or responsibilities in the selection of a proposal, shall have any personal interest, direct or indirect, in the project.

The City of Bismarck recognizes that in responding to this RFP, the proposer may desire to provide proprietary information in order to clarify and enhance their response. To the extent permitted by law, the City of Bismarck will keep confidential such information provided that:

1. The information submitted is arguably proprietary, and
2. The proprietary information is submitted in a separate file or section that is clearly identified as containing proprietary information, according to the submittal instructions of this RFP.

Only information that is credibly proprietary may be included in the sealed portions of the submittal. The inclusion of non-proprietary significant information in the sealed portions may render a submittal ineligible. Responders should note that the City of Bismarck is a municipality, and as such its files are available for public review pursuant to the North Dakota Constitution Article XI, Section 6 and NDCC Chapter 44-0.

Any and all deliverables, meeting notes, data, illustrations, and other materials created as final work products through an awarded project will be the sole property of the City of Bismarck as a public record.

For Additional Information, contact:

Kalen Ost, Communications Strategist

City of Bismarck – Administration Department

221 North Fifth Street | P.O. Box 5503 Bismarck, ND 58501

Phone: (701) 355-1300 | E-mail: kost@bismarcknd.gov For security reasons, you must enable JavaScript to view this E-mail address.