KIPP MEMPHIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL RFP- Communications/Public Relations Services (RFP #062123)
DUE DATE: June 29, 2023 @ 1:00 PM CST.
PART V: SCOPE OF SERVICES
I. INTRODUCTION
Background
KIPP Memphis Public Schools (KMPS) is an open-enrollment, public, tuition-free charter school network of three schools in the North Memphis Area serving upwards of 1,400 students. KMPS is part of a national network of 280 tuition-free public charter schools. KIPP Memphis Public Schools have been serving families and communities in the Memphis community for 20 years. We believe wholeheartedly in our mission, together with our families and communities, we create joyful, academically excellent schools that prepare our students to pursue any path they choose — college, career, and beyond — so they can lead fulfilling lives and build a more just world.
KMPS has a 2-person marketing/communications team that includes a Director of Communications and a Managing Director of Communications. The selected public relations firm should anticipate working closely with the KPMS communications team to implement a comprehensive and integrated communications strategy to address the goals of the region’s Advocacy Plan.
Through the KMPS Advocacy Plan, KIPP Memphis seeks to create avenues for authentic community engagement and awareness with families, community organizations, and community leaders that result in increased retention of our existing students and increased recruitment of new families from across the greater Memphis area. This engagement will also result in communal advocacy for sustained support for KIPP Memphis in local, regional, and national educational conversations around improving student outcomes for communities with socioeconomic challenges.
Request for Proposals
KIPP Memphis Public Schools (KMPS) is requesting proposals from interested public relations firms to provide communications and public relations services that will launch a strategic campaign with tactics that focus on captivating, centering, and activating the voice of our parents, students and community members. This will ultimately build trust, grow an authentic bond, and increase morale that will result in student retention, student recruitment, and grassroots mobilization through the following tactics:
• Strategic and broad sharing of a positive KIPP Memphis narrative to generate ongoing positive paid and un-paid publicity for the KIPP Memphis network, including production of a KMPS marketing video.
• Provide avenues to more effectively connect with parents and community members to identify challenges that families are facing that ultimately impact student achievement and build in-network resources and external partnerships to address these challenges.
• Support with organizing and promoting a consistent cadence of focus groups and forums to channel familial voice and dialogue including administering needs-based surveys to gauge familial challenges and expectations.
• Generating, capturing, and redistributing positive testimonials and feedback from our core audiences relative to the network to assist student recruitment and retention, staff recruitment and retention, policy/resource advocacy efforts and to garner additional support from external stakeholders.
• Drive traffic to the KMPS website and associated social media.
• Grow awareness of KMPS reputation and brand in the greater Memphis community
II. Scope of Services
The following provides a general overview of the specific work assignments KIPP Memphis Public Schools will expect the selected firm to complete. These should not be considered an exhaustive listing of tactics to be employed to meet the goal stated above. KMPS welcomes proposer’s recommendations to add strategies and tactics to this list that can further enhance KMPS’ ability to create awareness of its region.
The agency will need to complete a comprehensive action plan for how the agency would approach each of the categories below; the Compensation Pricing Schedule (Appendix H) should be submitted with the proposal and indicate the hourly billing rate for services to fulfill expectations.
The Scope of Services includes three major components: Media Relations; Web and Interactive Media; and Reputation and Branding.
1. Media Relations
The anticipated scope of work will include:
• Propose and implement a media-relations strategy that elevates the exposure of KMPS to identified audiences via regional news and media organizations.
• Proactively identify opportunities for paid and unpaid media coverage, both locally and regionally, highlighting the region’s mission, partnerships, and academic, athletic, and extracurricular initiatives.
• Capture testimonials from KMPS staff, students, alumni and supporters to promote the region.
• Develop relevant messaging that can take advantage of current opportunities and events, and thatcan be used by the KMPS marketing/communications and fundraising/development teams.
• Draft news releases, advisories and backgrounders to promote KMPS to local and regional news and media organizations.
• Track and respond to stories in the media that might benefit from a response from KMPS.
• Monitor and report on the effectiveness of KMPS’ own press releases, story pitches and activities.
• Support robust social media outreach targeting appropriate audiences on multiple social media platforms in a manner that emphasizes engagement with current and prospective families.
• Driving traffic to KMPS website
2. Family and Community Engagement
The anticipated scope of work will include:
• Support with marketing and promoting family engagement with the region’s biannual needs-based survey and family participation in parent forums and focus groups.
• Support with identifying and pursuing partnerships that address familial and communal challenges highlighted through surveys, forums and focus groups.
• Strategizing tactics to promote family and parent engagement throughout the school year.
• Generating campaigns to roll out regional accomplishments to families and community to keep them informed of the region’s progress.
• Campaign to encourage current families to positively promote KMPS and supportrecruitment of new students to the region.
3. Reputation and Branding
The anticipated scope of work will include:
• Strategy and support of positive promotion and increased brand awareness of the region
• Generating, capturing, and redistributing positive testimonials and feedback fromour core audiences relative to the network to assist student recruitment and retention, staff recruitment and retention, policy/resource advocacy efforts and to garner additional support from external stakeholders.
• Production of a KMPS regional video that positively promotes KIPP Memphis and highlights the values, mission, and accomplishments of the region.
• Support with the roll-out of the KMPS Strategic Plan
