Due Date: noon, Friday, September 6, 2024
GENERAL OVERVIEW
The Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Board of Franklin County (ADAMH) is leading the
construction of the new Franklin County Crisis Care Center, which will serve as the cornerstone
of the continuum of adult crisis care, becoming the preferred destination for anyone 18 years or
older experiencing a mental health or addiction related crisis in Franklin County. This will include
a full array of services with integrated peer support at all levels and a no-wrong-door approach to
ensure any adult, 18 or older, arriving at the crisis care center receives services. The crisis center
is currently under construction at 465 Harmon Avenue, Columbus, Ohio, and is set to open to the
public in spring 2025. ADAMH is seeking a firm to develop and execute an integrated marketing
communications strategy to introduce this new, first-of-its-kind behavioral health care facility to
the community.
A. Alcohol, Drug, and Mental Health Board of Franklin County (ADAMH)
ADAMH is a local, levy-funded agency that plans, funds and evaluates behavioral healthcare
services in our community. In this role, ADAMH is responsible for coordinating the ongoing
assessment of needs of all Franklin County residents for services and supports across Franklin
County’s continuum of care. ADAMH does not provide direct services, but instead contracts with
more than 30 non-profit organizations to provide them.
B. Project Background (Franklin County Crisis Center)
ADAMH and its many partners are working to enhance the crisis care continuum in Franklin
County, ensuring that there is someone to call, someone to come and a place to go for
individuals in crisis. To be successful we must meet people where they are, with the most
appropriate response for an individual’s situation, and ensure better care and timely access for all
persons.
The cornerstone of our crisis care continuum is the new adult-serving Franklin County Crisis Care
Center, which began construction in April 2023. More than 100 community partners gathered in
February 2023 to celebrate the ceremonial groundbreaking on-site at the property located at
465 Harmon Avenue, Columbus, Ohio.
When it opens in spring 2025, the more than 70 thousand-square-foot community-based facility
will serve up to 80 individuals at any point in time and offer an array of critical crisis intervention
services through both walk-in and inpatient units. The center will offer a no-wrong-door approach
to ensure that any adult arriving at the crisis center receives services regardless of ability to pay.
This project is several years in the making. Voices from every part of the community were a part
of the planning process and included local mental health and addiction service providers,
hospitals, law enforcement, advocacy organizations, and most importantly individuals and
families with lived experience.
The Franklin County Crisis Care Center has benefited from tremendous collaborative support in
its planning and has received funding from an array of institutions and donors. Furthermore,
government financial support has come at every level—federal, state, county and local.
The result is a crisis care facility uniquely designed for Franklin County that will meet a range of
needs through an innovative model that integrates recovery, clinical and medical services
together to provide comprehensive, person-centered care.
C. Goals and Objectives of This Request
The purpose of this request is to identify qualified vendors to plan and execute an integrated
marketing communications strategy to bring energy and creativity into introducing the new
Franklin County Crisis Care Center to the community. A successful campaign will both create
awareness about the crisis center and educate about how the new facility is an available
alternative to emergency departments for adults experiencing a mental health or addictionrelated crisis.
The chosen event vendor will have experience successfully developing and executing creative
strategies to educate Franklin County residents about community-based services. Experience
with health care and behavioral health services is a plus.
The duration of the contract will be from Friday, November 1, 2024, to Wednesday, December 31,
2025.
D. Calendar of Events and Project Timetable
Crisis Care Center community opening events and activities will take place in March/April 2025.
The marketing communications strategy must be in alignment with and support center’s opening
planning, which is being managed by a separate vendor. Opportunities for collaboration with the
event planning team are anticipated throughout the marketing communications planning process.
The initial months of engagement will be dedicated to gathering stakeholder input, the research
and development of messaging and campaign creative, and development of a plan and
accompanying budget. The expectation is that the campaign will launch in tandem with opening
events in spring 2025 and continues through December 2025.
The schedule for the project is given below and is subject to change in the best interest of
ADAMH. ADAMH may change the schedule at any time. If ADAMH changes the schedule before
the due date listed in this RFP, it will publish those changes on the ADAMH website.
Vendor Selection
RFP posted………………………………………………………………………… Monday, August 12, 2024
Pre-application webinar……………………………………………………. 2 p.m., Thursday, August 29, 2024
Proposals due …………………………………………………………………… Noon, Friday, September 6, 2024
Recommendation made to ADAMH board of trustees….. Tuesday, October 22, 2024
Applicants notified ……………………………………………………………. Wednesday, October 23, 2024
Contract executed…………………………………………………………….. Friday, November 1, 2024
Contract Deliverables
Work commences …………………………………………………………….. Monday, November 4, 2024
Plan and budget approved………………………………………………. Monday, December 2, 2024
Campaign launch …………………………………………………………….. March/April 2025
Campaign ends …………………………………………………………………Wednesday, December 31, 2025
ADAMH will offer a pre-application technical assistance webinar via Microsoft Teams at 2 p.m. on
Thursday, August 29, 2024, to clarify ambiguities and answer questions regarding this request.
Questions should be submitted for this webinar no later than 5 p.m. on Wednesday, August 28,
2024. Those interested in attending the webinar must request access before noon on August 29,
at RFPsubmission@adamhfranklin.org.
II. SCOPE OF SERVICES
ADAMH is soliciting proposals for marketing communications services to introduce the Franklin
County Crisis Care Center as a vital, new behavioral health care resource for the community. This
is a 13-month contract that runs from November 4, 2024, through December 31, 2025.
Services will include:
• Research and discovery process with input from key community partners
• Develop and test key messaging
• Develop and test creative concepts
• Develop creative assets and collateral materials incorporating ADAMH brand guidelines
• Establish and manage budget
• Oversee execution of plan and campaign management
• Regular reporting in three-month intervals and a final year-end report
Cost Estimates: The total budget is up to $235,000 and the breakdown is:
• Research and planning……………………………………………………………………….$30,000
• Campaign creative asset development …………………………………………….$30,000
• Paid media budget (must include commissions) ……………………………. $175,000
Note that $30,000 for the research work must be billed in 2024.
III. SPECIFICATION OF DELIVERABLES
Work shall begin after a fully executed contract between ADAMH and the chosen applicant is
completed. The deliverables are as follows:
1. An integrated marketing communications campaign to launch in spring 2025 and
concludes at year-end that incorporates community outreach, digital and social paid
media and organic posts, and a mix of out-of-home and print ad placement.
2. Development of equitably accessible and relevant messaging, campaign assets and
collateral materials for diverse populations and individuals with lived experiences as well
as translation services for some digital and print assets into Spanish, Somali, Nepali,
French, and Arabic should be incorporated in the bid.
3. Development of key collateral materials to complement paid campaign assets that
include, but are not limited to designs for rack cards, postcards, posters, fact sheets and
digital boards.
4. Enhancements to the existing Franklin County Crisis Care Center website to support
campaign activity in collaboration with existing web services vendor.
5. Campaign execution, management, ongoing optimizations, and reporting. Measurable
outcomes should include the number of people reached and number of website visits.
Defined metrics will be identified by ADAMH during the planning phase.
Bids should also account for working closely with the ADAMH Public Affairs team on
implementation of the plan. For relationship purposes, there may be some tactics that are
identified to be led by the ADAMH Public Affairs team and others that are led by the firm. For
instance, earned media likely will be handled by the ADAMH team, however, that strategy must
align with the overall marketing communications plan.