UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA Annual Giving Direct Marketing and Software Services GS-RFP-240187-01
SUBMIT OFFER BY (Opening Date/Time): 04/30/2024 at 11:00 AM See “Deadline for Submission of Offer” provision.
Kristen Moss
803/777-5253
LINK: file:///C:/Users/cbettencourt/Downloads/GS-RFP-240187-01_Direct_Marketing_and_Software_Services.pdf
III. SCOPE OF WORK/SPECIFICATIONS
The purpose of this solicitation is to establish a source of service and supply to provide Annual Giving Direct Response Marketing and Software Services directed toward the University of South Carolina and its colleges, schools, units, and regional comprehensive campuses.
BACKGROUND
The University of South Carolina including the Palmetto College Campuses (USC Lancaster, USC
Salkehatchie, USC Sumter, and USC Union) currently have a combined alumni base of 399,467 and an estimated 99% of those could be solicited.
The USC Annual Giving and Lead Generation Department currently implements three (3) mass direct marketing campaigns per year, and it manages a giving day campaign, manages a crowdfunding program, oversees student and employee giving and manages a donor experience officer program aimed at identifying and qualifying major and planned gift prospects.
The 5-year goal for the Annual Giving and Lead Generation is to increase annual giving revenue to $10M+ annually and to increase donors to 20,000+.
The goals of the Annual Giving and Lead Generation Department for FY2024 are:
• $4.32M
• 13,000 donors
• 5,100 first-time donors
CONTRACTOR PRIMARY SERVICES
• Direct marketing
• Digital marketing
• Donor Data Analytics and Metrics
• Donor Data Segmentation and Prospecting Software
CONTRACTOR ADDITIONAL SUPPORT SERVICES
Include, but are not limited to:
• The Contractor shall create fiscal year (July-June) strategies and timelines for delivery of Services
supporting the goals of the Annual Giving and Lead Generation Department.
• The Contractor shall provide creative content.
• The Contractor shall design and produce marketing materials.
• The Contractor shall implement and manage marketing strategies.
• The Contractor shall analyze the success of marketing initiatives.
• The Contractor shall report analysis results to the University.
• The Contractor shall refine strategies as necessary.
Direct Marketing (e.g., Direct Mail, Email, Text Message)
The Contractor shall provide all materials and services to create, produce and mail all postal and email campaign items.
The Contractor shall create all copy, scripts, designs, and graphics for marketing materials.
The Contractor must present sample campaign materials to the University for approval a minimum of three (3) months prior to the begin of a campaign and must present a final proof a minimum of seventy-two (72) hours prior to the implementation date.
All scripts, copy and print/visual graphics must be approved by the USC Annual Giving and Lead
Generation prior to use or being sent on behalf of the University or any of its colleges, schools, units, and regional comprehensive campuses.
The Contractor shall be responsible for marketing creation, segmentation and analytics with real time/automatic data flow and transfer and/or use of artificial intelligence (“AI”).
The Contractor shall provide industry insight gathered across its client base to significantly increase the Return on Investment (ROI) for the University via Direct Marketing channels.
The Contractor shall conduct analysis and comparison to show improvements over previous campaigns and provide results to the University quarterly.
The Contractor shall execute all campaigns on schedule as approved by the University.
The University will reimburse the Contractor for actual postage expenses.
Digital Marketing (Digital Advertising and Search Engine Optimization)
The Contractor shall create all copy, scripts, designs, and graphics for marketing materials to target key University constituency groups and to develop a marketing and engagement strategy.
The Contractor must present sample campaign materials to the University for approval a minimum of three (3) months prior to the beginning of a campaign and must present a final proof a minimum of seventy-two (72) hours prior to the implementation date.
All scripts, copy and print/visual graphics must be approved by USC Annual Giving and Lead Generation prior to use or being sent on behalf of the University or any of its colleges, schools, units, and regional comprehensive campuses.
The Contractor shall be responsible for marketing creation, segmentation and analytics with realtime/automatic data flow and transfer and/or use of AI.
The Contractor shall provide industry insight gathered across its client base to significantly increase the ROI for the University via Digital Marketing channels.
The Contractor shall conduct analysis and comparison to show improvements over previous campaigns and provide results to the University quarterly.
The Contractor shall execute all services on schedule as approved by the University.
Donor Data Analytics and Metrics
The Contractor shall provide integrated campaign reporting for all campaigns implemented on behalf of the University.
The Contractor shall provide segmentation recommendations for each campaign implemented on behalf of the University.
The Contractor shall perform data prep of files from the University for each campaign.
The Contractor shall provide modeling and constituent insights to uncover sustainers, upgrade candidates, and nondonor alumni acquisition prospects.
The Contractor shall conduct bi-weekly project management calls and quarterly strategy calls with the University to review performance.
Donor Data Segmentation and Prospecting Software
The Contractor shall provide the University access to data management software that enhances the University’s current fundraising data software tech stack.
The Contractor provided software shall utilize predictive artificial intelligence, machine learning, and algorithms to drive donor segmentation strategy for fundraising marketing and for prospecting for one-toone donor fundraising.
The Contractor provided software shall provide data visualization.
The Contractor provided software shall provide daily/weekly recommendations and notifications regarding how to engage certain populations of alumni and donors.
The Contractor provided software shall utilize donor affinity information to recommend and drive a tailored and personalized donor experience.
The Contractor provided software shall integrate with the University’s existing tools including Blackbaud CRM and Windfall.
The Contractor provided software shall produce predictive models to provide strong donor pipeline growth for Annual, Major, and Planned Giving prospects.
The Contractor shall provide the services of discovery, development, installation, and integration of the features and components required to meet or exceed the requirements.
The Contractor provided software shall have a secured web access (HTTPS).
The Contractor provided software shall allow single sign-on (SSO) integration.
The Contractor provided software shall provide role-based access without requiring multiple logins.
Training and Support
The Contractor shall provide training during implementation and post-implementation. This includes training for new users and updates for existing users over the life of the contract.
The Contractor shall provide documentation for maintenance and upgrades of the system over the course of the contract.
