Good Food, Hunger, Poverty, Food Security

Request for Proposals

Non-profit: Georgina Community Food Pantry
Location: From any location with some consultations on-site (Sutton, GTA, Ontario)

Fundraising Strategy and Implementation Plan

Application Deadline: May 2nd, 2025

Contact Information

Cesar Caneo, Executive Director
E: cesar@georginafoodpantry.com
Tel. 905.596.0557
Cell: 705.934.3316

Background

The Georgina Community Food Pantry (GCFP) is a charitable non-profit organization based in the Town of Georgina, Ontario that aims to provide dignified access to good food that nourishes our community and inspires change.

Founded in 1985, today the GCFP is located at the Link in Sutton, ON and still serves thousands of Georgina’s residents experiencing poverty. In 2024, it served 22,258 individuals through 7,291 visits to the food pantry, its main program. The scope of its operations includes provision of emergency food, children breakfast hampers, a community garden, kitchen workshops, community fridge in Keswick, and a weekly community lunch in collaboration with other groups.

The GCFP main location is in Sutton but there are efforts to establish a new food distribution in Keswick, ON; this will complement the current community fridge project located there. Over the years, the GCFP has continued to grow, as has expanded programs and the impact of those. This work is supported by a small but mighty staff team of two staff and one manager, and a very committed group of about 60 volunteers that make all this work possible.

Unfortunately, post-pandemic food insecurity has grown exponentially, as the number of people served more than doubled in the last three years. At the same time, reports show that an older base of donors (baby boomers) continue decreasing and compounding the sustainability problem. The new generation of donors may respond to different incentives and are still to be attracted to support our food programs that depend almost exclusively on local donations.

We are looking to better understand our donors based that include individuals, businesses, and community groups; to create a relevant fundraising strategy and a viable implementation plan that enhance the GCFP current and future financial sustainability.

The Opportunity

The Georgina Community Food Pantry seeks to engage an experienced fundraising consultant or consulting firm to provide analysis, strategy, direction, design, and advice with the creation first of a fundraising strategy and the implementation of a comprehensive fundraising plan that will diversify its sources of funding and build sustainability for the GCFP’s future.

Project Objectives

The primary objectives of this RFP are to:

• Conduct a practical assessment and analysis of the agency’s current donation base and fundraising activities, capacity requirement, and expectable outcomes.
• Identification of best practices in community fundraising which should be incorporated into a multi-year fundraising strategy.

• Develop an actionable and strategic multi-year fundraising plan, which will assist in the diversification of the agency’s funding base and guide fundraising efforts to ensure the long-term sustainability of the agency programs.

Scope of the Work

The selected consultant will be expected to:

Phase 1: Fundraising Review and Evaluation Report, including but not limited to:

• Review of GCFP’s current Case for Support.
• Review of all the organization fundraising channels, campaigns, results, and any stewardship activities going on 3-5 years.
• Identification of barriers to remove to ensure future fundraising success, and benchmarks of fundraising efforts from similar organizations to GCFP.
• Define various segments of donors (personas) and revenue channels to determine the overlapping strategies that need to be put into the plan.
• This review should include consultations with the board members, staff, and key volunteers, as well as sample donors if applicable.

Phase 2: Development of a Comprehensive Fundraising Strategy and Implementation Plan

• Obtain insights from the Executive Director, the Board/committee, and key leadership members, or volunteers or staff through interviews.
• Training sessions with the Board and/or staff to help them to understand their role in building a culture of philanthropy and how their work integrates with strategy. Specific sessions may include corporate prospecting, donor engagement, storytelling, discovery.
• Address some quick wins that GCFP can put in place immediately to get desired results.
• Using identified priorities, develop a sustainable fundraising strategy and implementation plan based on GCFP’s fundraising goals, and available resources, including strategy recommendations into the following potential revenue streams:

• Mayor Gifts and Individual Giving - Corporate Partnerships
• Foundations Grants and Events - Donors Relations and Stewardship
• Staffing, systems and infrastructure - Board (or volunteer) role and engagement

• Recommend new fundraising initiatives and/or the use of new fundraising platforms.
• Recommendation for communication plan in support of charity fundraising

Phase 3: Fundraising Plan Launch

• Roll out of the plan which will include Case for Support, key goals and metrics, ongoing activities, anticipated budgets, supporting documentation with templates and scripts for staff to use.
• Provide customized content that we can use to inform e-blast planning, as well as month by month calendars of activities and tasks for staff and board/committee and offer as list of customized stewardship touchpoints to engage donors.
• Provide strategies to increase our email lists, build new fundraising channels (i.e.. Corporate, events, and planned giving) and drive donor behavior toward the organization’s fundraising goals (for example, by moving supporters from prospects to donors, exploring monthly giving programs).
• Recommend methods for ongoing evaluation and adjustment of the fundraising strategy.
• Develop tools and templates for donor outreach, and corporate proposals.

Phase 4: Post-Strategy Support

• Once the plan is launched, provide 90-min. check-in sessions once a month for 3-4 months

Alignment

• GCFP latest Strategic Plan (2025-29)
• GCFP vision, mission, and values

Candidate Requirements

• Extensive experience in fundraising; focusing on the social service of the non-profit sector is considered an asset.
• Demonstrated expertise in facilitating consultations and conversations with organizational leadership and staff.
• Experience developing actionable recommendations for effective fundraising strategies.
• The ability to conduct and/or guide required research, coordination, and facilitation of internal and external stakeholders’ interviews and/or stakeholders focus groups.
• Experience producing reports for different user groups/audiences.

Evaluation Criteria

Application Review Criteria

The proposal will be reviewed and evaluated based on the following criteria:

1. Qualifications (20 pts)

• The consultant has the qualifications needed to successfully complete the given project
• The consultant has prior experience working on similar projects
• Understanding of the GCFP mission, values, and target audience
• The consultant has extensive working knowledge of the local & provincial charitable sector

2. Scope of the Proposal (30 pts)

• The proposal demonstrates an understanding of the project objectives and desired results
• The proposal is able to illustrate an approach to the scope of the work that will likely lead to the successful development of an actionable fundraising plan
• The proposal demonstrated the consultant’s ability to successfully support the proposed approach

3. Work Plan (30 pts)

• The proposal adequately details the project activities and milestones or deliverables associated with each phase of the scope of work
• The proposal includes a detailed timeline for each phase of the project
• The work proposed can be completed within the project timeline

4. Budget (20 pts)

• The proposal includes a detailed budget for each phase of the scope of work
• Proposed costs are reasonable with the fee-for-services scope of work
• The proposed schedule of payments corresponds approximately with tasks, milestones, or achieved deliverables.

Key Dates and Timeline

• Issue of RFP: April 3, 2025
• Deadline for Proposals: May 2nd, 2025
• Decision on Selection: May 16, 2025
• Project Completion: July 31, 2025 (TBC)

Submission Details

Please submit your written proposal by May 2nd, 2025 to:

Cesar Caneo
Executive Director
cesar@georginafoodpantry.com

Note: Consultants are welcome to inquire by email and/or phone call to acquire more information.

Terms and Conditions

1. Delivery of the Proposal

An electronic copy of the proposal must be submitted by 5:00 pm EST on the deadline, including references from individuals/organizations who can speak about their experience with the consultant. The proposal should include at least two examples of similar conducted work similar to the scope of the work requested in this RFP.

2. Proposal Time Limit

The proposal shall be valid for a period of 30 days

3. Selection Process

The proposal shall be reviewed against all the selection criteria and the strongest proposal will be selected. All applicants will be notified as per the timeline provided. Additional materials may be requested. Following a review of the applications, an interview will be scheduled.

4. Conflict of Interest

Applicants responding to this RFP may not have any personal or business interest that would present an actual, potential, or apparent conflict of interest with the performance of the contract to be awarded.

5. Distribution of the Invitation for Proposals

By notice to potential applicants identified by GCFP

6. Liability Insurance

All firms may be requested to certify that the firm doesn’t currently have any outstanding liability claims that may affect the future health of the firm. Additionally, the firm must maintain and confirm sufficient liability insurance relevant for a client of our size.

7. Applicants Expenses

The GCFP is not responsible for the Applicant’s expenses. The application process will not necessarily result in a commitment to sign a contract with the applicant. The GCFP is not liable for any expenses incurred by Applicants, including the expenses associated with the cost of preparing the Application.

8. Successful Applicant

A successful applicant will be required to enter into a Service Agreement with GCFP. Please be advised that a successful applicant will be required to:

1. Provide the services for a defined period of time
2. Provide invoices to GCFP on account of their services, accordingly
3. Provide the GCFP with an HST number of their business if it applies
4. Report on their income and directly remit the payment of all taxes or payments assessed or levied against or in respect of their business, including income tax, CPP, and all other premiums or levies required by law to the appropriate Government Agency.

9. External Factors

GCFP reserves the right to withdraw this RFP or terminate the resulting contract within the terms of the contract without penalty.

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