Child Care Narrative RFP: Story Measurement, Research & Analysis

REQUEST FOR CHILD CARE NARRATIVE GRANT PROPOSALS

Story Measurement, Research & Analysis

Funding research efforts to measure and analyze the impact of storytelling on Colorado’s child care system

Story & Data Collection Grant Category

Part of Gary Community Venture’s Request for Child Care Narrative Grant Proposals

As part of Gary Community Ventures’ Request for Proposals to elevate the impact of child care on all Coloradans, this RFP outlines the objectives, requirements and timelines specific to applicants interested in helping us measure the reach and impact of this narrative-focused work.

Please see the full RFP for more background information and context on this narrative grant-making process. Applications for all RFP categories are due on Aug. 3.

This particular RFP seeks Story Measurement, Analysis & Research partners who can help us evaluate the reach, resonance and real-world impact of the narrative and storytelling efforts centered on Colorado’s child care system that will be produced by awardees in the Journalism and Arts, Creative Content & Storytelling sections of this grantee/contractor cohort. These Story Measurement, Analysis & Research partners will play a critical role in measuring the effectiveness of these narrative and storytelling strategies and their ability to increase awareness and understanding of this issue over time. They will also help ensure future storytelling and communications strategies are data-informed and responsive.

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Narrative Themes, Objectives & Proposal Requirements

Informed by robust RFP design session

The following narrative themes, objectives and proposal requirements were the result of an intensive RFP design session that included statewide early childhood experts, award-winning journalists, filmmakers, and creatives as well as members of communities who have not been frequent recipients of messages and stories about the issues facing our child care system and why they matter to all Coloradans.

This opportunity will work to accomplish the following objectives in offering funding support for story measurement, research and analysis efforts that meet these proposal requirements and demonstrate a clear plan to evaluate the impact of narratives that fall into these themes:

Narrative & Storytelling Themes

  • Everyone Relies on Someone Who Relies on Child Care – These stories will explore the way child care impacts the vital services all Coloradans rely on, including but not limited to health care, education, first responders as well as food and transportation providers. For more information on this narrative theme, click here.
  • Made Possible by Child Care – These stories will explore how child care impacts cherished institutions and activities that make life in Colorado worth living, including our restaurants, museums, theaters, parks and recreation centers and sports events and teams. For more information on this narrative theme, click here.
  • Child Care Champions – These stories will highlight early childhood educators who are frequently overlooked as well as unlikely champions of our early childhood system, including military leaders, business owners and conservative messengers and politicians. For more information on this narrative theme, click here.

RFP Objectives

  • Support strong proposals that:
    • Use a mixed-methods approach that combines quantitative and qualitative analysis
    • Measure awareness, understanding and engagement as well as levels of support around child care narratives among the priority audiences outlined in the “Proposals Requirements” section below
    • Track changes in public discourse — including how, where, and by whom the issue of child care is being discussed
    • Generate clear and actionable insights to refine future narrative investments
  • Potential proposals may measure, research and analyze:
    • Changes in audience sentiment, attitudes and beliefs now and over the course of the next 6-12 months
    • Media and social media analysis to evaluate message reach, amplification, and narrative uptake.
    • Focus groups or community listening sessions to test messages and explore deeper audience reactions.

Proposal Requirements

  • Proposals must clearly indicate how they will engage and measure reach, resonance, and sentiment – such as shifts in public sentiment, changes in discourse, and content engagement – among one or more of the following priority audiences:
    • Voters Without Children
    • Family-Focused Conservatives
    • Voters Age 50+
    • Business Leaders
    • Fathers
    • Western Slope Communities
    • Larimer County Residents
    • El Paso County Residents
  • Show a demonstrated ability to both track and measure narrative impact across channels, including analysis of social media, local press and community forums
  • Provide evidence of prior experience conducting culturally responsive evaluation, narrative evaluation or public opinion research in complex social issue spaces
  • Use a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative (e.g., polling, analytics) and qualitative (e.g., interviews, listening sessions) methods
  • Offer a clear explanation of the data sources, sample populations, instruments and analysis approaches to be used
  • Show a plan to solicit meaningful participation from the priority audiences in the design, testing and interpretation of findings
  • Propose a clear plan for culturally responsive research in measuring the priority audiences’ responses to narratives and stories surfaced by RFP recipients
  • Provide a project timeline that demonstrates near-term learning goals and longer-term iterations, should they be necessary
  • Demonstrate a clear understanding of the attitudes, concerns and media consumption habits of the priority audiences

Proposal Considerations

Priority will be given to proposals that:

  • Offer a vision for how learnings or tools can be scaled or adapted to other audiences, issues, campaigns or geographies over time
  • Are led by or in deep partnership with individuals or organizations representative of the priority audiences
  • Offer innovative approaches to measuring narrative uptake, emotional response and/or long-term attitude change, particularly methods that address the emotional, cultural or identity-based dimensions of the presented narratives
  • Include feedback loops from the research capable of informing iterative storytelling
  • A plan for community validation or feedback, particularly on how stories and data are framed, shared and used

We will not consider funding proposals that:

  • Do not address the objectives of this RFP, do not align with one or more of the “Narrative Themes” outlined above or do not provide clear plans to reach the priority audiences outlined in the “Proposal Requirements” section
  • Have weak or unclear project details, timelines, methodology or impact plans
  • Do not provide any thought towards scale up and sustainability
  • Do not reflect thoughtfulness in budgeting, timeline or community participation

Grant Awards & Contracts, Expected Deliverables & Application

Grant Awards & Contracts

  • We will award grants and or contracts between $25K and $45K
  • We anticipate awarding 1-2 grants/contracts
  • A total of $45K will be distributed in this category of the RFP to explore the impact of child care storytelling in Colorado

Expected Deliverables from Selected Recipients

  • A clearly defined scope of work with activities, timelines, deliverables and measurable milestones
  • Outline a strategy to generate and disseminate actionable learnings, such as reports, briefings, public dashboards or workshops, as well as a plan for how findings will be shared with storytellers, advocates and decision-makers to inform future messaging, organizing or advocacy strategies
  • A budget with appropriate allocation for labor, data collection and stakeholder engagement

Application

Here is an editable Google Doc that you can use to work on the application among collaborative teams, if helpful. Otherwise, click the link below to apply.

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RFP Timeline, Informational Webinar & Office Hours

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if we can help

For questions regarding this RFP, please reach out to Will Holden, our Director of Communications & Storytelling, at wholden@garycommunity.org. We will also be offering two additional avenues for support.

Office Hours

We will be hosting regular office hours to answer any questions you may have. Please click the links below to register and feel free to join at any point in these two-hour windows.

Informational Webinars

Additionally, we will host four webinars on Tuesday, July 22 focused on each of the four categories of this RFP. Click the link below to register for the virtual meeting specific to this RFP category.

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