This RFP seeks to explore the impact child care has on Coloradans through innovative story & data collection, journalism, content creation and evaluation. Proposals are due Aug 3.
Request for Proposals: Child Care Narrative Grants*
Why are we focusing on child care?
The data tells us that Colorado’s child care system is in crisis.
There is growing public concern about our overpriced and underfunded child care system, but there is no consensus about who bears the burden of fixing it. What’s more, early stakeholder research reveals a consistent narrative — “parents had the child, so parents must find a way to pay for child care” — but this stance does nothing but perpetuate the status quo.
This request for proposals represents an effort to explore the impact that child care has on all Coloradans through innovative story & data collection, journalism, content creation and evaluation.
*We may issue a grant or a contract based on the organizational structure of selected applicants.
RFP Description
And who we’re inviting to apply
Gary Community Ventures is seeking grant and contract proposals from:
Throughout this RFP process, we will be deeply committed to protecting the editorial independence as well as the journalistic and artistic control of all grantees and contractors. We will work side by side with trusted and award-winning journalists, arts institutions and trusted community organizations to issue these awards as well as offer support for selected recipients over the six-to-12-month grant/contract period.
We aim to build a portfolio of grantees and contractors focused on a series of narrative themes, priority audiences and objectives. The focus areas 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 but are still deeply impacted by them.
We are looking for proposals from individuals, organizations and collaborators committed to:
Creating and distributing content over a six-to-12-month period
Exploring one or more of these narrative themes
Reaching one or more of the priority audiences outlined below
Accomplishing the following key objectives
Narrative Themes
Everyone Relies on Someone Who Relies on Child Care: Essential businesses, services and their employees are some of the most deeply impacted by the issues facing our child care system. We will prioritize proposals capable of surfacing narratives and stories that explore how a strong, affordable child care system might support all Coloradans’ ability to access the essential services we rely on to fuel our way of life and our economy. These essential services and employees may include but are not limited to hospitals and health care providers, first responders, active military, educators as well as business owners and employees who operate our food, transportation and manufacturing systems.
Made Possible by Child Care: Our child care crisis is also impacting cherished institutions and activities in our communities that make life worth living in Colorado, including our restaurants, museums, theaters, music venues, parks, recreation and outdoor activities as well as sporting teams and events. We will prioritize proposals that explore how the child care ecosystem helps make it possible for all Coloradans to enjoy the things we love.
Child Care Champions: Early childhood educators are infrequently celebrated, and we are interested in highlighting the often overlooked and vital work they do to support our children in their crucial earliest years of life. Additionally, there are some unexpected stakeholders beginning to champion the importance of these educators and our child care system, and we will prioritize proposals that seek to engage these stakeholders, including military leaders, business owners, religious leaders, conservative messengers as well as elected officials and government employees who are breaking with traditional approaches to explore innovative new solutions to the issues facing our child care system.
Priority Audiences
Proposals should engage one or more of the following priority audiences, who tend to be less familiar with the issues facing our child care system and how these issues are impacting all Coloradans. Please note that these priority audiences — as well as the descriptions of potentially relevant narratives for each audience — were identified through early stakeholder research from Gary Community Ventures and insights from the aforementioned narrative design session:
Voters Without Children: Often disconnected from the child care issue, this audience may respond to narratives that emphasize how child care impacts services and employees they rely on and enjoy — and we know these impacts are actively being felt in mountain and rural communities, which face nursing and first responder crunches due in part to child care shortages
Voters Age 50+: Often connect with narratives about protecting the things they love, such as local businesses and community institutions, and enjoying retirement — not, as the New York Times has reported, bearing the responsibilities of becoming parents for a second time
Larimer County Audiences: In a community that has a blend of rural and urban values, we often see Larimer’s rural communities placing high values on essential services and its urban communities being receptive to narratives that lift up arts and cultural resources
Explore the idea of child care as a vital, shared societal asset or good and not simply a personal issue facing parents and child care providers
Elevate the experiences of those most affected by the issues facing our child care system
Include distribution strategies that clearly demonstrate how your storytelling will both reach, engage and resonate the priority audiences outlined above
Test and demonstrate the impact of narrative storytelling on awareness and sentiment as part of an effort to generate learnings about the power of journalism, storytelling, creative and content distribution strategies to increase understanding of an issue
RFP Categories & Applications
We anticipate awarding a combination of grants and contracts ranging in size from $10,000 to $100,000 depending on the category, with a total of $350,000 in funding distributed across the four categories outlined below. These are one-time grants/contracts to be executed over a 6 to 12-month period.
See the category descriptions below for funding ranges, overviews as well as the applications for each category.
Economic analyses focused on how our child care crisis impacts the workforce and economy
Feature series exploring a day in the life of often-overlooked family, friend or neighbor (FFN) child care care providers
Journalism capable of being syndicated across multiple trusted media outlets or distributed in ways capable of reaching and resonating with diverse audiences
We are looking for story & data collection proposals from individuals with deep ties to Colorado communities who are skilled at listening, engaging with diverse audiences and surfacing narratives and data from individuals and organizations who have stakes in our child care system. Those stakeholders include but not limited to child care providers, parents, business leaders and others impacted by our child care crisis. Strong proposals will:
Demonstrate deep ties to the priority audiences identified as above and/or experience in trust-building with target audiences
Propose a pipeline for sourcing and elevating stories and data that underscore the current state of child care in Colorado
Identify methods for making these stories and data sources available to journalists and storytellers within this RFP cohort as well as other media outlets, storytellers and community partners
Proposals may include, but are in no way limited to:
Listening sessions and story circles in rural and urban areas
Narrative development workshops for early childhood educators
Partnerships with local leaders and organizations to source data and stories
Reflect cultural competence and creative excellence
Align with narrative themes and appeal to the identified priority audiences
Include deliverables such as short videos, murals, podcasts, exhibitions or digital campaigns as well as plans to measure the content’s reach and resonance
Proposals may include, but are in no way limited to:
“Made Possible by Child Care” murals or installations
Influencer-led digital campaigns targeting specific audiences on strategic platforms
Interactive exhibits at community events and festivals
Track the narrative and storytelling content produced by Journalism and Arts, Creative Content & Storytelling grantees/contractors across multiple channels
Employ both qualitative and quantitative methods as well as strategies to measure potential changes in awareness, understanding, sentiment and public discourse
Provide insights that illuminate how narrative and storytelling strategies drive awareness and understanding of an issue in local communities
Proposals may include, but are in no way limited to:
RFP applications will be due on Aug. 3, notification dates for finalists and awardees are outlined below. Additionally, there key details that you should both consider including and omitting from your application, which are also outlined below.
RFP Timeline
The RFP will open on July 3, and the application will go live on July 9
We’re available to support interested applicants from July 10 to July 31 through designated Office Hours and Informational Webinars. See dates/times below.
Applications are due Aug. 3
Applications will be reviewed during the ensuing month of August
Finalists will be notified no later than Aug. 13 and may be asked for additional information, which could include interviews
All applicants will be notified of final decisions by Aug. 29
Grant funding and contracts to be distributed in early to mid September
Grant/contract period to begin in September 2025 and conclude no later than September 2026
Other Key Considerations
Priority will be given to proposals that:
Are led by or in partnership with organizations and collectives embedded in or trusted by the priority audiences identified above
Provide innovative and measurable strategies for story collection, production, distribution and measurement
Commit to co-learning and sharing insights
We will NOT consider funding proposals that:
Do not fall into the four categories or address the narrative themes, objectives and priority audiences addressed in this RFP
Lack clear methodology, journalistic or artistic integrity or do not commit to measure the outcomes and effectiveness of the produced work
Proposals that fail to include a clear publication, distribution or dissemination strategies
Request funds for capital expenses
RFP Questions & Support
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 live. Please click the links below to register and feel free to join at any point in these two-hour windows.
Additionally, we will host four webinars on Tuesday, July 22 focused to address each of the four categories of this RFP at the following times. Click the links below to register for the virtual meetings.
Stay tuned for announcements on future requests for grant proposals
In addition to specific requests for grant proposals, we welcome the opportunity to connect with organizations engaged in aligned work at any time. Learn more about our approach to grant-making below, and feel free to reach out to our team with questions.
I would like to see business people try to solve social problems with the same imagination and energy they use to finance a factory or make a deal. Don’t call it philanthropy; call it corporate social investment. Make it integral to business.