DC Abortion Fund Request for Proposals: Strategic Planning

Timeline

RFP Sent: February 10, 2025
Responses Due: March 10, 2025
Send proposal and any questions on the RFP to: Alisha Dingus, Executive Director, info@dcabortionfund.org
Finalists Selected & Contacted for Interviews: March 17, 2025
Chosen Applicant Selected & Contacted: March 24, 2025
Project Kick-off: April 1, 2025

Organizational Overview

DCAF was founded in 1995 through a deep economic need—one we have continued to address for the past three decades. When a DC-local rape survivor lacked the funds to pay for abortion care, a close friend rallied the community. When they met their fundraising goal (and then some), they used remaining funds to continue to break down economic barriers for abortion seekers in the area.

For nearly 30 years, DCAF thrived as a 100% volunteer-led organization. From 2019 to 2022, compounded pressures from the COVID-19 pandemic, a national recession, the overturn of Roe, and anti-abortion legislation increased DCAF’s funding six-fold. To continue to meet the needs of working families, poor people, people of color, immigrants, young people, queer and trans people, disabled people, folks living with HIV, and anyone else making a decision for their life and future, DCAF hired full-time staff in 2022.

DCAF now has four full-time staff members who manage our day-to-day operations, a tenacious board of directors, and a fighting force of dozens of volunteers. In fiscal year 2024, we supported 3,009 callers, sending $1.5 million back into our community. For more about our work, please visit https://dcabortionfund.org/

Invitation for Proposal

DCAF is seeking a consultant practice or qualified individual to facilitate and manage the strategic planning process for our organization over a 6-month period.

We are looking to partner with someone who is familiar with the local and national abortion access landscape, reproductive justice movement and abortion funds. Preference will be given to candidates who live in the D.C. region.

This entire process should be undertaken with the aim of creating values-aligned goals and implementation processes for the organization. At DCAF, we ground ourselves in our values: reproductive justice, autonomy, accountability, community, DC-centric, joy, care, and intersectionality. We encourage you to review our shared valuesand infuse them into your proposal.

Overall Outcomes

We are looking for a strategic plan that will provide a values-aligned, multi-year (3-5 year) vision for our organization that incorporates ideas and feedback from the leadership, staff, callers, volunteers, and key stakeholders.

The strategic planning process should also include an implementation plan with measurable goals, an outline of which workstreams and projects are prioritized, and a plan to revisit the strategy on an ongoing basis as internal and external environments change.

Desired Deliverables

Planning

Process Map: Collaborate with the staff and board to create the overall design of the strategic planning process.
Project Plan: Develop a project plan for strategic planning that includes clear roles, milestones, and communication points.
Community-Based Committee: Create and manage a Strategic Planning Committee.

Organizational Assessment

Org Review & Analysis: Develop, execute, and perform a comprehensive organizational review and analysis to gauge organizational and individual understanding, perspective, and priorities regarding mission-critical activities and the collective vision for DCAF’s future.
Stakeholder Engagement & Analysis: The assessment should engage key stakeholders (internal, external, former, current, and potential) in the organization, including but not limited to the Executive Director, staff, current and former Board of Directors, community, partners, callers, volunteers, etc.
Feedback, Recommendations, & Priorities: Produce a report detailing feedback from the organizational assessment, recommendations, and priorities with a focus on clear opportunities for action and organizational growth.

Analysis

Strategy Development: Work with the Strategic Planning Committee, leadership team, staff, and other stakeholders to create and prioritize key goals, objectives, and outcomes through an equity lens.
Priorities & Next Steps: Partner with DCAF staff and board to prioritize goals for implementation and develop follow-up action steps to support continued organizational development.
Strategy, Approach, & Tactics: Provide a report analyzing key data and outlining recommended strategies, approaches, and tactics to accomplish identified goals.

Implementation and Integration

Integration & Organizational Alignment: Integrate strategic priorities into DCAF’s internal processes and systems and develop infrastructure that advances strategic priorities in all areas of work.
Implementation Roadmap: Taking a holistic view of the organization, guide DCAF staff and board in developing a timeline for implementation, including any deliverables, responsible parties, and action items related to implementation.

Iteration

Objectives & Key Results (OKRs): Develop evaluation strategies with DCAF staff and board to ensure desired outcomes and determine thresholds for success and re-alignment.
Ongoing Support & Continuous Improvement: Provide support with projects and questions that may arise after the Organizational Assessment, Implementation Plan, and Integration Tools are complete. This may take the form of a retainer agreement or an hourly rate.

Proposal Requirements

Please include the following in your proposal:

A brief executive summary.
A clear explanation of your proposed process, discussion of deliverables, and draft timeline.
A detailed budget that outlines expenses, including the estimate of hours for each activity.
Credentials and qualifications of key personnel who will take responsibility for working directly on this project.
Provide at least two (2) work samples from previous projects related to strategic or organizational planning.
Provide two (2) references from past clients with similar organizational structures and needs.
If applicable, please share more about your relationship to abortion funds and/or practical support networks as either a staff member, board member, volunteer, or supporter.

Budget

DCAF is an abortion fund and works to use every dollar available for our callers. We have a modest budget of $20,000 for this project but are open to proposals in the range of $20,000-$30,000.

Values alignment

It is important to us that we work with individuals, organizations, and businesses that proudly and publicly support abortion access and are comfortable with the full scope of reproductive justice. If this is not something you or members of your team are comfortable with, we ask that you not submit a proposal.

Evaluation Criteria

DCAF will examine a number of factors and criteria, which include:

The extent to which the proposal addresses the stated needs and clearly describes the scope of work.
Specific plans or methodology to be used to perform the services.
Qualifications and experience.
Availability for work to be conducted over a 6-month period.
Familiarity with abortion access landscape in the D.C. region and nationally.
Project cost.
Values alignment.
Connection to D.C. region.

We look forward to your proposal!

DC Abortion Fund (DCAF)

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