REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FOR STRATEGIC PLANNING SERVICES Proposals must be submitted no later than 5:00pm on November 20, 2017 Sam Filler Executive Director New York Wine and Grape Foundation 800 South Main Street, Suite 200 Canandaigua, NY 14424 585-394-320 www.newyorkwines.org rfp@nywgf.org
1. Introduction The New York Wine & Grape Foundation (NYWGF) seeks a qualified consultant (individual or firm) to guide the development of a comprehensive strategic plan. The NYWGF Board of Directors wants to develop a strategic plan that refreshes the organizational vision, mission, goals and objectives. The strategic planning process is intended to assist NYWGF in identifying the promotional, policy and research needs of the wine, juice and grape industry. The plan will be driven through engagement with the NYWGF Board and staff, industry members and key stakeholders. The ideal candidate will facilitate a process that gathers input from across the state using a variety of engagement methods. Based on this engagement, a plan should be developed that responds to industry needs by outlining a refreshed vision, mission, goals and objectives for organizational growth, development, and direction. 2. Organizational background NYWGF was created unanimously by the New York State legislature and Governor Mario M. Cuomo in 1985 to be the sole private sector organization to receive and disburse public funds for research and promotion in support of the New York grape, grape juice, and wine industry. NYWGF s mission is to have the New York grape and wine industry recognized as a world leader in quality, productivity and social responsibility. NYWGF s annual operating budget averages about $2.5 million per fiscal year, and is derived from public and private sources. NYWGF receives an annual budget appropriation from the New York State budget. Over the past seven state fiscal years, NYWGF has been appropriated on average $1 million in state funding. The state funding is matched through private sector contributions received in the form of membership dues, program participation fees, and research matching funds. 12 licensed wineries, 7 grape growers, 73 business associates and 2 consumers pay annual membership dues. NYWGF also receives funding from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and other grant sources. NYWGF employs six full-time staff and one part-time staff. The wine industry represents one of the fastest-growing parts of New York s agriculture and tourism sectors. There are 420 licensed wineries in 59 counties that generate more than $5.5 billion in economic benefits annually to New York State s economy. The wine industry is a major magnet for tourists and tourism-driven expenses. New York's wine country regions generate 4.5 million tourist visits and $1.8 billion in annual tourism expenditures. As a result of the industry s growth and impact, the prestigious Wine Enthusiast magazine named New York State the 2015 Wine Region of the Year ahead of Champagne, France; Chianti, Italy; Sonoma, California; and Red Mountain, Washington. 3. Project Description The organization went through a leadership transition during the first quarter of 2017. Jim Trezise who founded and led the organization for 32 years was succeeded by Sam Filler as Executive Director. NYWGF last updated its organizational strategic plan in 2011. The leadership change presents an opportunity to revisit the organization s vision, mission, goals and objectives. The NYWGF Board voted at their March 2017 meeting to support a new strategic planning process to be initiated within the current fiscal year (April 1, 2017 March 31, 2018). Given NYWGF s leadership change and industry growth, the organization s strategic direction requires a comprehensive refresh and update. NYWGF is seeking a qualified consultant (individual or firm) to: Oversee the strategic planning process by using a methodology effective for statewide trade associations. Design an effective method for data gathering, synthesis, and presentation, including online and mail surveys, focus groups, and stakeholder meetings.
Guide all stages of the strategic planning process, including meetings with NYWGF board members, NYWGF staff industry stakeholders, allied businesses, government agencies and elected officials. Assist in the identification of NYWGF s vision, mission, goals and objectives. Identify gaps between current industry needs, organizational resources, organizational facilities, and staffing and the identified vision, mission, goals and objectives generated through the process. The consultant will report directly to the NYWGF Executive Director. The consultant can expect that NYWGF will assist in the logistics related to planning for statewide regional meetings. NYWGF can identify meeting locations, secure industry participation, procure meeting supplies, and assist in travel planning. As they are available, NYWGF Board members will be invited to participate in meetings hosted in their regions. NYWGF Staff will be available to provide meeting facilitation support. NYWGF will make available to the selected consultant prior strategic plans completed in 2003 and 2011. 4. Strategy Plan Objectives and Outcomes: Our goal is a focused, agile process that will result in a working document within four to six months. The new strategic plan will provide the organization s Board and Executive Management with an organizational vision for responding to the current research, policy, and promotional needs of the wine, juice and grape industry. And, the strategic plan will articulate a vision, mission, goals and objectives to pursue over the next three to five fiscal years. NYWGF intends to engage a diverse audience based on geography and grape variety through this process. New York is the largest Concord grape growing region in the US after Washington State. Concord grapes along with other native grape varieties represent the majority of grapes grown in New York State. New York State also has 10 designated American Viticulture Areas (AVA), and wine grapes are also grown in the Central New York, Lake Ontario and Thousand Islands regions. NYWGF is mandated by state law to represent the interests of all New York grape growers and processors. Regional and finished product differences need to be addressed and represented in the strategic plan. Stakeholders from each of the major grape growing regions need to be engaged through this process. In some regions, those stakeholders may need to be segmented into separate focus groups based on grape variety, processor type, and finished product. NYWGF also desires to engage allied industry groups, allied businesses, and consumers in this process as they are also important stakeholders tied to the industry s future. A longer list of stakeholders is included in the appendix. The strategic plan should address the following: Define the vision, mission, goals and objectives of NYWGF in context of the diverse constituency it is intended to represent and serve. Provide clear-cut objects and plans of actions based upon information gathered from all shareholders. All objectives and plans of actions should be measureable. For example: o Goal: Diversify funding for the Foundation. Objective: Increase funding generated from membership dues by 50% by 2019. Action: Develop membership recruitment information campaign. Formulate a concrete list of projects and initiatives that are described under objectives and specified for articulated goals. Projects and initiatives should be clearly and specifically linked to measurable outcomes specified in objectives.
NYWGF s role in representing the various industry segments through promotion, research and policy. Address the organization s future operational needs to achieve proposed vision, mission, goals and objectives: o Staffing Size, Skills, and Positions o Office Location(s) and Capital Investments o Third party Consultant Needs o Branding and Marketing o Sources of revenue o Creation of affiliated or subsidiary entities o Mergers with affiliated organizations SWOT analysis regarding working with and competing against other craft beverage, agriculture focused organizations and other value-added agricultural products. Identify potential funding sources to support implementation of further organizational capacity building needs identified through strategic planning process. Diversify funding sources to support organization s operational needs. 5. Project budget The objective of this Request for Proposal is to identify a qualified consultant that will provide the best overall value to NYWGF. While price is a factor, other criteria will form the basis of our award decision, as more fully described in the Evaluation Factors section of this Request for Proposal below. It is desirable that the qualified consultant has experience developing and executing strategic planning processes for the nonprofit and agriculture trade association industry. The respondent s total cost proposal should include a project management fee separate from expenses such as travel and other anticipated incidentals. Weekly rate structures are not permitted.. Proposal Requirements Only qualified individuals with specific expertise in the areas of non-profit strategic planning and/or experience working with agricultural trade associations are permitted to apply To be considered, proposals must include: Cover letter including a brief description of the firm or individual, as well as the name and contact information of the principal. Executive summary of the proposal, including purpose, outcomes, and key dates on a timeline. List of any personnel involved in the process and their role and prior experience. List should note the primary personnel assigned to the project. Summary of the respondent s qualifications and experience. Project plan that includes a description of the methodology, tasks, timeline, key dates.
Schedule of costs to complete the project. All costs associated with the project should be listed. Project management fee must be separate from expenses such as travel and other anticipated incidentals. Weekly rate structures are not permitted. Provide references and three case studies of work you have done for similar organizations. Each case study should include: o A brief background statement on the project goals and objectives o A description of the strategic considerations and process used o Summary or examples of the finished project deliverables. Copy of your standard contract, if applicable. Additional documentation or information as the respondent deems fit to assist NYWGF in the selection process, including any exclusions, exceptions, or recommendations. Explicit articulation of what the respondent requires of NYWGF Board and staff to make this a successful project. 7. RFP and Project Timeline Request for Proposal Issuance November 3, 2017 RFP Q&A Conference Call November 7, 2017 @4pm EST Respondents Inform NYWGF Intention to Respond November 9, 2017 Deadline to Submit Proposals November 20, 2017 Proposal Review by NYWGF Strategic Plan November 21-28, 2017 Committee Notification to Top Bidders December 1, 2017 Full Board Review December 7, 2017 Notification to Unsuccessful Bidders December 8, 2017 Negotiation December 11-15, 2017 Final Award/Notification to Unsuccessful Bidders December 22, 2017 Project Commences January 10, 2018 Project Update to Full Board February 28, 2018 Review Draft Conference with Board April 23, 2018 Final Strategic Plan March 1, 2018 Final Plan and Project Ends May 31, 2018 A conference call will be held on Tuesday, November 7, 2017 at 4pm EST. The purpose is to answer any questions and provide more background on the project intent: 8. Selection Criteria Tuesday, November 7, 2017 at 4pm EST Registration for call required: https://cc.readytalk.com/r/fawyqdgqa4y&eom Proposals will be evaluated by NYWGF Strategic Plan Committee, which includes staff and board members. NYWGF anticipates selecting at least three finalists, and the full NYWGF board will review the proposals of the three finalists and will select the preferred finalist.
Proposals will be evaluated on the following criteria: Relevant experience and success in strategic planning facilitation, including the level of satisfaction of current and past clients. Cost to complete the process. Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines and operate within budget. Prior experience working with both public and staff committees. Demonstrable facilitation and qualitative/quantitative integration skills. Proposals must remain valid for a period of 90 days. NYWGF reserves the right to award to the bidder that presents the best value as determined solely by NYWGF in its absolute discretion. NYWGF reserves the right to not select a contractor based on the proposals received. Efforts will be made by NYWGF to utilize New York based small businesses, women and/or minority owned businesses. Offeror qualifies as a small business firm if it meets the definition of "small business" as established by the Small Business Administration (13 C.F.R. 121.201). And, MWBE firms must be certified in accordance with the requirements of Article 15-A of the New York State Executive Law. 9. Contact information and deadline for submissions This RFP will be posted on the NYWGF website, www.newyorkwines.org and may be distributed to individual facilitators and firms. Questions regarding this RFP must be submitted via email to rfp@nywgf.org. The deadline for submitting questions is Wednesday, November 8, 2017 at 5 pm EST. Inquiries will only be received and answered by email. Questions and responses will be posted for all on the NYWGF website by 5 p.m. on Friday, November 10. Respondents must notify their intention to submit a proposal by Thursday, November 9, 2017 by 5pm EST by email to rfp@nywgf.org. Respondents must submit a copy their proposal in PDF via email or a flash drive by: Monday, November 20, 2017 5 p.m. EST to rfp@nywgf.org and/or Samuel Filler RE: NYWGF Strategic Plan RFP 2017 New York Wine and Grape Foundation 800 South Main Street Suite 200 Canandaigua, NY 14424
Appendix American Viticulture Areas: Cayuga Lake, Champlain Valley of New York, Finger Lakes, The Hamptons, Hudson River, Lake Erie, Long Island, Niagara Escarpment, North Fork and Seneca Lake. Key Stakeholders include (not exhaustive): Wine trails: Adirondack Coast Wine Trail, Brooklyn Wine Trail, Canandaigua Wine Trail, Cayuga Wine Trail, Chautauqua Juice Program, Cooperstown Beverage Trail, Dutchess Wine Trail, Hudson-Berkshire Beverage Trail, Keuka Lake Wine Trail, Lake Erie Wine Country, Lake Ontario Wine Trail, Long Island Wine Council. Niagara Wine Trail USA, Schoharie County Beverage Trail, Seneca Lake Wine Trail, Shawangunk Wine Trail, St. Lawrence Wine Trail, Thousand Islands-Seaway Wine Trail, and the Upper Hudson Valley Wine Trail. Affiliated Industry Groups: Finger Lakes Wine Alliance, Finger Lakes Wine Country, National Grape & Wine Initiative, New York Farm Bureau, New York Wine Industry Association, New York Wine Grape Growers Association, New York State Liquor Store Association, Long Island Sustainable Winegrowing, Long Island Merlot Alliance, New York State Restaurant Association, Metropolitan Package Store Association, New York State Distillers Guild, New York State Brewers Association, New York Cider Alliance, and WineAmerica. Allied Businesses: Distributors, Equipment Suppliers, Business Services (law, finance, insurance, accounting, creative, etc), On and Off Premise Retailers, and Nurseries. Government Agencies: New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, Empire State Development, New York State Liquor Authority, New York Department of Environmental Conservation, New York Department of Taxation and Finance, New York State Department of Transportation, New York State Department of Labor, US Tobacco and Trade Bureau, and US Department of Agriculture. Print/Media: Wine Enthusiast, Wine & Spirits Magazine, Edible, Wine Spectator, Hudson Valley Table, and Hudson Valley Wine Magazine. Consumers: Women for Wine Sense, Astor Wine Center, CorkBuzz, Murray s Cheese Shop and De Gustibus Cooking School.