American Planning Association Economic Development Division

RFP for Communication Services

Scope of Work

The American Planning Association Economic Development Division (APA EDD) is seeking proposals from qualified firms to provide ongoing digital communication services — including e-newsletter and e-blast production — for our membership base.

The initial contract may have a two or three-year term, with the possibility of two (2) one-year extensions based on performance and division needs.

Base requirements:

Please provide a "cost not to exceed" amount for the following:

• Produce two e-newsletters annually, one in the spring and one in the fall. Each newsletter will include 6–10 articles¹ provided by the APA EDD Communications Committee. The selected firm will:
  • Meet with the Communications Committee to obtain and review submitted content.
  • Edit and proofread articles for clarity and consistency.
  • Design and lay out the newsletter, incorporating advertisements as applicable.
  • Format the final product for digital distribution (e-publication).
• Upon receiving final approval of each e-newsletter from the APA EDD Executive Committee, the firm will:
  • Coordinate with the division to obtain an up-to-date member email list.
  • Distribute the newsletter on behalf of APA EDD via email.

Additional add-on requirements:

Please provide line-item pricing for each of the following optional services²:

• 2 to 4 e-briefings annually, consisting of a concise 1–3 sentence summary of 2–5 content items with embedded active hyperlinks.
• 5 to 10 e-blasts annually, consisting of time-sensitive announcements, event invitations, or similar communications.

Proposal timeline

RFP approved for solicitation — 9/20/2025

RFP advertised — 9/31/2025

Proposal submittal deadline — 10/31/2025 by 5:00 p.m. EST

Proposals reviewed and selected — On or after 11/18/2025

Awardee notified — 11/22/2025

Contract to begin — 1/1/2026

Submittal requirements

All proposals must be submitted electronically via email by October 31, 2025, by 5 p.m. EST.

Submit to:

Mitchell Berg, EDD Secretary/Treasurer
mitchellrberg@gmail.com

In the subject heading of the email, please put "APA EDD COMMUNICATION RFP. " When sending the email, please ensure you select to receive a delivery receipt.

When responding to the RFP through e-mail, be sure to include the following:

• Contact name and name of business.
• Physical address, mailing address, and email contact

Also, be sure to include:

• Software platform (s) used for newsletter creation, e-blasts, and e-briefs.
• Indicate how the APA EDD communications committee will be able to access the analytics/reporting (e.g., open rate, click rate, etc.) for each communication. If applicable, include a sample of an analytics report you show other clients.
• Include a brief explanation of your data security and backup storage plan and how your firm ensures the protection of the content and member data (e.g., against malicious and ransomware attacks, phishing, and unauthorized access).
• Two samples (if applicable) each of an e-newsletter, e-brief, and/or e-blast.
• List of current or previous clients receiving similar services.
• 1-3 references of clients

Additional terms

If selected, the firm will be required to:

• Enter into an Independent Contractor Agreement with APA, which includes:
  • Acknowledgment that the relationship is contractual, not employment-based
  • Responsibility for all tax obligations (e.g., Social Security, unemployment, income, workers' compensation)
  • Completion and submission of a W-9 form
  • Payment will be made within the standard APA payment cycle
• Understand and agree that:
  • APA EDD retains ownership of all content created and distributed under this contract
  • Upon contract termination, all materials revert to APA EDD as intellectual property
  • Either party may terminate or extend the contract with at least 60 days' written notice
  • All costs other than those in the "base" requirements must be pre-approved in writing before proceeding.
  • The APA and APA EDD will supply branded logos for consistency in communication. If modifications are needed, agreement must be secured ahead of time, and any final products shall become the property of the APA EDD

Additional items

The APA EDD has the right to reject any or all proposals.

Additional questions or concerns:

If you would like a sample of the APA Independent Contractor Agreement template or have any other questions, you may contact Mitchell Berg at mitchellrberg@gmail.com or by cell at 218-850-4885.

1. Each article should be approximately 800 words, and we anticipate the newsletter to be approximately 30 pages in length (including images, table of contents, and ads).
2. The APA EDD Communications committee will compile any articles, announcements, event invites, and similar communications before sending them over to the vendor. The vendor's responsibility will be to edit, design, and format the e-brief and e-blast, as well as, if final approval is needed, to send out the e-brief and e-blast to each email on behalf of the APA EDD.