Share:
Work with the AFN

Evaluation of the Assembly of First Nations and Elections Canada’s 45th General Election Outreach Campaign and Impact Measurement of Electoral Participation of First Nations

Introduction

Download PDF

The Assembly of First Nations (AFN), a national advocacy organization that works to advance the collective aspirations of First Nations, is partnering with Elections Canada (EC) to conduct a public education and outreach campaign for the 45th General Election (GE). This campaign targets First Nations electors before, during, and after the election to reduce barriers to participation in the federal electoral process.

This Request for Proposals (RFP) seeks research, data collection, and evaluation services to assess the impact of the AFN-EC public education and outreach campaign. The evaluation will focus on the campaign’s design, implementation, and outcomes, specifically in increasing awareness, engagement, and participation among First Nations electors, should they choose to participate in the 45th GE.

Objective

The objective of this Request for Proposals is to select a bidder to evaluate the impact of the AFN-EC public education and outreach campaign efforts targeting First Nations during the 45th GE. The selected bidder will develop an evaluation framework, conduct the assessment, and produce a final report summarizing findings and recommendations, subject to approval.

The selected evaluator(s) must demonstrate that they offer the required expertise, professionalism, and integrity to conduct this evaluation and complete the final report.

An election readiness date of March 1, 2025, is the working timeline for this project (subject to change). Submission deadline is January 31, 2025.

The evaluation will assess the impact of the AFN-EC electoral outreach on the following:

  • Online audiences:
    1. Quantity and quality of engagement with AFN-EC electoral outreach media content (total website visits, traffic by source, new/return visitors, interactions per visit, time per session, email click-through rates, etc.).
    2. Engagement with social media posts (social reach, clicks per view, likes, comments, shares, etc.).
    3. “Watch minutes” of videos produced for online audiences.
  • SMS audiences:
    1. Quantity of users and engagements.
    2. Locations and/or First Nations employing the platform.
    3. Demographic information of users.
    4. Number of users inquiring about employment opportunities.
  • First Nations:
    1. Level of engagement with First Nations members to reduce barriers to electoral participation.
    2. Level of electoral knowledge before and after partaking in the AFN-EC 45th EC Campaign.
    3. Strengthened networks between the AFN-EC and First Nations to facilitate public education and information delivery.
    4. Satisfaction with and use of AFN-EC electoral outreach products.
    5. Enhanced capacity to reduce barriers to electoral participation.
  • First Nations electors:
    1. Awareness of where, when, and the ways to register and vote.
    2. Levels of engagement in SMS opt-in messaging and identification of pain points in this process.
    3. Awareness of AFN-EC’s role in addressing barriers to electoral participation.
    4. Experience with voter registration, voter identification, and casting a ballot prior to and during the 45th
    5. Experience and satisfaction with the AFN-EC’s 45th GE

The evaluation framework should include a logic model created by the contractor, subject to approval. The logic model will be informed by a calendar of activities that the AFN has created (to be shared with the successful bidder).

Deliverables

Deliverables to include:

  • A logic model;
  • Evaluation design and framework (i.e. performance measurement framework) with a data collection plan), pain points to electoral engagement that determine the level of success in chosen interventions, including establishing metrics and baseline data to assess the impact of the 1-4 outreach initiatives.
  • Evaluation implementation, including data collection as outlined in the performance measurement framework.
  • A final report including recommendations.

The final report will include:

  1. An executive summary.
  2. A detailed description of the methodologies used for impact evaluation.
  3. Evaluation analysis and findings.
  4. Recommendations for possible improvements and/or next steps for AFN-EC electoral outreach.

Background

The AFN and EC are working together to develop and implement a public education and outreach campaign aimed at reducing barriers to First Nations participation in the federal electoral process. The 45th GE Campaign aims to ensure that First Nations electors, both on-reserve and off-reserve, are aware of when, where, and how to vote. Key indicators of success will include increased awareness of voting requirements, polling locations, and employment opportunities to address participation barriers.

The public education and outreach campaign aims to make direct contact with more than 400 First Nations communities and Band offices. Outreach efforts will include fax and email blasts, website and social media messaging, mail-out packages, newsletter prints, radio broadcasts, digital and in-person presentations, and — most notably — an opt-in SMS service that will allow First Nations electors to access electoral information directly. Messages will be developed and scheduled to align with election timelines.

At the conclusion of the 45th GE Campaign, the AFN plans to deliver an evaluation report on the effectiveness and impact of these outreach efforts.

Proposal Submission Instructions

Proposals must be received no later than January 31, 2025, at 5:00 PM EST. Late submissions may not be considered. Electronic submissions in PDF format are preferred.

Please email proposals to [email protected], with the subject line: “RFP for AFN-EC General Election Outreach Evaluation 2025.”

Proponents will receive an email confirming their proposal submission. Any questions or clarifications regarding this RFP must be submitted in writing to Genna Benson at [email protected] by January 27, 2025, at 5:00 PM EST. Answers will be shared with all known proponents.

Individuals shall indicate whether they identify as Indigenous and what Indigenous community acknowledges their membership. Corporate entities shall do the same for the ownership of the entity and for those who will conduct the work. Late submissions will not be accepted and will remain unopened without exception.

Proposal Submission Requirements

All proposals shall include the following information:

 

  1. Executive Summary – A summary outlining background information about the proponent’s company, an overview of the proposal, and any specific exceptions to the outlined requirements.

 

  1. Work Plan – A proposal on how the Contractor will complete the work, including:
    1. Statement of Work (including project description and activities).
    2. Project Timeline.
    3. Methodology (including a logic model for evaluation and performance measurement framework).
    4. Strategies to enhance participation rates for data collection.
    5. Deliverables.
    6. Rate.
  1. Qualifications – A description of the proponent’s relevant experience and qualifications, including:
    1. Experience working with First Nations.
    2. Knowledge of First Nations perspectives.
    3. Experience and knowledge in the evaluation methodologies used in this project (also demonstrated by proposed logic models and performance evaluation frameworks).
    4. Strong communication skills (i.e. professional writing and ability to reflect a range of views, experiences, and solutions in a report) and experience working as part of a team.
    5. Experience in issues relevant to electoral participation.
  1. Resources – A statement and description of the physical and human resources required to complete the project, including software and intellectual
  2. Project Organization – Identify the composition of the proposed team, if any, including:
    1. Project team
    2. Description of the roles of the team
    3. Level of experience of the team members working with First Nations.
  1. Cost Breakdown – The proponent shall provide a detailed cost breakdown for the proposed services, showing the total cost for the performance of all services, expenses, materials, deliverables, and software/hardware costs (if applicable), to be used for completion of the project. Total cost shall be in Canadian dollars and inclusive of Note that the overall budget should not exceed $49,000.

Rights of the AFN

The AFN reserves the right to:

  1. Reject any or all proposals received in response to this Request for
  2. Enter negotiation with one or more bidders on any or all aspects of their respective
  3. Accept any proposal in whole, or in
  4. Cancel and/or re-issue the modified version of a given RFP requirement at any time.
  5. Award one or more
  6. Verify all information provided with respect to a given RFP requirement, including the right to request a confirmation of the bidder’s legal status and signed documentation.
  7. Award contracts without competition for follow-up work, if any, to the selected bidder for a given project

Evaluation Criteria

The AFN will select the Proponent(s) which, in the AFN’s sole discretion, best serves the needs of the organization. The following is a summary of the general considerations that will be used to determine the Proponent(s) that will be selected:

Experience working with First Nations and knowledge of First Nations perspectives 30
Experience and knowledge in impact evaluation methodologies used in this project (also demonstrated by proposed logic models and performance evaluation frameworks) 40
Strong communication and experience working as part of a team 20
Experience in issues relevant to electoral participation 10
Total 100

Timetable

Description of Deliverables Due Date
1. The timetable is tentative only and may be changed by the AFN, in its sole discretion, at any time prior to the Proposal Submission Deadline. Jan 20, 2025

Miscellaneous Provisions

Price

Contractors must provide a firm fixed price, including administrative fees, travel, material costs, translation, printing of draft concepts, and HST. The proposal must include hourly and daily rates and estimated time for each deliverable. Note the AFN’s budget for this contract is $49,000 inclusive.

Confidentiality

Responses to this RFP will be considered as confidential information by the AFN and will be used solely for the purposes of selecting the successful bidder.

Clarification/Questions

Previous reports can be made available upon request. All on-time proposals will be acknowledged. Requests for clarification and/or questions regarding this RFP should be directed to:
Genna Benson
Director of Communications
Assembly of First Nations
50 O’Connor Street, Suite 200
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 6L2
[email protected]
604-340-3117 (mobile)

Responses/Submission

Proposals must be received no later than January 31, 2025, at 5:00 PM EST. Electronic submissions in PDF format are preferred. Only those submissions that meet the deadline will be considered.

Responses must be sent by email to:

Genna Benson
Director of Communications
Assembly of First Nations
50 O’Connor Street, Suite 200
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 6L2
[email protected]
604-340-3117 (mobile)

To top