Invitation to tender for social research and evaluation consultancies

Transcription

1 Invitation to tender for social research and evaluation consultancies January

2 1. Introduction Media Trust and Community Channel s flagship campaign, funded by the Big Lottery Fund, sets out to celebrate all that is brilliant about the incredible, diverse and talented people who make England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland a better place for us all. Media Trust is seeking an experienced evaluation consultancy/social research organisation to deliver robust evaluation of Do Something Brilliant; Community Channel s campaign to inspire positive social action. We have an established organisational monitoring and evaluation framework and in-house Monitoring and Evaluation Team. We have put together a robust monitoring and evaluation strategy that complements both out internal framework and BLF requirements. We would like the consultancy to provide: input to overall evaluation strategy and methodology; input to development of research tools and data analysis plan; research (i.e. conducting surveys, interviews); analyse and evaluate data from social media monitoring and surveys/interviews to demonstrate how the project meets its aims and objectives by determining outputs, outcomes and impact on individuals and communities. case studies, using qualitative/quantitative data and multimedia content submitted by consumers to illustrate the examples. 2. Background Media Trust believes in the power of media to change lives. We work with the media industry to empower charities and communities to have a voice and be heard: we empower charities and communities to better tell their story, have a voice and be heard. we empower communities their skills and confidence to engage in more positive activities. we enable media companies, their staff and freelancers to increase their engagement with charities and communities thereby making a greater contribution to society. This is achieved by: harnessing creative industry talent; providing communications skills and resources; helping access audiences. Our corporate members include Aegis, AMV BBDO, BBC, Camelot, Channel 4, 2

3 Daily Mail and General Trust, Discovery Networks Europe, Google, Guardian Media Group, ITV, Just :: Health PR, MTV Networks UK & Ireland, News UK, PHD Media, Sky, Time Warner, Trinity Mirror, Weber Shandwick and WPP. We own and run national television and online channel Community Channel which, offers an entertaining mix of inspiring local news, uplifting series, ground breaking films and documentaries. It reaches all TV homes in the UK, broadcasting 24 hours a day. In 2012, it had 5.0m unique channel views with over 15m programme views across live, digital and on-demand. 3. Do #Something Brilliant - Making the UK and Northern Ireland even more brilliant Overview Do Something Brilliant, Community Channelʼs three-year flagship campaign, run in partnership with Big Lottery Fund, sets out to provide charities, community groups and Big Lottery Funded projects across the UK with a framework to raise their profile, reach new audiences and ultimately inspire positive social action. We will champion communities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and inspire our audiences to do #somethingbrilliant in their own lives that will make a big difference to themselves and the people around them, driving social action. The Do Something Brilliant campaign aspires to: Engage one million people; Inspire 50,000 brilliant actions; Amplify 5,000 brilliant campaigns. The campaign will be structured around four pillars: Do Something Green Do Something Together Do Something Creative Do Something Active Each of these pillars will be powered by any number of Little Brilliant Things (LBT). Each LBT will be developed considering The Centre for Social Action s definition for social action, to ensure we encourage people to create positive change in their communities. Each pillar or LBT may have a charity partner or commercial sponsor associated with it. The project will launch on 25 th February and run until May Campaign mechanics Digital 3

4 The campaign website ( will house the four pillars, the LBTs and will drive subscribers to register for a weekly newsletter. Users will also be encouraged to record when they have completed a LBT, share an LBT and to submit a LBT of their own using the #somethingbrilliant hashtag or by . The weekly newsletter will feature a LBT from each of the pillars and will ask subscribers to get in touch with their own suggestions using the #somethingbrilliant hashtag. Do Something Brilliant will have its own profiles on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and/or Tumblr. These platforms will be used to drive people to the DSB website so that they can record their actions, though they will be able to share their LBTs using the #somethingbrilliant hashtag on all of these platforms. The best LBTs shared on social media will be curated on the site. Submitted LBTs will be moderated and filtered by the pillars. Partnerships The campaign will engage a range of partners across the UK to amplify their work, give them access to a wider audience and be associated with the Do Something Brilliant campaign driving social change in communities. There will be a range of partner involvement from light engagement to much deeper more profound long term engagement (Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3, Tier 4). We aim to have one Tier 1 partner for each of the four pillars (e.g. Groundwork for Do Something Green). Partnerships will be further developed as the campaign progresses and effectiveness is measured against key performance indicators. TV Community Channel will produce and broadcast dedicated UK community programming including Brilliant Britain, a UK entertainment magazine show, and My Brilliant Moments, inspiring short films with local project leaders. This content will encourage the Community Channel audience to engage with Do Something Brilliant through on air announcements and in show mentions. Community Outreach Through national Community Outreach managers, we will deliver practical media training workshops throughout the UK which help people to tell their own brilliant story, the best of which may be broadcast in Brilliant Britain and My Brilliant Moments. We will provide an online resource for community media and encourage people to use Community Newswire to disseminate their story throughout their community and 4

5 the UK. Change indicator requirements The project is working to achieve the following change indicators, agreed with Big Lottery Fund: Providing Big Lottery Fund projects and communities with a unique UK platform and locally-focused opportunities to tell their stories, showcase their impact and share learning: Big Lottery Fund projects to tell stories, showcase and share learning on Community Channel and Media Trust platforms; Number of Big Lottery Fund projects showcased on Community Channel and Media Trust platforms increases; Increase in the percentage of local community content from across the UK broadcast on Community Channel s TV platform. Providing communities with a unique opportunity to experience content that champions local communities across the UK, inspires and entertains: Community members are inspired to sign up to Do Something Brilliant; Community Channel viewers engage in new local social action opportunities; Increase in viewers of Community Channel unique platforms. Supporting UK communities and Big Lottery Fund projects to improve their skills and increase community cohesion through the creation of media: Number of Big Lottery Fund projects showcased on Community Channel and Media Trust platforms increases; Workshop and outreach participants report an increase in skills; Participants report a greater sense of community cohesion. Achieving evenness of message and delivery throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland whilst maintaining a distinct local flavour to the content: Dedicated workshops and outreach are delivered on the ground in each nation; Two TV programme country specials are produced and broadcast; Increase in Community Channel viewers is broadly proportionate to the populations in nations. 4. Approach We would like the consultancy to provide: 5 input to overall evaluation strategy and methodology; input to development of research tools and data analysis plan;

6 research (i.e. conducting surveys, interviews); analyse and evaluate data from social media monitoring and surveys/interviews to demonstrate how the project meets its aims and objectives by determining outputs, outcomes and impact on individuals and communities. case studies, using data and multimedia content submitted by consumers to illustrate the examples. Proposals should outline the methodological approach considered most suited to determining success against change indicators as outlined above as well as the impact on individuals and communities. This is expected to be mainly qualitative in nature. Creative and innovative approaches to methodology are encouraged It is envisaged that the research will involve the evaluator collecting primary data from the Do Something Brilliant audience, workshop participants, Community Channel. The appointed consultant will have access to quantitative social media and digital data as well as the data collected through qualitative approaches to analyse and evaluate the project. The following documentation will be available: The Do Something Brilliant business plan; Communications strategy; Monitoring and evaluation strategy; Social Media and digital monitoring data; Media Monitoring Reports; BARB data; Survey responses and interview data. 5. Reporting requirements We require quarterly progress meeting and reports that will include an analysis of quantitative and qualitative data (social media and digital data will be provided on a quarterly basis). An interim report will be required in June 2015 and a final evaluation report will be required in June Creative reporting proposals are welcomed. 6. Suggested timetable 23rd January midday Deadline for applications 27 th January 2014 Invitation for interview for shortlisted candidates 30 th /31 st January 2014 Interviews for shortlisted candidates 31 st January 2014 Evaluator appointed 4 th February 2014 Inception meeting with Media Trust 6

7 14 th February 2014 Methodological framework and research tools finalised and developed April 2014 May 2016 Quarterly progress meetings and reports June 2015 Interim report June 2016 Final report 7. Budget Approximately 20,000-30,000 is available for the delivery of the requirements set out in this invitation to tender and includes all expenses (inclusive of VAT). 8. Evaluator s specification Media Trust is looking for a consultancy with the following attributes, experience and skills: experience of and delivering social research and evaluation, ideally demonstrating social action and social change; experience of monitoring, evaluation, information management and carrying out qualitative and quantitative research; experience of working with social media monitoring data; experience in advanced qualitative and quantitative data analysis; experience of preparing case studies and best practice examples; experience in writing concise evaluation reports; experience of working with or in the creative industries and/or voluntary and charity sector would be an advantage; Understanding how to measure the impact of TV programming on audiences. 9. Selection criteria: Media Trust will use the following weighting criteria in the selection process: Credentials - experience of delivering social research projects: 15% Evaluation methodology including research tools and approach to qualitative and quantitative data analysis: 35% Approach to presentation of research findings and case studies: 10% Budget: 25% Quality Assurance: 10% Team - bio/cv's: 5% 10. Submitting your proposal Media Trust is offering this as a commissioned piece of work. If you are interested in tendering for the evaluation please set out in no more than four sides of A4, how you would carry out the work in the timescales required. 7

8 Please include: an introduction with credentials, including examples of relevant projects and how the company meets the evaluator s specification; suggested approach to undertaking the project through methodology framework, including research tools; demonstration of quality assurance systems in place; a short bio and CV for each of the team members who will be involved in the research; a detailed budget for the project; demonstration of ethical research guidelines and codes of practice; contact details of two referees. Please return your proposal by to nataliac@mediatrust.org no later than midday on 23 rd January Shortlisted candidates/organisations will be invited to an interview at Media Trust s offices in London on 30 th and 31 st of January