Request for Proposal: Cultural Alliance Implicit Bias Scan

Click here to download the full RFP for the Internal Bias Scan. 

Background
The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance has resolved to support greater diversity, equity and inclusion in the arts and culture sector.  Because this is a new agenda for our organization, we want to begin by having an independent consultant evaluate our current programs and practices through a DEI lens, so that we can learn where we have reputation or practices to build upon and what issues we need to address in our own operations in order to authentically lead in this work.  

Further information about the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance is provided at the end of this RFP.

Project Cost and Timeline
The cost of the Implicit Bias Scan cannot exceed $10,000, including fees and expenses.  It is our goal to begin the project in January 2017; to have the Implicit Bias Scan interviews completed by February 28, 2017; and to have a draft report of the findings by March 15, 2017.  The final report is due April 15. We recognize this is an ambitious timeline, and we have some flexibility. 

Deadline for Proposals
Proposals must be received no later than 5 pm on December 16, 2016.  Electronic submission is preferred.  Please send proposals to:

Britney Hines-Boggs
Business Development Manager and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Project Leader
britneyh@philaculture.org  

Scope of Work
The purpose of this project is to scan existing programs, practices, and organizational culture of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance as a first step to lay the groundwork for our long-term diversity, equity and inclusion initiative.  We want to audit programs, communications, policies, structures, practices and our own organizational culture.  The scan is intended to identify strengths and weaknesses which could be explored in greater depth after this initial evaluation.  As an initial scan, the scope of the  diversity we want to consider is broad and includes race, ethnicity/diverse cultures, gender, sexual orientation, different abilities, age, economic level of prosperity (in audiences) and budget size (in organizations/groups that created cultural programming).  We are also committed to creating greater equity in the arts and culture sector, and will seek to identify specific ways to do so as our initiative develops.  

The scan should accomplish the following:

1.    External Scan: Assess perceptions of Cultural Alliance services, communications and public             programs

Is the Alliance perceived to represent the entire cultural sector, as we claim?  Or are we perceived to be serving some constituents and leaving others out?

a)    Marketing and Audience Engagement Programs

• Phillyfunguide.com, Funsavers (discount ticket program), Funperks (patron loyalty program)
• Marketing promotions, such as PNC Holiday Arts Alive and other promotions
• Audience Analytics – a database service for trading consumer lists and market research

Sample Questions to Be Explored

• In presenting arts and culture programs to the public, does Phillyfunguide.com and Funsavers showcase/reflect diversity, increasing public awareness of the full range of cultural programs/events that are available? 
• Do we adequately promote and emphasize programs/organizations that embrace DEI principles, making them more visible and better known by the public?
• Is the way that we advertise/promote the Phillyfunguide and Funsavers effective in reaching diverse audiences, or is there a bias that limits our audiences reach?
•  Are our marketing programs friendly to organizations/arts groups of all types?  Or does the way these programs are structured (fees, formats, deadlines, etc.) inhibit or discourage some organizations/programs/groups from using these services?

b)    Advocacy Programs and Initiatives

• GroundSwell – a database of 9,000 arts advocates, and communications to them
• STAMP and Teen Summer Internships – providing greater access to arts and culture for Philadelphia teenagers
• Research Reports – our Portfolio series, Prosperity, the Patron Loyalty Index, etc.
• Advocacy materials used in past efforts – testimony to City Council, handouts and emails on policy and political issues

Sample Questions to Be Explored

• Are we fairly representing diverse arts and culture organizations in our advocacy materials and positions?
• Does our research include sufficient diversity, or shed light on DEI issues?  If not, what could help it to do so (especially Prosperity and Portfolio)?
• Do arts groups feel that our advocacy appropriately supports them, that they are included in our cases for support?
• Are the advocacy issues we have supported relevant to diverse arts and culture groups?  If not, what issues are we missing?
• Is our advocacy lobbying for or resulting in greater equity in cultural funding?

c)    Grantmaking
The Cultural Alliance is a re-grantor of funds from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, distributing $400,000 in small grants to nonprofits and artists in our five-county area.

Sample Questions to Be Explored

• Are we publicizing Program Stream and Project Stream to reach out to diverse applicants?  Are we reaching those who could most benefit?
• Is our training and support adequate?
• Are our grant panels diverse enough?

d)     Professional Support for Arts & Culture Groups

• Job Bank – the #1 place to find arts and culture job postings in Greater Philadelphia
•  Annual Meeting and Learning Programs – seminars, workshops, and other convenings for professional development and networking in the arts and culture field
•  Member Benefits – discounts and other benefits provided to member organizations

Sample Questions to Be Explored

• Does our Jobs Bank reach and serve diverse candidates, providing a pool that helps nonprofits to increase the diversity of their staff?  What changes in format, job qualifications, etc. would help diverse candidates to have more opportunity?  
• Are DEI values reflected in the way we organize/operate our learning programs and the Annual Meeting? If not, what should be changed?
• Do our member benefits exclude some from participating, and if so, why?  Would other benefits be more relevant?
• Is our primary focus on nonprofits excluding participation from arts/culture workers who do not do their work through a nonprofit organization?

2.    Internal Scan: Evaluate the internal practices and culture of the Cultural Alliance
Is the Alliance itself reflecting the diversity we want to see in the cultural sector?  Do we encourage diverse voices in our decision-making, and provide opportunities for advancement for our staff? Are there aspects of our culture as an organization that either encourage or discourage diversity, equity and inclusion?

a)    Cultural Alliance Staffing & Operations
The Alliance has full time staff, part time staff, contractors, and occasionally student interns.  We also routinely partner with many other organizations on projects and initiatives.

Sample Questions to Be Explored

• Do diverse candidates see us as a desirable employer?
• Is working at the Alliance comfortable and welcoming for diverse staff?  Do staff feel affirmed and does our staff culture support their work and professional growth?
• Are staff given opportunities to grow and are they encouraged to do so?  Do staff feel that compensation is fair?
• How are our contractors selected – does that process impede consideration of a more diverse pool?
• Are we a good partner in joint initiatives?

b)    Board and Governance
We are an independent nonprofit with a board of 26 members, of whom half represent our member organizations and half are community leaders (corporate, foundation, or individual supporters of the arts).  We also have 5 ex-officio board members from government.  

Sample Questions to Be Explored

• Does our board reflect diversity of the cultural community, and/or of the larger community of Greater Philadelphia?
• Do all board members feel that they can speak their mind and are heard?
• Do we balance power on the board – do people from smaller organizations feel that their opinions weigh equally with those from larger organizations, corporations, or other powerful players?

Bias Scan Process and Proposal Format
Once the consultant is selected, the project would begin with a meeting with staff to review the scope and process of the project.  This initial meeting could be in early January 2017.

In your proposal, please describe the process you would use to explore the areas described above, to achieve the objective of the Implicit Bias Scan in January and February 2017.  Your proposal may be organized in the way you prefer, but it must answer the following questions.
    

1. WORKPLAN:  Based upon your experience and the goals stated above, how would you approach this project? What methodology would you use?  Describe your workplan.
2. PRIORITIES: What aspects of this scan do you feel are the most important to achieve our goal of laying a foundation for future DEI work, and why?
3. STAKEHOLDERS:  What constituents would you want to consult, and how would you gather their feedback?  Which constituencies do you think are most important, and what size of sample would you want to have?  If the time/budget does not permit feedback from all constituencies, which ones do you recommend focusing upon? How would you approach the various constituencies to obtain feedback? What mechanisms would you use to elicit their feedback (interviews, survey, etc.) and what questions would you ask them?  Our sample questions are intended as a starting place, please adapt or change them to create the scan that you believe would be productive and useful.

Possible constituencies include (many overlap):
External Scan

• Member organizations (450+)
• Nonprofit arts and culture organizations that are not Cultural Alliance members
• Funsavers subscribers (125,000)
• Diverse community leaders (TBD, depends upon definitions)
• Attendees of past learning programs (overlaps with Members)
• Users of the Job Bank, especially graduate students, persons early in their careers
• GroundSwell arts advocates (9,000)
• Program Stream and Project Stream grantees (100+)
• Past panelists for grant reviews (20+)

Internal Scan

• Staff (17)
• Recent former staff (5)
• Current contractors (5-15 contractors or companies)
• Current board members (26)
• Leaders of organizations we work closely with/partner with (a long list)

1. REVIEW OF COMMUNICATIONS: How would you evaluate implicit bias in our website, newsletters, research reports and other publications, etc.?  
2. POLICIES AND CULTURE:  How would you evaluate the internal operations of the Cultural Alliance>
3. WHAT YOU EXPECT FROM US: What information would you want the Cultural Alliance to provide to support you in conducting this Implicit Bias Scan? 
4. BUDGET: What is your budget, including all fees and expenses?  The total may not exceed $10,000.
5. DELIVERABLES: What deliverables would you provide as a result of this work?  The minimum deliverable is a written report, to be distributed to staff and board.   Optional deliverables could include a PowerPoint presentation, facilitating a discussion of the findings, or meetings with key staff and volunteers.
6. YOUR CREDENTIALS: What is your experience in conducting assessments related to equity/diversity/inclusion or cultural competency?  What individuals would work on this project, and what multicultural/multiracial perspectives would they bring to the work?  Please provide short bios and professional background of proposed project team members; a sample list of past and current clients.
7. REFERENCES:  Please provide at least 3 references.

About the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance

The mission of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance is to “lead, strengthen and amplify the voices of a cultural sector that ignites creativity, inspires people and is essential for a healthy region.” Founded in 1972 to coordinate arts and culture activities for the nation’s Bicentennial celebration, the Alliance is the region's premier leadership, advocacy and audience-development organization for arts and culture. We serve the cultural sector, the civic community and the general public through solid, timely research; effective advocacy and community engagement; collaborative marketing and audience engagement programs; and professional development programs that increase the skills of the leaders of arts and culture organizations. We represent the region’s cultural sector, with over 450 member organizations from every discipline of cultural creativity across southeastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and northern Delaware.

The Cultural Alliance’s work falls into two primary pillars: Advocacy and Audience Engagement. 

Our Advocacy work includes research, government relations, our GroundSwell grassroots advocacy initiative, and grantmaking. The Alliance is an anchor of the Pennsylvania Arts & Culture Coalition, advancing policies that strengthen our sector. Locally, in 2014 and 2015, we led successful campaigns to restore and maintain the Philadelphia Cultural Fund’s budget of $3.14 million. Our recent research report 2015 Portfolio: Culture Across Communities measured the health and breadth of the region’s cultural sector and compared it to 10 other regions throughout the country.  Advocacy also engages teenagers in Philadelphia through the STAMP teen program, which provides free admission to 17 cultural attractions to nearly 20,000 Philadelphia teenagers, the majority of whom are ethnically diverse and economically under-served.

Our Audience Engagement work includes three popular consumer-marketing platforms: the Phillyfunguide online events calendar, which averages 150,000 views per month; the Funsavers discount-ticket program, which reaches 100,000 people each week; and Funperks, the nation’s first community-wide patron loyalty program that has recruited over 3,000 participants since its launch in January 2016.   The Alliance also organizes professional development programs and provides discounts and other benefits to member organizations.

DEI has been emerging as an issue for the Alliance for more than a year. In 2015-2016 we hosted an initiative called Future: Forward to imagine the state of the cultural sector in 2035. The impact of increased diversity and changing racial demographics across the U.S. was a major theme in Future: Forward.  In March 2015 the Board identified DEI as a top priority, second only to Audience Engagement.  DEI goals are an important component of our new Strategic Plan, for work 2017-2019.