Make the first date count, and the relationship should be worthwhile.

By Tom Hurley

It doesn’t matter what you call it — Request for Proposal, Request for Quote or Request for Pricing — what’s critical is the strategic planning that goes into the document’s development. All too often, an agency wins an account only to find itself being replaced a year later.

An RFP has the singular mission of finding an agency that will best meet a nonprofit organization’s needs and marketing objectives, but it can vary greatly in terms of size and content. Some are brief and concise, while others require extensive documentation. RFPs can be created for specific projects or programs, or for multiple campaigns or multiple media channels. Sometimes an RFP will require strategy, tactics and projections for the long term (several years out).