The streets.mn board is committed to supporting our volunteer writers. We’ve fundraised toward that goal for a couple years, and we’re excited to post an RFP inviting people to say, “Pick me! Pick me!”
We’re excited to hear from writers past, present, and potential to learn what motivates writers and how we can support the hundreds of people who have created the great content you find here most every day, and to test out the ideas we hear.
2016 Writers’ Workshop (Photo: Bill Lindeke)
Request for Proposals: Volunteer Support Consultant
streets.mn is hiring a part-time volunteer coordinator on contract for a six-month pilot to support the organization’s writers. The ultimate goal is to increase the number of volunteer-written posts, learn what support writers request, and assess what support is effective. The work will consist of two phases. Phase one will focus on updating our current writers list and gathering information from them; phase two will pilot ongoing support to writers. Details of the second phase will be designed in an iterative process with the board Vice Chair.
About streets.mn
streets.mn was incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 2011 by a group of urbanist bloggers. Our mission is to expand the conversation about land use, urbanism, and transportation in Minnesota. We host an open blog platform for anyone who would like to write on issues relevant to our mission. Over the last seven years, our all-volunteer organization has published more than 3,600 blog posts, been selected “Best Blog” and “Best Website” by City Pages, influenced the design of projects in Minnesota, co-hosted a Mayoral forum and published candidate questionnaires, and hosted events where readers can connect in person. We have 290 people on our writers list.
General Responsibilities:
Phase 1 (approximately one month)
- Updating our writers list and compiling current contact information,
- Learning why people are or aren’t writing,
- Assessing what we can do to better support writers and,
- Developing a writers calendar.
Phase 2 (five months)
- Implement the writers calendar
- Pilot key, consistent writer support to increase total number of posts to the site and
- Assess the value of this support to streets.mn.
Reporting:
- Work direction and contract oversight comes from Board Vice Chair Janne Flisrand.
- Reporting will be submitted with invoices.
- Reporting may also include periodic conference calls or in-person meetings.
Application Should Include:
- Cover Letter
- Resume
- Qualifications
- Proposed Work Plan and Timeline (please submit in spreadsheet format including tasks, benchmarks, timeline, estimated hours)
- Two references
Proposals should not exceed $5,000. The responsibilities are based on an expected hourly rate of $22/hour, dedicating approximately 220 hours.
Submittal
Proposals should be submitted by email to [email protected] by 9:00 a.m. Monday, March 12, 208. Any questions regarding the position should be submitted in writing to the same address by noon on Thursday, March 8, 2018.
Evaluation
Proposals will be evaluated by a selection committee and approved by the streets.mn Executive Committee. Proposals will be evaluated based on:
- Qualifications
- Understanding of tasks as demonstrated in the Work Plan and Timeline
- Approach to accomplishing goals
- References