Overview

Summer Discovery provides free, full-day instruction and enrichment activities for K-8 students at eligible schools, ensuring students have access to high-quality learning experiences that keep them engaged and prepared for the upcoming school year. The program began in the summer of 2024 as a partnership between Ballmer Group, Building Impact Partners, and United Way for Southeastern Michigan (UWSEM).

To date, UWSEM has led the creation of branding, messaging, and communications across paid, earned, and owned channels designed to bring more schools into the partner cohort and encourage families to enroll their students in this unique opportunity. The program has been a tremendous success, growing from ~16,500 enrolled in the first year to ~27,000 in summer 2025. Now, with the goal of increasing the number of school districts and community-based organizations participating in and enrolling 50,000 students in summer 2026, the partners are seeking marketing & communications support to aggressively expand outreach efforts that raise awareness and drive engagement.

Communication Objectives

  1. Increase enrollment by effectively reaching families of eligible students.
  2. Showcase program successes from 2024 and 2025 through media coverage.
  3. Amplify parent and student perspectives across media and owned content channels.
  4. Highlight and promote the outcomes and impact of the program.
  5. Establish the program as a leader in summer program initiatives.

Target Audiences

  1. Families with K-8 students across Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties
  2. School district administrators and educators
  3. Community-based organizations providing out-of-school time programming
  4. Elected officials, local leaders, other potential stakeholders
  5. Media (Detroit Free Press, Michigan Chronicle, Outlier Media, Chalkbeat Detroit, Crain’s, Detroit News, etc.)

Desired Action

  1. Sites apply for Summer Discovery
  2. Families enroll their child(ren) in Summer Discovery
  3. Educators encourage families to sign up for Summer Discovery
  4. Local leaders promote Summer Discovery to families
  5. Media write about Summer Discovery

Scope Of Work

Collaborate with United Way for Southeastern Michigan, the media and communications lead for Summer Discovery, to provide additional capacity for developing a comprehensive marketing and communications plan that achieves key objectives. All proposals must include a section that explicitly addresses the collaborative nature of this engagement. The selected firm will work in close partnership with and at the direction of United Way for Southeastern Michigan.

Deliverables

At a minimum, we anticipate the following deliverables, shared between the selected firm and UWSEM:

  • Create a comprehensive EPO strategy that spans the full calendar year, expanding upon 2024 Summer Discovery – MarComms Campaign Plan.docx and other assets and resources from the previous two years of Summer Discovery.
  • Develop and oversee all media strategy, including press releases and national/local print.
  • Draft social media templates and posts, including editable materials for individual sites to post.
  • Create and mail advertising materials to all sites (e.g., lawn signs, posters, flyers, etc.).
  • Create and run marketing campaign during outreach season (including print and digital advertising, direct mail, and paid media campaign); in addition, track the efficacy of all outreach for future campaigns.
  • Develop and manage plan for direct outreach to prospective families (including tactics like door hangers, community conversations, town halls, block parties, and more).
  • Develop a plan in the event that crisis communications are needed.
  • Support the development of language for grantees who are declined.
  • Provide support for and participate in informational webinars.
  • Translate various materials into different languages as needed.
  • Field media inquiries (e.g., be a listed point of contact on the website).
  • Visit grantees to capture and develop a library of photo/video needs.
  • Partner with grantees through program officers and other Summer Discovery staff to establish a list of teachers, families, etc., who can be engaged for quotes.
  • Provide consultation and support (including, but not limited to: best practices, copywriting, design, and development) of the family-facing website
  • Build ongoing proactive storytelling about Summer Discovery successes that incorporates parents and families and champions Summer Discovery milestones and the value of out-of-school time programming.

Proposal Requirements

Please include the following in your proposal:

Budget Estimate: Proposed costs and breakdown by phase

Responding firms must provide a comprehensive overview of their company, including any proposed sub-vendors. This section should detail the following:

  1. Company Structure: Describe your firm’s legal structure (e.g., corporation, LLC, partnership, sole proprietorship).
  2. Years in Field: State the number of years your firm has been operating in the marketing, communications, and public relations field.
  3. Primary Office Location & Activities: Identify the location of the primary office(s) that will service this engagement and describe the range of activities that will be performed there. Local presence and community knowledge are valued.
  4. Organization Chart & Resumes: Provide an organizational chart indicating the key personnel who will be assigned to this project, including their qualifications
  5. Client List: Provide a list of other organizations for whom your firm has performed similar work, including a brief description of the project and a contact name and information. Describe any past or current representation of organizations in the education, nonprofit, or philanthropic sectors.
  6. Communications Strategy Experience: Detail your firm’s specific experience and methodology for Communications Strategy development for mission-driven organizations.
  7. Joint Ventures / Associations: If your proposal involves a joint venture or association of firms, explain how the work will be managed and distributed. Provide a list of all team members and partners, including their qualifications. Describe your firm’s prior experience working with these professionals.
  8. In-House vs. Subcontracted Services: Clearly state which services will be provided in-house and which will be subcontracted to outside firms. If subcontractors will be used, detail your firm’s experience and process for managing these relationships.

Timeline

Sept. 3: RFP Released
Sept. 17: Proposals Due
Oct. 1: Project Start

Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated based on the following:

  • Demonstrated experience and creativity
  • Alignment with project goals and organizational values
  • Quality of proposed approach
  • Cost-effectiveness and value
  • Client references and work samples

Submission Instructions

Send proposals to liveunited@unitedwaysem.org

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