The People’s Parity Project seeks an experienced Development Consultant for up to one year to lead our Executive Director and Board of Directors in designing a strategy, building an infrastructure, and operationalizing a plan to achieve greater financial stability.
Organizational Background
The People’s Parity Project (PPP) is a movement of law students and attorneys organizing for a democratized legal system which empowers working people and opposes subordination in any form. We are dismantling a profession that upholds corporate power and building in its place a legal system that reflects our values of justice, equity, and solidarity.
To solve the problems created by the legal profession we organize within the profession. PPP was founded on the belief that a movement of law students and attorneys—organizing to democratize the legal system, empower working people, and challenge corporate influence—has the power to move us towards a world where workers have power, vulnerable communities have dignity and respect, and the levers of law and government seek to increase the well-being of all.
In order to do this, we apply a labor-organizing lens to the legal profession, developing law students and lawyers who see themselves as organizers in the fight for true justice, and who understand the power they have to affect meaningful, systemic change. PPP is building next-generation legal leadership by launching chapters at law schools around the country and piloting regional law student and attorneys’ chapters of the organizations. We provide skills trainings, mentorship, and resources (including financial) to organizers while they design and execute targeted campaigns to transform the legal profession and create a just civil legal system. We also convene national working groups of law students and lawyers who lead targeted campaigns to build a legal system that works for real people, leveraging law students’ and lawyers’ positions as workers and organizers to improve working conditions for workers generally. Most importantly, we advance a better vision of the legal profession by disrupting the law school-to-corporate law pipeline and growing the community of legal professionals fighting for justice.
In 2020, we went from an all-volunteer team to a small staff, hiring an Executive Director in July 2020 and bringing on a Policy & Program Director in April 2021, in addition to several part-time consultants, including a bookkeeper. We have secured start-up funding from several institutional donors and grants, and built out the foundations of an individual-giving program. However, the challenges of securing funding for this sort of innovative legal advocacy—challenging corporate power and the status quo within the legal profession—remains the biggest obstacle to the organization’s continued growth and success. We are looking to work with a Development Consultant to strategically expand our fundraising capacity, in order to continue to build the movement to unrig the law.
Scope of Work
PPP seeks a seasoned, creative fundraiser with a demonstrated track record of working with early-stage non-profit and advocacy organizations to achieve long-term financial sustainability. Over the course of one year, the right individual will:
- Audit: Assess the organization’s capacity and readiness for growing its fundraising capacity.
- Prospect: Identify top prospects from diverse funding streams, including the private sector, foundations, individuals, event-based fundraising, etc. Include relevant procedures and deadlines.
- Plan: Design a strategic, multi-year fundraising and implementation and tracking plan, in consultation with the Board and Executive Director; this plan should include diverse funding sources, align with the organization’s values, and support the organization’s growth aspirations.
- Implement: Develop solicitation materials for specific individual and foundation prospects. Cultivate donor relationships, secure meetings with individuals and organizations, submit proposals, and plan event strategy, in coordination with the Board and staff, to secure $75,000 in individual giving and $300,000 in foundation support for FY23.
- Track: Develop a sophisticated tracking and monitoring systems for individual donations and grants.
- Transition: Advise the Executive Director on the staffing structure and the hiring process for building permanent development staff; build relevant processes and procedures, and provide ongoing coaching during the onboarding of new development staff.
Submission Requirements
Proposals have a 10-page maximum, and should be submitted electronically as a single PDF to hello@peoplesparity.org. To be considered, proposals must follow the procedures and requirements of this RFP, and include:
- CV/resume;
- Letter of interest describing the consultant’s qualifications and approach to the six phases above;
- Proposed timeline and outline of responsibilities for PPP and the selected consultant;
- Project budget, where billing coincides with reaching set goals and/or milestones; and
- Two references from clients for whom the consultant has performed similar services, with project descriptions included.
Questions can be emailed to hello@peoplesparity.org, and should include “RFP” in the subject line.
Evaluation Criteria
All proposals will be evaluated based on the following key criteria:
- Performance: The extent to which the proposal demonstrates the consultant’s ability to provide the depth and breadth of experience, skills, and creativity required by this project;
- Experience: The extent to which the proposal evidences the consultant’s experience working with other organizations at a similar point in their growth trajectory, preferably in the progressive organizing field; and
- Alignment: The extent to which the proposal addresses the contractor’s understanding of and commitment to the unique mission and values of PPP.
Timeline
The selection of the Development Consultant is expected to proceed as follows:
- Release of RFP: May 12, 2021
- Proposals due: June 3, 2021
- Consultant selected: June 15, 2021
- Project begins: June 21, 2021
- Project completion: Upon agreement
Terms and Conditions
The successful Development Consultant may be awarded a contract for the services identified in this RFP and in the proposal to the consultant. Issuance of this RFP does not commit PPP to award a contract or to pay any costs incurred in preparation of proposals responding to the RFP.
We strongly encourage people with the following identities to apply: Black and Indigenous people; people of color; LGBTQIA+, women and non-binary people; people living with disabilities; and others with lived experience being part of marginalized communities.