Request for Proposals
Introduction
The Social Enterprise Ecosystem project (S4ES) is a project funded by Employment and Social Development Canada, the McConnell Foundation and the Mental Health Commission of Canada.
S4ES is seeking a qualified consultant to conduct a relationship mapping process with the aim of examining the relationships developed by the project partners across Canada and internationally. The overall objective of the mapping process is to create a visual depiction of the value and impact of these relationships developed by the S4ES partners within the framework of the project.
Background
S4ES is a Pan-Canadian project being implemented through an innovative collaboration among five partners (four from Canada and one from the United Kingdom) with the aim of developing a supportive Canadian social enterprise ecosystem. The project connects training, marketing, market accessibility, and impact measurement resources for social enterprises everywhere in Canada.
The overarching goal sought by the project is to nationally scale accessible, self-sustaining platforms that build capacity, expand markets, increase access to finance, and improve impact measurement as part of a more robust national social enterprise development ecosystem.
The five pillars of the S4ES project
S4ES measures the progress made against the project’s expected results under the following five recognizes social enterprise sector pillars:
- Enhance enterprise skills
- Ensure access to capital and investment
- Expend market opportunities
- Promote and demonstrate the value of social enterprise
- Network and community engagement
S4ES Partners
Buy Social Canada – Vancouver, British-Columbia
Buy Social Canada (BSC) promotes social procurement and certify social purchasers and suppliers across Canada, bringing socially driven purchasers and social enterprise suppliers together, building business relationships that generate social benefits to communities across the country.
Canadian Community Economic Development Network - Victoriaville, Quebec
The Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CCEDNet) represents 228 members from a wide range of sectors in every province and territory, and has a 15-year track record of collaborative multi-stakeholder projects and partnership-delivered nationwide programs, including grant-making programs. Within the framework of the S4ES project, CCEDNet is responsible for the administration and evaluation of the project.
Commerce Solidaire – Montreal, Quebec
Commerce solidaire (CS) supports the consolidation of social enterprises and the growth of their social and economic profitability through consolidating purchasing and commercialization services. In November 2017, CS launched Akcelos, an online directory and marketplace allowing social enterprises to sell and buy their products and services, increasing social enterprise trade and their revenue.
Social Enterprise Institute – Halifax, Nova-Scotia
The Social Enterprise Institute (SEI) strengthen the capacity of individuals and social enterprises through business acumen. In addition to online courses, SEI offers coaching sessions from certified social enterprise developers to assist individuals and social enterprises in applying the learning using a personalized approach to tailoring solutions meeting their specific needs.
Social Value Lab – Glasgow, Scotland
The Social Value Lab (SVL) team are experts in social impact measurement. SVL’s collaboration with the S4ES project consists of disseminating knowledge on social impact measurement and developing resources to help social enterprises measure and communicate their impact using easy methods. The resources developed include a self-assessment tools for social enterprise to benchmark their SIM processes, online learning modules and a searchable database of over 500 resources.
Objectives of the Relationship Mapping
- To lay out the relationships developed by the S4ES project partners
- To measure the value of the relationships developed
- To communicate the impact of the relationships developed against the project’s five pillars
Suggested Methodology
The incumbent will develop and use a mix of methods to complete the relationship mapping process. This combination of methods will allow to access a depth of qualitative and quantitative information necessary to the creation of the map, providing a visual depiction of the value and the impact of the relationships developed.
Data Collection
Document Review
- Review of S4ES partners’ documents to acquire knowledge on the nature of their work and how it is integrated into the S4ES project
- Review of S4ES documents to acquire knowledge of the project’s objectives, progress and scope
S4ES Partner Interviews
- Pre-interview phone call with the S4ES partners to plan adequately the partner interview process and their relationships’ focus groups
- Review and update of the partners’ current relationship list
- Identification of multi-S4ES partners relationships
- Inventory of S4ES partners’ relationship categories
- Selection of relationship samples for focus groups
The interview process with SVL will be undertaken remotely, using jointly-approved data collection methods.
Relationship Focus Groups
- Assessment of relationships’ perception of the S4ES partners and project
- Evaluation of the S4ES project regarding relationships’ expectations
- Identification of further relationships created among
Case studies
- Writing of one case studies per S4ES partners’ relationships using a one-pager template to be developed by S4ES evaluation manager
Data Analysis
Relationship Weighting in relation to the objectives of the S4ES project
- Development of a project-level common relationship classification
- Attribution and measurement of relationships’ value against the five pillars of S4ES’ objectives
Relationship map
- Development of a map laying out and showing the value of the relationships developed by the S4ES partners within the framework of the project using adequate and most relevant mapping software
The map will be shared with various stakeholders to promote and report on the impact of the S4ES. The map and all related data will remain the legal and intellectual property of S4ES.
Proposed Timeline
| Item | Level of Effort |
| Evaluation plan development | 5 days |
| Document review and pre-interview phone calls with partners | 5 days |
| Partner Interview questionnaire development | 5 days |
| Partner interviews and data analysis | 10 days |
| Relationship focus group questionnaire development | 5 days |
| Relationship focus group and data analysis | 10 days |
| Case study writing | 5 days |
| Relationship map creation | 5 days |
| Total | 50 days |
Consultant’s Expertise and Qualifications:
- Master’s degree in monitoring and evaluation of public programs, community economic development, or social sciences
- Proven professional experience conducting project evaluations using participatory methods
- Experience using mapping software
- Experience facilitating workshops
- Excellent communication skills
- Knowledge of the Canadian social enterprise ecosystem
- Excellent analytical skills
- Bilingualism preferred (French and English)
Submission:
Interested individuals are invited to send a current CV and cover letter, which should include proposed daily consultant fee, before March 8, 2019 to:
Alexandre Applin
S4ES Evaluation Manager
a.applin at ccednet-rcdec.ca
S4ES thanks all applicants for their interest; however, only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.
