What should a request for proposal for a facilitator include?

A request for proposal, or RFP, is a written description of the work that you send to several facilitators so their answers can be compared. A quote answers one question: how much. A response to a good RFP answers how, who, by when and for what, and then how much. If you only need a budget figure, start with what a corporate facilitator costs. To decide whether to buy at all, read in-house vs outsourced vs off-the-shelf training.

Public buyers write these under rules, and the rules are a useful model for a ten-person team. The federal acquisition regulation requires every factor that affects an award, and its relative importance, to be stated in the solicitation, and requires price to be evaluated next to quality factors such as past performance and personnel qualifications (FAR 15.304). A private buyer is not bound by it, but the logic transfers: tell responders how they will be judged, then judge them that way.

Write what you know and say what you do not. Five items let a facilitator design and price the work:

• One sentence of outcome: by the end, participants can do a specific thing. If you cannot write it, run a needs analysis first
• Audience: roles, planned headcount (a range is fine), time zones, languages and known accessibility needs
• Format and platform: live online or in person, session length and the tool your people use
• Dates: responses due, decision date and the session window
• Budget range. It saves every responder from guessing and shows you who priced a different job

Be specific. The Massachusetts Inspector General’s drafting guide advises replacing vague phrases such as “as necessary” with measurable standards (2005 edition).

Strong proposals answer in specifics and weak ones in adjectives. Make these required written questions:

• A timed plan for one 30 minute segment, minute by minute (format in the timed agenda guide)
• Who will facilitate? Ask for a named person, not a firm
• How many hours of preparation are in the fee?
• What is not included?
• How will we know it worked? See how to measure training
• What do you need from us, and by when?
• Describe one session that went wrong and what you changed

Warning signs show up fast: a price with no scope, past clients where a plan should be, a promise of full engagement, and silence on what happens if attendance differs from your count. Compare each response with what goes in a facilitation proposal and scope of work.

Choose the criteria and weights before you open the first response, and publish them in the RFP. Virginia’s procurement manual says that when a numerical scoring system is used, the point values must be stated in the RFP or posted before the due date, and that evaluators must apply the rating system consistently (section 24.5.9). The Massachusetts guide adds that only a few comparative criteria are usually needed and that key qualifications often work better as minimums.

A hypothetical: five criteria, raw scores of 1 to 5, weights totaling 100. Each cell shows weighted points, the raw score times the weight divided by five.

Here the lowest price places second and the highest places third. A and B sit one point apart, so call both and ask each the same questions. Weights are a judgment call.

In my practice, each reviewer scores alone first, and the group discusses only the criteria where reviewers differ by two points or more.

Invite three to five. Fewer than three gives no comparison, and more than five is more reading than the decision needs. That range is my practice, not a rule. Include one facilitator you have not used before, since a known favorite looks different next to a stranger.

Treat everyone the same. The Massachusetts guide advises a deadline for written questions, answers sent to every responder, and the same reference checks and interview questions for all (guide). Allow a week. If you want a live demonstration from finalists, pay for it, because free design requests get thin proposals from the facilitators you most want. For what the work covers, see facilitation services.

The winning proposal should become part of the contract, not be replaced by a template that forgets it. Ask for:

• The proposal attached, so its scope is the contract’s scope
• The named facilitator, with no substitution without your written agreement
• Deliverables with dates, and one round of changes to materials
• A change process: added days, participants or sessions are priced in writing first
• Cancellation and rescheduling terms that work both ways
• Recording, materials and license terms, with participant consent handled before anyone records
• Payment tied to deliverables

Have counsel review the final agreement.

Is an RFP different from a request for quote?

Yes. A request for quote asks for a price on a defined item. An RFP describes a problem and asks how the responder would solve it, so the answers differ in approach as well as price.

Do I need an RFP for a single workshop?

Not a formal one. In my practice, two pages sent to three facilitators gives you the comparison.

Should I pay facilitators to respond?

Not for a written response. Pay finalists for a live demonstration or custom design, since that is billable work.