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Request for proposals

 

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP): ACE National Park Service Alumni Engagement Strategy & Capacity Building Consultant

Issued By: American Conservation Experience (ACE)

RFP Release Date: June 8, 2026

Proposal Due Date: July 10, 2026

Proposal Review Period: July 13–24, 2026

Interviews: July 20–31, 2026

Consultant Selection: August 2026

Anticipated Contract Start: August 2026

Project Period: August 2026 – July 2027

Contract Value: Not to exceed $30,000

About American Conservation Experience

American Conservation Experience (ACE) is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to developing the next generation of conservation leaders through hands-on service opportunities on public lands. For more than two decades, ACE has partnered with the National Park Service (NPS) and other federal land management agencies to support conservation, resource management, visitor services, and workforce development nationwide.

In 2025, nearly half of ACE's 1,300 members served at NPS sites through individual placements and crew-based programs. ACE currently maintains records for more than 7,000 known alumni and estimates that at least half have served on NPS lands during their ACE experience. ACE also estimates that approximately 5,000 additional alumni are not currently represented in its active alumni records.

Through support from the National Park Foundation's 2026–2027 Capacity Building Grant Program, ACE is launching a strategic initiative to build and activate its NPS-connected alumni network as a long-term asset for workforce development, stewardship, leadership cultivation, governance, and philanthropy.

Project Purpose

ACE seeks an experienced consultant or consulting team to design a comprehensive NPS-focused Alumni Engagement Strategy and implementation framework that transforms ACE's alumni network into a measurable organizational asset.

The selected consultant will help ACE translate alumni engagement into tangible organizational outcomes, including:

  • Strengthened workforce development pathways into NPS and related public lands careers
  • Expanded mentorship and recruitment support
  • Increased alumni leadership and governance engagement
  • Development of alumni pathways to advisory and board service
  • Long-term philanthropic growth
  • Improved tracking of conservation career outcomes
  • Enhanced organizational capacity and sustainability

This engagement is intended to produce actionable systems, implementation tools, and pilot-ready engagement pathways—not simply a strategic plan.

Project Goals

By the end of the engagement, ACE seeks to:

  • Establish a comprehensive NPS Alumni Engagement Strategy
  • Develop an implementation-ready Alumni Engagement Playbook for NPS and other ACE alums
  • Create a scalable alumni segmentation and engagement model
  • Strengthen ACE's ability to track workforce outcomes and career pathways into NPS and related conservation careers
  • Formalize leadership and governance pathways for alumni, including future board service
  • Develop a framework for long-term alumni philanthropy
  • Enhance and systematize existing alumni engagement activities
  • Build internal capacity to sustain alumni engagement beyond the grant period

Scope of Work

Phase 1: Discovery and Organizational Assessment

The consultant will:

  • Review ACE's current alumni engagement efforts, communications channels, systems, and organizational goals
  • Assess current alumni data infrastructure and HubSpot CRM utilization
  • Review alumni survey findings and workforce outcome data
  • Evaluate existing engagement channels, including:
    • Alumni office hours and career advising
    • ACE Learns webinars
    • ACE podcast alumni features
    • LinkedIn alumni group
    • Facebook alumni group
  • Identify organizational strengths, opportunities, risks, and capacity gaps

Deliverable:

  • Organizational Assessment Summary

Phase 2: Stakeholder Engagement and Discovery

The consultant will:

  • Facilitate meetings with ACE leadership and key staff
  • Conduct focus groups with ACE staff alumni (approximately 10–15% of staff)
  • Engage selected alumni and stakeholders
  • Gather input regarding workforce development, mentorship, leadership, governance, and philanthropy

Deliverable:

  • Stakeholder Engagement Findings Report

Phase 3: Alumni Engagement Strategy Development

Develop a comprehensive NPS Alumni Engagement Strategy that includes:

  • Alumni Segmentation Framework
    • NPS service experience
    • Program type
    • Career stage
    • Geographic region
    • Leadership potential
    • Philanthropic readiness
  • Engagement Pathways
    • Mentorship
    • Recruitment ambassadors
    • Storytelling and communications
    • Leadership development
    • Governance and board service
    • Alumni giving and philanthropy
  • Organizational Recommendations
    • Roles and responsibilities
    • Staffing recommendations
    • Engagement cadence
    • Reporting structure
    • Success metrics and KPIs

Deliverable: NPS Alumni Engagement Strategy

Phase 4: Playbook and Implementation Planning

Develop an implementation-ready Alumni Engagement Playbook that includes:

  • Communications framework
  • Recommended workflows
  • CRM recommendations
  • Data governance practices
  • Engagement templates and processes
  • Leadership and governance pathway design
  • Pilot implementation recommendations
  • Sustainability planning

Deliverable: NPS Alumni Engagement Playbook

Phase 5: Leadership, Governance, and Philanthropy Roadmap

Develop recommendations for:

  • Alumni leadership cultivation
  • Advisory council participation
  • Board readiness pathways
  • Alumni-informed individual giving strategy
  • Long-term donor development opportunities
  • Leadership succession opportunities within ACE

Deliverable: Three-Year Alumni Leadership and Philanthropy Roadmap

Required Deliverables

The selected consultant will provide:

  1. Organizational Assessment Summary
  2. Stakeholder Engagement Findings Report
  3. NPS Alumni Engagement Strategy
  4. NPS Alumni Engagement Playbook
  5. CRM and Data Infrastructure Recommendations
  6. Three-Year Alumni Leadership and Philanthropy Roadmap
  7. Measurement and Evaluation Framework
  8. Final Presentation and Recommendations to ACE Leadership

Desired Qualifications

ACE seeks consultants with demonstrated expertise in:

  • Alumni engagement strategy
  • Constituent engagement systems
  • Nonprofit capacity building
  • Membership or community engagement
  • CRM implementation and optimization (HubSpot preferred)
  • Philanthropic pipeline development
  • Leadership development and governance planning
  • Facilitation and stakeholder engagement

Preference will be given to candidates with experience in:

  • Higher education alumni relations
  • National membership organizations
  • Conservation, public lands, or environmental nonprofits
  • Workforce development initiatives
  • AmeriCorps, service corps, or volunteer engagement programs

Budget

The total budget for this engagement is not to exceed $30,000, inclusive of consultant fees and associated expenses.

Proposal Requirements

Proposals should include:

  1. Consultant or firm overview
  2. Relevant project experience
  3. Proposed methodology and work plan
  4. Proposed timeline
  5. Budget and fee structure
  6. Resumes or bios of key personnel
  7. Three professional references
  8. Required work samples and narrative statement

Work Sample Requirements

To help ACE evaluate the quality and applicability of previous work, proposers must include at least one and no more than three representative work samples demonstrating relevant experience.

Examples may include:

  • Alumni engagement strategies
  • Constituent engagement plans
  • Membership engagement frameworks
  • Implementation playbooks
  • Governance or leadership development plans
  • Philanthropic pipeline or donor engagement strategies
  • CRM or engagement systems recommendations

Proposers may redact confidential or proprietary information as needed.

In addition, proposers should provide a brief narrative (1–2 pages maximum) describing:

  • Their approach to alumni and constituent engagement strategy development
  • How they balance strategic planning with implementation
  • A project they consider most similar to ACE's needs and the outcomes achieved

Work samples will be evaluated based on clarity, practicality, strategic depth, implementation readiness, and relevance to ACE's goals.

Evaluation Criteria

Criteria | Weight %

Alumni Engagement Experience | 30% 

Capacity Building & Strategic Planning Experience | 20% 

CRM & Systems Expertise | 20% 

Philanthropic Strategy Experience | 15% 

Mission Alignment | 10% 

Cost & Value | 5% 

Submission Instructions

Submit proposals electronically in PDF format to:

Jenn Layman, Chief Partnership and Strategy Officer
American Conservation Experience
partnership@usaconservation.org

Subject Line: NPS Alumni Engagement Strategy Consultant Proposal

Additional Information

Contract execution is contingent upon completion of ACE procurement and contracting requirements. 

ACE reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, request additional information, interview selected candidates, and negotiate scope and deliverables with the selected consultant.

 

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