Request for Proposals: McConnell Foundation Goal Setting

Project overview

The Foundation is guided by its vision, mission, values, principles, roles, strategies and annual workplans, but we are missing long-term goals. The Foundation will celebrate its 100-year anniversary in 2037 and aims to articulate ambitious organizational goals to meet by this milestone. We imagine one overarching organizational goal, with departmental goals that will come together to allow us to reach it. We aim to develop goals that are attainable in most cases, but also aspirational. This mandate will help assess the current state, set 10-year goals, and develop an action plan with clear milestones to achieve them.  

Organizational context

Through a strategic review in 2021, the Foundation defined its three focus areas, reflecting its funding priorities for the coming years: Climate, Reconciliation, and Communities. In 2022, the Foundation also committed to build a 100% impact portfolio by 2028 through its updated investment strategy. Over the last five years we have also focused on modernizing the Foundation and improving our processes, policies, and controls. Recently, the Foundation launched several projects to enhance the user experience for our team and partners, expand our reach, and improve our analytical and reporting capabilities. Some of this work is expected to feed information into the goal-setting project. Key projects currently underway are: 

1. Evaluation and re-articulation of our programmatic theories of change.  
2. Development and implementation of a monitoring, learning and evaluation strategy. 
3. Implementation of a new grants management system (“GMS”). 

Values and principles

Our values and principles are the cultural bedrock of our organization. Our values inform how we develop strategies and make decisions, and our principles are how we put these values into action. Earlier this year, the Foundation adopted a set of Leadership Principles. In addition, McConnell is a signatory to the Philanthropic Community’s Declaration of Action. As the Declaration states: “We thank the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for inviting us into this circle that is built on the seven sacred lessons of: Truth, Humility, Honesty, Respect, Courage, Wisdom and Love. These teachings are consistent with our collective purposes, principles and missions.” 

We have identified the following areas of work that require support. We are open to adjustments based on the consultant’s recommendations and methodology: 

Objective 1 (25%) – Assess Current State

• Analyze the Foundation’s mission, current objectives, plans, strategies, relevant internal reports and memos, and evaluate operational performance where relevant. Undertake a SWOT analysis of the Foundation’s environment.  

• Expectations: We expect discovery, scoping, and design through collaborative workshops and planning sessions; interviews with key staff and Trustees; analysis of workflows and processes, and; analysis of the roles and responsibilities of the team and governance. We expect regular checkpoints throughout. 

• Key deliverables: Comprehensive report on the current internal and external state.  

Objective 2 (50%) – Goal Setting 

• Based on the assessment, facilitate workshops and meetings to develop long-term goals, with short to medium milestones, for the organization and by team. Goals should be aspirational yet achievable, evaluating whether the Foundation has the resources, skills, and capacity needed to achieve each goal. Goals should be rooted in a systems change approach. 

• Expectations: We expect the articulation of clear goals, prioritized based on highest impact for our mission. We expect an analysis of costs, time and resources required for each goal, with consideration given to risks and obstacles.  

• Key deliverables: 

1. Detailed goal-setting exercise to create a list of long-term goals with short to medium milestones.
2. Facilitated workshops and meetings for goal setting.
3. A framework that includes goals, timelines, expected resources and costs, as well as risks. 

Objective 3 (25%) – Action Plans & Organizational Development 

• Help the Foundation integrate the goals into action, by ensuring each department understands and is accountable for their contributions, fostering cohesion and avoiding conflicting priorities. 

• Develop actionable plans with milestones and key performance indicators (KPIs) to define success. 

• Share wise practices and provide recommendations for organizational improvements, focusing on risk assessment, resource optimization, skills enhancement, and fostering a work environment that strives for excellence. 

• Support the Foundation in identifying frameworks to support work towards our goals (e.g. systems change, collective impact, etc.) 

• Expectations: We expect facilitated workshops to ensure cohesion and cross-departmental understanding. We expect the consultant to reflect and gather insights and recommendations for organizational development. 

• Key deliverables: 

1. Structured action plan framework. 
2. Facilitated workshops and meetings for action plan development. 
3. Comprehensive report with recommendations for organizational development, change management to maximize adoption, and process, policy, and other improvements. 

The expected starting time of the project is the end of September 2025, for a term of six months. 

Budget: We ask that the proposal provide a project budget broken-down into key milestones and time to complete each stage. McConnell reserves the right to adjust both the budget and related services. Please provide: 

1. Any specific payment terms required by your organization.
2. The fee structure and the rates for additional services and identify the billing rates relevant to your team members who would work on this project, and, if possible, their job titles and short biographies. 
3. Identify whether subcontractors will be used and for what scope of the project. 
4. An estimate of any travel and other costs expected to incur during contract period, if required. Travel and per diem expenses shall not exceed rates authorized by the McConnell’s Expense Policy. 

For 2025, the Foundation has set aside C$40,000 for this project. The Foundation has not yet set the project budget for 2026 and will determine this based on proposals in autumn 2025. 

Application Process: Please send a proposal of a maximum of 10 pages including: overview of your proposed methodology, deliverables, experience with similar mandates, timeline and budget. (Bios can be annexed).    

All proposals should be received by September 18, 2025. 

Please note: the deadline to notify us of your interest (September 8, 2025) has now passed.   

Criteria of evaluation

Proposals should include information that will support the evaluation, timeline and budget criteria. The proposal should also include an overview of how you determine success, the analytic tools or services that you use, and the type of information you would report back to the Foundation to meet our shared objectives. 

We will evaluate proposals based on the following questions: 

1. Does the consultant have experience supporting organizations in Canada in projects of similar scope?  
2. Does the team have the resources to meet objectives, keep to timelines and budget? 
3. Does the consultant understand the Foundation’s mission and way of working? 
4. Is the plan to collaborate with the McConnell team effective?   
5. Will the approach bring new ways of thinking and creative ideas to the project and the McConnell team? 
6. Is there a clear path to address each objective of the RFP?  
7. Is the plan SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely)? 
8. Does the consultant have the resources to facilitate workshops and discussion in both English and French?  

Additional consideration will be given to consultants who: 

1. Understand and have experience in monitoring, evaluation, learning and impact measurement. 
2. Have experience to share best practices among other foundations both in Canada and abroad, including endowment management and portfolio management.  
3. Have the capacity to provide organizational development recommendations.  
4. Understand equity, diversity and inclusion frameworks and the lived experiences of equity-denied groups. 

We look forward to hearing from qualified consultants who can help us achieve our vision and enhance our impact.