ITT (Part 1)

REQUIREMENT SPECIFICATIONS

Background

1. Introduction

1.1. National Council of Social Service (NCSS) is the umbrella body for over 500+ member
social service agencies in Singapore. Its mission is to provide leadership and direction
in enhancing the capabilities and capacity of our members, advocating for social
service needs, and strengthening strategic partnerships for an effective social service
ecosystem.

1.2. In July 2022, NCSS launched the Social Service Sector Strategic Thrusts, a 5-year
roadmap that charts the pathway needed to achieve the vision of “Every person
empowered to live with dignity in a caring and inclusive society”. This is a key driver
to all efforts of NCSS, and its sub-brands Social Service Institute (SSI) and Community
Chest.

1.3. NCSS invites interested Public Relations (PR) agencies to bid for the provision of PR
services for NCSS and its sub-brands SSI and Community Chest. The appointed
Tenderer shall plan, manage and execute key communications and publicity efforts for
NCSS, SSI and Community Chest for a base period of one (1) year, tentatively
November 2023 to October 2024, with an option to extend for up to two (2) years
tentatively until October 2026 on a yearly basis.

2. Objectives

2.1. The Tenderer will provide strategic counsel, execute and manage the full-suite of PR
work, leading up to the successful solicitation of unpaid media coverage for
programmes and initiatives under NCSS, and its sub-brands SSI and Community
Chest.

2.2. To manage all of our brand’s share of voice and reputation in the news (print, broadcast
and digital), and reinforce NCSS’ leadership in the social service sector.

2.3. The Tenderer will be responsible for providing PR plans for Public Education
campaigns, and publicity/advocacy initiatives.

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3. Scope of Works

The Tenderer shall undertake the following scope of services in each year of its contract,
including both the base year and the optional years, if exercised:

Mandatory Items which form the Monthly Retainer

3.1. Communications Plan

3.1.1. Develop and implement overall communications strategies and plans on the
promotion and management of NCSS brand and reputation, including that of its sub-
brands SSI and Community Chest. These will include, but not limited to:

i) Thought Leadership: Position NCSS as a thought leader for social services

and building capability and capacity of social service agencies.

ii) Advocacy for Social Causes: Raise awareness of social service needs in the
community e.g. supporting families in need, upstream interventions

iii) Attracting Talent for the Sector: Raise awareness and interest for students,
mid-career professionals and volunteers to join the sector. Raise the need
for awareness of the importance of volunteers to augment manpower.

iv) Capability Development of Social Service Agencies: Raise awareness and

the support provided to Social Service Agencies to thrive in an ever-
changing landscape. These includes various NCSS initiatives, schemes and
guidelines provided.

v) Sustainable Philanthropy: Raise awareness and encourage people to commit

to giving through events and initiatives of Community Chest, President’s
Challenge and SG Cares movement.

*Each plan should be submitted within two weeks from receiving the brief and
should include measures of success for PR efforts (beyond PR value).

3.2. Media Relations and Cultivation

3.2.1. Help NCSS establish close working relations with key print, broadcast and online
media, and any others across the Singapore media landscape. This includes:

i) Develop, maintain and update a NCSS media database to facilitate

media engagement

ii) Provide recommendations on media outlets/publications that can be

cultivated

iii) Arrange for regular engagement between NCSS and key media partners

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iv) Identify online influencers and digital content producers that can
amplify NCSS communications efforts and that of its sub-brands SSI
and Community Chest.

3.2.2. Work in collaboration with other NCSS marketing and digital agencies and
external NCSS partners/vendors to develop a 360-degree communications plan
for in-market execution. Specific activities may include joint-agency meetings,
a PR proposal for the 360-degree plan (and its sub-brands SSI and Community
Chest).

3.2.3. Facilitate end to end PR activities such as on-site media support; develop
communications materials with the inclusion of key messages to support
thematic PR and public education campaign of NCSS and its sub-brands SSI
and Community Chest in agreed media channels as needed, namely media
releases and invites, frequently asked questions, interview talking points, and
other relevant documents; disseminate media materials to secure coverage with
top-tier newspapers, wires, monthly publications, online media outlets, trade
media. In the absence of significant news angles, the Tenderer is required to
advise and propose possible topics/story angles to engage the media; provide
media coverage report for each PR effort/campaign, including clippings of print
articles and broadcast clips, translated summaries for non-English coverage, the
recommended industry measurement tools and analysis. Successful placement
of stories should be provided with analysis to NCSS.

3.2.4. To provide 3.2.1 – 3.2.3, for the following key events which may include, but
not limited to:
• Community Chest Fu Dai
• President's Challenge Launch
• Singapore Volunteer Management Conference
• Social Service Summit
• Community Chest Heartstrings Walk
• President's Challenge Volunteer Drive
• Beyond the Label Fest
• Community Chest Awards
• Social Service Tribe Festival
• Community Chest Christmas on A Great Street Light-Up
Ceremony
• President's Challenge Appreciation Event
• Launch of CSFS@Chinatown Point

3.3. Dashboard, Media Monitoring, Social Listening Tool, Social Listening Audit
3.3.1. Develop a Public Relations dashboard for NCSS that will include relevant media
engagement measurement tools agreed by NCSS such as Share of Voice, AVE/PR
Value and social listening tools. The data from the dashboard must be easily

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visualised and retrievable for monitoring purpose, and to develop regular updates
to NCSS management.
3.3.2. Submit a monthly compilation and analysis of media coverage reports and trends
on NCSS’ work and related issues. The compilation should include clippings of
the media coverage as the annex in the format required by NCSS and translated
articles/summaries for non-English coverage.
3.3.3. Provide monthly social listening service, with data and insights based on selected
list of social service sector issues such as but not limited to low-income families,
caregivers, persons with mental health conditions, philanthropy and social service
manpower, and NCSS and its sub-brands on digital and social media platforms.
The social listening audit will provide an assessment on the online conversations
and trending topics of NCSS and its sub-brands, from a digital and social media
perspective.

3.4. One dedicated project headcount to be seconded to NCSS for 9 months, tentatively
till July 2024

3.4.1. This project headcount will support the work of NCSS’ strategic communications
& media engagement unit. This individual should have at least 3 to 5 years of
experience in media engagement, strategic communications and/or
communications research.

3.5. Other Support Services

3.5.1. Coordinate with event partners, creative agencies and NCSS internal stakeholders
where necessary to provide liaison support to ensure consistent and coherent
messaging.
3.5.2. Participate in fortnightly work-in-progress/strategy meetings with NCSS and its
sub-brands SSI and Community Chest. Provide activity reports supporting these
meetings for an overview of work undertaken and those upcoming and notes of
meeting.
3.5.3. Provide NCSS with a progress report in tentatively September and March each
year detailing work undertaken, achievement of targets and desired outcomes and
analysis of media reporting trends of NCSS and its sub-brands SSI and
Community Chest. The months indicated to be further discussed with the
appointed Tenderer.
3.5.4. Other recommendations, if any, by the service provider.

Optional Items
3.6. Crisis Management

3.6.1. Crisis Management Framework Enhancement and Development. Tenderer to be

available if/when activated for crisis management. The Tenderer is required to
review and strengthen the crisis communications framework at the start of the
appointment.
3.6.2. The Tenderer will provide counsel and assist 24/7 in the event of a crisis, where
they are required to work in consultation with the NCSS and produce the needed

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materials to be disseminated to the media and other critical channels. This may
potentially involve one of NCSS member agencies.

3.7. Media Monitoring and Tracking

3.7.1. Ad-hoc basis – Put together media coverage/analysis reports for events, initiatives
and announcements, as requested.

3.8. Media Audit

3.8.1. Provide media audit, at the beginning or end of the Financial Year, as an Optional
Item each. The media audit will provide an assessment of perception of NCSS and
its sub-brands from a media perspective.

3.9. Translation services

3.9.1. For documents, where needed. Languages identified are English, Mandarin,
Malay and Tamil, for documents of up to 350 words and up to 500 words, when
required.

4. Account Management

The Tenderer is expected to:

4.1 Designate a committed and experienced team, who will advocate for the social service
sector, provide strategic PR counsel and account servicing to meet business needs.

4.1.1 Team Composition

The Tenderer is to assign a dedicated team of 1 Team Lead/Senior Account Director to
do strategic communications planning (at least 10 – 15 years of experience in the
provision of similar services), 1 Senior Manager (5-10 years’ experience) and at least
2 Associates/Executives to execute/ co-ordinate PR efforts (at least 2 years of
experience in the provision of similar services) to service the Contract, which includes
monthly meetings with the team and partners. The Tenderer should ensure that during
the contract period, at least 2 members remain contactable.
4.1.2 Notify NCSS of any change in personnel in the account servicing team 30 days in
advance. NCSS should be notified on the suitability of replacements so as not to affect
the deliverables.
4.1.3 NCSS reserves the rights to request to replace a team member(s) if he/ she is assessed
to be performing below expectations.

5. PR Brief for Tenderer Evaluation

5.1. For the purposes of evaluation, the following must be submitted:

5.1.1. Propose a 1-year corporate PR Strategy for NCSS, and its sub-brands SSI and
Community Chest. In line with the key thrusts of the 4ST, the communications
objectives are:

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• To reinforce NCSS’ leadership in the sector through thought leadership

• To raise professionalism and attractiveness of the social service sector
• To connect and enable member organisations and the wider community,
through partnerships of People, Private and Public sectors, in making impact as
a social service ecosystem
• Reference Material:
- www.ncss.gov.sg
- www.ncss.gov.sg/4ST
- www.ssi.gov.sg
- www.comchest.gov.sg

5.1.2. Propose a 1-year PR Strategy for Attracting Talent for the Sector: Raise
awareness and interest for students, mid-career professionals and volunteers to
join the sector. Raise the need for awareness of the need for volunteers to augment
manpower.
a) Objective: Strengthen the sense of unity and pride of Social Service
Professionals to amplify the word-of-mouth advertising to attract more
people to join and stay in the sector
b) Target Audience: 18-24 (students), 25 and above working adults
c) Execution of PR Strategy: The marketing component is currently being
developed. The PR efforts will amplify the marketing messages. The
one-year PR plan should still be able to stand on its own. Identify key
messages, key spokespersons and key media platforms.
d) The appointment of the Tenderer does not mean that the proposals are
accepted in their entirety. Refinements will be made in consultation with
NCSS, and with reference to studies conducted.
e) Propose a Social Listening tool(s) and ways it could support our overall
communications efforts.
f) Propose PR metrics to determine effectiveness of PR plan and propose
recommendations for forward plans

6. Key Performance Indicators

6.1. The Tenderer is expected to generate media stories across various media platforms.
The appointed Tenderer will be evaluated at the end of each year of its contract to
determine if the optional years will be exercised.

6.2. The Tenderer should submit a report every quarter consisting of clear documentation
of work done in para 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 and 3.5, achievement of targets and desired outcomes
to be submitted for the payment of Retainer Fee as scheduled in para 11. The format
of the report should be proposed by the appointed Tenderer, for approval by NCSS.

7. Copyright of the Design

7.1. NCSS (the “Authority”) retains the rights to duplicate the design in the deliverables
for other usage. The default ownership of copyright will vest in the Tenderer.

8. Tender Briefing

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8.1. All interested Tenderers shall attend a compulsory site briefing. Please refer to details
on Cover Letter.

9. Presentation

9.1. Shortlisted tenderers will be invited to present their proposals. The dedicated team
should be presenting the proposal. NCSS will not be liable for any costs incurred by
shortlisted Tenderers in their presentations.

10. Documents Submission

10.1 All interested Tenderers are required to submit the following electronically via GeBIZ:
a) Form of Tender
b) Undertaking to Safeguard Official Information
c) ITT Part 5 – Price Schedule
d) ITT Part 6 – Statement of Compliance with Invitation to Tender
e) Proposal. Please refer to Para 5 for details.
f) CV of Proposed Project Team Leader and Members (Annex 1A)
g) Tenderer Relevant Track Record between 2018 and 2022, preferably
with experience in Government and Lifestyle PR. (Annex 1B). If there are no
relevant track records, NIL RETURN submission of Annex 1B is required.

11. Payment Schedule

11.1 NCSS will make monthly mandatory item payment to the Tenderer upon upon
satisfactory completion of the services.

11.2 Payment will be made through Interbank GIRO in accordance with the terms of
payment as set out in clause 11 of Conditions of Contract.

11.3 The cost(s) quoted in the Tenderer’s submission shall be deemed to cover all costs of
the project. The Tenderer shall not assign or sub-contract either wholly or in part this
contract without written authorisation by NCSS.

12. Duration of Contract

12.1 The appointment of the Tenderer will be for a base period of one year with an option
to extend for up to two years. The contract shall commence from the date specified in
the Letter of Acceptance (LOA) and will terminate when the contract value is fully
expensed or the end of the contract, whichever is earlier.

13. Award of Quotation

13.1 The Authority reserves the right not to accept the lowest or any quotation received,
and the right to award the ITT in full or in parts. In no case will any expense incurred

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by any Supplier in the submission of its proposal for this ITT and its presentation be
borne by the Author

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Annex 1A

Proposed Project Team Member Curriculum Vitae

Name of Team Lead / Member:

Designation:

1. Years of Experience Working with Public Sector Agencies, Social Service

Agencies and Lifestyle PR

1.1 Number of Years of Experience working with public sector agencies, social service
agencies and lifestyle PR (indicate month / year):

e.g. July 2019 – Present (August 2022), 3 years 1 month.

Project Title Contract Duration

1.

*Please include the title and a brief description of the services

provided.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

*Please attach additional pages if required

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Annex 1B

Track Records

If there are no relevant track records, a NIL RETURN is required. Please indicate NIL and submit.

RELEVANT TRACK RECORD (2018 - 2022)

S/N Project Title Brief Description of Goods and/or Company Reference Year of
Services provided Contact Contract

*Please insert additional rows if required

(1) NCSS reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to verify the accuracy of the track record listed above.

(2) All track record and other performance information will be used to determine the composite performance results.

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