Call for tender for communications agency to support the ‘Connecting the Dots’ EU DEAR project

Eurodad is looking for a Communications Agency to support us to deliver our new project ‘Connecting the Dots: Linking economic, gender and climate justice to tackle global challenges’. This four-year project, which has a specific focus on young audiences (15-35 years) is funded by the European Union under their programme Raising public awareness of development issues and promoting development education in the European Union (DEAR Programme).

Eurodad is the lead organisation in this project and is based in Belgium. The partner organisations are: Associação para a Cooperação Entre os Povos (ACEP) based in Portugal; Centre national de coopération au développement (CNCD-11.11.11) based in Belgium; Comité Catholique contre la faim et pour le développement – Terre Solidaire (CCFD-Terre Solidaire) based in France; erlassjahr.de / Jubilee Germany; Financial Justice Ireland; Observatori del Deute en la Globalització (ODG) based in Spain; Reflex Environmental Association (Reflex), based in Hungary and Za Zemiata – Friends of the Earth Bulgaria.

Requirements of the contract

We are looking for a communications agency to:

• Work with Eurodad and its eight partner organisations to define a cross-European communications, social media and awareness-raising strategy for the project, with a specific focus on youth audiences (defined as 15-35 years). This will include supporting the design of a methodology for the project partners to carry out a qualitative analysis to measure whether there is a shift in target media’s narratives on the project’s focus areas. Specifically, following the project interventions, we hope to see a positive shift in the ways that economic, gender and climate justice are presented (by specific targeted media outlets) as interconnected solutions to achieving sustainable development and tackling global challenges.The agency will also be expected to assist partners to establish a baseline of current media narratives by applying this methodology.
• Map media outlets and channels that reach out to young people in target EU countries, with the ultimate goal of proposing and facilitating a partnership strategy with at least one of them;
• Map social influencers and influential accounts that reach the target audience, and provide advice or support on reaching them;
• Work with Eurodad to develop and carry out an internal survey (covering the nine partners and a sample of 10-30 potential sub-grantees and allies) focusing on communications and campaigning skills need. The agency should then deliver proposals for capacity-building that will help meet any needs that are identified;
• Design the image of the campaign (logo and template for documents and branding guidance for the partners). This will follow a consultation with partners. (Please note: There will be no separate website for this project.)
• Produce campaign templates for a range of social media outlets and other campaign graphics. This could also include short-form video templates, for example for CapCut or Instagram reels, as well as gif templates that can be used in stories.
• Support the design and delivery of 1 pan-European campaign for the Financing for Development (FfD) UN process, which will culminate in one target summit in Sevilla, Spain in July 2025. The campaign strategy should have a strong focus on young audiences (15-35 years) and include:
  • at least one massive online petition and one impact communications action in Sevilla, such as a billboard campaign and/ or a print advertising campaign. The agency will be expected to lead on organising both of these actions and other actions resulting from the definition of the strategy (for example, a media briefing).
• Produce 3-4 short vídeos (60-90 seconds) ahead of the summit as part of the campaign outlined above.

Contract timeline

A framework agreement will be awarded for 12-14 months (between October 2024 – December 2025) with a possibility of an extension.

Selection criteria

Eurodad selects suppliers/consultants to be awarded for a contract based on best value for money. For this tender, the following criteria will be considered:

1. Cost
2. Demonstrated relevant communication and campaign technical skills to meet the requirements of this contract (including in particular media and social media influencer mapping, graphic design and video production.)
3. Relevant experience of working collaboratively with civil society organisations and social movements to design and deliver impactful communications campaigns for social transformation across multiple countries and in different languages. Experience of working with organisations and social movements focusing on financial justice, social justice, feminist and environmental rights would be a distinct advantage.
4. Relevant experience in strategy development, including designing robust assumptions/modelling of media and social media narrative change that specifically target young audiences (15-35 years).
5. Commitment to Eurodad’s values: If the supplier is a Fair Tax accredited organisation or can demonstrate a commitment to fair tax practices, (see for example the standards listed here) this will be taken into consideration and improve the chances of selection.
6. It is essential that the agency can work in English, as this is the working language of the project. An ability to work in Spanish is also an advantage because the UN Financing for Development summit will take place in Spain.
7. The agency will need to be registered in an EU member state.

Read the full tender