DUE DATE: December 11, 2025
The New Orleans Community Support Foundation, a supporting organization of the Greater New Orleans Foundation, is seeking a facilitation contractor to support the planning and delivery of a community of practice for a new grantmaking initiative: Community-Led Green Infrastructure.
OVERVIEW OF DESIRED FACILITATION
The New Orleans Community Support Foundation (the “Foundation”) is seeking a qualified individual or organization to serve as the Community of Practice (CoP) Facilitator for the Community-Led Green Infrastructure initiative. The Facilitator will design and manage a Community of Practice that builds peer learning, capacity-building, and leadership development among subawardees implementing community-led green infrastructure projects in Southeast Louisiana. This role is central to fostering cross-organizational collaboration, knowledge sharing, and effective technical assistance.
Leveraging its track record of environmental grantmaking, nonprofit capacity-building, and extensive relationships, the Foundation will distribute $1.75 million in grants to implement community-led green infrastructure projects in underserved communities at highest risk for adverse environmental impacts. Through grantmaking, as well as outreach, evaluation, and high-quality technical assistance, the Foundation will build community capacity to advance transformational and equitable adaptation and flood mitigation projects. These efforts seek to raise environmental awareness, strengthen community resiliency, and improve water management in communities most impacted by disaster and extreme weather.
The Community-Led Green Infrastructure initiative will work toward the following goals:
- Increase the resiliency of Southeast Louisiana communities as a result of the implementation of at least 12 stormwater and flood mitigation improvement projects
- Ensure that at least 12 subawardees have improved their abilities to identify, successfully apply for, and effectively manage grants related to water quality improvement, and prevention, reduction, and/or elimination of pollution in vulnerable and underserved communities that are adversely and disproportionately affected by environmental and human health harms or risks
- Increase the number of individuals with improved understanding of environmental issues in their community
This RFP seeks a contractor to design and deliver a Community of Practice including virtual and in-person convenings and individual technical assistance to improve outcomes of subawardee projects.
Proposals for the technical assistance contractor must be submitted by email to RFP@gnof.org
CONTRACTOR DELIVERABLES
The selected Facilitator will be responsible for:
- Community of Practice Design and Management
- Co-design the CoP learning agenda and facilitation model with the Foundation, the Community Advisory Board, and subawardees.
- Develop an inclusive and equitable learning structure that encourages co-creation, knowledge sharing, and peer support.
- Produce regular reports synthesizing meeting outcomes, next steps, and learning.
- Manage and facilitate:
- Quarterly virtual convenings (4 per year)
- Annual in-person convenings (2 per year in the Southeast Louisiana region)
- Ongoing virtual engagement (forums, online platforms, and shared resource repositories)
- Curriculum Development
- Design and deliver or coordinate trainings in collaboration with subject matter experts, covering topics such as:
- Green Infrastructure Basics
- Project Planning & Design
- Environmental Reporting & Evaluation
- Federal Procurement Compliance
- Community Engagement & Leadership Development
- Technical Assistance & Capacity-Building
- Provide individualized coaching or office hours as needed.
- Coordinate with the Foundation’s Nonprofit Leadership & Effectiveness (NLE) division to align with existing training offerings.
- Identify and connect subawardees to external technical experts where needed.
- Monitoring & Evaluation Support
- Assist subawardees in identifying measurable outcomes.
- Provide feedback and coaching to subawardees on progress reporting, storytelling, and evaluation planning.
- Contribute insights and documentation to EPA-required reports.
ANTICIPATED PROJECT TIMELINE
| November 2025 | Foundation hires and onboards a facilitation contractor |
| Dec. 2025 – Jan. 2026 | Contractor works with Foundation to develop and execute kick off event |
| Jan. – Dec. 2026 | Round one of grantees participate in the community of practice |
| Jan. 2027 | Kick off of round two grantees |
| Jan. – Dec. 2027 | Round two of grantees participate in community of practice |
QUALIFICATIONS
The ideal facilitation contractor for this program will possess a combination of experience, expertise, and skills in nonprofit capacity building, green-infrastructure, and grant management. The following qualifications are required:
- Proven experience designing and delivering communities of practice for nonprofit organizations, particularly in the areas of managing grants and increasing organizational capacity. Knowledge of green infrastructure, nature based solutions, and environmental issues in Southeast Louisiana preferred.
- Demonstrated ability to design and deliver virtual and in-person sessions, webinars, and workshops tailored to the unique needs of nonprofit organizations, with a focus on underserved or rural communities.
- In-depth knowledge of compliance requirements for federal grants.
- Ability to facilitate discussions, lead group coaching, and provide individualized support to nonprofit leaders and their teams.
- Ability to work effectively in diverse communities, demonstrating cultural competency in engaging a variety of stakeholders.
Preference will be given to qualified applicants located in Greater New Orleans, Gulf Coast Region, or qualified applicants who can partner with a qualified local entity.
PROPOSED BUDGET
The Foundation’s target budget for this effort is a maximum of $14,700 total over two years. Value will be a criterion in selecting a contractor.
PROPOSALS MUST
- Contain a cover sheet
- Be signed by a person authorized to contract for the selected facilitation contractor and proof of authorization for the signature should be included
- Describe your approach to producing desired deliverables, highlighting how your competencies align with the project and how you approach working with diverse communities.
- Outline a high-level timeline of proposed activities, with cycle 1 being January – December 2026 and cycle 2 being January – December 2027.
- Provide a budget for proposed activities.
- Include three references of clients for whom the contractor has conducted related projects with contact information and short descriptions of the relevant projects.
- Be limited to 5 pages.
- Append one to three samples of past work product from similar projects requiring federal procurement compliance – samples can be from projects done for listed references and appendixes do not count toward page limit.
SELECTION PROCESS
A Selection Committee comprised of Foundation staff will rate proposals based on the criteria listed below. Interviews may be conducted with those submitting the highest scoring proposals to help determine selection.
Selection criteria include:
- Experience in designing and delivering Communities of Practice (20%)
- Expertise in grant management and environmental topics (20%)
- Technical approach and methodology (20%)
- Organizational and Project Management Skills (10%)
- DBE Participation (10%)
- Value for Money (15%)
PROPOSAL SUBMISSION
Proposals must be submitted by email to RFP@gnof.org. You may also contact RFP@gnof.org with questions regarding this request for proposals.