Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) seeks proposals from qualified consultants or firms to provide strategic communications and marketing services. The selected partner will bring expertise to support CSH’s National Consulting Team (NCT) in elevating its brand and visibility as a trusted provider of consulting services to government agencies, national healthcare managed care organizations, philanthropic entities, and community-based organizations. The consultant will collaborate with an internal project team (which includes leadership, NCT, and Communications staff) to develop a communications and marketing strategy, along with supporting materials, that clearly articulate the team’s value, strengthens its market presence, and enhance its ability to engage new partners and clients.
About CSH
CSH is a national nonprofit intermediary and Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) focused solely on advancing supportive housing as a proven solution for people experiencing long-term homelessness. CSH’s mission is to advance solutions that use housing as a platform for services to improve the lives of people facing complex barriers to housing, to maximize public resources and build healthy communities. Building on 34 years of success developing multi- and cross-sector partnerships, CSH engages broader systems to fully invest in solutions that drive sustainability, community integration to help people thrive, and harness data to generate concrete and sustainable results.
To fulfill our mission, CSH works across three areas:
POLICY & ADVOCACY: CSH acts as a change agent to advance concrete policies and strategies to promote thriving communities with housing and services at the center.
INVESTMENT: CSH uses funding to increase the availability and sustainability of quality housing aligned with services and accelerate systems transformation; and
STRENGTHEN THE FIELD: CSH provides training, technical assistance (TA) and thought leadership to partners across systems with a shared interest in strengthening the SH ecosystem.*
* CSH does not directly operate or develop Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH).
CSH’s headquarters in New York City with feet on the ground in more than 40 locations, with upwards of 180 staff located across the country. Our organization has proven experience in offering lending, direct technical assistance and consulting services to help communities create affordable/supportive housing and integrated services to help people experiencing homeless achieve long-term stability and improve their well-being. CSH’s National Consulting team offers deep expertise in housing, finance, healthcare, community engagement and technical solutions that help organizations use data-driven approaches to meet urgent community needs. We offer customized solutions that reduce costs and simplify administrative processes. We build system capacity through tailored training, workshops, collaborative learning, and customized resource design.
Key Offerings:
- Improving Systems- Improving Lives – CSH collaborates with communities to transform public homelessness, healthcare, aging, justice, and child welfare systems so they more effectively meet people’s urgent needs, and put them on a path to stable, supportive housing. We establish and implement cross-sector collaboration to more effectively address what a community needs.
- Sustainable Affordable Housing + Quality Support Services – CSH trains and offers technical assistance to communities on how to build, implement and sustain quality supportive housing and services to help people heal and stay stably housed.
- Housing is Healthcare – CSH works to build system capacity through tailored training, workshops, collaborative learning, and customized resource design.
- Data-driven insights -Understanding community-specific needs and trends increases the success of supportive housing initiatives. CSH provides data, tools, and expertise to help communities make informed decisions.
CSH Tools and Technology
CSH utilizes the following software and applications:
| Marketing, PR & Advocacy | Data Management and Administration |
| HubSpot Marketing Hub Professional | Microsoft 365 SharePoint |
| Agility PR (recently switched to Agility PR from Cision) | Microsoft 365 Planner (project tracking) |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot AI | WPEngine (website hosting and security) |
| VoterVoice | |
| FiscalNote | |
| WordPress (csh.org) |
| CSH’s Social Media Channels: | |
| Threads | |
| Bluesky | |
| X | YouTube |
RFP Timeline
We anticipate following the timeline below related to this RFP. CSH may amend the schedule as needed. CSH posted the pre-notice on CSH’s website. CSH reserves the right to amend the timeline and RFP during and after the RFP issue period and will notify consultants/firms that opt-in.
| Key Dates | |
| September 2, 2025 | RFP Issued |
| September 15, 2025 | Proposals Deadline |
| October 3, 2025 | Proposals Evaluated/Additional Vendor Interviews |
| On or about October 10, 2025 | Notice of Acceptance |
| On or about November 15, 2025 | Expected Contract Start Date |
| On or about April 30, 2026 | Expected Contract End Date |
Contract Timeframe:
The selected organization will serve as a consultant to CSH from December 2025 through April 2026.
Anticipated Contract Type:
CSH expects to negotiate a fixed fee and contract with a consultant/firm for services outlined in this RFP, including services that the consultant/firm may outsource. We prefer that the consultant/firm indicate which services they will outsource in their proposal and, if possible, the name and qualifications of those being outsourced.
We expect to begin the contract on or before November 15, 2025, with an end period scheduled for up to six months, or upon mutual agreement that services are provided by the consultant/firm as satisfactory to CSH. CSH has allocated resources for NCT to design and implement a strategic communications and marketing ‘action’ plan with supportive collateral. For the work outlined below, we are offering a budget of up to $25,000. Funding for these services will not exceed $25,000, including all fees and expenses.
Expected Scope of Work:
CSH seeks a consultant/firm to assist with developing NCT’s strategic marketing communications plan and marketing collateral. This includes building resources and templates that will enable NCT to communicate facts about supportive housing in compelling ways to key audiences, aiming to increase awareness, increase our partnership base, and business line opportunities, in alignment with CSH’s strategic plan goals.
For the reasons stated above, we are seeking to secure a consulting agreement with a communications/marketing firm using their expertise to build a strategic marketing communications plan and toolkit -consisting of key marketing collateral -that will communicate NCT’s services and long-term impact to building thriving communities. The firm will design materials using CSH’s branding style guide and that complements CSH’s digital brand (i.e. website) No travel is required as part of this RFP opportunity.
Key activities and deliverables will include the following:
- Strategic Marketing Plan
- Design a strategic communications and marketing plan, which defines NCT’s value proposition and message -leveraging staff subject-matter expertise in offering training and technical assistance to communities; with a targeted focus in two sectors –housing development and healthcare.
- Inform NCT’s plan to identify key prospect segments and develop targeted engagement strategies to support new business development efforts. Integrate recommended elements in the plan such as email and social media marketing, web, SEO, and other creative options which increase brand awareness, inclusive of incorporating links to creative assets that currently exist or will be developed as part of the scope of work. The plan should also include implementation timeline and metrics to track and evaluate results of plan. Additional insight into the expected costs for launching the plan, strongly preferred.
- Development of Creative Assets Toolkit
- Internal Toolkit (for internal staff only)
- Tailored presentation (pitch deck) -aligning to CSH’s branded PPT deck -up to 15 slides
- Elevator pitch (one-pager)
- Response to Funding Proposal template
- External Marketing Collateral
- Qty: 4 – customized one-page (double sided) templates- creating a tailored one-pager for each of the four consulting offerings (noted above) or aligning to the marketing plan developed as part of the scope of work.
- Qty: 4 -general/customizable templates aligning to CSH’s Signature Initiatives (ex: Supportive Housing Institutes, Medicaid Academies, Returning Home, etc.).
- 1-3 designed infographics or templates on CSH’s housing development and healthcare tools to be used in webinars/presentations.
Evaluation:
We’re looking for a strategic partner who can clearly connect their proposed approach to measurable results. As a nonprofit focused on advancing supportive housing, we evaluate partnerships based on both impact and responsible use of resources. We’ll be reviewing proposals for how well the recommended strategies and tactics are likely to deliver specific outcomes, and whether the budget aligns with the scope of work and expected return. We’ll also consider applicants’ communication and project management skills, relevant experience in developing marketing plans and creative assets, and a track record of producing effective strategies for housing and/or healthcare organizations. CSH encourages individuals with a diverse array of experiences and backgrounds to apply.
Requested Documentation:
Please organize your written proposal in the following format: word document (no more than 5 pages total not including cover page, and team biographies).
Company Background & Experience:
Please provide information about your history, experience, and expertise, particularly any work relevant to nonprofits, government, policy change, and/or the housing, homelessness, aging, justice, or healthcare sectors.
Include brief bios of key staff and if possible, any subcontractors you expect will work with CSH on this project.
Scope of Work
Please outline your understanding of the scope of work along with your capabilities and proposed methodology for each of the deliverables outlined in the Scope of Work section. Please include your recommended timeline.
Itemized Budget Estimate
Please include your projected fees/budget -itemizing for each deliverable. Feel free to include add-on fees for ongoing collaboration or work you recommend beyond the scope of this RFP.
Please note that CSH requires subcontractors, including individuals and sole proprietors, to carry workers’ compensation insurance and general liability insurance while performing work under a CSH subcontract. CSH subcontractors cannot have existing, pending or expired debarments that preclude them from doing business with the United States government and cannot have convictions for, nor have any pending indictments for, fraud or a criminal offense in connection with a public contract or subcontract.
Submission Instructions and Requirements:
To apply for this opportunity, please submit the requested documents via email to Nicole Brookshire, no later than -Monday, September 15, 2025, 11:59 PM EST – [email protected]; with a subject line “Strategic Communications Consulting Services”. Any questions or comments must be shared prior to September 10, 2025 -please contact Nicole.
CSH encourages individuals with a diverse array of experiences and backgrounds to apply.
