Consultant - Energy 4 Impact Platform - Energy Messaging - Remote

Background:
Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within.

In September 2021, Mercy Corps (MC) and Energy 4 Impact (E4I) merged with the goal of increasing access to climate-smart, sustainable energy for communities in greatest need, globally. Against a backdrop where 800 million people globally lack access to energy, 8 in 10 of whom live in “fragile” states, there has never been a more urgent time to help these communities build back better with access to clean, sustainable energy, leveraging our organizations’ collective strengths.

The merger unlocks a tremendous opportunity to place sustainable energy at the heart of development, humanitarian, and climate imperatives – calling to action a broader audience of supporters including bilateral donors, corporates, foundations, and high impact philanthropists. To effectively communicate across this ecosystem, MC E4I seeks a consultant to craft a comprehensive messaging toolkit engaging our teams through a facilitative process toward defining E4I’s brand and positioning; honing in on our differentiating value proposition; and crafting concise messaging to communicate our value across diverse, non-technical audiences. This messaging toolkit needs to further inform content of the new E4I’s website.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Mercy Corps is seeking a consultant or consultant team to develop a strategic energy messaging toolkit (messaging framework, hierarchy, and supporting messages) for Mercy Corps’ energy access platform, Energy 4 Impact, in consultation with MC and E4I teams. The resulting toolkit will be leveraged to align strategy, business development, internal and external communication, and website content for the E4I Platform.

DELIVERABLES

This work will be undertaken in two phases with deliverables as below. Phase 2 will build on the work completed in Phase 1:

1. Phase 1:

• Deliverable 1: Energy messaging hierarchy document, articulating simple and compelling messaging to explain the E4I Platform – the challenge, the solution, our services, our vision and impact and elevator pitch, altogether as related to Mercy Corps’ 10-year strategy, Pathways to Possibilities.
• Deliverable 2: Outline for an E4I pitch deck, drawing from existing value proposition documents and aligning with the content from the messaging hierarchy document.

3. Phase 2:

• Deliverable 3: Streamlined website content / messaging for the homepage and top content pages, drawing from existing work that our Communications has undertaken.

ACTIVITIES

The following activities are envisioned to deliver on the above scope, but consultant(s)/ firms should outline any additional approaches/activities in their proposal:

• Review key background documents to gather information about E4I’s programs and services and relevant multi-sectoral programs with Mercy Corps.

• Undertake 15-20 interviews with relevant stakeholders including relationship managers from the Corporate and Foundations team, E4I senior management team, E4I Communications team, and select technical experts.

• Undertake an analysis of E4I’s website and messaging and support the comms team to  articulate E4I’s value proposition across the new website (scheduled to be launched in Autumn 2023), with particular focus on mission, scope of work, and impact.

• Note: This activity will draw from an existing website content document drafted by E4I’s Communications Team. The focus of this activity will be on improving and aligning this existing document with the overarching energy messaging hierarchy developed in Phase 1.

• Once the deliverables are produced, lead feedback sessions with stakeholders and provide up to three rounds of revisions incorporating stakeholder feedback.

EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS

Interested consultants should prepare a brief (2-3 pages) proposal, outlining the consultant’s proposed plan for completing the work, timeline building on the below, and detailed pricing model/quote for the project, delineated by Phases 1 and 2 (see section Deliverables). CVs for the consultants should be attached to the proposal as an annex. In addition, consultants should provide one to two relevant work samples as a reference.

TIMEFRAME

The consultancy will begin in January 2023. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, with preference to applications received by close of business on January 12, 2023. The below timeframe is anticipated:

• January 23: Consultant starts

• January: Discovery + message drafting started

• February 8th: First draft of the energy messaging hierarchy. MC E4I team will provide inputs within 2-3 days.

• February 17th: Second revisions of the energy messaging hierarchy and draft outline of the pitch deck.

• February 24th: Phase 1 deliverables finalized – messaging hierarchy and outline for the pitch deck.

• March 8th: First draft messaging for the website’s homepage and top content pages building from the work completed in Phase 1. E4I’s communications team will provide feedback within 2-3 days.

• March 15th: Second round of revisions for the website’s homepage and top content pages.

• March 24th: Phase 2 deliverables finalized.

THE CONSULTANT/VENDOR WILL BE MANAGED BY

MC E4I’s Communication Team, in coordination with MC E4I’s BD Team and MC’s CFT Development Team.

THE CONSULTANT/VENDOR WILL WORK CLOSELY WITH

• Energy 4 Impact Business Development Team
• Mercy Corps Foundation Partnerships team
• Energy 4 Impact Communications Team
• Mercy Corps Marketing and Communications team
• Select E4I and MC technical teams

REQUIRED SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

• The consultant should have a relevant Master’s degree and background in journalism/or communication.
• 5-10 years of experience developing strategic messaging and communications for start-ups, consulting firms, and/or humanitarian and development programs.
• Experience writing about energy access and climate issues a plus
• Excellent writing/editing skills; ability to “translate” technical language into compelling content for wide-ranging audiences.
• Experience with digital media and social networking technologies and working knowledge of online content management.
• Track record of internal communications success at a large mission-driven organization,.
• Proven ability to prioritize multiple competing and changing priorities, requests, tasks, and deadlines.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.

We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity

We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our stakeholders and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.