Request for Consultant Proposals

Volunteer Engagement Program Evaluation

Location: Hybrid – Vancouver, British Columbia
Submission Deadline: August 1, 2025, by 12:00 p.m. PST

1. Overview and Purpose

The Vancouver Botanical Gardens Association (VBGA) invites proposals from qualified consultants to lead a comprehensive evaluation of our Volunteer Engagement Program. The selected consultant will bring deep expertise in volunteer management and program evaluation, ideally with experience in botanical gardens or similar nonprofit environments.

2. Organizational Background

The Vancouver Botanical Gardens Association (VBGA) and Vancouver Park Board are joint operating partners of VanDusen Botanical Garden and Bloedel Conservatory. The VBGA is a charitable organization that provides membership, education, volunteer, and fundraising programs to support the Gardens.

Our mission is to engage people of all ages and walks of life in the importance of biodiversity to our lives, and to foster a lifelong love of plants and gardens by virtue of their participation in our programs and services.

With approximately 500 volunteers, our program plays a vital role in education, visitor experience, governance, and events.

VBGA operates under a distributed leadership model, with volunteer teams reporting to various departments. The Volunteer Engagement team includes a full-time Senior Manager and a part-time Volunteer Coordinator, who both report to the Assistant Executive Director.

Learn more about VBGA https://vandusengarden.org/about/

3. Project Scope and Deliverables

The consultant will:

• Evaluate the current volunteer program, including:
• Interviews or focus groups with VBGA staff, Board, and volunteers
• Completion of Canadian Code for Volunteer Involvement Audit
• Analysis of the full volunteer engagement cycle
• Assessment of resources, systems, opportunities, and barriers
• Provide actionable recommendations on:
• Best practices and sector trends
• Addressing capacity and resources to advance recommendations
• Future growth, succession planning of the Volunteer Engagement program
• Provide recommendations to the Executive Director and Board of Directors on implementation of changes or new directions for the program
• Engage internal stakeholders at key points in the project
• Deliver a detailed project schedule with defined activities and outcomes
• Deliver a mid-project update report
• Deliver a final report encompassing the full assessment and recommendations

4. Timeline and Budget

• Project Start: No later than September 1, 2025
• Mid-Project Update Report: Due by October 1, 2025
• Final Report: Due by November 1, 2025
• Maximum cost of project, including expenses and taxes, must not exceed $25,000 CAD

5. Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be assessed based on:

• Consultant experience, skills, fit and qualifications - 30%
• Understanding of project objectives - 20%
• Strategy, approach, and sector knowledge - 15%
• Work plan and timeline quality - 20%
• Pricing and value - 15%

6. Submission Guidelines

Proposals are to be sent by email, in pdf format to the attention of Stephen Shapiro, Executive Director (sshapiro@vandusen.org) no later than 12 p.m. PST on Friday, August 1, 2025. Proposals should not exceed 8 pages as the main body of the proposal, with a maximum of an additional 10 pages as appendix or reference material.

Proposal documents should be organized including:

• Executive summary
• Scope, approach, methodology
• Project management approach, work plan and timeline
• Overview of skills, experience, and qualifications
• Resumes of all consultants who would be involved in the project.
• Pricing and cost schedule
• Three references familiar with the consultant’s work on similar assignments

We thank all proponents for their submissions. However, only those shortlisted for a formal interview will be contacted.

7. Questions and Clarifications

Questions can be sent to Heidi Jakop, Assistant Executive Director hjakop@vandusen.org by 12 pm PST on July 24, 2025.

The Vancouver Botanical Gardens Association (VBGA) acknowledges that VanDusen Botanical Garden and Bloedel Conservatory are located on the unceded Ancestral shared lands of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. We are honoured to be on the lands where these Nations have lived since time immemorial, and where they continue to maintain stewardship and live in balance with nature.

Our work of promoting environmental sustainability and stewardship would not be possible without Indigenous perspectives and knowledge.

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