The Clean Air Campaign, Inc. (CAC), a Georgia not-for-profit corporation, requests submittal of proposals from any party interested in providing branded gift cards to eligible participants in the Commuter Rewards Incentive Program. The Commuter Rewards Incentive Program is a program of The Clean Air Campaign, and is a part of the transportation demand management program managed by CAC for Georgia. The purpose of the TDM Program is to provide long-term improvements in Georgia’s air quality, by seeking voluntary changes in commuting and other emission-producing behaviors from employers and commuters.

The Commuter Rewards Incentive Program includes three distinct incentives described below:
1. Commuter Prizes – $25 awarded monthly to randomly selected commuters
2. Carpool Rewards – $40 or $60 awarded monthly to qualifying carpools
3. Cash for Commuters – $39 to $100 awarded to qualifying commuters each week

The approximate number of rewards anticipated for each program during 2009 is:
1. Commuter Prizes – Qty 10,000 $25 rewards to be distributed in 2009
2. Carpool Rewards – Qty 10,500 rewards to be distributed in 2009 (avg value $14 ea)
3. Cash for Commuters – Qty 5000 rewards to be distributed in 2009 (avg value $99 ea)

The Clean Air Campaign seeks to reduce the cost, time, and effort required to manage the Commuter Rewards Incentive Program by partnering with a vendor who will distribute branded gift cards directly to the individual commuters who have earned rewards in the program. The Clean Air Campaign also seeks to improve customer service to the individual commuters who have earned rewards in the program by providing commuters a 24/7 call center to address any commuter issues with rewards (gift cards).

CAC seeks proposals from qualified candidates to provide gift cards for a one year period ending December 31, 2009. Interested candidates should submit proposals in accordance with this Request for Proposals to be considered. Award of a contract is subject to CAC receiving funding under the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program.

QUALIFICATIONS REQUESTED

Candidates interested in being considered must submit the following:

1. Section I - Qualifications of the Candidate
In this section, the candidate must set forth qualifications,covering at a minimum

Experience with similar Gift Card programs
Demonstrated ability to provide quality products and services while minimizing overhead and other costs
Ability to provide detailed and accurate reports on the project within agreed time frames
If your firm(s) is a minority business enterprise or a women’s business enterprise, please so state as to each applicable aspect and provide supportive, relevant facts. If your firm(s) is not a minority business enterprise or a women’s business enterprise, please state to what extent, if any, these diverse groups will be involved, in terms of amount of time/dollar volume estimated to be subcontracted out to these minority and/or women business enterprises.
If your firm is not a public company, provide your firm(s) latest financial statements (audited financial statement if available).
Provide a detailed copy of your firm’s policy relative to:the prohibition of discriminatory employment practices; affirmative action/equal opportunity; the use of minority business enterprises; and the use of women’s business enterprises.

2. Section II – Work Scope and Budget
Bidder must provide detailed information describing proposed services and budget required to meet or exceed the following requirements:

2.1. Vendor to provide $25 Gift Cards to Commuter Prizes Winners

Vendor shall stock a card that has the Commuter Rewards Logo at the top, along with the tag line: Commuter Prizes!
Vendor shall also stock a 4-color buckslip for Commuter Prizes.

Each month, The Clean Air Campaign will populate an excel spreadsheet identifying Commuter Prize winners and their mailing address, and will email this spreadsheet to vendor. Vendor shall produce the appropriate number of gift cards, with each card individualized showing the name of the recipient and loaded with the appropriate value ($25). Gift card shall be branded with Commuter Rewards logo and tag line: Commuter Prizes! Gift cards shall be mailed first class to individual recipients within three weeks of receipt of spreadsheet. Envelope must also contain Commuter Prizes buckslip, along with customary card activation paperwork. Vendor must provide a Zero Liability program which means card recipients could simply call a 24/7 call center and vendor would reissue the card if lost - or would research any disputed charges. Gift Cards must be widely accepted at thousands of participating merchants in Georgia, and must not lose any value during first six months after activation.

2.2. Vendor to provide Gift Cards in varying amounts to carpoolers in Carpool Rewards

Vendor shall stock a card that has the Commuter Rewards Logo at the top, along with the tag line: Carpool Rewards! Vendor shall also stock a 4-color buckslip for Carpool Rewards.

Each month, The Clean Air Campaign will populate an excel spreadsheet identifying the carpoolers who have earned rewards in Carpool Rewards and their mailing address, as well as the amount of the reward earned, and will email this spreadsheet to vendor. Vendor shall produce the appropriate number of gift cards, with each card individualized
showing the name of the recipient and loaded with the appropriate value. Gift card shall be branded with Commuter Rewards logo and tag line: Carpool Rewards! Gift cards shall be mailed first class to individual recipients within three weeks of receipt of spreadsheet. Envelope must also contain Carpool Rewards buckslip, along with customary card
activation paperwork. Vendor must provide a Zero Liability program which means card recipients could simply call a 24/7 call center and vendor would reissue the card if lost - or would research any disputed charges. Gift Cards must be widely accepted at thousands of participating merchants in Georgia, and must not lose any value during first six months after activation.

2.3. Vendor to provide Gift Cards in varying amounts to Cash for Commuters participants
Vendor shall stock a card that has the Commuter Rewards Logo at the top, along with the tag line: Cash for Commuters! Vendor shall also stock a 4-color buckslip for Cash for Commuters.

Twice each month, The Clean Air Campaign will populate an excel spreadsheet identifying the commuters who have earned rewards in Cash for Commuters and their mailing address, as well as the amount of the reward earned, and will email this spreadsheet to vendor. Vendor shall produce the appropriate number of gift cards, with each card individualized showing the name of the recipient and loaded with the appropriate value. Gift card shall be branded with Commuter Rewards logo and tag line: Cash for Commuters! Gift cards shall be mailed first class to individual recipients within two weeks of receipt of spreadsheet. Envelope must also contain the Cash for Commuters buckslip, along with customary card activation paperwork. Vendor must provide a Zero Liability program which means card recipients could simply call a 24/7 call center and vendor would reissue the card if lost - or would research any disputed charges. Gift Cards must be widely accepted at thousands of participating merchants in Georgia, and must not lose any value during first six months after activation.

2.4. Vendor must specify when services could first be delivered assuming award notification of first week of January, 2009.

2.5 Vendor must quote prices for all products and services proposed, and must show an annual budget projection based upon these projections:

The approximate number of rewards anticipated for each program during 2009 is:
1. Commuter Prizes – Qty 10,000 $25 rewards to be distributed in 2009
2. Carpool Rewards - Qty 10,500 rewards to be distributed in 2009 (avg value $14 ea)
3. Cash for Commuters – Qty 5000 rewards to be distributed in 2009 (avg value $99 ea)

GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Any party interested in being considered as a candidate for providing the services described in the Scope of Work must submit a proposal no later than noon on January 5th, 2009. Bidder may submit proposals either in electronic form by email (send to mwilliams@cleanaircampaign.com), or in written form (addressed to The Clean Air Campaign, Inc. at 55 Park Place, NE, Suite 250, Atlanta, Georgia 30303, attention of Mike Williams, Director of Programs and Employer Services). Any submittal not delivered/received in accordance with these requirements will not be accepted.

If your firm does not wish to propose on this scope of work, please notify us as soon as possible. A negative response will not prejudice consideration of your firm in competition for future CAC contracts. However, a failure to respond either positively or negatively will be considered a lack of interest and your firm’s name will be deleted from CAC’s prospective consultant file.

Further, to be considered, written Proposals shall contain no more than ten (10) pages, (excluding the transmittal letter and the detailed information requested above concerning firm policies) and must include (in addition to the information provided in response to sections 1 and 2 above) the following information:

A. Firm or Organization name, address, telephone number, former firm names, official Georgia address (if applicable), joint venture partner information (if applicable), and sub-consultants (include Disadvantaged Business Enterprises) to be used by the firm. If the firm has branch offices state which office will be performing the majority of the work.

B. References for work performed in the field of each element for which qualifications are submitted.

C. Other information will be considered so long as the total submittal does not exceed ten pages in length. Failure to meet this requirement will be considered “nonresponsive” and the entire submittal will be rejected.

The submittal shall be organized into the following sections: (1) Section I - Qualifications of the Candidate; (2) Section II - Approach to Scope of Work and Budget. Responses should be printed in 10pt. type or larger. The Clean Air Campaign may request additional information regarding qualifications and experience from the candidates after the initial proposals have been reviewed. The Clean Air Campaign may schedule candidate interviews, if necessary.

Information concerning The Clean Air Campaign may be obtained by visiting our website at www.cleanaircampaign.com.

Questions concerning this RFP may be submitted prior to December 23, 2008. Questions should be submitted to Mike Williams at (678) 244-7708 or mwilliams@cleanaircampaign.com. Communication about this RFP with any CAC or other personnel associated with the metro Atlanta TDM Program, other than those identified herein for such purposes, is not permitted. No questions other than written will be accepted. No response other than written will be binding upon CAC.

ELIGIBLE CONTRACTORS

The candidate is required to have experience, tested skills and a level of knowledge of the issues. The candidate should also have adequate support facilities, personnel and other skills required to ensure timely and accurate implementation of any contract deliverables.

SELECTION OF POTENTIAL CANDIDATES

Evaluation of Proposals. The review of written proposals will be based on the following evaluation criteria, with the relative weights in parenthesis:

1. Experience on similar projects with demonstrated capability to perform on schedule and within budget. (30%)
2. How well services and products meet requirements. (40%)
3. Proposed Costs. (30%)

Only candidates submitting a Proposal in accordance with the criteria set forth above shall be eligible for evaluation. Each submitted Proposal meeting the administrative requirements will be evaluated by a Review Committee and ranked from highest to lowest. Upon completion of this initial evaluation, the field of potential candidates may be narrowed to a competitive range and those candidates may be invited to participate in the interview phase of the selection process. In addition, CAC reserves the right to make a selection and award a contract based on evaluation of proposals without conducting formal interviews.

1. Candidate Interviews. Final candidates may be interviewed at CAC’s Atlanta office. The interview will include a presentation by the candidate(s) on how they plan to execute the scope of work, staffing, budget allocation, and a question-and-answer period.

2. Final Candidate Selection. A final selection will be made of the candidate best qualified to accomplish the objectives of the project. Final selection will be based on scores derived from the interview between the final candidate(s) and the Review Committee, as well as their Proposals. Award will be made subject to candidate’s satisfactory completion of a pre-award audit.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

1. RFP Amendments and Funding Issues
CAC reserves the right to amend the RFP prior to the date of submission of a written Proposal. Amendments will be posted on the CAC website and sent to all interested candidates. CAC also reserves the right to retain all Proposals and other materials submitted as part of the Proposal. CAC may, within its sole discretion, reject any and all submittals and proposals for any reason and/or cancel this solicitation in its entirety, to waive any minor informalities in a response, to request clarification of information from
any firm responding anytime prior to reaching a final Contract with a selected candidate.

2. Cost for Preparing Proposal
The cost for developing the Proposal is the sole responsibility of the Candidate. CAC will not provide reimbursement for such costs.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1. Contract Award
Prior to award, the winning Candidate will be required to enter into discussions with CAC to resolve any contractual differences before an award is made. These discussions are to be finalized and all exceptions resolved within one (1) week of notification, if not, this could lead to rejection of the Candidate's proposal and discussions initiated with the second highest scoring Candidate.

2. Payment for Services
Payment to the successful Candidate for services will be made as required services are rendered. Payment details to be negotiated with winning bidder and agreed to in a formal contract.

3. Conflict of Interest
If a Candidate has any existing client relationship(s) that involve(s) any governmental agency and/or personnel that would compromise the CAC and/or prevent the objective and effective implementation of the assigned Scope of Work, the Candidate must disclose such relationship(s) to CAC during the proposal submission phase of this RFP process.

SELECTION SCHEDULE AND OTHER INFORMATION

The Proposal shall be submitted in accordance with the time frames and other requirements set forth above. It is anticipated that evaluation of the proposals will be completed within ten (10) days of the required due date for all Proposals.

Contractors are required to comply with the restrictions outlined in OMB Circular A-122 Cost Principles for Non-Profit Organizations.