Technical Assistance to the Civil Society Organizations 2 (TACSO 2) from the IPA Beneficiaries;

Technical Assistance to the Civil Society Organizations 2 (TACSO 2) from the IPA Beneficiaries;

EuropeAid/133642/C/SER/Multi

Terms of Referencefor Service provider
for Analysis of CSOs’ communication through on-line media

Background

The general objective of the TACSO 2 Project is to strengthen the overall capacities and accountability of the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) within the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) beneficiaries and to contribute to strengthening CSOs’ capacities to improve their visibility in the public, especially on the online communication channels.

The main purposes of the project are to:

• Review the CSOs’ practices of use of on-line media and their internet presence; and to
• Provide recommendations for improvement for visibility of CSOs.

In order to contribute to strengthening CSOs’ capacities to improve their visibility in the public, the TACSO Macedonian Office and TACSO by MCIC organized several workshops for Internet presence of CSOs. Despite the trainings, there is a need for a publication that will reflect the current situation in the civil society sector, which can be used as a handbook for CSOs to assess their own practices and to decide about the next steps that can help them boost their Internet presence.

The main product of the activity should be Report from Analysis of CSOs web (technology used, communication channels, SEO, usability, design) and social media (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Flicker, SlideShare) presence.To organize this activity, TACSO Macedonian Office is looking for Service provider – legal entity to prepare and deliver this assignment. The Service provider task will be supervised, coordinated and supported by TACSO Macedonian Office.

Purpose of the Assignment

Purpose of this assignment is to implement analysis of Macedonian CSOs’internet presence and prepare Analysis report.Beneficiaries of the analysis will be CSOs as well as other stakeholders supporting and working with CSOs.

Objective of the Analysis is to review the current state of CSOs in the country in the usage of digital communication channels, evaluate effectiveness of their communication through on-line mediaand provide recommendations for improvement.

Expected results:

• Analysis report on CSOs’ communication through on-line media is prepared
• The report is presented and distributed to CSOs in Macedonia.

The report should give data on how the websites are used as a communication tool, if they are up to date, easy to use, structured, multilingual, optimized and developed on modern technology. Also it should cover the usage of social media tools, which ones are most used and how often CSOs interact with the online communities through them, how are the websites and social media profiles connected and how it varies through different regions in the country.

Scope of the assignment

The service provider will be asked to:

1. Prepare analysis outline and refine analysis coverage,prepare a list of registered CSOs that will be included in theanalysis.

2. Perform desk research and collect data from the digital channels of the listed CSOs by creating a database.The consultant should develop and use online tool for data gathering and entry.

3. Analyse the gathered data from the database. The analysis will provide a set of online technology benchmarks for CSOs nationwide.

4. Prepare analysis report based on the findings of the analysis and should include conclusions and recommendations. The Report and all other outputs from the assignment should be in Macedonian.

Assignment duration

It is envisaged for the assignment to commence inJuly2017 and to be completed in September 2017.

First draft of the analysis should be submitted until 31st of August and should be finalised until 30th of September.

Consultant’s profile

Service provider should propose one consultant that should fulfil the following requirements:

General requirements

• University degree or equivalent, advanced degree is an asset;
• 10 years of relevant work experience;

Specific requirements

• 3 years of experience in civil society projects;
• At least 5 years of experience in web and social media research analysis;
• Proven record in developing similar assessments and reports.

Applicants must be independent and free from any conflict of interest. Note that civil servants and other staff of a beneficiary public administration may not be recruited unless to prior written approval has been obtained from the Contracting Authority.

Application procedure

Application should encompass:

• A motivation letter submitted by the service providertogether with the company profile and experience and remuneration expectations. The letter should also include a list of three references from similar assignments;
• Short concept proposal for the analysis that should include the methodology, issues to be covered and structure of the analysis report;
• CV of the proposed consultantin EU expert format.

Deadline for the application is June16, 2017. Applications should be sent to .

Only successful applicants will be contacted and notified.