Bid Boss

Primarily, yes, as this is the shared background of our entire Bid Boss team. We specialize in working on proposals to funders in the humanitarian and global development landscape, such as USAID, the US Department of State, USDA, CDC, FCDO, EU, UN, World Bank, and other bi- and multilateral organizations. We also support proposals to foundations of all sizes, as well as shared value and corporate social responsibility funding sources.

We serve both non-profit and mission-driven companies or social enterprises seeking funding from any of these sources.

Our team of capture and proposal managers, writers, and design facilitation experts represent a range of technical sector areas including agriculture, economic growth, education, entrepreneurship, food security, governance, humanitarian assistance, and health, among others.

We also have technical experts in important topics such as gender equity and social inclusion, monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL), and locally led development who can assist in strategy development and write relevant sections of your proposal.

In support of capture and proposal efforts for our clients, Bid Boss has stepped in to the following roles:

• Capture strategy and management
• Competitive analysis
• Proposal coordination and management
• Design facilitation
• Lead technical writing for RFI responses, concepts, and full proposals
• Proposal section writing
• Back chapter proposal writing
• Cost proposal advising on grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts
• Cost proposal development
• Developmental and copy editing
• Funder and/or technical expert proposal reviews
• Compliance reviews
• Orals prep and coaching
• Specialized technical support in MEL, GEYSI, or specific subject matter topics

Generally, the Bid Boss team supports all capture and proposal team roles outside of technical design leadership or decision making, which we strongly recommend our clients keep in-house due to the potential risks associated with outsourcing decision making.

We recommend that you reach out for bid support as soon as you think that you may need support. The sooner that we know, the better. During our busy seasons, our consultants can be booked up three or more months in advance. This is especially true when you need a specific technical skillset!

Due to the high volume of requests for surge support and our knowledge that investing in capture can increase your likelihood of winning by over 30%, we prioritize supporting bids where the request for support is made before the solicitation is released. Even if you don’t need capture support from us, it helps our team provide the best support possible if we’re able to begin planning with you before a solicitation is live.

For last minute requests, including those with less than one week lead time or those made after a solicitation is released, an urgency premium of up to 30% may be applied to compensate for the necessary changes in consultant schedules.

We are completely accustomed to the way funder timelines can shift, so we’re always happy to work with you to make a support plan early and adapt it as new information from the funder arises.

For our clients who would like to guarantee the availability of a specific member of our team for a specific opportunity before the solicitation is released, we require a 20% deposit. This allows us to protect that team member's time and guarantee their availability.

Typically we provide surge support at established hourly rates, which vary depending on the expertise of the individual required to fulfill the work request and the nature of the assignments. Our rates are in line with prevailing rates for business development support services ($80-250 per hour). An additional premium (10-30%) may be applied for urgent assignments.

We do not work based on a performance- or win-based remuneration model, but we do offer a sliding scale option for organizations based in the Global South. We can also work under fixed price contracts, especially for projects where a fixed price model makes the most sense, such as design workshop facilitation, strategy development support, and customized training development.

As one other option that you may not have considered, when you have a vacant position on your business development team or an extended period in which you will need extra support, we can provide coverage via retainer-based support. This guarantees you a minimum number of hours of support each month to cover any of the daily tasks that would normally be covered by a business development team member.

Our win rate sits between 10-20 points above the industry standard of about 30%. So many factors can influence the probability of winning for the individual opportunity you’re considering, though! We’re always here to talk strategy if you’re working to increase your organizational win rate.

While we do provide support for business development strategy development, positioning, landscape research, we do not typically assist with identifying specific funding opportunities. When you do need support at the identification stage, we strongly recommend working with our friends at Connective Impact. Similarly, if you need support understanding how to approach partnership development, including building relationships with funders or private sector partners, Connective Impact is a great resource.