Development of a Strategic Communications Framework for the New Jersey Council of County Colleges
Issue Date: July 6, 2026
Proposal Due: July 20, 2026 by 5:00 pm
Project Period: July–November 2026
Maximum Budget: $40,000
Introduction
The New Jersey Council of County Colleges (NJCCC) invites proposals from qualified communications strategy firms to develop a comprehensive Strategic Communications Framework that will strengthen awareness and elevate the profile of New Jersey’s community colleges and the Council, positioning NJCCC as a statewide leader advancing educational opportunity, workforce development, innovation, and economic prosperity.
This communications framework will build on the ongoing strategic initiatives of the Council and on the current communications efforts across NJCCC and the 18 community colleges. It should:
- Identify needs and opportunities and propose goals and objectives for future communications efforts; and
- Identify tangible, actionable strategies for elevating the role of community colleges to key audiences, including policymakers (the Governor and front office staff; state, county, and local government officials; and the State Legislature), state leaders in business, nonprofits, and community-based organizations; journalists, students, alumni, and the public.
The selected communications strategy firm will develop a strategic communications framework based on input from NJCCC and community college leaders and research on effective strategies in New Jersey and in other states. The strategy will include a proposed roadmap for action and strategy options for achieving the identified goals and objectives. The strategy will be presented to the Presidents and the full Council to inform future efforts and priorities.
The selected consultant will build upon NJCCC’s existing strategic initiatives and collaborative partnerships to develop a unified communications strategy that tells a compelling statewide story about the collective impact of New Jersey’s community colleges.
The resulting framework should provide a practical roadmap that identifies communications priorities, messaging, key audiences, implementation strategies, and opportunities that can be pursued both with existing resources and through future public and private investments.
- About the New Jersey Council of County Colleges
The New Jersey Council of County Colleges (NJCCC) represents New Jersey’s 18 community colleges, which educate and provide workforce training to more than 255,000 students of all ages and backgrounds, including many who are low-income and first generation. NJCCC serves as the statewide organization supporting collaboration, innovation, policy development, and advocacy on behalf of the state’s community college system.
In recent years, NJCCC has expanded its role beyond traditional coordination to become a statewide convener and thought leader addressing issues at the intersection of higher education, workforce development, economic competitiveness, and upward economic mobility.
Major recent strategic initiatives include:
- Opportunity Agenda: Building Pathways to Equity and Economic Prosperity, a collective action blueprint adopted by New Jersey’s community colleges that resulted in the passage of five new laws in January 2026. The Opportunity Agenda was updated in late 2025 to include a commitment by the colleges to a new ambitious postsecondary educational attainment goal for the state: for 75 percent of adults to earn degrees and credentials of value by the year 2040 (“75 x 2040”).
- Future Ready New Jersey Coalition, bringing together more than 35 organizations representing business, labor, education, workforce development, government, social justice, and community organizations to advance a shared vision for New Jersey’s future grounded in the 75 x 2040 goal. We are pursuing a range of action partnerships under Future Ready that build on existing relationships and initiatives (such as with the YMCA, NJ Institute for Social Justice, United Way, Garden State Employment and Training Association, libraries, K12 organizations, etc.). Under NJCCC’s leadership, New Jersey is one of 12 states in the Lumina Foundation’s national Future Ready State Initiative.
- New Jersey Pathways to Career Opportunities Initiative, funded in 4 state budgets to expand employer partnerships, stackable workforce pathways, apprenticeships, and career-connected education in key industries. Pathways has catalyzed several innovative public-private partnerships including NJBioFutures and the NJ Film Academy.
- AI Ready NJ, NJCCC’s new partnership with the New Jersey AI Hub, funded by Microsoft TechSpark, positioning New Jersey’s community colleges as leaders in preparing students, faculty, employers, and communities for an AI-enabled economy.
- Community Opportunity Initiative, which seeks to strengthen community colleges’ abilities to meet students’ basic needs in an effort to expand student success and economic mobility. The initiative is funded by the Tepper Foundation.
- NJCCC’s Economic Impact Study, an independent ROI analysis of New Jersey’s 18 community colleges showing that they collectively contribute more than $12.8 billion annually to the state’s economy, support more than 135,000 jobs, and lead to increased earnings of graduates.
The communications framework should leverage these initiatives to communicate a unified vision of how New Jersey’s community colleges contribute to educational and economic opportunity, workforce development, the innovation economy, and broadly shared prosperity.
- Project Background
We are in a moment of complex and rapid economic, social, technological, and demographic changes. We have strong evidence of the critical importance of postsecondary education, yet the media, the public, and policymakers continue to question the high cost and value of higher education. The State Legislature is planning to establish a task for on higher education governance and funding, and the NJ Office of the Secretary of Higher Education is beginning a comprehensive strategic merger study.
It is more important than ever for the Council and New Jersey’s community colleges to increase awareness of the transformative role the increasingly interconnected system of community colleges plays throughout New Jersey. This includes our unique capacity to educate New Jerseyans of all ages and backgrounds in every corner of the state and our demonstrated ability to adapt and develop new curricula and stackable short-term and industry-valued credentials that are needed in today’s evolving world. In short, we are uniquely positioned to lead in the reinvention of New Jersey higher education and lifelong learning.
While each community college has developed its own communications and marketing efforts, NJCCC seeks a statewide strategic communications framework that:
- Complements institutional communications while highlighting the collective impact of New Jersey’s community colleges;
- Helps the Council articulate a compelling statewide narrative;
- Elevates awareness of NJCCC’s major initiatives;
- Strengthens engagement with key audiences;
- Reinforces the Council’s leadership role; and
- Provides practical recommendations that can guide future communications investments.
The selected consultant should become familiar with NJCCC’s current work and develop recommendations that build upon and connect its existing initiatives into a compelling strategic story.
- Scope of Work
The selected consultant will work collaboratively with Council staff, the Executive Committee, community college presidents, and other stakeholders.
The proposal should include plans for:
Discovery and Assessment
- Review existing Council initiatives and communications.
- Review existing communications materials from member colleges.
- Identify strengths, gaps, and opportunities.
- Assess NJCCC’s current positioning among key audiences.
Stakeholder Engagement
The consultant should conduct stakeholder engagement that may include surveys, interviews, and focus groups with Council leadership, community college presidents, students, alumni, and other stakeholders.
Environmental Scan
The consultant should review successful communications strategies from community college, higher education, workforce development, and other public policy organizations.
Based on the above, the consultant should develop a Strategic Communications Framework that includes recommendations on effective messaging and high level, 1-2 sentence talking points for each key topic. The Framework should include:
- Statewide narrative highlighting why community colleges matter, why NJCCC exists, how NJCCC’s initiatives work together, and the Council’s vision for achieving an equitable and prosperous state.
- Messaging framework with prioritization for which audiences we should be focused on reaching and which partners we should be leveraging (Governor, state policymakers, legislators, business leaders, employers, philanthropic organizations, students, alumni, media, general public, etc.).
- Implementation roadmap with recommendations for immediate actions, one-year/short-term priorities, longer-term opportunities, performance measures, and resource requirements.
- Deliverables
The selected consultant will provide:
- Project workplan, developed following a kickoff meeting and with input from NJCCC leadership
- Summary of discovery and assessment, stakeholder engagement, and environmental scan
- Draft Strategic Communications Framework for review and discussion with NJCCC team
- Final Strategic Communications Framework with recommendations
- Presentation to the Presidents
- Presentation to the Council
- Project Schedule
- RFP Issues July 6, 2026
- Proposals Due July 20, 2026 (5:00 pm)
- Consultant Selected July 24, 2026
- Project Begins July 27, 2026
- Stakeholder Engagement August/September 2026
- Draft Framework October 2026
- Final Framework November 2026
- Presentations November 2026
- Budget
The total budget for this project shall not exceed $40,000, inclusive of all professional fees, travel, meetings, materials, and expenses.
- Consultant Qualifications
NJCCC seeks firms with demonstrated expertise in:
- Strategic communications
- Higher education and workforce development
- Public affairs
- Public policy
- Coalition building
- Stakeholder engagement
- Organizational positioning
Experience working with New Jersey statewide organizations, higher education systems, associations, or nonprofit organizations is preferred. The Council is particularly interested in firms that have successfully helped organizations communicate complex strategic initiatives through a cohesive, compelling narrative.
- Proposal Requirements
Proposals should include:
- Cover letter
- Firm overview
- Relevant experience
- Project team
- Proposed methodology
- Timeline
- Examples of similar work
- Client references
- Budget
- Evaluation Criteria
Proposals will be evaluated based upon:
- Understanding of the project
- Proposed approach
- Relevant experience
- Qualifications of the project team
- Quality of previous work
- Cost
Please submit your proposals and any questions regarding your proposal to Maria Heidkamp, NJCCC Chief Innovation and Policy Officer, at mheidkamp@njccc.org / 609-213-6644.
