Awarded vendor must prepare and provide all of the following: A personalized congratulatory letter (provided by NIU) on NIU letterhead with scanned signature of University President. Personalized color Certificate of Appreciation with NIU’s seal logo, employee name, years of service, and scanned signature of University President OR.. An alternative recognition option in lieu of the above Certificate of Appreciation recognizing the employees service milestone will be considered. Vendor shall be responsible for providing alternative options in their response to this solicitation. Evaluation of alternative item shall be based upon uniqueness of item; how item reflects the milestone years of service; functionality of item. Awards will be given to employees who have completed years of service at 5, 10, 15,20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45 and 50 year intervals as well as retirees. Awards shall be scheduled and issued on a rolling monthly basis. It is anticipated that an annual average of 350 employees will be eligible to receive an award each year for the term of this contract. This number is based upon current employee data and is subject to change. A minimum of ten (10) different items for selection at each award interval shall be offered with varying price points not to exceed the informational award amount listed in Attachment A – Pricing. Vendor shall demonstrate creativity in the employee presentation of the award booklet that may also incorporate congratulatory comments from the employee’s supervisor, peers or other campus stakeholders. Vendor shall communicate and discuss needed changes to award booklet with University’s Program Administrator as needed. Vendor agrees to replace any items shipped that are due to loss or misdirection of shipment at no cost to NIU or the employee. All award products must be warranted to be free from any defects for the period of 30 days or the length of time offered by the manufacturer’s standard warranty, whichever is longer. Vendor Minimum Qualifications The following qualifications are the minimum required qualifications that a Proposer must have for a Proposal to be considered: Vendor must have a minimum of five (5) years of experience in providing award programs for employers. Vendor must have a minimum of five (5) years of experience in providing a web-based ordering system for employer award programs. Vendor must be currently servicing or having previously serviced an award program for employers with over 1000 employees. Vendor must have a proven track record or providing a large, diverse selection of award items with a range of price points such that an employee of any age, gender or other identity will have a variety of awards that would appeal to him/her. Vendor must have current functional application capability of allowing access to award booklet from several devices such as: computers, tablets, iPads, smartphones, etc. Proposal Responses Proposal responses should include detailed, comprehensive responses to the following and address items as specified in the Statement of Work: Vendor shall provide one or more alternative options for employee recognition as an alternative to the Certificate of Appreciation outlined in Section 6.2 A.1. Provide a brief history of the company including number of years in business, number of employees, locations, etc. Provide sample electronic catalog of current or previous (within last 3 years) award catalog OR provide a link to active online catalog web portal. Provide a detailed description of the solution you are proposing in response to the specifications outlined and information requested within the Statement of Work. Details should include service level award variety, employee communications, data transfer protocols (EDI), online security protocols, ordering processes (electronic and print), damages/ returns, out of stock/discontinued items and processes for replacement of such, mailing/shipping options and any other relevant information. Provide viewing accessibility/link to an examples of award website created for current customer. Provide listing of available inventory and locations where inventory is stored (ie: inhouse or through 3rd party fulfillment warehouse) and fill rate. Vendor shall describe what informational and data resources are needed from University to meet the implementation schedule outlined in Section 6.6.
