I’ve responded to a lot of PR RFPs. Some were fantastic: clear goals, honest budgets, and a real sense of what the organization needed. Others read like they were assembled from a decade of copied templates, and I could tell the responses they’d get back would be just as generic.

Here’s the thing nobody tells you: the quality of your RFP determines the quality of your proposals. A vague RFP gets you boilerplate. A sharp one gets you strategy. So before you hit send, ask yourself these seven questions.

1. Are we describing a problem or prescribing a solution?

The most common mistake I see: RFPs that dictate the tactics. Twelve press releases a year, two events, a media tour. That’s not a strategy, that’s a shopping list, and it forces every respondent to price your assumptions instead of solving your problem.

Describe where you are, where you need to be, and what’s standing in the way. Then let the proposals show you how each firm thinks. The difference in responses will tell you more than any capabilities deck ever could.

2. What does success actually look like?

If your answer is “more visibility,” dig deeper. Visibility for what? More donors? More enrolled students? A seat at the policy table? A community that trusts you when the hard news hits?

Coverage is a means, not an end. When your RFP names the real outcome, respondents can build toward it, and you can hold your eventual partner accountable to something that matters more than a clip count.

3. Who is our audience, specifically?

“The general public” is not an audience. Your audience is somewhere specific: a podcast feed, a Spanish-language newscast, a school board meeting, a trade newsletter, an AI chatbot answering questions about your issue. The organizations getting real results from PR know exactly which rooms they need to be in. Put those rooms in the RFP. If you don’t know them yet, say so. A good respondent will help you find them, and how they answer that challenge is a great evaluation test.

4. Is our budget range in the document?

I know why organizations hide the budget. They’re afraid every proposal will magically cost exactly that much. But here’s what actually happens when you leave it out: half the respondents guess too high and you eliminate good partners over a misunderstanding, and the other half guess too low and win on a number they can’t deliver on.

Publish a range. You’ll get honest proposals scoped to reality, and you’ll instantly filter out anyone who can’t work within it. That’s the whole point of an RFP.

5. Who can actually respond, and who actually does the work?

Two questions hiding in one. First, is your RFP written so only large agencies can qualify? Requirements like ten case studies from the past two years or a minimum headcount will screen out boutique firms and independent consultants, and often those are the people with the deepest expertise in your exact sector. Cast a wider net and let the work speak.

Second, flip it around: ask every respondent who will actually staff your account. The senior team that dazzles you in the pitch meeting is not always the team answering your emails in month three. Make them name names.

6. What happens after the coverage lands?

Be prepared to ask the big question after your agency lands you the big placement: Then what?

This ensures that your agency is focused on impact and momentum, not just coverage. How does a story become a donor conversation, an enrollment bump, a policy meeting? Anyone can promise press hits. The partners worth hiring can tell you what they’ll do with them.

7. Are we ready on our end?

An honest one to close on. PR partnerships fail on the client side as often as the agency side. Who on your team can approve a statement in an hour when a reporter is on deadline? Who’s available for interviews? Who owns the relationship internally?

If the answer is “we’re stretched thin,” that’s not a reason to skip PR. It’s a reason to say so in the RFP, because the right partner will build around your capacity instead of assuming bandwidth you don’t have.

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Ready to put these questions to work? If you’re anywhere in the RFP process, whether you’re drafting one now or sorting through proposals, and want expert guidance from someone who’s been on both sides of the table, let’s talk. Reach out at letsrock@rockerpr.com or schedule a call. No strings, I just like seeing this done well.