RFP 101 for Urban Forestry: Crafting Effective Requests for Contractor Services in Tree Care and Maintenance

Are you responsible for drafting or managing Requests for Proposals (RFPs) related to tree care, public tree maintenance, or other urban forestry services? Whether you're new to procurement or simply looking to improve your RFPs for specialized contractor work, this foundational webinar will give you the tools to create clearer, more competitive RFPs tailored to the real-world needs of urban forestry.

In this 90-minute interactive session, we’ll cover:

• Red Flags to Avoid: Identify common problem areas in RFPs — from overly broad scopes and misaligned timelines to unrealistic expectations or vague evaluation criteria — that can lead to poor bids or limited contractor engagement.
• Urban Forestry-Specific Best Practices: Learn how to structure scopes of work, technical requirements, and evaluation processes specifically for tree care services. We’ll also touch on qualifications to request (e.g., ISA Certification, Tree Risk Assessment Qualification), insurance and safety requirements, and realistic scheduling considerations for tree work.
• Interactive Breakout Sessions: Collaborate in small-group discussions with an experienced urban forestry professional to workshop real-world RFP examples and share challenges and ask specific questions related to your own community’s needs. You’ll gain direct feedback in a peer-supported setting things you deal with every day, like routine maintenance, large-scale planting projects, and risk mitigation.

This session is critical for municipal staff, parks and public works departments, sustainability coordinators, project managers and procurement professionals working in the public sector. You’ll leave better equipped to understand and write RFPs that are clear, competitive, and rooted in the realities of urban forestry.

Don’t miss this opportunity to strengthen your RFPs and get better project results!

At the end of the webinar, participants will be able to:

1. Understand the elements of a clear, effective RFP for urban forestry services such as essential terminology, structuring precise scopes of work, and incorporating key technical and qualification requirements.
2. Identify and avoid common pitfalls in RFP development, including vague language, unrealistic timelines, and misaligned evaluation criteria that can result in poor or limited contractor responses.
3. Collaborate with peers and professionals to workshop real-world RFP examples, gaining practical feedback and strategies to tailor solicitations to the specific needs and challenges of municipal tree care and urban forestry projects.

ISA CEUs applied for and pending.