MenuApplication Process
We are always interested in learning about other organizations’ work in New Orleans and how we can be of assistance through design and planning services. We work closely with our partner organizations to develop custom projects to serve their specific needs. Our staff reviews project proposals throughout the year, however, the annual Request for Proposals (RFP) is the primary submission process for accessing our services.
Application Process
Request For Proposals 2024 Deadlines
Application Period opens on March 1 and will close on April 1, 2024. Selected applicants will be notified in May and public announcements will go out in August.
About the Request for Proposals (RFP)
Each Spring, Small Center invites proposals from New Orleans nonprofit and community-based organizations for pro-bono design and planning services. Proposals must be for a specific project (i.e. not for ongoing design services for the organization), and the project must address a stated need that exists in the New Orleans area. A jury of previous partners, local design professionals, community members, Tulane University colleagues, and Small Center alumni reviews and ranks all proposals based on our mission and our capacity. We prioritize collaborative design projects that foreground equitable approaches to addressing race, gender, and class disparities.
Do You Qualify for the Program?
If you are a New Orleans based nonprofit organization (or operate under the fiscal sponsorship of a nonprofit organization), and you have a specific project for which you need design and planning services, then you qualify for this program. Small Center has worked with both large, established nonprofits and small, less formal community organizations, and we welcome proposals from groups at either end of the scale.
Services Provided to Selected Organizations
In working with numerous community-based organizations, we see our partner organizations consistently thinking big to overcome complex challenges. We also understand the significant budget limitations that most nonprofits face daily. Often a great idea benefits from professional services that can help to define the project and attract funding and support needed to execute a built project. This program exists to fill that gap and ensure each group is prepared to realize their visions.
Our Process
At Small Center, we tackle a variety projects types and scales — connecting them all is a process of engagement that stems from 15+ years of practice guided by six core values. Individually, these values inform our work; collectively, they provide a roadmap that guides it. Our work begins with community — naming it, bringing it together, expanding it. We believe that everyone has the right to be part of the conversations that shape our built environments. We work collaboratively — including perspectives from numerous project stakeholders allows us to see new possibilities and creates space from which a collective vision can emerge. Though our projects are small in context, we work to explore important links that bridge gaps between time, resources, and opportunities — while finding ways to communicate and amplify that knowledge. This often looks like collaborations with partners in the forms of exhibitions, published materials, and long-term efforts.
Design + Build
This service supports small-to-medium-scale projects that can be designed and built within the time frame of an academic semester. Over the course of 15 weeks, our studio team cultivates seeds that emerge during early engagement sessions — taking them from ideas to built form. Material explorations and mock-ups allow for feedback on design ideas and serve as opportunities for students to hone fabrication skills. Once designs are completed, students construct the project throughout the remainder of the semester.
Design Visioning / Planning
This service supports projects typically larger in scale and with multi-year visions for implementation — from building renovations to planning strategies. Faculty, students, and staff work with partners to define project goals, develop design ideas, and provide project documentation. Deliverables include cost estimates and preliminary drawings and renderings to help promote the project for development funding and provide a baseline for working with an architect and developer going forward.
Design Charrette
This service supports projects that are still in early brainstorming phases and/or could benefit from some initial design ideas and strategies to steer direction and realize possibilities. Faculty, students, and staff work with partners over the course of several meetings to identify important stakeholders to engage, outline priority areas, discuss relevant precedents, and generate visuals (sketches, schematic renderings, collages, etc.) that capture the goals of the project and set a stage for next steps.
Graphic Advocacy
This service supports projects that could benefit from strong visual products to communicate and amplify resources, knowledge, and calls to action. Students and staff work with partners to identify community stakeholders, develop engagement strategies, and create print and digital assets that can be used to raise awareness about and promote meaningful action.
