Medium investment

For four weeks after the launch of the call for proposals, applicants can fill out a brief questionnaire to outline their project and get feedback from the Digital Museums Canada Advisory Committee (only once per project).

This Quick pitch is optional.

Feedback will address the strengths and weaknesses of the project based on the following criteria:

• The fit between the subject, story and the target audience(s) 
• An engaging user experience that promotes enjoyment and learning
• Digital tools and technologies that suit the user experience 
• The creativity and/or originality of the approach 
• The expertise of the team to ensure the project’s success 

Step 1 – Consult the program documents.

• Proposal form 
• Schedule (useful information)
• Budget template
• Deliverables
• Technical requirements
• Sample contract

Step 2 (optional) – Receive preliminary feedback on your project.

• Define the subject, target audience(s), storyline, desired user experience, proposed technology and potential project team, and explain why the project is important.
• Submit the completed Quick pitch questionnaire for feedback.

Step 3 – Prepare the proposal.

• Refine the concept. 
• Gather the content. 
• Confirm the project team.
• Get support letters from the other participants in your project.

Step 4 – Draft and submit your proposal.

• Complete the proposal form.
• Prepare a schedule (see section 5.1).
• Provide a detailed budget (see budget template).
• Upload the proposal form, schedule, budget and support letters to our website to submit your project before the call for proposals deadline.
• Receive a confirmation email from DMC

Note: Only proposals submitted online will be accepted. Proposals submitted after the call for proposals deadline will not be accepted. The Canadian Museum of History (CMH), which administers the DMC investment program, disclaims all responsibility in this regard and will not accept any transfer of responsibility. All risks and consequences of incorrect submission of proposals are the responsibility of the applicant.

After a preliminary review, DMC will contact the organizations whose proposals are incomplete to give them the opportunity to respond in a timely manner.

Step 5 – Acceptance or rejection

Once the call for proposals has closed, the evaluation process takes six months, including the evaluation by the DMC Advisory Committee. 

Proposals will be treated as confidential in accordance with the Access to Information Act (Canada) and the Privacy Act (Canada) as well as any other applicable legislation or regulations.

At the end of the process, applicants receive a letter of acceptance or rejection from the CMH. The CMH then enters into an agreement, with each organization receiving an investment, that describes the requirements and responsibilities of the project.

A debriefing will be provided to unsuccessful applicants upon written request only, provided that the request is received by the CMH within 10 days of the receipt of the letter of regret. The debriefing will be conducted by telephone. No written summary of the feedback and evaluation scores will be provided. 

The CMH reserves the right to cancel and/or reissue the call for proposals at any time and for whatever reasons. If any addenda are issued prior to the call for proposals closing date, a notice will be posted on the website.  

The total investment available for this call for proposals ( for the Medium and Large investment streams together) is up to $2,000,000.

For each call for proposals, the investments requested by all applicants far exceed the budget of Digital Museums Canada’s Medium investment stream. For this reason, the proposals undergo a competitive but simple evaluation process.

DMC reviews all proposals received to ensure that they meet its requirements, including the mandatory criteria below (section 4.4). Proposals that meet these criteria are then evaluated by the DMC Advisory Committee against the rated criteria (section 4.5) to determine if they will be recommended for investment. DMC also prepares summaries of the proposals to facilitate the work of the Advisory Committee.

The process includes individual assessments and group discussions. At its annual meeting, the Committee selects the proposals it will recommend to the Canadian Museum of History (CMH) for an investment under the DMC program.

Once the call for proposals has closed, the evaluation process takes six months, including the evaluation by the Committee.

The DMC Advisory Committee is composed of internal and external experts. Its role is to review and provide feedback on quick pitches and evaluate proposals submitted for the Medium and Large investment streams of the DMC investment program. As part of its evaluation, the Committee takes into account the desired outcomes of the investment program and specific review and evaluation criteria (section 4.5). It submits its recommendations to the Canadian Museum of History (CMH) regarding which proposals should receive an investment. Because it is accountable to the public, the CMH reserves the right to reject the recommendations of the Advisory Committee.

Following its approval of the Committee’s recommendations, the CMH enters into an agreement, with each organization receiving an investment, that describes the requirements and responsibilities of the project.

Mandatory criteria are used to exclude ineligible projects before applicants begin preparing their proposals. DMC Advisory Committee then uses rated criteria to evaluate eligible proposals. The Committee reserves the right to modify the criteria as the DMC investment program evolves.

To proceed to the Advisory Committee’s evaluation stage, proposals must meet the following criteria:

• The project described in the proposal provides a complete online experience for the user (the content can be accessed from any location, without specialized equipment).
• The project is produced in both official languages.

Note: After a preliminary review, DMC will contact applicants whose proposals are incomplete to give them an opportunity to respond in a timely manner.

To facilitate the evaluation process, proposals must clearly respond to the criteria below.

Only proposals that obtain a score of at least 65 points will be considered for investment.

Subject (8 points)

• The subject is clearly defined. 
• The main message explores people, places, periods, events, activities, discoveries, practices, traditions, movements, issues or others, past or present, that matter.
• The proposal clearly explains how the project is relevant to the applicant, target audience(s) and broader community.

_{More about subject: The main message is the “big idea” you want to communicate about your subject. A subject can be approached from a variety of angles and communicate multiple messages. For example, an online project about Canada’s climates could examine how people’s changing opinions about winter influence their sense of identity, or how the planet’s diverse weather systems inspire innovation and art.} 

Target audience(s) (12 points)

• The proposal clearly defines a main target audience for the online project and, if applicable, a secondary target audience.

_{More about target audience(s): The same project will not suit everyone. Online projects are most effective when they target specific audiences. Imagine a few user profiles that your online project will target. Consider what they know about the subject, how they consume online content and what would be of interest to them. Prioritize a main target audience and determine a secondary target audience, if needed. Keep these users in mind as you develop your proposal.}

• Research results justify the choice of target audience(s).

_{More about research: Research can be original, such as a front-end evaluation, or from another source, such as published reports and studies. Front-end evaluation is conducted at the beginning of a project to provide a better understanding of a specific target audience’s level of awareness and its interest in and knowledge of a subject.}

• Clear outcomes are defined for the target audience(s). The competencies defined by curricula are provided for school audiences. 

_{More about outcomes: Outcomes describe how the target audience(s) will benefit from the online project. Will it inform them, teach them a new skill, enable them to connect with other people, inspire them to act, prompt a change in attitude, surprise them or delight them?}

• The proposal presents a clear plan to evaluate one or more aspects of the online project with the main target audience(s).

_{More about evaluation: The evaluation is conducted with a sample of the main target audience(s) during a project’s development in order to improve the final version. There may be several cycles of testing and refinement.}

Content (16 points)

• The proposal identifies a range of content and explains how it supports the subject and audience outcomes. The proposal shows how it supports the subject and leads to the desired outcomes for the target audience(s). 
• The proposal specifies whether the content already exists or needs to be created. 
• A plan outlines how user-generated content will be hosted and managed.
• A plan outlines how the peoples or groups whose histories are represented in the online project will be consulted.

_{More about the content:Content can take many forms, including physical sites, objects, specimens, images, printed documents, audio, video and other media. Content may already exist or need to be created. Content could also be reused for other purposes, such as an on-site presentation.}

_{User-generated content includes activities such as curating your own collection from a larger collection of objects or contributing personal content, such as stories or objects, to the online project.}

_{In order to avoid misrepresentation, peoples or groups whose histories are represented in the online project should be consulted in a meaningful way.}   

User experience (20 points)

• The organization of the content in the online project is clearly explained. 
• A user experience that brings the content to life for the target audience(s) is described in detail. Some aspects of this experience take advantage of the digital environment to present elements that do not exist or cannot be realized in the physical world. 

Note:  Because design happens later in the process of making an online project, mock-ups and other demonstrations submitted with the proposal will not be evaluated.

_{More about the user experience: Here are some examples of user experiences featuring elements that do not exist or cannot be realized in the physical world: looking under or zooming in on a layer of paint on a painting; travelling through time, to space or to the bottom of the ocean; visiting remote or geographically dispersed regions or communities; assembling many large-scale artifacts in one location; presenting and linking a collection in an attractive way; visiting the inside of a restricted building or area of a building; and flying low over a landscape.}  

Technology (12 points)

• The digital tools and technologies used are clearly identified, and how they will help enhance the user experience is well explained. 
• The digital tools and technologies will contribute effectively to the expected outcomes for the target audience(s). 

_{More about technology: Think of technology in terms of features and functionality rather than specific software. If the name of the technology is well known, such as “virtual reality” or “360-degree video,” feel free to use it. You could also describe its behaviour. For example, “the website will provide an engaging experience by triggering various animations and displaying elements as the user scrolls down the page.”}

• The applicant has access to the expertise required to work with the digital tools and technologies.
• The applicant will have the necessary technical infrastructure to support and host the digital tools and technologies during the development and after the launch of the project.

_{More about support and hosting: Show that you are aware of the technical requirements needed to complete your project. There should be a good fit between the experience you wish to create and the type and scale of infrastructure required.}

Project team (16 points)

• The proposal demonstrates a clear understanding of the roles required to deliver the online project. 
• Members of the team created by the applicant and participating organizations have proven expertise regarding the content, user experience and technology of the online project. Their experience will ensure the project’s delivery. 
• The peoples or groups whose histories are represented in the online project are represented on the team.

_{More about project team: The project team is made up of people who fill the roles required to deliver the online project. They come from the applicant, other organizations and the community. Many changes can occur while you are working on an online project. If your proposal is accepted, DMC will ask you to identify possible replacements to fill key roles. For projects in which external technical expertise is needed, although it is not mandatory to have selected a technology partner by the time you submit your proposal, it would be helpful to identify one or two potential ones.}

Schedule and budget (16 points)

• The schedule demonstrates a clear understanding of the tasks required to create the online project. 
• The schedule is structured around realistic dates for the project’s launch, its deliverables and DMC’s quality assurance reviews for each of the five development phases. 
• Tasks are assigned to project team members. The duration of these tasks is specific and realistic.

_{More about schedule: The five development phases of the project are the production plan, interpretive plan, preliminary version of the online project, developed version and final version. It takes six months from the call for proposals deadline to obtain a response. Projects usually begin within a month of the investment confirmation and last 18 to 36 months, depending on the scope of the project. DMC conducts a quality assurance review for each project phase. In phase 1, the review period can last up to ten days, and phases 2-5 can take up to four weeks. Two reviews are normally required to proceed to the next phase. After each review, allow two to four weeks for your revisions and modifications. Remember to include these tasks and timeframes in your schedule. To prepare your schedule, consult with your team members and carefully review the deliverables and DMC’s technical requirements.} 

• The budget outlines realistic costs for all tasks described in the schedule.  
• Notes showing how the costs were calculated are provided. Quotes for supplies and services are provided, if applicable. 
• The applicant and other participating organizations cover certain costs. The budgetary items attributed to DMC reflect a clear understanding of eligible and ineligible costs.

_{More about budget: Make sure to include the cost of all tasks described in the schedule. Indicate which will be covered by the applicant, other participating organizations and DMC. Refer to the eligible and ineligible costs when filling out the column assigned to DMC. In the “Notes” column of the budget template, explain how the costs were calculated (e.g., hourly rate x number of hours) and provide a description of the services. Include any supporting documentation (e.g., quotes) to show that budgetary items were calculated responsibly. Pay particular attention when calculating technology-related costs. To avoid unexpected technical changes when developing the online project, all stakeholders should be familiar with DMC’s technical requirements. A Medium investment will not exceed $150,000 (excluding applicable taxes).} 

Support letters (to validate information in the proposal)

• Letters are provided by participating organizations.
• Letters confirm the type and (if applicable) value of the support, align with the project description, schedule and (for financial in-kind contributions) budget.

_{More about support letters:
Organizations can support your project in a variety of ways. For example, they can give you access to their collections or a target audience, provide expertise or services, validate or evaluate content, contribute financially or in-kind, and more.  Letters should be provided to validate this support.  Make sure that the details in the letter match the project description and schedule and, for financial or in-kind contributions, the budget.} 

_{Use the support letter template provided.}

Please propose a schedule for your online project in the format of your choice. Make sure it aligns with your budget, project description and support letters. 

The schedule should meet the following conditions:

• Be structured around the five project phases, key deliverables and quality assurance reviews described in the Deliverables section.
• Determine the duration and responsibilities for each task.
• Be formatted so that all pages can be clearly and legibly printed on 11” x 17” paper in landscape orientation.
• Be saved as a PDF file.

The tasks include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Planning 
  • Establish the project team. 
  • Validate the schedule with team members and others involved in your project.
  • Finalize the budget. 
  • Hire and/or allocate resources.
  • Manage resources and relationships.
  • Establish and manage review or advisory committees.
  • Engage and manage community participation.
  • Confirm the contracts (research, content creation, design, etc.).
  • Allocate time for project, schedule and budget monitoring.
  • Adopt testing and quality control protocols.

• Content development and production 
  • Conduct content research.
  • Develop an interpretive plan.
  • Confirm the availability of collections, artifacts and/or objects.
  • Obtain all documents, images, visuals, audio, video and other material.
  • Obtain copyright permissions and licences.
  • Write the texts (interpretive, captions, alternative texts, transcriptions, information, metadata).
  • Translate the texts.
  • Edit the texts in all languages.
  • Proofread the texts in all languages.
  • Produce the visuals (illustrations, maps, etc.).
  • Digitize all required material.
  • Produce the preliminary and final graphics for the design, multimedia elements, animations, games and interactive elements.

• Technical development and production 
  • Develop the technical planning documents (information architecture, site flow diagrams, site maps, etc.).
  • Develop the project wireframes, design and layout. 
  • Perform the programming and production (front end: HTML, CSS, jquery, etc.; back end: php, database, API).
  • Ensure CMS customization.
  • Test the online project to ensure that it meets the accessibility requirements outlined in the DMC technical specifications. 
  • Conduct quality assurance and fix any issues and bugs.
  • Ensure the integration and deployment.

• Target audience evaluation 
  • Conduct front-end evaluation of the concept, content and/or design. 
  • Conduct a formative evaluation of the content and/or prototypes. 
  • Communicate the evaluation results. 
  • Adjust and correct the project.

• Deployment, launch and maintenance 
  • Plan and develop the promotional activities.
  • Produce the final report and documentation.
  • Verify all hyperlinks.
  • Gather and report the web statistics.

Use the budget template (.xlsx) provided to submit the budget for the online project. Make sure it aligns with your schedule, project description and support letters.

The budget must meet the following conditions:

• Include the costs for all tasks in the schedule. 
• Specify which costs will be covered by the applicant, DMC and other participating organizations.
• Explain, in the “Notes” column, how the costs were calculated (e.g., hourly rate x number of hours) and provide a description of the services.
• Include any other supporting document (e.g., supplier quotes) to show that the budgetary items were calculated responsibly.

Note: DMC will not invest more than $150,000 per project (excluding applicable taxes). When determining the investment amount to be requested, remember to verify the eligible and ineligible costs (see sections 5.3 and 5.4).

The following budget categories and line items are specified in the budget template:

• Coordination
  • Project management/coordination
  • Administrative services and supplies

• Training or skills development 
• Content development 
  • Writing/research
  • Development and presentation of content
  • Educational content
  • Payment of copyright fees 

• Content/site production 
  • Digitization
  • Graphics, design and illustrations
  • Audio
  • Video
  • Text
  • Photography
  • Online project development
  • Hardware and software

• Content evaluation 
  • Content review
  • Evaluation/focus groups
  • Advisory committee (e.g., Indigenous Elders)
  • Audience research

• Translation and editing
  • Translation into and editing of official languages
  • Translation into and editing of additional languages
  • Comparative edits

• Travel expenses
• Marketing 
• Other

To avoid technical changes during the project’s development, everyone involved should be familiar with DMC’s technical requirements.

The following costs related to the online project are eligible for investment by DMC:

• Research and preparation to develop and present content
• Educational expertise (salaries and contracts)
• Coordination
• Salaries and contracts directly associated with content creation
• Evaluation involving the target audience(s) 
• Digitization, including securing the rights, and documentation
• Project creation (including media production, web and technical development, development to comply with accessibility standards, technical integration and deployment)
• Copyright
• Content translation into the other official language and translation editing (see Annex B on estimating translation costs)
• Depending on the project, translation into other languages 
• Training or skills development directly related to the project and providing long-term benefits to the applicant and participating organizations
• Initial costs to implement moderation functionality related to social technologies used to enhance the visitor experience 
• Travel expenses, if shown to be essential to the online project’s creation
• Hardware and software (e.g., scanners) directly related to content production 

Note: Expenses of other participating organizations may be eligible when shown to be directly related and essential to the online project’s creation.

Other proposed costs are considered on their merits in the context of specific proposals. The primary criterion is whether these costs are directly related and essential to the creation of the online project.

The following costs are not eligible for investment:

• The creation of institutional websites
• The automation of collections management records
• The development of native mobile applications
• Computers, external hard drives, memory cards and servers
• Printers
• CD and DVD burners
• Secondary materials (e.g., CDs and DVDs)
• Mobile devices (e.g., cellphones, tablets) and data or service plans
• Costs associated with the monitoring and validation of social technologies used for projects following their launch
• Marketing and promotional expenses (including communications staff)
• Document printing (e.g., educational materials such as teachers’ kits)
• The creation of new artwork (excluding visuals for the online project)
• Office space rental
• Website maintenance
• Search engine registration
• Domain name registration
• Website hosting
• Contingency provisions, unjustified miscellaneous expenses and overhead costs

IMPORTANT:Each deliverable will be subject to at least one DMC quality assurance review cycle, which can take up to 10 working days in phase 1 and up to 20 working days in the other phases.

Phase 1 – Production plan

A kick-off meeting between the participant and DMC must take place at the beginning of this phase.

 A production plan includes the following: 

• A revised, detailed description of the project, if required
• A revised schedule
• A revised budget
• Updates to incorporate changes requested by DMC after its review, as required

Once the production plan is approved, the participant may submit an invoice for 30% of the total investment.

Phase 2 – Interpretive plan

The interpretive plan includes the following:

• A content grid, which is a clear and detailed plan of the content
• The main, secondary and tertiary messages
• Sample texts, one for each type of text (title, introduction, main body, captions, labels, descriptive transcript, interactive text, alternative text, closed captioning, etc.)
• A 250-word sample translation of the main content, translated into and edited in the second official language
• A definition of the target audience(s), demonstrating that the content will be developed with their needs in mind 
• An information architecture (IA) diagram, developed in collaboration with the technical team (diagram showing how all elements mentioned in the content grid will be organized)
• A list of key features or functionalities that enhance the online project beyond basic text and images. This list must describe each feature and how it should behave as well as specify which technologies or products will be used to implement it. 
• Updates to incorporate changes requested by DMC after its review, as required

Once the interpretive plan is approved, the participant may submit an invoice for 15% of the total investment.

Phase 3 – Preliminary version

The preliminary version includes the following: 

• A functioning online prototype of the project based on the information architecture diagram and content grid provided for the second deliverable. This prototype must include, at a minimum, the following sections in at least one of the official languages:
  • The home page
  • A secondary page
  • Three other pages of content
  • The site map
  • The site credits
  • The feedback page
  • The DMC logo
  • Evidence of Google Analytics implementation
  • All mandatory navigation elements
  • Examples of each type of media and interactive element outlined in the project description
  • The preliminary version must consist of content identified in the previous phase. Modified and additional content is acceptable.
  • Links to placeholder content in the second official language

• A formative evaluation report on the preliminary version of the online project
• Updates to incorporate changes requested by DMC after its review, as required

Once the preliminary version is approved, the participant may submit an invoice for 20% of the total investment.

Phase 4 – Developed version

The developed version includes the following: 

• A fully functional unilingual developed version of the online project based on the approved interpretive plan and preliminary version, with all final and working content, placeholder content, and working hyperlinks to the other official language site(s)
• A revised and edited version of the sample translation provided for the second deliverable, if required
• Three (3) promotional images
• The preliminary version of the landing page creation form, provided by DMC, with associated images and a project description
• Updates to incorporate changes requested by DMC after its review, as required

Once the developed version is approved, the participant may submit an invoice for 15% of the total investment.

Phase 5 – Final version 

The final version includes the following: 

• A fully functional bilingual (or multilingual) version of the online project which meets all technical and content requirements (the final version is based on the unilingual version of the project submitted at the end of the previous phase; all final and working content in all languages incorporates the changes indicated by DMC after its review of the developed version)
• The landing page creation form updated by DMC, with associated images and a project description, as required 
• Updates to incorporate changes requested by DMC after its review, as required

The following deliverables are expected after the project goes online: 

• A digital copy of the online project, in all languages, including the final source files 
• The final expense report, which must be created from the revised budget submitted for the first deliverable and indicate the projected and actual expenditures incurred by all participants involved in the project (DMC or others).

Once all deliverables for this last phase are approved, the participant may submit an invoice for the final 20% of the total investment.

A link from the online project to DMC is required to increase the visibility of your project and improve its search engine referencing. 

DMC provides a link to the site of your online project whenever the project’s name appears on the DMC website. For search engines, these reciprocal links highlight the relationship between your organization and DMC, increasing their visibility on the web.

Online projects that receive an investment by DMC must be produced in both English and French and be accessible online for a period of five years following the launch of the project. During this period, the participant must perform the following:

• Conduct regular verifications of all hyperlinks and make the necessary corrections.
• Respond to public feedback in a timely manner.
• Manage and maintain the project infrastructure (including paying the associated hosting service fees) on an ongoing basis to ensure as little downtime as possible.
• Provide DMC with read-only access to the online project’s Google Analytics account and respond to its requests for user statistics, if necessary. 

If the participant updates or modifies the online project in any way and at any time during the five years it is online, the following actions are strongly encouraged:

• Reflect the update or modification in both the English and French versions of the online project.
• Work with a skilled writer, editor and translator to ensure the quality of the text.
• Comply with the technical requirements of the original online project, unless a better and equally accessible solution is found. 
• Contact DMC for advice, as required.