In a 2020 survey, 44.9% of respondents said they would view their employers in a better light if they provided a financial wellness program, and nearly one-third said they would participate in a financial education program if their employer offered it.

A different 2020 survey found that “62% of employers feel extreme responsibility for their employees’ financial wellness, up from 13% in 2013.” Further, experts report seeing a big hike in the scope of financial wellness programs offered by employers over the past decade.

However, a financial wellness program must be implemented carefully in order to be successful. A critical step is selecting the right financial wellness vendor. You can increase your odds of choosing the right partner by sending prospective vendors a request for proposal, or RFP.

What is an RFP?

An RFP is a business document that lets you solicit proposals from prospective vendors.

First, define your organization’s financial wellness needs. Then, search for vendors that align with those needs and send each one your RFP. Once you receive the completed proposals from each vendor, analyze and compare the responses, negotiate accordingly and choose the best fit.

You can send an RFP if you currently have a financial wellness program and would like to make changes or if this is your first time offering the benefit.

What should go in your financial wellness RFP?

The RFP should be based on your specific business and workforce needs. That said, an RFP to financial wellness vendors may include these elements:

Introduction to your company — e.g., background and mission.
Your goals for the financial wellness program, such as to improve employee financial well-being by offering valuable and affordable financial wellness benefits.
Your financial wellness challenges, such as lack of employee participation in your existing financial wellness program or decline in productivity because of employee financial stress.
Solutions you’d like the ideal vendor to deliver, such as education on financial wellness, e.g., budgeting, debt management, retirement savings, emergency savings, saving for college, health care cost planning, and financial counseling.
Vendor information such as company background, current financial position (to gauge stability), list of customers they have served in your industry, and what differentiates them from their competitors.
A series of open-ended questions to increase the quality of responses. These questions may relate to program features, technology, customer support, pricing, partnerships, etc.
Instructions for completing the RFP.
When and where to send the completed proposal.

Failure to properly vet financial wellness vendors can trigger issues such as providers taking advantage of their clients and employees losing trust in the program and even the employer. So take the time to craft and send out a good RFP.