Request for Proposals: CTA25026 License Plate Marketing

March 3, 2026 Update: See below for questions the Conservancy has received and the Conservancy’s answers.

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The California Tahoe Conservancy seeks a contractor to develop and implement a marketing campaign for the Lake Tahoe special interest license plate (Tahoe plate). Funds from the sale and renewal of Tahoe plates support the Conservancy’s work toward its mission to lead California’s efforts to restore and enhance the extraordinary natural and recreational resources of the Lake Tahoe Basin. The plate also provides funds to the Environmental License Plate Fund, which supports a variety of state environmental programs.

Read the full request for proposal. [PDF]

Key Action Dates
Request for proposals available to prospective proposers: February 10, 2026
Question submittal deadline: 3:00 p.m. on February 24, 2026
Responses to questions posted: 3:00 p.m. on March 3, 2026
Final Date for Proposal Submission: March 10, 2026

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Questions and Answers regarding CTA2506 Tahoe Plates Marketing

Is the $155,000 total budget inclusive of paid media spend, or is paid advertising funded separately? (Related Questions: Does the $155,000 budget for the initial two-year term include paid media placement costs, or should media spend be budgeted separately from contractor professional services? Is the $77,500 per year also inclusive of ad buys? If not, do you have an ad budget you can provide?)
The $155,000 budget ($77,500 per year) includes all paid media spending.

What baseline year will be used to measure the required 20 percent increase in annual Tahoe plate sales?
The Conservancy will use 2025 as the baseline for the 20 percent increase goal.

What is the actual number you are basing the 20 percent increase on?
Sales of Lake Tahoe license plates for 2025.

How does the Conservancy currently track attribution between marketing activities and DMV plate purchases or renewals?
The Conservancy cannot track attribution to specific purchases or renewals. The Conservancy tracks clicks from the tahoeplates.com website to the DMV landing page for special design plates, and receives information on total sales from the DMV.

Will the selected contractor receive access to prior campaign reports, performance data, and existing marketing assets developed under the current contract?
Yes

Regarding tahoeplates.com, is website management limited to content updates and ongoing maintenance, or are structural redesign and UX improvements expected?
The Conservancy does not expect, but is open to, redesign of the site.

If structural updates are anticipated, does the Conservancy control hosting and development access?
The Conservancy controls hosting and development access.

Does the Conservancy have access to DMV purchaser demographic or geographic data to support audience targeting?
No

Are there any legal, regulatory, or DMV-related messaging constraints proposers should account for?
No, aside from the guidance that proposers should assume standard obligations to be faithful, accurate, professional, and transparent in all marketing conducted on behalf of the State of California.

Are in-person meetings in South Lake Tahoe anticipated during the contract term?
No

Is the current contractor, S. Groner Associates, eligible and/or expected to submit a proposal in response to CTA25026?
Yes

Were performance targets included in the current contract, and if so, were those targets achieved?
The current contract included the same target. The current contract has not yet ended.

Can the Conservancy provide monthly historical Tahoe plate sales and renewal data for at least the past five years to inform baseline analysis and campaign modeling?

	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
New Sales	1,868	1,855	1,899	2,062	2,251
Renewals	18,503	18,199	17,542	17,642	17,638

Are there existing brand guidelines, creative restrictions, or DMV requirements that proposers should consider when developing sample themes and advertising concepts?
Marketing on behalf of the State of California must be faithful, accurate, professional, and transparent.

Are there existing partnerships, in-kind media placements, or co-marketing arrangements, such as through the Tahoe Fund or Plates for Powder program, that should be incorporated into campaign planning?
Yes, as described in the Request for Proposal.

Beyond the stated 20 percent increase in annual sales, are there additional performance indicators the Conservancy intends to use to evaluate campaign effectiveness?
The Conservancy expects the contractor to follow marketing best practices. As examples, the Conservancy expects the contractor to continually evaluate effectiveness of digital marketing, report ad performance to the Conservancy, and adjust creative content and advertising purchasing to refine and improve performance.

What does the Conservancy view as the greatest barriers to increasing annual sales currently?
The Conservancy lacks sufficient data to comment on specific barriers.

What specific marketing activities or campaigns were in place during the periods of 9 percent annual sales growth in 2024 and 2025?
The Conservancy will share this information with the selected contractor. The Conservancy does not deem this amount of detail necessary for firms to prepare proposals.

Is the Conservancy able to attribute the growth to particular tactics, channels, or partnerships (such as Plates for Powder), or is the driver of the recent momentum not yet fully understood?
Based on the timing of new plate sales, the Conservancy believes the Plates for Powder campaign has remained a constant and effective partnership for marketing Tahoe Plates. Recent additional momentum appears to be the result of effective refinement of digital marketing.

How does the Conservancy currently receive plate sales data from the DMV, and what is the typical reporting lag?
The DMV reports new sales and renewals to the Conservancy monthly.

What specific data is available (eg, make, model, year, zip+4, owner age, owner insurance carrier, vehicle point of purchase, date tag was renewed vs. date tag was required to be renewed, renewal/purchase method (eg in-person vs online)?
Only the quantity of new sales and renewals.

Are there planned Conservancy initiatives, project milestones, public announcements, or Board actions in the August 2026 through July 2028 timeframe that the marketing campaign could be aligned with for maximum earned media impact? If so, can a summary of those be shared to inform the proposal?
The Conservancy encourages firms submitting proposals to review the Conservancy website and strategic plan for information about the Conservancy mission, programs, and projects. Beyond that, the Conservancy will explore such considerations in greater detail with the chosen contractor. This level of detail is unnecessary for the purposes of the proposals responding to this RFP.

Has the Conservancy or its current contractor tested any marketing approaches during the current contract that were discontinued or that did not produce expected results? Understanding what has already been explored will help the selected contractor avoid duplication and build on existing learning.
Yes. The Conservancy will share prior practices with the selected contractor. No such prior knowledge is required of bidders for the development of proposals.

If annual new plate sales increased by approximately 500 units (consistent with the 20 percent growth target), what would be the approximate increase in annual revenue to the Lake Tahoe License Plate Account? Understanding the revenue impact of the growth target will help the selected contractor frame campaign messaging around the tangible conservation outcomes that additional plate sales would fund.
Approximately 96 percent of funds from sale and renewal of Lake Tahoe license plates comes back to the Conservancy to support its mission.

Can the Conservancy provide a summary of existing creative assets available for the marketing campaign, including photography, video, graphic templates, brand guidelines, and any digital assets developed under the current contract?
• In the Conservancy’s estimation, what percentage of these assets are can be used during the two-year contract period? What percentage should be discarded or retired? Understanding the depth and quality of the existing asset library will allow proposers to allocate budget more precisely between new creative production and market-facing activation.
Please refer to the Request for Proposals for all relevant information regarding the Conservancy’s expectations for firms developing proposals. The Conservancy will work with the selected contractor to refine plans and will share all available assets.

What additional owned social media channels beyond Tahoeplates.com are available to support this marketing campaign? How will those accounts be accessed?
To date, the Conservancy has partnered with contractors to place ads via its social media accounts for Meta and Reddit. Contractors have also placed ads on other channels and platforms directly, without using Conservancy accounts.

Can the Conservancy provide monthly license plate sales data for the past three to five years, including seasonal trends? Can you provide the number of plates sold each year from 2010 to 2025?

Can you please indicate each year’s totals for CA and NV separately?
See above for California totals. The contractor, while engaging in activities that the Conservancy hopes will have co-benefits for our partners in Nevada, is not responsible for sales of Nevada plates.

What is the breakdown between new plate purchases and renewals?
See table above.

How will the 20 percent increase objective be calculated (e.g., year-over-year annual comparison, cumulative over the two-year term, or another method)?
Cumulative over the two-year term.

Will the selected contractor have access to referral data from tahoeplates.com to the DMV purchase pathway?
Yes

Is there any mechanism available to track completed plate purchases originating from campaign referrals?
No

May tracking parameters (e.g., UTM codes) be implemented to measure referral performance?
Yes

Can the Conservancy provide a current breakdown of how license plate revenues are allocated across project categories (e.g., wildfire resilience, watershed protection, recreation access)?
The Conservancy will share this information with the selected contractor.

Are there any restrictions or required language regarding how funding impacts may be described in marketing materials?
Yes. The Conservancy will work with the selected contractor to ensure descriptions of funding in marketing materials are accurate.

Is the primary target audience statewide, or are there geographic regions the Conservancy wishes to prioritize?
While any Californian may purchase a Tahoe plate, past marketing has indicated better ad performance in the Sacramento, San Francisco Bay, and Los Angeles metropolitan areas, in addition to the Lake Tahoe Basin. The Conservancy will encourage the selected contractor to continue to assess and refine ad geographic targeting to maximize cost effectiveness of marketing.

Is there existing research identifying affinity segments or underrepresented plate ownership groups?
No.

Is the 20 percent sales increase for CA and NV or only CA?
Only California.

What does the website management entail?
Website design and content management to support promotion of California Lake Tahoe license plates.