Laura Beth Waller, Chief Strategy Officer

1. Introduction

The National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives (NOSSCR) seeks to establish affinity partnerships. NOSSCR is a specialized bar association for attorneys and advocates who represent Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income claimants throughout the disability adjudicative process. Since 1979, NOSSCR has been providing continuing legal education to its thousands of members and public policy advocacy on behalf of its members and the people with disabilities they represent.

NOSSCR has more than 2,500 members across all 50 states; most are self-employed or work in small business law firms. Through affinity partnerships, we aim to provide our members access to high-quality legal technology solutions at preferential rates while enhancing your reach and brand recognition within our community. In so doing, we will adhere to IRS standards limiting our services in order to avoid or limit “unrelated business income tax (UBIT).”[1]

2. Background and Objectives

Our members represent claimants before the Social Security Administration and in Social Security appellate advocacy before federal courts. Our members also practice in adjacent and complimentary practice areas, including Veterans’ disability, workers’ compensation, personal injury, and bankruptcy.

Our members’ legal technology needs are met through a diverse range of individual solutions. By establishing an affinity partnership with a reliable legal technology provider, we hope to:

• Streamline processes for our members so they can provide excellent customer service and high-level legal representation to their clients.
• Reduce costs for our members through negotiated discount rates and bulk licensing options.
• Promote legal technology adoption among our members, enhancing their efficiency and effectiveness.
• Generate revenue for NOSSCR through member referrals and potential co-branded marketing.

3. Scope of Services

We are seeking a legal technology provider that can offer a modern tool for Social Security claimants to track and document symptoms resulting from Long COVID and other conditions that produce persistent fatigue, pain, muscle weakness, shortness of breath, memory loss, difficulty concentrating, brain fog, tingling, numbness, neuropathic pain, chronic shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, or persistent cough. This technology should offer:

• Core legal technology: User-friendly technology tool for claimants to track and document their subjective symptoms. The tool should have options to document the result of symptoms, including, but not limited to, the need to rest, elevate feet, nap, use an assistive device, or require the assistance of another. The tool should be capable of documenting the duration and severity of symptoms. It should be capable of producing reports showing symptom frequency and severity for attorneys to analyze when preparing a claimant’s case. The tool should ensure that data is secure and cannot be manipulated. The tool should make it possible for NOSSCR to identify issues related to Social Security’s “all evidence” regulations and adjustments to be made as needed.
• Competitive pricing: Discounted rates and/or special offers for our members should be beneficial compared to market prices.
• Implementation and training: Support for integration and ongoing user training for members.
• Technical support: Prompt and reliable technical assistance for our members.
• Marketing and communications support: Collaborative marketing efforts and promotional materials to raise awareness of the affinity partnership among our members and potential members.

4. Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Functionality and features: Comprehensiveness, user-friendliness, alignment with our claimants’ needs.
• Pricing and value: Competitiveness of pricing models and potential cost savings for members versus market prices.
• Implementation and training: Proposed approach to ensure smooth onboarding and user adoption.
• Technical support: Quality and responsiveness of technical assistance offered.
• Marketing and communications support: Creativity and effectiveness of proposed marketing initiatives.

5. Submission Instructions

Please submit your proposals electronically to nosscr@nosscr.org no later than March 31, 2024. Your proposal should address each of the sections outlined above and include the following information:

• Company overview and relevant experience
• Detailed description of the proposed tool and pricing model
• Implementation and training plan
• Technical support approach
• Marketing and communication strategies
• Reference list of other affinity partnerships
• Potential conflicts of interest, interested parties serving either on NOSSCR’s Board of Directors or a similar ownership role or governing body of the provider

We encourage potential partners to be creative and propose solutions that go beyond standard offerings. We are open to exploring different types of arrangements, including tiered pricing structures, co-branded marketing initiatives, and joint educational events.

6. Selection Process

A selection committee composed of NOSSCR staff and the NOSSCR President will review all proposals. Shortlisted vendors may be invited for presentations and Q&A sessions. All proposals will be kept confidential, considered by and available to only NOSSCR staff and the NOSSCR President (and NOSSCR’s legal counsel as needed), and not available to other members of NOSSCR’s Board of Directors or membership.

7. Contact Information

For any questions about this RFP, please contact Laura Beth Waller at lb.waller@nosscr.org.

Thank you for your interest in partnering with NOSSCR. We look forward to reviewing your proposals.

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[1] For an explanation of this concern and the general tax issues involved, consider this resource from the American Bar Association: “Endorsements. When a nonprofit endorses a vendor’s product or service (often referred to as a nonprofit “affinity” program) but does nothing to market the product or service to its members (leaving this task to the vendor), this can be viewed as, in essence, nothing more than an exclusive license of the nonprofit’s name, logo and (sometimes) membership list to the vendor (in connection with the vendor’s promotion and sale of that product or service to the nonprofit’s members, and possibly to others in the industry or profession as well). As stated above, if the nonprofit gets paid for this exclusive license—even if such payments are calculated as a percentage of gross sales of the endorsed product or service to the nonprofit’s members—then the payments will constitute royalties and will be tax-free to the nonprofit. If, however, the nonprofit does market the product or service to its members, then the tax issues become more complex,…” https://www.americanbar.org/groups/business_law/resources/business-law-today/2021-november/unrelated-business-income-tax/