Building a Mission-Driven Vendor Selection Process

Addgene COO Andy Baltus, PhD writes about the process of creating a vendor selection process that reflects the values, ethics, and goals of a non-profit organization.

As part of my job at Addgene, I have worked to empower my employees to make mission-driven changes whenever possible. Recently, our Facilities team successfully redesigned our vendor selection and review process to align with our mission and ethics. This project serves as a case study of how to employ mission-driven decision making throughout our organization. 

This project was driven by our head of facilities, Patrick Stoney, and office admin assistant, Rachel Ramirez-Gaudet. They approached me with a plan to ensure we were doing our best to partner with companies who are well-matched in values and priorities to Addgene. The executive director and I were quick to greenlight the project and excited to support their efforts. 

Our goal was to develop a process that allowed us to partner with vendors who, like us, reduce their environmental impact, support ethical work practices both locally and globally, and embrace transparency in their processes. The primary limitation of the project was the nature of the work that we were contracting out: often specific and highly regulated, with limited numbers of vendors available to provide the service or goods. The priorities were thus set in this order: need, mission match, budget. 

Developing the Process

The first step was to define each service or goods we contracted out as flexible or inflexible. 

The flexible category contains contracts for which there were multiple vendor options, such as office supplies and food, among others. The inflexible category contains contracts for which there was only one vendor option. Examples include electricity and hazardous waste management suppliers. Some individual contracts could be further broken down into flexible and inflexible services. 

The inflexible category was not exempt from this mission-driven re-evaluation, however. Vendors and services were evaluated on the values and ethics defined in our goal-setting process. My team then reached out to the vendors to ask if they had alternative offerings that would better align with our company mission and values. For example, our electricity vendor, upon request, provided us the option to switch to renewable energy supply, reducing our environmental impact. We officially transitioned to 100% renewable energy in 2022. 

Sourcing Potential Vendors

For contracts in the flexible category, we needed to understand and assess both our current vendors and potential other vendors by need, mission, and budget. This broad review of our current vendors also allowed us the opportunity to examine our vendor selection process through a diversity, equity, and inclusion lens. 

The traditional vendor databases we had access to lacked adequate representation of local and national minority-owned businesses. To develop a more inclusive approach, my team turned towards non-traditional sources such as online “listicles” like Buzzfeed articles, local Chambers of Commerce, and social media. This approach, though unconventional, greatly expanded our list of potential vendors. 

Selecting Potential Partners

Next, we began the process of identifying the ones we were interested in partnering with. Rachel and Patrick used websites to find stated values, environmental practices, and supply chain transparency while checking services and inventory against our needs to create a shortlist of vendors to contact. Their initial message included the request, with scope and scale, along with the statement: “We’ve done some research and we’re interested in your mission.” Most vendors responded with a quote and more detailed information on their philosophies and practices. If they did not, my team asked the relevant questions about missions and values after receiving a quote. 

One critical difference between this and previous vendor searches was that, because we were primarily reaching out to smaller, local suppliers, several suppliers did not have the capacity or bandwidth to take us on as a customer. As a small-to-mid-sized company, this was not something we had experienced with national vendors. However, we made sure to note which vendors were unable to take us on as clients at this time and my team will continue checking back in with this as part of our ongoing vendor review process. 

Outcomes

Once a potential new vendor had been identified, my team presented the options to me and I was able to approve all of the recommended switches. We quickly realized that switching to local vendors actually reduced costs across the board. At the end of the 2021 vendor selection process, we found that we had incurred a net financial gain, despite budget not being a priority in our approach.  

There were also vendors we chose to continue working with, for a myriad of reasons. The goal was not to replace a certain number of vendors, but instead to ensure that our vendor selection process was as mission-driven as we are. The success of this project came through defining and implementing a process that reflects the values and ethical standards we hold ourselves to every day. 

An Ongoing Effort

To continue these efforts, we committed to a yearly review of our standards and our vendors, during Q4 and Q1, as well as an individual review of each vendor and competitors at the point of contract renewal. Working towards our goals, and within our limitations, we are committed to consciously and consistently engage in mission-driven vendor partnerships that reflect and support Addgene’s values and ethics. 

About the author: Andy Baltus serves as the COO of Addgene. His leadership style focuses on mission-driven growth of both the company and his team members.