I spend an absurd amount of time reviewing state and local government RFPs.
Not only do I enjoy the technical jargon and the pages of requirements, but patterns also show up when you read enough of them, and those patterns are genuinely helpful to figure out where to focus and how to build a repeatable pipeline in the public sector.
As part of our end-of-year review, I pulled a clean slice of the RFPs we aggregated via RFP Leads this year and organized them into eight plain-English categories. These categories aren’t an industry standard; they’re a practical way to make a messy market legible.
What’s in this dataset
1,275 unique professional service RFPs aggregated by RFP Leads
Timeframe: Mid April 2025 → Mid December 2025
Geography represented*: Pacific Northwest (ID, OR, WA) and California
Categorization approach: Categorized into one of eight categories based upon the RFP Name and Description (Each RFP only received one category)
*RFP Leads expanded from WA → OR → ID → CA during this timeframe
Quick snapshot
RFPs by state
RFPs by government entity type
RFPs by category (8 total)
Defining the Eight Categories with Examples
1) Planning, Community Engagement & Research
What it is: Work that helps a government entity decide what to do next—plans, studies, assessments, feasibility work, community engagement, and strategy. The deliverable is usually a roadmap or recommendations.
Examples
Port of Richmond Economic Impact Study — City of Richmond (CA)
Hydrogen Mobility Network Plan and Feasibility Assessment — Washington State University (WA)
Micro Transit Feasibility Study — Salem Area Mass Transit District (OR)
2) Technology, Data & Software
What it is: Buying or improving digital systems—software, IT services, cybersecurity, data platforms, portals, GIS, SCADA, integrations, and managed services.
Examples
Technical Services for Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition (SCADA) System — King County (WA)
Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) Software Upgrade — City of Portland (OR)
Waste Reduction Reporting, Administration, and Support Services (RFP) — San Mateo County (CA)
3) Environmental, Engineering & Infrastructure
What it is: Work tied to physical systems—engineering/design, transportation, water/wastewater, stormwater, facilities, environmental compliance tied to projects, and infrastructure implementation support.
Examples
Clear Lake Road Wastewater Extension Design — City of Eugene (OR)
Professional Engineering Services – Water System Facility Plan Update — City of Pocatello (ID)
Stormwater Utility Rate Design and Financial Advisory Services — Thurston County (WA)
4) Health, Housing & Human Services
What it is: Direct services to residents—housing/homelessness, behavioral health, public health programs, youth/family services, and resident-facing training or support.
Examples
Behavioral Health Services Act(BHSA) Housing — Mendocino County (CA)
Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program — Pacific County (WA)
Treatment Foster Care (TFC) — Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (ID)
5) Organizational Consulting, HR & Training
What it is: Internal capacity work—HR, recruiting, classification/compensation, investigations, internal training, leadership development, facilitation, organizational effectiveness, and change management.
Examples
Executive Leadership Development Training Course — Washington Criminal Justice Training Commission (WA)
Classification and Compensation Studies and Desk Audits — City of Berkeley (CA)
Leadership Facilitation, Consulting & Coaching Master Service Agreements — Oregon Child Development Coalition (OR)
6) Marketing, Communications & Outreach
What it is: Public-facing communication—campaigns, outreach, marketing strategy, creative services, public relations, and communications support.
Examples
CFAP Expansion Marketing Campaign — California Department of Social Services (CA)
Integrated Marketing Campaign — Clackamas County (OR)
Strategic Marketing and Communications Support — University of Washington (WA)
7) Finance, Audit & Legal
What it is: Audits, financial controls, actuarial, compliance, revenue/billing, claims, and legal counsel/services.
Examples
Financial Audit Services — Washington County (OR)
Pipeline Franchise, Audit, Compliance, and Revenue Recovery Services — City of Carson (CA)
City Attorney — City of Bainbridge Island (WA)
8) Government Affairs & Policy
What it is: Legislative advocacy, lobbying, government relations, and policy support tied to state/federal decision-making.
Examples
State Legislative Advocacy Services (RFP No. 25-142) — City of Santa Ana (CA)
Government Relations and Lobbying Services — City of Wilsonville (OR)
Federal Government Relations Consultant — Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WA)
Takeaway (and why this matters)
As anyone who works with RFPs already knows, RFP titles and their content can vary wildly. For example, two government entities can describe the same need in entirely different ways. But once we categorized at scale, the frequency pattern was clear:
The biggest share of RFPs wasn’t about “building something new.” They were about:
deciding what to do next (plans, studies, assessments),
modernizing core systems (software, cybersecurity, IT), and
keeping physical infrastructure running (engineering, utilities, facilities).
In the next post, I’ll shift from a retrospective to a forward-looking perspective. What this mix suggests about 2026 RFPs when you layer in current macro conditions, without pretending anyone can predict the future perfectly.
