The concept of fundraising is often taken for granted as an inseparable part of a nonprofit organization. However, one must recognize the specified concept for its unique purpose and a rather complicated nature. Since nonprofit companies rely primarily on the resources that their donors supply to survive, fundraising may represent an additional source of financial resources that can be utilized to support the further development of an organization and encourage its progress. Moreover, fundraising provides an opportunity to accomplish newly set objectives and ensure that the core aspects of the organization’s functioning are updated accordingly. Thus, the company can function in the target economic context while supporting a specific vulnerable demographic. However, for fundraising to produce the expected effects, it needs to follow several core requirements. Specifically, it is expected that a fundraising program should align with the organization’s strategic planning approach (Gelatt, 2007). Additionally, it has to be coordinated with principal marketing ideas and build motivation in its selected audiences. The choice of the fundraising strategy may be difficult since all have their advantages and disadvantages; therefore, establishing a separate entity will be required. Finally, challenges and risks are expected to emerge in the course of fundraising.
Opinion
The impact that philanthropy produces on nonprofit organizations is truly immense. Without the integration of fundraising activities into their performance, most nonprofit entities would have ceased to exist (Gelatt, 2007). Therefore, it is critical to ensure that a fundraising activity leads to the expected results. However, in addition to the principles that Gelatt (2007). [lists, one should also consider the idea of integrating innovative solutions into the fundraising process and examine the effects that they produce. Presently, the importance of tools for online donations and related processes has increased significantly (Gelatt, 2007). However, the specified change, which can be seen as positive due to the increased ease of use and participation, has also led to a rise in the threat of digital fraud (Gelatt, 2007). Therefore, efforts need to be made to address the presence of fraudulent sites that prevent fundraising and other charitable activities conducted by nonprofit organizations from being implemented properly. The efforts in question may involve introducing additional security tools for maintaining the safety of the essential data and funds raised for a specific cause. Furthermore, introducing a member of nonprofit organizations to the concept of digital literacy must be seen as a necessity since the specified change proves to be the most effective shield against the possibility of a cyberattack (Gelatt, 2007). With the focus on education and active promotion of digital learning, nonprofit organizations will be able to remove the risks associated with digital data management.
Reference
Gelatt, J. P. (2007). Fundraising. In Professional practices in association management: The essential resource for effective leadership of nonprofit organizations (pp. 253-260). American Society of Association Executives.
In marketing terms, a firm that is unable to promote itself is unlikely to sell their products or services no matter how good they are. Thus, organizations always actively ensure that public awareness of their merchandise is present.
The most basic form of marketing for fundraising programs can just involve using fliers and broadcasting announcements while in other cases may need more intense marketing to promote the products to the targeted audience. Good marketing campaigns aid in promoting programs undertaken by the organization in addition to the fundraising activities thus creating an awareness of the organization to the public.
This paper thus attempts to demonstrate the interlocking objectives existing between fundraising and marketing promotions by nonprofit organizations.
Marketing Promotions for Fundraising
Although marketing promotions can involve much expense expended, non-profit organizations generally seek gratuitous publicity or those offered at subsidized fees. These promotions though are initiated from within the organizations core group who can be relied upon to be more aggressively involved in marketing the organization.
Promotions are also decisive in arousing the proper interest to the targeted attendees to enlist others enjoin the campaign. Thus, the fundraising campaign must be well planned with concise unambiguous ideas and goals while acknowledging that a well-marketed event is critical to worthwhile fundraising.
Nevertheless, informal personal reports involving diverse stakeholders fanned by friends and acquaintances pushes the fundraising agenda further than formal pronouncements in the mainstream media. Upgrading and maintaining close amity within the cycle can thus have greater impact on the campaign.
This entails keeping the nonprofits contributors updated on the events that have been held due to their benevolence thus evolving a closer relationship with them for possible future donations. These close-knit groups of regular donors eventually have greater impact to the fundraising efforts than seeking fresh donors.
Major Types of Donors
There are six major types of donors as illustrated below including:
re-payer;
casual donor;
high impact;
faith/ religious based;
localized causes donors,
personalized donors.
Stapley (2010) has consequently categorised five basic sources for fundraising including: trust and endowments; society and events; business, subsidies, citizens donating once; habitual, crucial benefactors and bequest assistance; inheritances; and corporate/governmental grants.
Figure 1.
Capital campaigns conducted to raise funds from the public or seek grants from the government or corporations may require competing with other nonprofits similarly seeking funding for their own causes.
Nevertheless, most of the funding generally stem from habitual donors hence charitable organizations are always eager to cultivate amiable working relations with these category of donors by upholding accord with them through relationship building (Sargeant and Jay, 2004).
Hart et al. (2010) have asserted that personal relationships are the most critical aspects during fundraising as compared to dealing specifically with corporations. Engendering closer bonds with critical leaders within the donor institution will probably generate greater success.
The authors thus assert that a more personalized relationship is more beneficial to the organization as key leaders within the institutions evolve closer working relationship enabling the donor further scrutinize the cause advocated. The fundraiser will seem more authentic and genuine as open communication enable the storyline delivered. A poignant narrative is likely to elicit greater impulse or instinct to assist the program.
Marketing Nonprofit Organizations
Marketing is one of the surest ways of ensuring nonprofit organization backing in the community particularly to ostensibly fresh supporters thus vital to fundraising.
Marketing nonprofit organizations follows the same ideals practiced in typical trading firms, which encompass designing market plans, setting goals and objectives, market research, marketing mix, media draft; constructing, and trying out the designs; executing and appraising the sketch, that are identical amongst most businesses.
Goals and Objectives
The goals of the nonprofit organization commonly outlined in its tactical plans may encompass creating awareness of a project, fundraising, or offering services to the society.
The organization’s marketer should initially categorize and prioritize the key marketing objectives, for instance establishing trademark visibility to the public thus assisting the nonprofit organization accomplish its goals. Ultimately, the nonprofits marketers realize that these tactical plans resemble those used by the profit-making enterprises.
Marketing Analysis and Strategy
The marketers then evaluate the background, particularly all those aspects that could have an effect on the nonprofits capacity to attain its goals.
These can embrace rival nonprofits organizations, the performance of those the organization provides for, official statutes, and also the organization’s individual effectiveness and limitation. From this scrutiny, the fundraisers can establish the excellent probable tactics to realize the marketing aspirations.
Marketing Mix and Media Plan
In lieu of the approach preferred, the marketer should opt for the finest strategy to execute the plan. This incorporates establishing a marketing mix, or the correct types of medium to utilize to communicate the significance of the nonprofit organization – such as, online marketing to target the youth as opposed to radio.
Subsequently, the media strategy is established including the precise websites, publications, and other mediums the nonprofit organization can utilize to execute its promotion.
Creative and Testing
The fundraiser in alliance with vendors will afterwards plan to create creative commercials and artefacts that efficiently express the communication vital to the attainment of the marketing plan.
Prior to displaying the advert to the public still, the promoter must pan out a pilot plan for assessing its usefulness. This may entail soliciting the help of a target group, and subsequently improve the plan as per their observations prior to the launch.
Implementation and Assessment
The marketer, through the printed marketing plan, will subsequently present the timeline over which the scheme will be carried out, the proposed overheads and proposed proceeds, and the financial plan. The marketer must also clarify how the plan’s accomplishment will be gauged both throughout the operation and subsequent to the scheme execution.
Andresen (2006) has thus outlined some wide-ranging marketing concepts applied by large corporate illustrating some of the most successful marketing campaigns in the past. The author aims at demystifying marketing thus enabling it applicable to good causes by the nonprofits in “a business-minded marketing approach by a nonprofit organization” (p. 137).
Figure 2: Sample Marketing Plan for a Fundraising Campaign Strategy.
Marketing and Fundraising through Social Media
Nonprofit organizations just like the commercialized firms are gradually turning to the increasingly popular online marketing channels including social media like Twitter and Facebook for fundraising purposes and marketing for the promotion of future events.
These mediums entail a more reactive role with real time updates necessary to generate interest in the cause while other turn to other interactive media like blogging and YouTube to generate enough interest for the fundraiser.
Social media have enabled organizations to be more accountable to the donors who are in a position to question how their donations have been utilized unlike the traditional fund raising arrangement in which the donors relied on delayed feedbacks.
Social media also enables donors to directly get acquainted with the recipients of their funding while also getting a pool of young people who cannot be relied on to attend fundraising dinners but can otherwise be enjoined on online marketing techniques.
The mobile phone has also given rise to a fresh medium for communication as more people are connected over smart phones. During the Haiti Earthquake catastrophe, over 20 percent of the donations were via cell phones text messages with the usage cutting across the demographic lines evenly, thus rivaling online donations the modern new frontiers.
Cell phones will in future be more compelling due to the ease of use as it requires minimal transactions, cards, or even internet access to send a donation being a text away. A Cisco survey in 2008 established that the number of mobile phones is triples that of internet users whilst mobile phone technology entails use of both internet and text messaging (Barke, 2008).
As the global economic recession continue to impact negatively on consumer spending, fundraising has also being hard hit with most of the regular donors losing heavily in the equity markets in addition to lowered demands for products and services leading to less revenue. Donations have thus plummeted hence underlining the need to rethink the traditional fundraising concepts.
Some of the new ideas and forums advanced include tapping the younger generation through social media and mobile phones, active online marketing tactics, and proactive marketing techniques that promise more liable response to donors.
Grassroots Mobilisation Techniques
Although most organisations rely on conventional and modern grassroots mobilisation techniques, some organisations have been known to hire the services of professional fundraises who are retained at an agreed fee.
This practice is illegal in most jurisdictions and has been banned by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) thus most organisations retain reputable fundraisers as part of the executive staff to solicit for funding (Lorenzen, 2009). Religious organisations are some of the most effective grassroots fundraisers particularly the evangelical movements.
They are able to mobilise local, national and international supporters to either donate or seek funds on their behalf for aiding the underprivileged or for spreading evangelism. Other major non-profit organisations that are renowned for effortless fundraising include political parties and politicians at large.
Despite strict campaign finance statues, political parties are able to harness sizable funding while some associated interest groups like the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the Jewish lobby groups raise vast sums to support political candidates of their choice (Horwitz, & Grimaldi, 2011).
Fundraising Concepts
Fundraising may entail organising special events like musical concerts, fundraising dinners, sales of unique items or sports event like charity walks. These events have direct links to marketing as adequate promotion is critical to attract enough participants to the occasion. These special events also assist the group raise its visibility and thus attract more attention to its cause or pet projects.
Successful hosting of such occasions can mean repeat performances; periodically or across regions hence generating more funding for the organisation’s events.
Nonprofit charitable organizations also raise funds through “sales” whereby special gifts or donations or in-kind gifts by benevolent community members are publicly auctioned to raise funds. Organizations also indulge in product fundraising whereby members offer to sell cookies and other tidbits to the public to raise funds by mobilizing grassroots support.
Lack of Transparency and Accountability
Nonetheless, despite their veritable success in fundraising for their causes, nonprofit organizations have been accused of laxity in properly marketing themselves thus missing lots of potential capital funding due to poor promotional campaigns. Maple (2003) has decried the poor investment in market studies by the organizations as compared to the more astute big business who allocate larger budgets to the marketing divisions.
The organizations thus display poor relationship building tactics as minimal promotions are undertaken to endear better bonds with their benefactors. Sargeant and Jay (2004) have thus estimated that nonprofit organizations regularly lose 50-60 percent donors after just one or two donations while been generally poor in cultivating fresh relationships, which does not auger well for their operations sustainability.
Unaccountability issues have generally plagued the large nonprofit organizations, hence affecting funding activities for the more liable organizations. Frumkin and Kim (2000) have however argued that although spotlight was on the larger organisations, even smaller entities had the same financial inconsistencies evident in the others.
The authors therefore called for greater transparency and the establishment of an oversight body to scrutinise their finances and project implantations. The fundraising audit is consequently a logical endeavor to assemble as much data as feasible regarding fundraising tasks and background, notably how these may be projected to transform and expand over the extent of the execution.
Online Marketing vs. Direct Mail Marketing
Online marketing just like direct mail marketing are ultimately measured according to the ROI gained from each line.
However, both segments complimentary each since the donor or respondent may elect to reply via a different mode from the initial one used by the fundraiser thus making both crucial and significant in their own unique ways. This outlines the need to embrace the Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) concept which utilises both marketing aspects rather than relying on a singular mode (Bhagat and Rogers, 2007).
A study by marketing research firms Convio aligned with StrategicOne sought to establish the efficacy of each marketing line as concerns donor funding while also investigating those that applied dual modes.
This study aimed to dispel the notion that online marketing or constituent relationship management (eCRM) had overtaken the traditional direct marketing hence the need for non-profit organisations to discard them.
The study results indicated that although offline marketing was more enduring thus having a higher long-term donor value than online marketing, an integrated dual-Channel mode donors were even better rising by 39 percent over a 12 months period (Bhagat and Rogers, 2007).
The goals of most nonprofit organization are generally outlined in its tactical plan and may encompass, creating consciousness of a cause, fundraising, or offering services to the society.
The marketer should categorize and prioritize those marketing objectives establishing a brand noticeable to the public thus assisting the nonprofit organization accomplish its goals. Warwick (2006) has proposed a six-phase process: survey and scrutiny; planning tactics; positioning; forecasting and financial plan; executing the strategy; appraisal; and finally the realignment phase
Philanthropy is ultimately a poignant individual undertaking; hence, donors generally vote with their hearts but still seek assurances within their minds on the feasibility of their decision. Thus, a fundraiser must make emotive marketing plans that are however based on sound reasoning to appeal to both the heart and mind of the donor.
Fundraising for nonprofit organizations requires intense promotions or marketing to persuade potential donors on the efficacy of their causes hence handsomely contribute.
This study has therefore aptly demonstrated that an effective fundraising campaign necessitates a well-designed marketing plan for the fundraising strategy. There is therefore need for the two segments to coordinate their activities for the effective realization of the organization goals and objectives.
References
Andresen, K. (2006). Nonprofit Book Shelf: Robin Hood Marketing. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Barke, C. M. (2008). Cisco E-commerce Study Reveals Mobile Phone to Be New ‘Fourth Channel’ for Revenue. Cisco Systems Inc. Web.
Bhagat, Vinay and Rogers, Mike (2007). Integrating Online Marketing with Direct Mail Fundraising. Convio and StrategicOne.
Frumkin, Peter and Kim, Mark T. (2000). Strategic Positioning and the Financing of Nonprofit Organizations: Is Efficiency Rewarded in the Contributions Marketplace? Cambridge: Harvard University.
Horwitz, Sari & James V. Grimaldi (2011). NRA-led gun lobby wields powerful influence over ATF, U.S. politics. Web.
Lorenzen, M. (2009). Academic Library Development Officers in Fund Raising: How They Perceive Their Work. New York: McGraw.
Maple, P. (2003). Marketing Strategy for Effective Fundraising. London: DSC.
Sargeant, Adrian and Jay, Elaine (2004). Fundraising Management. New York: Routledge.
Stapley, J. (2010). Funding a Health Link. London: THET: Partners for Global Health.
Warwick, M. (2006). How to Create a Fundraising and Marketing Strategy. International Workshop on Resource Mobilisation, (1-29). Bangkok.
The Spirit of Faith Church is increasingly gaining more followers, with its leadership showing commitment to expanding the church through economic empowerment of the members of the community.
The community surrounding the city has high levels of poverty, and the church is charged with the responsibility of not only spiritually nourishing the individuals, but also providing social and economic support. To help the church leadership achieve some of its objectives, an initiative has been developed aimed at supporting the poor children in the community.
The project is a dinner fundraiser to generate funds to buy gifts for the poor children in the locality of Temple Hills, where the church is located. The project entails preparation, planning, and executing the fundraising project. A project committee has been instituted to see the project through to completion, consisting of individuals of diverse professional and academic background.
The initiative has a number of benefits to the organization and the community. The church is in need of more followers. By providing gifts to these challenged children in the community, the church will develop a positive image that is essential for achievement of its objectives of increasing membership.
Similarly, there are children from very noble backgrounds within the community as well as those whose parents are not available. Providing Christmas gifts to such children will help improve their lifestyles. There are programs to provide aid instruments to children identified with some disabilities.
Purpose of Project
The project is an income generating initiative that will generate more funds to the church. The project entails a dinner fundraiser aimed at soliciting funds by the church to buy Christmas gifts for the poor children in the community. The church has shown commitments to promoting lives of the poor in the community in its poverty-stricken environs.
It has engaged in different community-development initiatives. Such initiatives and the continued operations of the church including its outreach ministries require funds. Depending solely on donations and grants from members of the church may not suffice to meet these needs. The project will thus provide a supplementary source of funds to the church.
The project will involve provision of gifts to poor children in the community. Thus, one of the fundamental benefits of the project is economic empowerment of individuals in the community. Indeed, the lives of the poor children who will be recipient of such gifts will be improved significantly.
Besides, the whole project will be facilitated by the youthful members of the church, who will also be provided with some stipend. It then serves as a temporary income activity that enables the youths to contribute towards other developmental initiatives in the church and in the community.
Besides, the project is to be conducted under the name of the church and operate under the principles and policies established by the church’s leadership. Thus, it will be helpful in popularizing the church in the community.
The achievements of initiative in terms of living standards of the identified poor children will be attributed to the church’s outstanding principles, enabling individuals to develop positive image of the church. This is particularly important to the leadership of the church that is interested in attracting and winning more converts to their stream.
Background
This project is an initiative of the youth from The Spirit of Faith Christian Center (SOFCC) at Temple Hills, Maryland. The project involves a dinner fundraiser from which the church expects to obtain funds to buy Christmas gifts to present to the local poor children. As you are aware, our church is among the many different faith-based institutions in the United States.
Within Maryland, there are local churches like Repairer of The Broken Walls Nationwide End-Time Prophetic Ministry (USA Churches, para.1). Our church was established in the early 1990s by Dr. Michael Freeman (the founder) with a relatively low population of the believers (Spirit of Faith Christian Center, para.1).
The founder had a relatively humble background and for a number of years services of this church were held at Anacostia High School’s auditorium. The church has since seen various developments and currently has membership of over one thousand.
It has been able to acquire its own premises from where the worship services are conducted (SOFFC, para.4). The increased church membership is significant owing to the fact that the church is among the many other Christian religious institutions that have been established in the country and is thus still interested in winning more converts.
The services that are held in English are some of the driving forces that have contributed to this increase. It is possible to minister to individuals from different parts of the country and different language groups. This also explains why the church has been able to extend its outreaches and currently has several ministries on the international scene.
Despite these developments, the church has to show continued commitment to serving the interest and meeting the needs of the community members. Continuing this trend requires a commitment to serving the interest of the believers not only spiritually but also socially and economically.
According to the 2008 report by the Census Bureau, 12.2% of children under the age of five in Maryland were living in situations below the required poverty line (Meyerson, para.2). Although reports indicated that the poverty rates of children under the age of five are low in Maryland compared to other states, the cost of living is relatively in this state compared to the federal poverty level and the reports should not be considered literally (Meyerson, para.13).
The urban center is worse in terms of the poor lifestyle experienced especially in the informal settlement. The following are some of the photographs that depict the level of poverty in the community. There are young boys and girls who are homeless and/or parentless, young children in orphanage homes. Some of the families that have been encountered are members of our church.
Figure 1: A street boy in the community A five-year old orphan in the community
Figure 2: A five-year old orphan in the community
Figure 3: A member of the church nursing orphaned child
As an institution in the community, the church has the responsibility of contributing to the social development in the community. Faith-based institutions need not to be confined to spiritual developments among the followers (Reese and Clamp 1). Having been brought up in settings similar to the ones depicted in the pictures, I understand what it takes to rehabilitate such people back to the mainstream in live. Proper spiritual ministry will only be achieved if the targeted audience feels a sense of belonging to the society.
They should be able to participate in the church activities to feel part of the congregation. I am a member of the committee of the Youth Ministry within the church and have views of what the youths do believe can empower them in the society. This project is an initiative in the youth ministry developed on the youth empowerment agenda.
Discussion of Findings
Objectives and goals
The main aim of the project is to obtain funds to buy Christmas gifts for poor children in the community. The project aims at improving the life standards of the poor individuals in the community through economic empowerment and providing donations towards development projects in the community. The project is also aimed at increasing the membership of the church through developing a positive image among the members of the community.
Project description
The dinner fundraiser is not an economic activity but rather an initiative to generate funds for development in the community. Before deciding on the kind of contribution that a faith-based organization can make towards the development in a given community, there is need to examine what the community needs and the resources that are available to achieve this (Reese and Clamp 7).
Apparently, the needs of the members of the community around us are wanting and they cannot be met by a single initiative. We settled on the initiative of presenting gifts to children due the positive image that the move is likely to create of our church. Due to the changing lifestyles and the high costs of living, individuals get to be inclined towards organizations that give more incentives to them.
The gifts to be provided
The project consists of planning and scheduling for the event, facilitation of the fundraiser, procurement of the material gifts to be presented, and subsequent provision of these gifts. The fundraiser will be conducted in the church’s compound.
The Christmas gifts to be presented to the needy children include modern products like Ugg Boots, Perplexus 3-D Puzzle Ball, Christmas Rag Dolls, Jewelry, Gaming Chairs, Gravity Defying Gear, Toy Fireworks, and melodious instruments like Shoenhut Melodica among many others. The individuals to receive these gifts are identified prior to the fundraiser and the purchase of the gifts is done a day after the fundraising.
The targeted group
The fundraiser will benefit the poor members of the community around our church establishment. The Christmas gifts are intended for young children in the community, both boys and girls. The gifts will be available for children aged between 4 and 10 years.
The children to benefit from the program are chosen on the grounds of their family economic background. Greater advantages will be given to orphaned children and those living with disabilities. In fact, a special pack of gifts like reading or walking aids will be provided to the identified children with disabilities.
The potential benefits of the project
The initiative is carried out at the Spirit of Faith Christian Center at Temple Hills, Maryland. This is where the church was first established before it spread to other parts of the world. The gift is to be directed to the poor children in the community around Temple Hills.
Our church is in the process of attracting more souls from the community. This can be achieved when we express concern for the welfare of the community around us.
The initiative will enable the community to develop a positive attitude towards our church and the services we provide. The initiative is expected to improve membership by attracting over 500 souls and winning a large fraction of converts. It will promote our community outreach, as we will be interacting with individuals from different sections of the community.
Some spirit-building session will be incorporated in the events to bond the individuals who have attended the occasions. Besides, the poor children will literally benefit through the gifts provided. This will improve their lives in some way. For instance, an individual who will have some disability is supposed to be provided with the appropriate aids.
Some players in the field
This is initiative is not unique one and neither is it the first of its kind. A number of other organizations also conduct and initiative of this form to buy Christmas gifts to disadvantaged children in the community.
An example is the Toys for Tots, an initiative by the US Marine Forces Reserve. The initiative is organized annually, covers all the states of the US with campaigns being facilitated by the marine officials. The organization relies on the local organizations like religious institutions to help in identifying the poor individuals in the community.
Unlike our dinner fundraiser, the Toy for Toy campaigns requires collection of toy gifts from the well-wishers from across the country. The foundation is also strengthened by the massive support that it receives from the local business leaders and national corporations (Destined for Greatness, para.5-6). The individuals and corporation facilitate the advertisement and marketing campaign for the exercise. The advantage that our initiative will have over such moves is in targeting a specific region, specifically the environs of Temple Hills.
Concentration in this area will help popularize our church more to the individuals and make meaningful life transformation to the community. Others foundations like the Good Samaritan foundations have similarly initiatives, although the initiatives are specific to certain nations. Meeting and overdoing the strategies laid down by these competing foundations requires a careful planning of the event as stipulated in the following section.
The operational strategy and plan of action for the dinner fundraiser
The clients for this event are the guests (donors and sponsors) invited. To accommodate all the guests, the functions will be carried out in English with possible translation to languages like Spanish, French, and Chinese for such speakers. The team also considers the cultural diversity that may affect the eating habit and hence the menu of the diner. As such, a variety of spices and snacks will be availed.
The dishes in menu list for the party include Smoked Pork Ribs, Buorbon Chicken, and Lamb Roast with Port Wine Sauce. As a religious institution, the church has only settled on the gospel band and not any other secular music band that may be favorites of many. However, this is not expected to reflect negatively on the turn out.
Proper preparation is the key to the success of any event (Kilkenny, 21). Planning ensures that the event is carried out as anticipated by identifying the different activities to be involved (Carter, 5). The successful organization of the fundraising dinner will be achieved through a number of defined steps.
First, the project team has to establish a budget list for all the requirements of the dinner and determine the estimated expenses for all the materials. The costs of these materials and services are estimated from recent figures that have been recorded elsewhere. Allowances are also provided to cater for fluctuations that may occur.
After estimating the total expenses, the team then sets the ticket prices so that the total expenses does not exceed a quarter of the total revenue expected from tickets and sponsorships. It would not be very appropriate if a larger fraction of the total revenue from the event caters for the expenses. Based on the estimated costs and the targeted revenue, the team then sets the attendance goal, that is, the number of individuals to be invited to the party.
The team develops a list of all the individuals who are likely to attend the fundraiser including their contact details. A date is then set that is convenient to all the invitees. It is appropriate to have dates that do not conflict with usual events like national holidays, community or field days, or some sporting events and tournaments (Urbanczyk, 5). The team then prepares an invitation card that has the details of the event like the venue, date, time, and the purpose for which the event is carried out.
The invitees are required to respond back to the team within a short period indicated in the card in the event that they are not able to attend the function for some reason. The invitation cards are then sent to the invitees some months before the event. The operations officer makes a follow up on the mailed letters though telephone calls to ensure that the mails were received and that the invitees are preparing to attend.
On the eve of the function, the team finalizes all the arrangements like dinner logistics, floor plan, and table arrangement for the dinner, the type of menu to be included, audio-visual equipments, decorations, and seating arrangement. Any discrepancies or fluctuations that may have occurred are identified and corrected before the point of no return.
During the event, the list of all attendees is prepared with indication of individual contributions as appropriate. When the event is over, the team then sums up all the expenses that were used in the event and as well as the total revenue, which has been received to determine the profitability of the event.
It is very important to show gratitude to the individuals who honored the request to attend and contribute in the function. Thus, the team then sends a letter of appreciation to each of the individuals who attended the function. This letter explains explicitly how the raised funds will be used and how the church will benefit from the initiative.
Finally, we also intend to hear from the donors on the nature of services that they received from the event we carried out. Each of the invitees is to be issued with an evaluation sheet to provide comment and any recommendation regarding how the function was planned ad executed. This will be useful in the planning of an event of this nature in the future.
Requirements
The success of this initiative requires human capital as well as liquid capital facilitate the event. In terms of human capital, there is need for a lead project manager who will be the president of all operations throughout the project’s lifetime.
Just like any other business organization, this manager has to be supported by the other members of the team. Thus, two line managements are also used, that is, financial manager and operations manager. These individuals shall assume all the other roles of other line managers in a typical/large organization during the execution of the project.
All the group members are required, of course, to be the employee-stakeholders. The individuals are persuaded to take on the responsibility as a voluntary role and only some stipend may be provided to each of them at the end of the function. The liquid capital is needed to cater for the fundraiser dinner-cost including catering services, printing invitation letters, audio-visual equipment, Gospel band, decorating expenses, raffle tickets, and advertisements. These are explained in the next section on the budget for the event.
The financial budget
The project committee has purposed to invite 400 individuals to the dinner fundraiser. The venue for such a function and the requirements like tables, chairs, tents, and parking area are an important consideration (Meskauskas 12).
The function is held at the church’s compound. There are church facilities to accommodate these individuals like a hall, chairs, and tables and so these facilities need not to be hired. Various are requirements are necessary for the success of the event.
The first expense will be Catering services for the event. With the modern lifestyles, the events like this are not fully facilitated by the organizers. Most social and religious functions in the contemporary hire professionals to provide catering services during the occasion. It is believed that this is cheaper than a situation where the event organizers had provide the services alone.
Firstly, the organizers often lack the required level of expertise to provide quality services. Secondly, paying for all the services as a single entity is cheaper than outsourcing the different services separately. Thus, the team has scheduled to hire a professional caterer to facilitate the event.
The event will be graced by a gospel band that will be hired for the whole event. Apart from entertainment, the band shall also provide and operate the audio-visual equipments that are used in conducting the program. The whole cost of this service is given as a package. A team of expert decorators will also be hired to decorate the event venue.
There is also printing of the invitation letters and tickets for the dinner. These materials have to be printed in numbers slightly larger than the targeted number to absorb the fluctuations that may occur. Thus, the event team shall print 600 copies of each of the two documents. During the event, the team has also scheduled to use raffle tickets to generate more cash. About 1000 raffle tickets will also be produced.
The event is carried into the night and seeking permission from the administrative unit is essential. This will allow them to provide security at the event and be a certification that the event is held under the legal approval.
Finally, the event has to be advertised in order to attract more audience. Both electronic (television and radio) and print media (local newspapers) will be used for the advertisements. An additional value is allowed to cater for some of the fluctuations that may occur. The overall budget is condensed in the following table.
Table.1 Budget of the Dinner Fundraiser
Service/Item description
No of units
Cost per unit (US$)
Total (US$)
Catering
–
–
2,000
Gospel band
–
–
300
Decorators
–
–
300
Invitation cards
600
0.5
300
Dinner tickets
600
0.4
240
Raffle tickets
1000
0.26
260
Advertisement
–
–
1000
Security services and permit
–
–
500
Others
–
–
500
Total 5,400
The costs are estimated based on data from the events that have been carried out in the church in the past. However, these operating costs are likely to change with the unpredictable future conditions. This explains the necessity of ‘Others’ included in the budget estimate.
The project team
The success of a given project consists largely in the composition of the project management team. Teamwork is a tool that is more powerful than even the magic of modern technologies (Kilkenny, 29).
An important strength of this project is in the composition of its management as well as that of the other facilitators who are scheduled to participate during the fundraising. The team should have individuals from diverse academic backgrounds to perform the cross-functional responsibilities to be encountered (Mello, Para. 1). Each member needs to be accountable.
The management team of the project draws its professional members just from among the members of the youth ministry in the church. The team comprises the chairman/manager, the financial manager, the operations manager/chief operating officer, and a class of facilitators.
The leader has to be an individual whirs fully dedicated to the assigned role (Mello, Para. 1). The chairperson and team leader of the project is Mr. Tom Lewis.
He is charged with the overall management and presides over the development of all the operational strategies that are to be used in the project. Lewis holds a bachelor of commerce degree and an executive MBA with bias on project management. He teaches business management at a professional institute in the suburb regions of Baltimore.
He also has over five years experience providing business consultancy services. He has shown commitment to research and developments through business engineering techniques that have seen many of his client organizations beat their competitors in the job market. These factors are unquestionable assets for this particular position.
The financial manager is Ms Ann Lee, who shall see the overall management of inflow and outflow of funds for the project. She is responsible for the development of the budget of the project and providing the forecasts on expected returns from organizing the fundraiser event. Ann holds a graduate diploma in Banking and Finance. She also has a professional certification in Accounting.
The operation manager is Mr. Zack Singh. Singh holds a degree in business administration (sales and marketing) and a postgraduate qualification in public administration. The operations manager acts as operating officer for the project team. He is responsible for the coordination of all the activities like connecting to the clients and arranging for the service operations.
The operations manager schedules for various meetings of the management team. He arranges for the variety of guests to be included to the fundraising schedule and ensures proper coordination with them. Some of the guests may be unwilling to participate or they may be unable to attend for some specified reasons.
The operations manager examines and evaluates the responses that are received from these guests and advises the management on the appropriate adjustments to be made. During the fundraising, the operations manager will be the master of ceremony, providing directions and guidance for the event.
The facilitators consist of individuals with varied academic and professional qualifications in the hospitality industry as well as business. There are qualifications in hotel and institutional management and public relations that are particularly essential for an event of this nature that brings together dignitaries and professionals.
The catering service is dedicated fully to qualified catering organization with high reputations in the community. The members of this service provider have had extensive experience and have served at different hotel institutions in the region.
Expected returns
The event team has invitations for over 400 hundred individuals. Before the event day, the team expects to sell over 400 tickets. Each of these tickets is sold for $25 summing up to $10,000. A relatively larger sum is expected from sponsorships. From the list of potential invitees, the team expects a total of $12,000 from donors and well-wishers.
The raffle draw is also expected to generate revenue. Individuals may also wish to give material donations during the event. The invitees are allowed to present material gifts that they may wish to bring to the occasion. In the draw, the participants will be required to buy the raffle tickets that have four random digits indicated on their back. The tickets are sold at $8. The objective of the participant is to match the four digits to the digits in a separate sheet for the draw.
Both these numbers have been computer-generated. A participant who correctly matches two of the four digits irrespective of the order wins $50 whereas the individual who matches three of the four digits wins $200. The jackpot for this draw entails matching all the four digits and the grand price is $1000.
Due to the little chances of cracking the jackpot (it is expected that one or no individual will match the four digits), the draw is expected to generate about $4000. Thus, the expected returns are the sum of all these revenues that amounts to $26,000 together with the list of all the material gifts that the guests might bring to the occasion.
Conclusions
The benefits of this business project and its likely success are evident. Despite the seemingly large initial operating costs, the project is profitable. The total estimated expenses including possible fluctuations in service prices amounted to $5400 while the total expected revenue amounts to $26,000 alongside other material gifts.
The revenue is more than four times the expenses. The composition of the team that is to manage the project leaves no doubt that it is bound to succeed. The operational strategies of the project are developed with a consideration of the needs of the clients. The purpose of the project is in line with the church’s commitment to improving the living standards of the neighboring poor community.
The initiative popularizes the church among the members of the community around Temple Hills. Even though the church has been in the region for almost two decades, there is still need to attract more followers. Carrying out the project enables the church to interact with, and reach out for, more individuals who were not members of the congregation.
Recommendations
As the project is likely to succeed and provide its evident benefits, the management of the church should consider its approval. The church should put more emphasis on similar development initiatives to ensure that the locals are not only spiritually nourished but are also economically empowered. Similarly, the church leadership should focus more on helping the needy than on the expansion of the business.
There are several parentless and homeless children in the community. Even though a committee has been set up that carries out the planning and execution of the event, the event will be successful if every individual volunteers to serve in whatever capacity that may be necessary.
The members of the church have to be in the forefront in order to persuade the other guests to donate generously. Providing a close watch on its operations and giving appropriate guidance will see the project sail through the fluctuation in the prices of services and products that may occur while the preparations are underway.
Urbanczyk, Ron. The Fundraising Guides for Chairpersons: Seven steps to coordinating non-profit and Church organizations fundraising events! 2001. Web. <http://www.brownwalker.com/>
The phenomenon of mega-events is a unique conjunction of forces that calls into question the fundamental nomenclature of mass culture and the understanding of the nature of political action. Mega-events need the development of a vast range of cultural products, including live performances, global broadcasts, group recordings, and compilation LPs (Garofalo 26). Fundraising is perhaps the most obvious, if not usually the most important, use of mega-events (Garofalo 26). As a result, famous recording artists are in a unique opportunity to focus on the fundraising possibilities of mega-events. Mega-concerts are especially capable of obtaining mega-amounts of money by accessing international audiences (Garofalo 27). Significantly, if the strength of popular music lends itself easily to fundraising, its form is as well-suited to spreading awareness.
Notably, I want to focus on global poverty by organizing a largescale pre-recorded rock concert to increase awareness and raise money to help children in need. According to the World Bank, 9.2 percent of the world’s population, or 689 million people, live in severe poverty on less than $1.90 a day (Peer). Although poverty is frequently considered in terms of cash quantities, the quality of life is also emphasized. As of 2019, 10.5 percent of the population, or 34 million people, in the United States are poor (Peer). Poverty implies a life of struggle and hardship; poverty-stricken children frequently lack access to a decent education (Peer). As a child-focused organization, World Vision views children as a community’s most valuable resource and as fundamental to solving poverty (Peer). Essentially, the money fundraised from the rock concert will be transferred to World Vision.
The concert will engage rock bands that are fighting against global poverty. The first band is Coldplay, well-known for its charitable efforts (Borgen Magazine). For instance, in 2015, Coldplay collaborated with the Global Poverty Project, a Global Citizen project that encourages governments to fund education for girls who cannot attend school (Borgen Magazine). The second band is Maroon 5, the American pop-rock band that has been actively involved in charitable activity for over a decade. One of the band’s most notable accomplishments is #Maroon5Day, an annual event that began in 2016 (Borgen Magazine). The band members encouraged their fans to donate money to UNICEF. These funds aided children in numerous countries who lacked access to healthcare, safe drinking water, and education.
I selected the songs from the recent Maroon 5 and Coldplay albums to attract more people. People would be able to listen to the concert online after purchasing tickets. The amount of money fundraised with be transferred to the World Vision organization to help children who face poverty. Maroon 5 and Coldplay are brilliant examples of rock bands that help fight global poverty. The songs chosen for the concert are listed below:
