Category: Nonprofit Organizations

Business planning is an integral part of the successful organization. It defines the primary goals, marketing and management strategies for their accomplishment as well as financial schemes for their realization.

Strategic planning is the most efficient way of the organization as far as it presupposes the analysis of the problematic aspects, and employment of the systemic approach (Allison & Kaye, 2015). Business plans under consideration belong to the nonprofit organizations. They focus on the long-term strategic planning due to the nature of their activity and an estimated level of development.

Nonprofit establishments provide services or goods, which are not governmental or private. There is a kind of discrepancy concerning the term nonprofit. The organizations of this type usually have revenues. They distribute income to facilitate other services while the shareholders or owners receive profit from private companies (Vaughan & Arsenault, 2013).

The Catering for Kids is the initiative of the Bright Future Youth and Family Services organization. It is a part of the Chambers School and Career Centre program. The Chambers School is one of ten nonprofit tax-free programs of the Bright Future Youth. Catering for Kids presupposes the commencement and further development of the catering services including the delivery of the lunch boxes.

The aim of the initiative is to receive necessary funding for the successful implementation of the alternative educational programs for unprotected youth. These programs assist the young residents from Springfield and Eugene area (Lane County) to acquire at least minimum knowledge and working skills. The Chambers School produces various curriculums. The last one was the training of the culinary.

The students of this course are expected to become employees of Catering for Kids. The successful outcomes of the courses prove the need to increase funding. The program requires initial funding otherwise the rising of revenue will be impossible. As a result, the main problems concern the expansion of working area (kitchen), hiring new employees, and buying equipment for the establishment of the catering business.

The core objectives of the Catering for Kids program contain the formation of the broad client base that will lead to the growing financial support and will allow Chambers School and Career Centre to provide students with more studying opportunities (Catering Business Plan, n.d.).

The other organization is Helping Hand. It is a nonprofit and free of taxes food bank. Helping Hand provides food for people who suffer from hunger in Johnson County. The organization has already established similar programs. Charitable associations, residents of the county support Helping Hand financially. Almost the fourth part of all population needs assistance. Helping Hand gives food for families with law-incomes, especially for children.

Currently, the program functions successfully as far as it receives donations from local shops, markets, and directly from people who grow food. However, it is expected that more citizens will need food in the following five years. Helping Hand emphasizes the fact that the problem of hunger concerns everyone otherwise it will negatively impact the health and crime conditions in the county. The objectives of the Helping Hand are more precise than those of the Catering for Kids.

According to the business plan, the program should gather $200 000 with the help of charity or governmental contributions and $100 000 with the help of fundraising strategies. It has to save approximately five million pounds of products during the twelve months and establish a farm where young people would be engaged in food growing (Nonprofit Food Bank Business Plan, n.d.).

Catering business plan aims at the expansion of the working place and increasing of general revenue in the next five years. The employees of the Catering for Kids will cook fresh and healthy lunches for customers. The program prefers offering its services for other not-for-profit organizations. The major strengths of the Catering for Kids business plan are the approach to marketing, website launching, and financial plan.

Catering for Kids has chosen its marketing strategy wisely, taking into consideration the most suitable form of business in the region. Small businesses function actively in the area. Catering for Kids has made an investigation of the level of satisfaction with catering services among other nonprofit organizations. The next efficient step was the segmentation of the market and the potential customers. Catering for Kids described three main groups of clients.

Catering for Kids managed to analyze market trends. The organization found out that the consumers were becoming more concerned about their health, giving preference to sugar-free, organic, or vegetarian products. One more fact was that a growing number of families favored an already cooked food which meant that more employees would come to work without lunches. The last significant thing was the identification of the main competitors.

Catering for Kids analyzed the prices and general performance of its contestants. All of these assisted the program in evaluating the potential development and choosing a target audience. The second strength of the Catering for Kids business plan is the web plan. The program intends to launch a web page presenting the general information about Catering for Kids and the full menu. There is no need to create a new online resource.

Technical employees will add one more page to the Bright Future website. Initially, there will be no option for online ordering, but it may become possible with the growth of the business. Catering of Kids web strategy embraces the printing of the address of the web resource on any printed materials, menus, or lunch boxes. Customers will have the opportunity to become familiar with all changes in the menu.

Besides, they will read the stories of life and employment of the students who have been studying cooking at Charmers School and Career Centre. Catering for Kids will hire designers to create their logo and the outlook of the site. The launching of the website is of great significance for the successful business development. According to Spann (2014), every business should have a web page that fulfills the needs of the customer.

The impact of the website should not be underestimated. Most people prefer using the Internet for searching. It helps them to form their personal impression about the services or goods rather than listen to somebody else. The third strength is the method of financing. Employees realize that the financial growth may be slow. Their expectations are not exaggerated. The financial plan is based on the well-considered assumptions.

Thus, Catering for Kids expects a slow financial growth, the same governmental granting, and the increasing interest in the program among other students. The financial plan is designed for three years. The program will focus on internal clients during the first year. One more significant thing concerns the break-even analysis. The nonprofit organization acknowledges the gradual progress and is ready to face challenges.

All payroll costs are calculated. The expenses for products will be minimized to guarantee the safe financial functioning of the program. The application of the break-even analysis exemplifies the control method. Such an approach to financing is a great advantage of the nonprofit organization. Economic growth of Catering for Kids cannot be rapid due to the nature of their activity. It is astute to comprehend this and plan development without excessive positive expectations.

Nonprofit Food Bank provides the most urgent assistance  food. Volunteers bring emergency boxes to the families who live in poverty. It is of great significance to know the exact number of potential people who will need help. The business plan presents a deep investigation of the market. That is the first major strength. Helping Hand counted that 120 000 people may need food assistance. Almost fifty percent are children, and they have priority among others. The percentage of children from poor families will be above fifty percent in five years.

That explains the necessity to develop the program. However, Helping Hand conducts more precise market segmentation. Helping Hand examines service geographics, demographics, psychographics, and behaviors. Service geographics has studied the location of low-income families. Demographics deals with major age groups in the area.

Helping Hand has created an image of the family that needs assistance by means of psychographics. Service behavior concerns the methods of food distribution with the help of the advanced volunteer base. According to Weinstein (2013), a profound market segmentation has proved its efficiency in target marketing. The advantage of it is that the organization gets closer to the potential clients, analyzes them and finds the most suitable approach to help them.

The second strength of this business plan is the fundraising strategy. Helping Hand aims at gathering donations from local unions, banks, and voluntary contributions. The program realizes that cash flow will not be steady. It is estimated that summer months will bring the least donations. The prevailing point in funding strategy refers to the employing of various programs for food and funds collection. There are five major programs, and each of them has its target audience.

For instance, Fill the Bucket program works will banks and credit centers while Food Rescue Express looks for help from local restaurants. This diversity increases the possibility of receiving a sufficient amount of money and food. The third strength is the personnel plan.

Helping Hand identifies its staff in details. It will consist of five coordinators, executive director, and the board of directors during the three years. Helping Hand has calculated the total payroll. These computations introduce the overall expenses. Such a method of control makes it easier to distribute existing funds and promote the further development. A detailed personnel plan displays the opportunities and possible challenges of the program (Nonprofit Food Bank Business Plan, n.d.).

The weakest points of Catering for Kids business plan include the strategy pyramid, some aspects of management approach, and fundraising forecast. Strategy pyramid of the Catering for Kids emphasizes the importance of the broadening of the client base. The organization intends to do the following to achieve this goal: to make more clients aware of the program and supply them with healthy food.

The clients will receive thank-you notes and informational cards in their lunch boxes. The other variant is to send students to the external clients. In my opinion, this cannot be enough for making the program popular. At the initial stages of its development, Catering for Kids should organize an event that will attract many residents from the area. It is better to send letters offering their services to potential clients rather than wait that a thank-you note will lead to the desirable effect.

The second weakness concerns the fundraising strategy of the program. The clientele should increase the budget of the program. In my opinion, Catering for Kids value proposition is not adequate for sufficient changes in funding. It presupposes that clients will be eager to buy products because of the charitable aim. I find this is not enough to form a large client base. Catering for Kids makes its fundraising assumptions taking into consideration the previous programs.

According to the business plan, the organization is very optimistic about possible outcomes. The business plan should ascertain all possible difficulties and not create an impression that everything will be trouble-free. The third weakness refers to a few aspects of the management approach. The working group of Catering for Kids comprises of the director, teacher of cooking, and business manager. Students who will prepare food belong to the additional staff group.

The personnel plan in not satisfactory. It describes the salaries only of students and the instructor. However, students and the instructor cannot execute all necessary functions. There should be employees responsible for lunch boxes distribution, marketing, website development, and funding control. I assume that program executives will face more challenges when they realize that there is a need in hiring more employees (Catering Business Plan, n.d.).

The lack of the detailed description of the legal entity, some gaps in management strategy, and the absence of web plan are three weaknesses of the second business plan. A profound description of the legal entity is an integral part of the professional business plan.

There is only one sentence in the Nonprofit Food Bank business plan concerning legal entity. It states that Helping Hand is a nonprofit organization. Legal entity should define the form of business in details, provide information about its services, aims, methods, and legal activity (Barksdale, 2011).

Though Food Bank has a good personnel plan, it lacks the description of everyones responsibilities. I assume that it is better when a personnel plan includes a basic overview of the employment history and achievements of the directors or senior employees. The third weakness of the plan is the absence of the web page. The website can be of great assistance for the Food Bank to accomplish its primary goal  to become visible to as many clients as possible.

Both business plans embrace a comprehensive executive and organizational summaries. The key goals include the development of the client bases and the financial increasing.

Catering for Kids and Nonprofit Food Bank business plans have efficient marketing strategies. Some gaps in management strategy are typical for both plans as well the absence of short-term strategic decisions. The first business plan has a web plan and a detailed legal entity description while the second one lacks it. They are also dissimilar in the selected fundraising strategies.

I recommend for both organizations to pay more attention to their personnel plans. It is advisable to define all types of work and distribute the responsibilities between the employees. I suggest that Catering for Kids should not be too optimistic about the potential financing. It is better to be prepared for more difficult situations. Nonprofit Food Bank should include the launching of the website to its business plan.

I have faced several challenges while comparing these business plans. I found it difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of the marketing, management, fundraising, or financial strategies. I used logical thinking to overcome some problems. For instance, I have come to the conclusion that being too optimistic about future plans is not a good feature on my own. However, there were cases when I looked for help in additional materials.

Consequently, I defined strengths and weaknesses of business plans with the help of the peer-reviewed resources. I believe that I have demonstrated the competencies for business plans analysis and comparison to a sufficient extent. I have learned the following five lessons about business planning:

1. Strategic planning is the best approach for creating a coherent and efficient plan and short-term decisions should comprise it;
2. Every business plan should contain a profound description of its legal entity;
3. Business planning is not about being too optimistic, it is about being realistic;
4. A successful business plan includes a detailed investigation of the target clientele;
5. The choice of the marketing and management strategies should correspond to the goals and enhance the possibility of their accomplishment.

The way to success commences from the business plan. It is a starting point for the further development. An adequate strategic planning with elements of short-term planning assists in setting the right goals and finding the most suitable methods of their realization.

References

Allison, M., & Kaye, J. (2015). Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations. New-Jersey, USA: John Wiley & Sons.

Barksdale, K. (2011). DigiTools: Communication, Information, and Technology Skills. Boston, USA: Cengage Learning.

Catering Business Plan. (n.d.). Web.

Nonprofit Food Bank Business Plan. (n.d.). Web.

Spann, L. (2014). Owners Guide to a Small Business Website. Paris, France: Hachette.

Vaughan, S., & Arsenault, S. (2013). Managing Nonprofit Organization in a Policy World. Washington, DC, USA: CQ Press.

Weinstein, A. (2013). Handbook of Market Segmentation. London, United Kingdom: Routledge.

Definition of These Marketing Steps

• Identification and definition of the marketing problem.
• Development and design of the marketing research plan.
• Collection of data that is specific to the identified marketing problem.
• Data analysis and reporting of relevant findings (Pride et al., 2017).
• Resolution of the marketing problem using established findings.

Changing dynamics in the target markets compel organizations to undertake constant marketing of their products and services. The first step entails the identification of a marketing problem that an organization experiences in the target market. The development and design of the marketing research plan form the second step. In the third step, once market researchers identify the research problem and develop a strategy of collecting data, they undertake a comprehensive data collection. The fourth step involves the analysis of collected data to provide accurate information about the problem and the target market (Pride et al., 2017). Ultimately, the fifth step constitutes a critical examination of the findings to derive effective strategic solutions to the current problem.

Importance of Research in Marketing

• Enables organizations to identify and understand scope of problems they experience.
• Permits collection of valid and accurate information about markets (Pride et al., 2017).
• Allows organizations to make evidence-based decisions in their operations and activities.
• Promotes the identification of avenues and opportunities for organizations to grow and develop in competitive markets.

Research in marketing has numerous benefits related to the growth and development of organizations. Research enables organizations to understand the scope of their problems so that they can develop effective interventions. In the research process, the collection and analysis of both primary and secondary data generate valid and accurate information, which reflects the market status of organizations (Pride et al., 2017). Findings from research sanction organizations to make evidence-based decisions about their growth and development. Research findings aid in the identification of avenues and opportunities for organizations to grow and develop in competitive markets.

Implementation of Each Step

Step 1: Definition of the Problem

• It entails identification of the context and scope of the problem that marketing can solve.
• The problem of the charity organization is the declining number of new and repeat members.
• The formulation of research objectives and questions aid in the identification and description of the marketing problem.
• Questions should target the nature of marketing environment and demographics of customers.

Definition of the research problem is the first and critical step in the marketing research approach. It entails the identification of the context and scope of the problem that marketing can solve. In this case, the problem of the charitable organization is the declining number of new and repeat members, which requires an urgent solution to reverse the diminishing growth. A practical implementation of this step needs the identification and description of the problem. The formulation of research objectives and questions aid in the identification and description of the marketing problem. Questions should target the nature of the marketing environment and demographics of customers.

Step 2: Development of Research Plan

• The scope and nature of the problem determine the development of research plan.
• Given that the problem of the charity organization relates to the declining membership of new and repeat customers, interview is an appropriate method of collecting data from previous, current, and new customers.
• Interviews have a high response rate, collect detailed information, and allow researchers to probe respondents (Pride & Ferrell, 2015).
• Formulation of interview questions that inquiry about needs, interests, and objectives of target customers in supporting charity organizations.

The development of the research plan enables the collection of accurate and valid data that capture the problem. The scope and nature of the problem determine the development of a research plan. In the development of the research plan, marketing managers employ methods of data collection, such as interviews, surveys, observations, and focus groups. Given that the problem of the charitable organization relates to the declining membership of new and repeat customers, an interview is an appropriate method of collecting data from previous, current, and new customers. Advantages of interviews are that they have a high response rate, collect detailed information, and allow researchers to probe respondents (Pride & Ferrell, 2015). Thus, as a marketing manager, I would formulate interview questions that inquire about needs, interests, and objectives of current and potential customers in supporting charitable organizations.

Step 3: Collection of Data

• Data collection determines accuracy and validity of findings.
• Target individuals and managers of organizations who are the potential customers.
• Give ample time to each respondent during interviewing and record their responses accurately.
• Collect both qualitative and quantitative data using open-ended and closed-ended questions.
• Limit the effect of bias by asking direct questions, upholding a neutral stance during probe, and avoiding suggestive questions.

The collection of data is an essential step in the research marketing approach because it determines the accuracy and validity of findings. Using the interview as a method of collecting data, the research would target individuals and managers of organizations who are the potential customers. Each respondent would have ample time to answer interview questions and permit recording of responses for further analysis. The interview would collect both qualitative and quantitative data using open-ended and closed-ended questions. To limit the effect of bias, the marketing manager would ask direct questions, uphold a neutral stance during the probe, and avoid intriguing questions.

Step 4: Data Analysis and Reporting

• The aim of the data analysis is to establish patterns and trends of data, which give meaningful information.
• Descriptive and inferential statistics apply in the analysis of quantitative data, whereas thematic analysis is appropriate in the analysis of qualitative data.
• Accurate reporting of findings is dependent on methods of data analysis and the manner of interpreting results.
• Hypothesis testing of quantitative data gives accurate and valid findings.

Data analysis is a way of converting raw data collected into findings that the research targeted. The data analysis aims to establish patterns and trends of data, which give meaningful information about the marketing environment and customers. Descriptive and inferential statistics apply in the analysis of quantitative data, whereas thematic analysis is appropriate in the analysis of qualitative data. Accurate reporting of findings is dependent on methods of data analysis and the manner of interpreting results. In the case of quantitative data, hypothesis testing gives accurate and valid findings that aid in the resolution of the marketing problem.

Step 5: Resolution of the Problem

• Resolution of the marketing problem is the final step in the marketing research approach.
• Since the research objectives aim at addressing the problem, the analysis of collected data provide accurate and valid findings.
• The identification of factors that decrease membership would enable the marketing manager to devise effective solutions.
• Consideration of these factors in the new marketing campaign would enable the charity organization to increase its membership.

Resolution of the marketing problem is the final step in the marketing research approach. Since the research objectives aim at addressing the problem, the analysis of the collected data provides accurate and valid findings. In this case, the findings would indicate factors that cause repeat and new members to decline in the charitable organization. The identification of these factors would enable the marketing manager to devise concrete solutions. Therefore, consideration of these factors in the new marketing campaign would enable the charitable organization to increase its membership through the retention and recruitment of new ones.

Description of Target Market

• Profit-making companies because they undertake corporate social responsibilities in their respective jurisdictions.
• Religious bodies belonging to major religions, such as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism, are target customers for they often participate in charity activities.
• Individuals also constitute potential customers in the target market because they are integral members of society.
• Effective research methods are surveys, interviews, and focus groups.

The target market of the charitable organization comprises of profit-making companies, religious bodies, and individuals. Given that profit-making companies undertake corporate social responsibilities in their respective jurisdictions, they form potential customers to the charitable organization. Religious bodies belonging to major religions, such as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism, are target customers for they often participate in charity activities. Individuals also constitute potential customers in the target market because they are integral members of society who determine involvement in charity work. Effective research methods that could be used to identify organizations, religious bodies, and individuals are surveys, interviews, and focus groups.

Service Differentiation

• Differentiation is a marketing approach that customizes and creates diverse products to satisfy varied needs of customers.
• Target market comprises profit-making organizations, religious bodies, and individuals as target groups.
• As potential customers in the target groups have dissimilar abilities of donating, differentiation would enable the charitable organization have varied memberships.
• Differentiation would classify donors into large, medium, and small donors.

Differentiation is a marketing approach that organizations apply to customize and create diverse products to satisfy varied needs of customers. The analysis of the target market indicates that it comprises of profit-making organizations, religious bodies, and individuals. As these potential customers have unique abilities to donate, differentiation would enable the charitable organization to have different memberships. In this case, differentiation classifies the nature of donations according to the target groups. Based on their abilities to donate, the charitable organization would classify profit-making organizations, religious bodies, and individuals as large, medium, and small donors, respectively. This method of differentiation allows diverse customers to participate and make contributions in line with their abilities.

Importance of Differentiation

• Differentiation would strengthen the competitiveness of the charitable organization in its market (Chew, 2017).
• By targeting profit-making organizations, the charitable organization increase its membership and donations significantly.
• Penetration and expansion into religious bodies would increase recruitment and retention of new members.
• The recruitment of individuals encourages awareness of the charitable organization and promotes the culture of charity.

Differentiation would strengthen the competitiveness of the charitable organization in its market. According to Chew (2017), differentiation is a powerful marketing strategy that enables organizations to penetrate, create, and sustain a lucrative niche in disruptive markets. By targeting profit-making organizations, the charitable organization does not only increase its membership but also its donations significantly. Profit-making organizations are large donors for they make huge profits and participate in corporate social responsibilities. Penetration and expansion into religious bodies would increase the recruitment and retention of new members. Moreover, the recruitment of individuals encourages awareness of the charitable organization and promotes the culture of charity. Overall, individuals who have leadership roles in various organizations and religious bodies would influence charitable decisions.

References

Chew, W. (2017). Differentiation: How to win in a disruptive market. Singapore, Malaysia: Write Editions.

Pride, W. M., & Ferrell, O. C. (2015). Marketing 2016 (18th ed.). New York, NY: Cengage Learning.

Pride, W. M., Ferrell, O. C., Lukas, B. A., Schembri, S., Niininen, O., & Casidy, R. (2017). Marketing principles. New York, NY: Cengage Learning.

There are a lot of disabled persons all over the world who need our help. Special nonprofit organizations and programs make the life of such people easier. These organizations exist due to products produced by these organizations, volunteers and donations of many people who are not indifferent to the sufferings of other people (Bois 18).

If you want to take part in such programs or offer your help to such organizations as the Northshore Club Wranglers, you may find the necessary information in the internet resources. Such organizations exist in every country. There are special research systems which help you to find the most convenient organization for you where you can offer your help. There is a special charity navigator which helps to make donations and make sure that your money will be used with the definite purpose. Foundation Center is another useful site which provides all the necessary information concerning the national funds and non-profit organizations. You may help disabled people not leaving your room. You may make donation via the internet on the one hand. Or you may work as a volunteer in these organizations, on the other hand. In this case you should find the website of the necessary organization and go after the indicated address. If you want to check out a nonprofit organization, the Better Business Bureau will help you providing the list of all nonprofits organizations which meet their criteria (White).

There are three major aims to be safeguarded in the delivery of health services through the agency of nonprofit organizations. These aims are

• ensuring that quality services are provided to persons with disabilities
• ensuring that the taxpayer gets value for the money utilized
• ensuring that the taxpayer is not exposed to possible liability by any breach of fiduciary duties in regard to the financial entitlements and obligations of clients (Purcell 29).

If the nonprofit organization follows all these interests, you may be sure in the quality of its work (Goodhart).

The National Intellectual Disability Database (NIDD) and the National Physical and Sensor Disability Database (NPSDD) provide the information concerning the disabled people who need our help. The NIDD was established in 1995 and has approximately 25,000 registrations. Implementation of the NPSDD has been underway since January 2002 and there are almost 20,000 people registered. The regional and national planning takes into account the databases that provide the information about the demographic profile of disabled people, current service supplies and future service needs for the next five years (Purcell 19).

While the databases provide the principal source of data on service provision and projected needs, there are deficiencies in the completeness and reliability of the data collected in that

• Participation is voluntary so there will always be some element of under reporting.
• It is estimated that there are about 40,000 persons with a physical or sensory disability. The NPSDD captures about 50% of the population receiving assistance and has almost no information in respect of two former health board regions.
• The assessment process to identify needs is not standardized.
• The assessment process is not independent. It has been criticized for the tendency to identify needs from a narrow perspective and in terms of capacity to deliver (Purcell 20).

In 2002, the service provider notified the HSE (former North Eastern Health Board) of its concern regarding the care provided to the residents and sought agreement to the commissioning of an independent review of the quantity employed. A consultancy firm was appointed to research and report on the adequacy of staffing and the skills mix required, having regard to assessed dependency levels. The examination was completed in October 2002 (Purcell 29).

It has been found that:

• The funded establishment was 203 WTE (Whole-time equivalent) while the actual establishment was 197 WTE.
• The number of staff which is necessary to supply the needs of disabled persons was 287 plus 4 to cover administration duties making a total of 291 WTE numbers.
• The skills mix ratio between qualified nursing staff and other care staff was 89:11. It recommended an alteration in the skills mix to 60:40 in areas of high dependency and a 55:45 mix for lower dependency residents.
• There was a need to change the culture from one that is custodial to one that supports the residents in developing their full potential in all aspects of life.
• Unqualified staff should be trained to supply the needs of residents with particular reference to activation programs and activities of daily living (Purcell 30).

If you want to be involved in such programs and help to make the level of services better, you should write an application for the working place you want. There are a lot of possibilities to provide your help. Volunteer opportunities include cooking, nursing services such as measuring the blood pressure, computer teaching, social services and others. You may also devote your time and efforts to organizing different entertainments for disabled people which make their lives happy.

There are a lot of interviews which are available in the internet which provide the best examples of people who have devoted their time to maintaining in Northshore Wranglers Program. This program makes a lot of people happy. Good deeds are always rewarded.

Works Cited

Bois, Cindy and Jegers, Marc. Objectives of Non-Profit Organizations: A Literature Review. Germany: Vrije Universitat Brussel, 2003.

Goodhart, M. Human Rights: Politics and Practice. USA: Oxford University Press, 2009.

Purcell, John. Provision of Disability Services by Nonprofit Organizations. Ireland: Government of Ireland, 2005.

White, Mary. List of Nonprofit Organizations. Love to Know Charity, n.d. 2011.

Agency’s Description

Lending Hand is a Christian prison rehabilitation ministry that can bring many benefits and hopes to society. Various life circumstances, biases, and other factors may prevent people released from prison from paving the way for a bright and law-abiding future. The agency can extend a helping hand to them and provide the necessary support. The activities of the organization cover assistance to former prisoners in the field of education, employment, housing, and spiritual support on the way of establishing their lives. The agency has support groups, interview clothing, contacts with potential employers, educational courses, and other opportunities. The organization’s activities take place under the auspices of the Christian Church and are supported by donations from outside donors, church members, and the work of volunteers.

Agency’s Goals

Goal

Help incarcerated and newly released juveniles, adults, and their families isolated from society establish a new law-abiding life.

Objectives

• Restore former convicts’ hope and faith in their future through spiritual support.
• Provide educational opportunities to acquire knowledge and skills for employment.
• To accompany on the way to employment, providing both spiritual and material support.
• Seek accommodation opportunities for those who have limited housing search options.
• Involve volunteers from communities to support the agency’s activities and increase released social acceptance of prisoners.

Mission Statement

The Landing Hands mission is to help former prisoners establish a new life by supporting their spiritual development and search for educational and employment opportunities.

Service Delivery

After leaving the prison system, people face real-world problems – finding work and housing, solving legal issues, health care, which is also complicated by widespread biases against former prisoners. Our agency believes that with proper support, such people can find hope and faith in their strength and live the life of ordinary citizens. Support and new opportunities are factors contributing to the prevention of further crimes. The agency’s services include consulting on various issues, such as legal assistance, seeking health care, or recovering from addiction. An essential part of the activity is assistance in employment by creating a communication network with potential employers and organizing training opportunities. Former prisoners can also receive help in finding housing and spiritual support from church ministers and volunteers.

Money laundering is a crime with an extensive history (Clevenger 53). Moreover, it tends to be interconnected with numerous cases of illicit activities. This type of criminal event has a serious impact on the economy of nonprofit organizations. It has been stated that frauds in nonprofit organizations are closely related to financial and nonfinancial activities (Clevenger 53). On a bigger scale, this situation motivates the whole world to act cooperatively to minimize the adverse effects of money laundering and eradicate this illicit activity in general.

Two main weaknesses are typical for nonprofit organizations – high staff turnover at all organizational levels and low probability of finding accounting and business experts in the nonprofit field (Clevenger 54). Owing to the stealthy nature of frauds, no one truly knows the amount of money that illegitimately circulates in the transnational monetary system. Fraud is not simply an operational or monetary risk. It is integrally a human menace, meaning it repeatedly crosscuts several occupations and branches within a nonprofit organization (Clevenger 54).

To battle this multifaceted risk, nonprofits face a serious necessity to address fraud, beginning with more direction and devotion from leaders to generate an anti-fraud atmosphere and design a fraud-risk supervision function (Clevenger 55).

Believably, though, because of their assignment-driven motivation and inadequate functional budgets, nonprofit frontrunners are repeatedly left with virtually no time and fewer resources available to proactively elaborate the anti-fraud governance actions. One of the most significant restraints of fraud is realizing that the organization does not accept it in any form and will act proficiently to spot it and take proper action if acknowledged (Clevenger 56).

One of the serious issues that should be addressed within a nonprofit organization is the document destruction. Even though it is a federal crime, numerous nonprofit organizations do not have the policies that would restrict the destruction of public company documents (Clevenger 57). A possible solution to this is to found an inspection committee. The formation of this committee would help get an understanding of the situation in the company and coordinate the appropriate actions in case of fraudulent activity. Another important addition to the preventive measures would be the creation of the document maintenance policy (Clevenger 58).

This policy would simplify the way the company chooses the documents that should be stored or destructed. Moreover, this policy should take into consideration both electronic and traditional (printed) types of documentation. By implementing this policy, the organization will be able to keep its employees contented, and they will be more likely to trust their employer (Clevenger 59). A document maintenance policy is a great way to guarantee data privacy and eradicate such adverse factors as discrimination, intimidation, harassment, or even termination.

It is obvious that fraudulent activity hurts any organization, but nonprofit organizations suffer major losses connected to the monetary assets and human resources. If the organization implements the anti-fraud activities, it will be able to experience all types of benefits and protect itself from fraudulent events (Clevenger 60). The organization will be able to control the activity within the company and expect its employees to behave ethically and honestly. The incorporation of the policies into the organizational practice would establish the necessary level of employee motivation and comprehension of how an effective organization performs (Clevenger 61).

Work Cited

Clevenger, Novella. “Fraud in Nonprofit Organizations.” Fraud Magazine 2.11 (2012): 53-61. Web.

The concept of supply and demand is very fundamental in economics especially in the operation of a market economy. Demand essentially entails the quantity of a product or service that will be desired by consumers at a certain time (Colander, 2008, p.132). Supply on the other hand is the quantity that producers in a market are willing to offer. The two, supply and demand are basically influenced y the market prices hence equilibrium.

Other factors that affect the demand level in a market economy include; consumer expectations, incomes, availability of substitutes, prices of complements, technology and seasonal changes among others. Supply levels are influenced by government policies, seasonal changes, production changes and costs, technology, natural disasters just to mention but a few. The aforementioned factors affecting demand and supply are what cause movements and shifts of the demand and supply curves. Depending on the affecting factor at hand, preventable measures have to be put in place so as to maintain the market equilibrium where producers and consumers are comfortable with the price and services or goods.

In the case of the nonprofit theater company the demand exceeds the supply as shown in the graph above. This is because the theater hall can only accommodate 120 people yet the number of people demanding for the tickets is enormous due to the fact that the set actors to perform are of national reputations. In this situation, the fixed factor is the capacity of the theatre hall which cannot e changed within the limited time.

To overcome this problem in the short run I would first suggest that the ticket price is increased by a small percentage so that the demand is reduced to meet the supply. This is because an increase in price will cause the demand curve which had initially shifted to the right because of the quality of the service to now shift towards the left to its initial position where it balanced with the supply quantity. Another decision which could be made in the short-run is that of selling the tickets on a first-come-first-serve service and in this case, they will not e sold out in a month’s advance. Instead, it is advisable that the tickets are sold only a few days before the actual performance.

This way, a larger representation of the consumers will be reached unlike if it is a month earlier where most likely the rich who have cash at hand throughout will benefit while the poor who live from hand to mouth with no or little savings will not have the opportunity to do so. The aim of doing is to make sure that every group in the population is represented in the small number that will get seats in the theatre.

To overcome such a problem in the long-run, the company should think of expanding to hold a larger capacity of people so that there is no scramble for tickets in future. This will ensure that the supply and demand curve at equilibrium point where both the theatre company and the theatre occupants are comfortable with the price and services offered. After the expansion, it is also advisable that the company administration thinks of enrolling permanent members of the theatre company who are issued with cards. Through this they will be able to predict the possible demand hence taking early measures especially concerning ticket prices given the fact that this is a non-profit company.

Reference List

Colander, D. (2008). Microeconomics 7th ed. McGraw-Hill.

Introduction

Financial Management is simply the management of finances in an organization so as to meet all the financial goals of the organization. The key objectives of financial management would be to: create income for the business, generate profits, and provide adequate returns on investments. These key objectives are achieved bearing in mind the risks that the business is taking and the resources invested.

Three key factors are to be considered in the process of financial management: financial Planning, financial decision-making and financial control.

Financial management

Even though financial management of non-profitable organizations is similar to financial management in profit organizations, there are many key highlights that make it different. In a forprofitorganization, the focus is on profitability and maximizing shareholder value.

A non-profitable organization focuses on reducing shareholder value and increasing the likelihood of satisfying the targeted clientele as per the requirements of the organization.Moreover, a non-profitable organization lacks the financial flexibility of a commercial enterprise. It largely depends on donors that do not engage in an exchange transaction (Ruppel, 2007).

Non-profit organizations ought to account for its donated resources. It must be able to show that the donation was utilized for a specific purpose. The purpose of the funds should be stated in the organization’s mission statement or specified by the donor. In a non-profitable organization, there is a strong emphasison externalfinancial reports on donor restriction. As a result the uses of fund accounting systems have been made even more critical.

In profitable organizations, the main focus is ensuring that the overall benefits of the stakeholders are capitalized. Simply translated, this means aiming to achieve the maximum profit possible for the organization. A profitable organization has various stake holders. These stake holders include: share-holders, fund lenders, employees, customers, suppliers, and the government. In order to attain the maximum profit possible, the profitable organization has to first find a balance between the needs of these stake holders and the organization.

If all operations of the organization are to run smoothly then there has to be a proper balance and clear definition of the long term and short term objectives and opportunities. In the process of setting the short term goals and opportunities it is important to evaluate all possibilities that may jeopardize the long term sustainability of the company. Should the organization manage to balance all these factors, the end result will be maximizing the shareholder value (McKinney, 2004).

Budgeting

Budgeting and cash management are two areas of financial management that serve significant roles in non-profitable organizations. The organization has a duty of ascertaining that there is adequate cash back up that will enable it to continue offering services to its customers. However in a profitable organization, the pursuit of such needs could be detrimental to the shareholders. This is because the funds that go into satisfying customers could be utilized in other areas of the business that need to be improved.

Cash flow in a non-profitable organization can prove to be quite a challenge. The organization largely depends on funds from donors. These donors donate their resources without expecting to receive the service provided by the non-profit organization. For this reason, expenses in the non-profitable organization have to be controlled.

In a profitable organization, stake holders expect their needs to be met and therefore, the organization has to maintain a steady cash flow. Just like the non-profitable organization, funds may be depleted. However, the organization does not rely on resources from donors; rather their resources are determined by how well the business performs. The wealth of the shareholder is based on the current value of the organization’s future cash flows (Atkinson, Kaplan &Young, 2004).

Budgets are an organization’s functioning plan for a financial period. They influence the board’s and staff’s decisions regarding how the organization will fulfill its objectives. The management in both profitable and non-profitable organizations usually decides which programs will commence in every up-coming financial period. Resources are then allocatedaccordingly in order to make sure that the programs are successful.

The budget dictates how the resources will be allocated and in which area they will be best utilized. A budget also shows staff performance gives staff goals that they should achieve within a certain period. Programexpenditures should be recorded in a timely and organized manner so as to make management’s work easier when reporting their service efforts and achievements to the donors.

The scope and size of a profit and a non-profitable organization dictate the complexity of its budget. The budget normally constitutes some plans together with objectives that “management hopes to cover through all phases of operations” over a certain period of time.

However, in a non-profit organization, when the surplus accrued is too much and the process through which it was accrued raises questions, this might indicate a problem that the organizationis not effectively carrying out its mission and fulfilling the donor’s wishes.

The organization has to balance priorities in an effectivebudget beginning from the most important to the least important. In a profitable organization, surplus prevents the organization form going into debt. The company will be able to reduce all costly interest repayments and puts the company on a sounder financial footing.

In a non-profitable organization, allocation of resources is done in such a manner that the number of the intended audience or beneficiaries is satisfied. Unlike in the profitable organizations, the non-profitable organizations may not be able to make prices higher for their programs if they should decide to charge.Similar to profitable organizations, grant requests and multiyear programs in non-profitable organizations must be considered during planning process of the budgetary.

Once a budget has been agreed upon and set, it should be utilized by the staff as a management guide to judgewhether operational performance has improved or there are areas that need to be adjusted. A good budget should outline the criteria that would alert management if a change is required or if acourse of action should be improved or adjusted. A budget should be updated as new situations come upso as to monitor the overall performance of the organization.

Conditions that may not have been anticipated may arise and this means that the budget should be adjusted accordingly so as to respondto any of those conditions. Staff and management should be accountable for budgeting; any responsibilities should be attributed to those that can ensure that the goals of the company are achieved. If those that are carrying out the company’s mission are unaware of their participation in helping to realize the company’s goals, then the usefulness of a budget is reduced.

Asset management

Asset management in a non-profitableorganization should be managed according to the going concern perspective which takes upthe view that there’s no restriction on the organization’s mere survival and sustenance.

The organization has to assume the responsibility of ensuring that there is adequate financial backup available to finance all current operations. The main objective of the organization is to “maintain a balance between available assets and growing assets”. The organization is to pay back its debts at the right time as well as be able to “meet other fiscal obligations”.

Cash flow

After the budget is developed, both the profit and no-profit organization need to focus on financing current operations by utilizing current funds, and maximizing available and obtainable resources to enhance return on the resources or capital. This mainly presupposes the analysis of benefits and costs of different sources.

Cash is a vital resource for both profit and non-profitable organizations. To sustain fiscal capability, an organization must have enough monetary funds to pay its bills. Financial statements can be used to “report an excess of revenues over expenses”. However, this should not mean that there is money in the bank. In both organizations, seasonal fluctuations also have a significant impact on regular cash flow. The amount of cash flowing in and out typically fluctuates throughout the year.

Therefore there is an increased emphasis on the significance of the budgeting process. This is because commitments must be observed on a consistent basis. The organization must therefore plan ahead for those periods when the amount of funds flowing in is less than cash flowing out.

One way that the profit and non-profit organizations solve the issue of cash flow is through postponing expenditures or accelerating constituent billings (Gross,McCarthy&Shelmon, 2005). Annual operating and capital budgets should be authorized so that they can be converted into cash flowbudgets.

This will verify the availability of resources and to indicate times of minimal cash flow. Theprocess usually involves approximating when collections on year-end receivables will occur. This is done by “calculating the normal time lag between invoicing for services and the actual receipt of cash”.

This should be done according to the expenditure of cash and the month the payment is due. Expected capital, sales of assets, expenditures, debt repayment, borrowing and any other financing transactions should be factored in. A model cash flow budget is one way of maintaining a minimum cash level.

Both the profitable and non-profitable organizations plan from the first day to work on accumulating adequate capital back up that will sustain the organization’s operating expenses for the upcoming several months. Whenextra cash reserves have accrued, the organization must plan for provisional cash investments totake full advantage of the return on those funds.

The money should be kept in insured along with interest bearing accounts so as to make best use of an organization’s profit on its cash. Small period savings of surplus money should be selected to balance growth of interest accumulated with backup access to the investedcash. Some of the available options are treasury bills, money market accounts and certificates of deposit (Zietlow, Hankin & Seidner, 2007).

If the cash reserves surpass the amount required for one operating cycle, long term investments require to be appraised. Investment guidelines must evaluate the permitted level of risk between the organization’s resources and the expected returns. Both the profit and non-profit organizations ensure that any equity or balance investments chosen depend on the board’s writteninvestment guidelines and procedures.

For instance, if the non-profitable organization is a trustee on a charitable trust, then it is the responsibility of the organization togrow and become the overall recipient and capitalizes while still effectively managing the funds of the trust as anylevelheaded investor would.

Fund accounting

When it comes to accounting for funds, under common law, the non-profitable organization is obligated to its donors to use gifts for the intention for which the funds are allocated. Many organizations have been able to attain this by setting aside restricted gifts. Restricted gifts are sometimes associated with additionalaccounting expenses. Grant expenses frequently entail specialized records to granting agencies. Fund accounting is a unique way of recording funds whose use by the organization may be restricted by donors or by the law.

In a non-profitable and profitable organization, each fund should include a self-balancing set of asset, net asset, liability, expense accounts as well as revenue. All the fund balances and net assetsshould be indicated on thefinancial statement. In addition, they should be categorized as unrestricted, temporarily restricted andpermanently restricted net assets. The temporarily restricted and permanently restricted are based on the existence and type of donor-imposed restrictions.

In profit and non-profitable organizations, a fund accounting system enables any organization to set aside financial funds and differentiate between those “funds that are immediately available for current operations and those funds intended for use as specified by the donor or stakeholders”. In addition, a fund accounting system provides an audit trail that is useful in indicating whether the money spent has been spent for its rightful purpose and whether it was utilized correctly.

The amount of funds received and paid out between fund groups are not obligated to be part of organizational liabilities or assets. A financial statement of position is useful in arranging and labeling all inter fund items so as to reduce their amounts when once they are displayed in the form of total liabilities or assets within the organization.

References

Atkinson, A.A, Kaplan, S. R, Young, M. S. (2004). Management accounting. Pearson Prentice Hall.

Gross, J. M, McCarthy, H. J, Shelmon, E. N. (2005) Financial and Accounting Guide for Not-For-Profit Organizations. Canada: John& Wiley Sons.

McKinney, B. J. (2004). Effective financial management in public and nonprofit agencies.Oxford University Press.

Ruppel, W. (2007).Not for Profit Accounting Made Easy. Canada: John& Wiley Sons.

Zietlow, J, Hankin, A.J, Seidner, G. A.(2007). Financial Management for Nonprofit Organizations: Policies and Practices. New Jersey: Routlegde Publishers

There are numerous not-for-profit organisations that are seen as major engine of the social change. At the same time, ‘traditional’ for-profit organisations also contribute greatly into development of communities. Thus, BRAC, which is one of the leading NGOs, raises funds and donates to a variety of projects. These projects touch upon a variety of issues in such areas as education, healthcare, security and so on. One of examples is the project to help Bangladesh children to access schools (Teerathumaskul & Manowalailao, 2012). A conventional example of a for-profit company is Walmart. This company also contributes greatly to the development of communities. For example, in China, the company has addressed lots of issues and helped people to cope with natural disasters, financial constraints and numerous social wrongs of the Chinese society (About Walmart China’s corporate social responsibility program, 2013).

It is necessary to note that people in NGOs have two major roles. They try to evaluate needs of particular communities, develop specific strategies to address these issues and try to raise funds. At the same time, for-profit firms focus on gaining profit as well as try to assess needs of communities and address them. Therefore, it is possible to trace certain similarities between the two types of organisations.

As an accountant, I would like to work in a for-profit company as I believe this type of organisation can contribute to the society most effectively. Hernández-Murillo and Martinek (2009) stress that for-profit firms can effectively facilitate development of communities. I agree with that standpoint as I think it is much more effective for a company to relocate funds to contribute to societal change as it can be difficult to find funds as more and more firms are trying to be socially responsible and actively participate in the development of the society.

Reference List

About Walmart China’s corporate social responsibility program. (2013). Web.

Hernández-Murillo, R., & Martinek, C.J. (2009). Corporate social responsibility: Can be profitable. Web.

Teerathumaskul, K., & Manowalailao, R. (2012). Beauty of alternative learning: Getting students to schools. Web.

Business planning is an integral part of the successful organization. It defines the primary goals, marketing and management strategies for their accomplishment as well as financial schemes for their realization.

Strategic planning is the most efficient way of the organization as far as it presupposes the analysis of the problematic aspects, and employment of the systemic approach (Allison & Kaye, 2015). Business plans under consideration belong to the nonprofit organizations. They focus on the long-term strategic planning due to the nature of their activity and an estimated level of development.

Nonprofit establishments provide services or goods, which are not governmental or private. There is a kind of discrepancy concerning the term “nonprofit”. The organizations of this type usually have revenues. They distribute income to facilitate other services while the shareholders or owners receive profit from private companies (Vaughan & Arsenault, 2013).

The Catering for Kids is the initiative of the Bright Future Youth and Family Services organization. It is a part of the Chambers School and Career Centre program. The Chambers School is one of ten nonprofit tax-free programs of the Bright Future Youth. Catering for Kids presupposes the commencement and further development of the catering services including the delivery of the lunch boxes.

The aim of the initiative is to receive necessary funding for the successful implementation of the alternative educational programs for unprotected youth. These programs assist the young residents from Springfield and Eugene area (Lane County) to acquire at least minimum knowledge and working skills. The Chambers School produces various curriculums. The last one was the training of the culinary.

The students of this course are expected to become employees of Catering for Kids. The successful outcomes of the courses prove the need to increase funding. The program requires initial funding otherwise the rising of revenue will be impossible. As a result, the main problems concern the expansion of working area (kitchen), hiring new employees, and buying equipment for the establishment of the catering business.

The core objectives of the Catering for Kids program contain the formation of the broad client base that will lead to the growing financial support and will allow Chambers School and Career Centre to provide students with more studying opportunities (Catering Business Plan, n.d.).

The other organization is Helping Hand. It is a nonprofit and free of taxes food bank. Helping Hand provides food for people who suffer from hunger in Johnson County. The organization has already established similar programs. Charitable associations, residents of the county support Helping Hand financially. Almost the fourth part of all population needs assistance. Helping Hand gives food for families with law-incomes, especially for children.

Currently, the program functions successfully as far as it receives donations from local shops, markets, and directly from people who grow food. However, it is expected that more citizens will need food in the following five years. Helping Hand emphasizes the fact that the problem of hunger concerns everyone otherwise it will negatively impact the health and crime conditions in the county. The objectives of the Helping Hand are more precise than those of the Catering for Kids.

According to the business plan, the program should gather $200 000 with the help of charity or governmental contributions and $100 000 with the help of fundraising strategies. It has to save approximately five million pounds of products during the twelve months and establish a farm where young people would be engaged in food growing (Nonprofit Food Bank Business Plan, n.d.).

Catering business plan aims at the expansion of the working place and increasing of general revenue in the next five years. The employees of the Catering for Kids will cook fresh and healthy lunches for customers. The program prefers offering its services for other not-for-profit organizations. The major strengths of the Catering for Kids business plan are the approach to marketing, website launching, and financial plan.

Catering for Kids has chosen its marketing strategy wisely, taking into consideration the most suitable form of business in the region. Small businesses function actively in the area. Catering for Kids has made an investigation of the level of satisfaction with catering services among other nonprofit organizations. The next efficient step was the segmentation of the market and the potential customers. Catering for Kids described three main groups of clients.

Catering for Kids managed to analyze market trends. The organization found out that the consumers were becoming more concerned about their health, giving preference to sugar-free, organic, or vegetarian products. One more fact was that a growing number of families favored an already cooked food which meant that more employees would come to work without lunches. The last significant thing was the identification of the main competitors.

Catering for Kids analyzed the prices and general performance of its contestants. All of these assisted the program in evaluating the potential development and choosing a target audience. The second strength of the Catering for Kids business plan is the web plan. The program intends to launch a web page presenting the general information about Catering for Kids and the full menu. There is no need to create a new online resource.

Technical employees will add one more page to the Bright Future website. Initially, there will be no option for online ordering, but it may become possible with the growth of the business. Catering of Kids web strategy embraces the printing of the address of the web resource on any printed materials, menus, or lunch boxes. Customers will have the opportunity to become familiar with all changes in the menu.

Besides, they will read the stories of life and employment of the students who have been studying cooking at Charmers School and Career Centre. Catering for Kids will hire designers to create their logo and the outlook of the site. The launching of the website is of great significance for the successful business development. According to Spann (2014), every business should have a web page that fulfills the needs of the customer.

The impact of the website should not be underestimated. Most people prefer using the Internet for searching. It helps them to form their personal impression about the services or goods rather than listen to somebody else. The third strength is the method of financing. Employees realize that the financial growth may be slow. Their expectations are not exaggerated. The financial plan is based on the well-considered assumptions.

Thus, Catering for Kids expects a slow financial growth, the same governmental granting, and the increasing interest in the program among other students. The financial plan is designed for three years. The program will focus on internal clients during the first year. One more significant thing concerns the break-even analysis. The nonprofit organization acknowledges the gradual progress and is ready to face challenges.

All payroll costs are calculated. The expenses for products will be minimized to guarantee the safe financial functioning of the program. The application of the break-even analysis exemplifies the control method. Such an approach to financing is a great advantage of the nonprofit organization. Economic growth of Catering for Kids cannot be rapid due to the nature of their activity. It is astute to comprehend this and plan development without excessive positive expectations.

Nonprofit Food Bank provides the most urgent assistance — food. Volunteers bring emergency boxes to the families who live in poverty. It is of great significance to know the exact number of potential people who will need help. The business plan presents a deep investigation of the market. That is the first major strength. Helping Hand counted that 120 000 people may need food assistance. Almost fifty percent are children, and they have priority among others. The percentage of children from poor families will be above fifty percent in five years.

That explains the necessity to develop the program. However, Helping Hand conducts more precise market segmentation. Helping Hand examines service geographics, demographics, psychographics, and behaviors. Service geographics has studied the location of low-income families. Demographics deals with major age groups in the area.

Helping Hand has created an image of the family that needs assistance by means of psychographics. Service behavior concerns the methods of food distribution with the help of the advanced volunteer base. According to Weinstein (2013), a profound market segmentation has proved its efficiency in target marketing. The advantage of it is that the organization gets closer to the potential clients, analyzes them and finds the most suitable approach to help them.

The second strength of this business plan is the fundraising strategy. Helping Hand aims at gathering donations from local unions, banks, and voluntary contributions. The program realizes that cash flow will not be steady. It is estimated that summer months will bring the least donations. The prevailing point in funding strategy refers to the employing of various programs for food and funds collection. There are five major programs, and each of them has its target audience.

For instance, Fill the Bucket program works will banks and credit centers while Food Rescue Express looks for help from local restaurants. This diversity increases the possibility of receiving a sufficient amount of money and food. The third strength is the personnel plan.

Helping Hand identifies its staff in details. It will consist of five coordinators, executive director, and the board of directors during the three years. Helping Hand has calculated the total payroll. These computations introduce the overall expenses. Such a method of control makes it easier to distribute existing funds and promote the further development. A detailed personnel plan displays the opportunities and possible challenges of the program (Nonprofit Food Bank Business Plan, n.d.).

The weakest points of Catering for Kids business plan include the strategy pyramid, some aspects of management approach, and fundraising forecast. Strategy pyramid of the Catering for Kids emphasizes the importance of the broadening of the client base. The organization intends to do the following to achieve this goal: to make more clients aware of the program and supply them with healthy food.

The clients will receive thank-you notes and informational cards in their lunch boxes. The other variant is to send students to the external clients. In my opinion, this cannot be enough for making the program popular. At the initial stages of its development, Catering for Kids should organize an event that will attract many residents from the area. It is better to send letters offering their services to potential clients rather than wait that a thank-you note will lead to the desirable effect.

The second weakness concerns the fundraising strategy of the program. The clientele should increase the budget of the program. In my opinion, Catering for Kids’ value proposition is not adequate for sufficient changes in funding. It presupposes that clients will be eager to buy products because of the charitable aim. I find this is not enough to form a large client base. Catering for Kids makes its fundraising assumptions taking into consideration the previous programs.

According to the business plan, the organization is very optimistic about possible outcomes. The business plan should ascertain all possible difficulties and not create an impression that everything will be trouble-free. The third weakness refers to a few aspects of the management approach. The working group of Catering for Kids comprises of the director, teacher of cooking, and business manager. Students who will prepare food belong to the “additional staff” group.

The personnel plan in not satisfactory. It describes the salaries only of students and the instructor. However, students and the instructor cannot execute all necessary functions. There should be employees responsible for lunch boxes distribution, marketing, website development, and funding control. I assume that program executives will face more challenges when they realize that there is a need in hiring more employees (Catering Business Plan, n.d.).

The lack of the detailed description of the legal entity, some gaps in management strategy, and the absence of web plan are three weaknesses of the second business plan. A profound description of the legal entity is an integral part of the professional business plan.

There is only one sentence in the Nonprofit Food Bank business plan concerning legal entity. It states that Helping Hand is a nonprofit organization. Legal entity should define the form of business in details, provide information about its services, aims, methods, and legal activity (Barksdale, 2011).

Though Food Bank has a good personnel plan, it lacks the description of everyone’s responsibilities. I assume that it is better when a personnel plan includes a basic overview of the employment history and achievements of the directors or senior employees. The third weakness of the plan is the absence of the web page. The website can be of great assistance for the Food Bank to accomplish its primary goal — to become visible to as many clients as possible.

Both business plans embrace a comprehensive executive and organizational summaries. The key goals include the development of the client bases and the financial increasing.

Catering for Kids and Nonprofit Food Bank business plans have efficient marketing strategies. Some gaps in management strategy are typical for both plans as well the absence of short-term strategic decisions. The first business plan has a web plan and a detailed legal entity description while the second one lacks it. They are also dissimilar in the selected fundraising strategies.

I recommend for both organizations to pay more attention to their personnel plans. It is advisable to define all types of work and distribute the responsibilities between the employees. I suggest that Catering for Kids should not be too optimistic about the potential financing. It is better to be prepared for more difficult situations. Nonprofit Food Bank should include the launching of the website to its business plan.

I have faced several challenges while comparing these business plans. I found it difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of the marketing, management, fundraising, or financial strategies. I used logical thinking to overcome some problems. For instance, I have come to the conclusion that being too optimistic about future plans is not a good feature on my own. However, there were cases when I looked for help in additional materials.

Consequently, I defined strengths and weaknesses of business plans with the help of the peer-reviewed resources. I believe that I have demonstrated the competencies for business plans analysis and comparison to a sufficient extent. I have learned the following five lessons about business planning:

1. Strategic planning is the best approach for creating a coherent and efficient plan and short-term decisions should comprise it;
2. Every business plan should contain a profound description of its legal entity;
3. Business planning is not about being too optimistic, it is about being realistic;
4. A successful business plan includes a detailed investigation of the target clientele;
5. The choice of the marketing and management strategies should correspond to the goals and enhance the possibility of their accomplishment.

The way to success commences from the business plan. It is a starting point for the further development. An adequate strategic planning with elements of short-term planning assists in setting the right goals and finding the most suitable methods of their realization.

References

Allison, M., & Kaye, J. (2015). Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations. New-Jersey, USA: John Wiley & Sons.

Barksdale, K. (2011). DigiTools: Communication, Information, and Technology Skills. Boston, USA: Cengage Learning.

Catering Business Plan. (n.d.). Web.

Nonprofit Food Bank Business Plan. (n.d.). Web.

Spann, L. (2014). Owner’s Guide to a Small Business Website. Paris, France: Hachette.

Vaughan, S., & Arsenault, S. (2013). Managing Nonprofit Organization in a Policy World. Washington, DC, USA: CQ Press.

Weinstein, A. (2013). Handbook of Market Segmentation. London, United Kingdom: Routledge.

Introduction

A baby brings great pleasure to the lives of parents. Irrespective of one being a babysitter, parent, or maidservant, caring for the baby is fundamental. It becomes easy to take care of a baby when one is within the homestead, but while away from home, it is essential to have all the required baby products (Srivastava, Dash, & Mookerjee, 2015). Women who have babies usually pack everything they need when they are about to go away from home (Loudon, Buchanan, & Ruthven, 2016). In their bags, they normally carry the baby’s food, napkins, diapers, milk, wipes, spare clothes, and other important products.

Main body

Baby vending machines are highly beneficial for parents, particularly new mothers who have no prior experience of handling infants. Vending machines enable parents or guardians to get all the fundamental baby care requirements at any time. This makes parents enjoy their leisure time away from home devoid of being stressed concerning the condition of their babies. One thing with babies is that they may at times be unpredictable. Parents cannot tell the moment when they may require a napkin change. To change the nappy, a mother or a babysitter also requires cleaning stuff (Cisse‐Egbuonye et al., 2016).

Such cleaning stuff may be wet wipes or other products that do not have any harmful effect on baby. When a mother is away from home with infant, she may find that she forgot to carry or does not have a given essential product. In such circumstances, baby vending machines come in handy. The vending machines operate like storages of baby products where one inserts some coins and receives quality items as requested. After making the payment, a mother receives the product by either unlocking the door to take it or the machine releasing it on an open compartment.

The creation of a strategic marketing plan is a vital aspect of business success. Marketers should choose customers to target wisely. The organization should also work out the best approach to reaching and convincing new clients. Making such customers develop loyalty is only possible if the organization is able to keep them happy and satisfied (Moeder, Martin, & Martin, 2017). There is, therefore, a need to keep evaluating and improving all the strategies employed to ensure that the organization remains ahead of its competitors.

The strategic marketing plan should function as the reference document that the organization employs as a foundation for executing its marketing approaches (De Pelsmacker, Van Tilburg, & Holthof, 2018). It makes the objectives vivid and elucidates the most favorable way of achieving them. Most significantly, the strategic marketing plan makes it apparent as to how the organization can make sure that its intentions become a reality.

Conclusion

Marketing alone does not give assurance of high sales. However, by preparing and implementing a thoroughly researched and consistent plan, a business has a high likelihood of creating lasting, profitable connections. The strategic marketing plan is similar to a snowball rolling down a mountain. It is initially small and difficult to roll, but when it starts moving, the impetus builds, and it becomes simple for it to grow (Settembre-Blundo, Del Hoyo, & García-Muiña, 2019).

Marketing at first takes much effort and time to generate the right basis. Upon success, the business starts to thrive and expand. Since marketing is a crucial process for the success of an organization, it is vital for the leadership to become dedicated to making the employees and other stakeholders understand their duties and expectations.

References

De Pelsmacker, P., Van Tilburg, S., & Holthof, C. (2018). Digital marketing strategies, online reviews and hotel performance. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 72, 47-55.

Moeder, J., Martin, M. J., & Martin, M. C. (2017). Transforming a nonprofit organization: A case of utilizing effective leadership and management to achieve marketing success. Global Journal of Business Pedagogy, 1(3), 108-120.

Settembre-Blundo, D., Del Hoyo, A. P., & García-Muiña, F. E. (2019). The risk associated with strategic decisions: Is it a marketing issue? Strategic Direction, 35(1), 6-8.