Non-Profit Organization and Management - Essay Example

Non-Profit Organization and Management Executive Summary Future Hope is a not-for-profit organization that seeks to provide primary and secondary school youth with mentoring programmes within the greater London area. By partnering with the youth justice system and local community schools, Future Hope will seek to build commitment to the youth in the community, promoting inter-personal skills, pro-social relationships, and reasserting increased sense of hope for the youth’s and community’s future. The re-establishment of personal responsibility can best be achieved through personal relationships, which should offer young people a commitment to transition into adulthood with increased sense of accomplishment and pride. At-risk youth have lost the sense of opportunity and possibility awaiting them in adulthood due to destructive attitudes and habits, as well as repeated academic failure and, to accomplish their objectives, the youth should be nurtured and mentored in an inclusive, caring environment, which promotes personal respect. Future Hope is a programme borne as a direct response to increased numbers of youth involved in the youth justice system and school disturbances. Thus, the programme’s goal is to identify young people turbulently transitioning into being adults. The goal, despite having several focus areas, is the same and this is to empower youth to positively alter their livelihoods. Primarily focused on secondary and primary school students, Future Hope projects that 50% of the students in the system are set to join secondary school within 3 years. Because of the especially problematic nature of this age-group, mentoring at this time would be perfect timing and most effective. Introduction This paper will seek to make a business case for starting a youth mentoring program called Future Hope, aimed at youth in primary and secondary school. Taking part in youth organizations benefits the youth, as well as the community they live in. Apart from providing young people with a forum to effectively and fully deal with important issues, including education and violence, such youth organizations also benefits the youth by allowing them to be part of a group that helps them develop interpersonal and personal skills (Milton, 2011: p39). In addition, it also helps young people to gain self-esteem and self-confidence, reduce the risk that they will take part in unsafe activities like drug abuse, develop job skills, attain opportunities for leadership, avoid negative per pressure, and to develop a strong support network. For the community, youth organizations help in changing public perceptions about problematic youth, while also enhancing partnerships between youth and community organizations to enhance creativity and enthusiasm that young people offer (Delgado, 2014: p83). In making the business case, the paper will identify the needs, benefits, stakeholders, funding, and management issues regarding the proposed youth organization. Objectives The future Hope youth organization is being established to provide at risk youth between the ages of nine and nineteen with mentoring, specifically in the London area. By creating a partnership with schools in the London area, as well as the youth justice system and youth courts, Future Hope will seek to match referred youth with caring adult volunteers through four separate mentoring programs. The Lunch Friends program will work with children referred from local primary schools The Turnaround program will mainly concentrate on students with a chronic past of suspension from school The Higher Ground program will engage directly with young people involved in the youth justice system Finally, the Trailblazers program will be Future Hope’s central program, in which mentors and at-risk secondary school children participate in a structure support program. Mission Future Hope’s mission involves the pursuit of several principles listed below; Support: Young people are influenced significantly by their systems of support and Future Hope, will seek to surround them in an inclusive and caring environment that also supports learning (Chaskin, 2010: p28). Responsibility: Future Hope’s main focus will be on empowering young people to establish life goals and adhere to their commitments. Commitment: Future Hope is seeking to inspire strong inter-personal skills, pro-social friendships, and sense of hope in young people’s future (Buchroth & Parkin, 2010: p46). Possibility: Future Hope is seeking to expand the youth’s perspective to increase their awareness of possibilities and opportunities in life. Keys to Future Hope’s Success Launch several fundraiser activities to fund the program and its expansion successfully (Business Case Pro, 2010: p37). Come up with a strong support network in conjunction with the youth justice system and the school system. Come up with a system for effective monitoring that protects both the mentor and the young person. Launch an effective program for training mentors that enhances their communication ability successfully. Summary of the Organization Future Hope is set up as a not-for-profit organization that will provide mentoring programs for young people in upper-primary school and secondary school living in the London area. This organization and its program will form local partnerships with the youth courts system and state-funded local schools. The young people will be matched with caring volunteers trained to concentrate and focus on building trust, positive youth reinforcement, and attainment of goals through engagement of young people in community-based group adventures and one-on-one outings with their mentors. The youth and their mentors will agree to participate in the program for between ten and fifteen hours every year. Moreover, the mentors will undergo on-going training on individual case management the entire year, while the organization will conduct monthly support meetings for the mentors. Summary of Future Hope’s Start-up The youth organization’s expenses during its start-up will add up to £8,500 that will mostly account for legal costs, stationery, and expenses linked to the opening of the organization’s office (Schmidt, 2012: p49). In addition, the youth organization will need funds to finance its first operations year and the start-up costs are to be financed by ten private contributors. Start-up Requirements Start-Up Requirements Stationery £200 Legal £500 Consultants £5,000 Brochures £2,000 Rent £500 Insurance £300 Total Start-up Expenses £8,5000 Start-up Assets Required cash £71,500 Long term assets £0 Other assets £0 Total Assets £71,500 Total Requirements £80,000 (Willard, 2012: p40) Start-up Funding Start-up Expenses to Fund £8,500 Start-up Assets to Fund £71,500 Total Funding Required £80,000 Assets Non-cash Assets from Start-up £0 Cash Requirements from Start-up £71,500 Additional Cash Raised £0 Cash Balance on Starting Date £71,500 Total Assets £71,500 Liabilities and Capital Liabilities Current Borrowing £0 Long-term Liabilities £0 Accounts Payable (Outstanding Bills) £0 Other Current Liabilities (interest-free) £0 Total Liabilities £0 Capital Planned Investment Donor #1 £8,000 Donor #2 £8,000 Donor #3 £8,000 Donor #4 £8,000 Donor #5 £8,000 Donor #6 £8,000 Donor #7 £8,000 Donor #8 £8,000 Donor #9 £8,000 Donor #10 £8,000 Additional Investment Requirement £0 Total Planned Investment £80,000 Loss at Start-up (Start-up Expenses) (£8,500) Total Capital £71,500 Total Capital and Liabilities £71,500 Total Funding £80,000 (Slavin & Young, 2012: p36) Legal Entity Future Hope will be a not-for-profit organization that seeks to pair at-risk young people and volunteers. In the UK, not-for-profit organizations may take different legal forms and, although this term is used frequently across the UK, it has no precise definition in technical terms (Gambles, 2013: p74). Broadly speaking, the UK tax system only recognizes three basic forms of not-for-profit organizations, which are charities, community amateur sports clubs, and community interest companies (Courtney, 2012: p92). Future Hope will be a charity and, as a result, will be exempt from majority of the UK’s direct taxes, while donors can support the organization’s activities tax effectively. Services Future Hope will offer young people already identified as being part of the at-risk group with a chance to work along trained, caring mentors so as to enhance their ability to establish a positive future outlook and attitude (Bird & Westley, 2011: p55). Future Hope’s long-term goal will be to empower youth in the London area to break negative attitudes and habits that are resulting to trouble both in the streets and in school. As identified earlier, Future Hope will offer four major mentoring programs/services as expounded on below. The Lunch Friends Program Services This service will be offered to children in upper primary school, which will be young people aged between nine and eleven. In this service, the trained volunteer mentors will visit the identified child’s school every week to have lunch with the child, who is referred to in Future Hope as a “friend”. This service will last throughout the child’s school year and will mainly target community schools. As a result, the local authorities, who are mandated with running community schools, will be briefed on the program. The Turnaround Program Service The second type of service offered by Future Hope is the Turnaround program, which mainly focuses on students in secondary school, aged between eleven and nineteen, who have a chronic history of suspension from school. This particular program’s goal will be to rekindle commitment in these young people to learn, as well as to achieve success in school. Through the empowerment of young people to ensure they complete their secondary school studies, the volunteer mentors will work towards improvement the students’ success as adults in the employment world. The Higher Ground program Services This service will seek to engage young people who have passed through the youth court and justice system. In this case, a mentoring relationship between the young person and the mentor will be used in establishing a change program in the life of the young person to keep away from crime. The volunteer mentor in the Higher Ground service encourages self-discipline, setting of goals, and development of skills, all aimed at improving the sense of hopelessness that may be weighing down the young person. The young person and mentors work together for one year, while also having the opportunity to take part in monthly outings and activities as a group. The Trailblazers program Services Finally, the Trailblazers service is Future Hope’s core program. This program deals with at-risk late secondary school students aged between sixteen and nineteen and volunteer mentors, who take part in structured support programs. Late-secondary school students and their volunteer mentors are engaged in energizing activities and retreats, as well as a structured program over seven months, including group activities and monthly team-building activities. Finally, this service ends after the young person graduates as a trailblazer, although the young person and their mentor stay in-touch for five months after graduation. Summary of Market Analysis The Future Hope youth programme has been proposed as a direct response to an increasing number of youth who are either already part of the youth justice and courts system, or are having trouble adjusting to school structure and life. Future Hope seeks to offer at-risk young people the chance to significantly alter their lives, and is positioned as easily accessible for the youth who would otherwise be dealt with by the youth justice system or even through school-based punishments (McCann & Curran, 2011: p19). The main goal of Future Hope is to identify young people undergoing a rough and turbulent transition into adulthood, as well as to offer a positive system of support that enables young people to avoid instances that could harm their lives. Each level has a slightly different focus with mentors at primary school level striving to guide students back to the classroom’s mainstream activity, effectively destroying negative attitudes and habits that could make the child uninterested in school. With regards to secondary school students, Future Hope offers mentors who act as role models for youth development, especially for young people looking to be directed. In some instances, this will be as simple as the youth identifying their mentors, instead of using people involved in destructive or criminal activities. When the young person joins secondary school with prior history of poor academic performance and classroom disturbances, it involves significant proactive effort aimed at helping students to re-direct their lives. Future Hope has already identified that activities as part of the group may act as a strong reinforcement for hopeful behaviour. At present, young people in secondary school causing disturbances are the main group being served by Future Hope. Primary school pupils also make up a crucial group, as they are just about to enter secondary school. Young people aged between nine and eleven account for close to 40% of disturbances for children attending community schools in London. Moreover, projections show that 50% of all students in the system will be in secondary school in three years (Messner, 2013: p28). Market Segmentation Future Hope has several market focuses, which are vital to the success of the youth programme. Young people seeking to overcome life stressors, such as abusive situations, discrimination, poverty, unstable homes, addictions, and poor academic performance are the core focus of marketing for Future Hope. The mentoring programme should foster positive attitude and behaviour change through friendship, skill development, self-discipline, and goal setting (Plas & Lewis, 2011: p48). Another marketing focus for Future Hope is the family, especially where mentors can aid young people to deal with family stresses, as well as to provide a caring, objective sounding board for the young person. Therefore, majority of young people and their families should see an improvement of home relationships. It is important that families buy into the benefit of Future Hope’s United Parenting Program, which is a custom-designed discussion and information group seeking to enrich effectiveness of parenting. This is particularly salient in the cognitive skills area that is associated with practices of family management. Marketing will also attract volunteer mentors to Future Hope, especially those who care about young people, as well as their community. The general relationship between the young person and the mentor makes demands for commitment, which is sold to the potential volunteer mentor (Plas & Lewis, 2011: p48). This experience, for majority of mentors, will be sold as life changing, challenging their beliefs and convictions. Ultimately, Future Hope is marketed to the youth justice system and community schools as a vital social system of support for the youth. Future Hope influences the manner in which majority of other services in the city will be called to respond in case of destructive behaviour. Market Analysis Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Potential Clients Growth CAGR Primary School Youths 8% 12,000 12,960 13,997 15,117 16,326 8.00% Early Secondary School Youths 20% 10,000 12,000 14,400 17,280 20,736 20.00% Late Secondary School Youths 7% 8,000 8,560 9,159 9,800 10,486 7.00% Total 12.20% 30,000 33,520 37,556 42,197 47,548 12.20% (Chen, 2011: p19) Strategy for Target Market Segment Future Hope’s target market is young people between the ages of eight and nineteen who have developed attitudes and habits that are destructive, placing them at risk of taking a path towards destruction. Future Hope, as a result, has come up with various mentorship services and programs that seek to pair at-risk youth with trained volunteer mentors who will aid them in developing perspectives and habits that could result in future hopefulness and success. Summary of Strategy and Implementation Future Hope’s youth program’s implementation has three main areas of focus. The first focus area is the formation of a contact network with community schools in London, as well as the city’s youth justice court system. The second focus area involves the identification, recruitment, and training of volunteer mentors (Sherrod et al, 2010: p61). Finally, the third focus area will be the development of strategies for fundraising. Future Hope’s Fundraising Strategy Future Hope’s sources of funding include city and government contracts, private donations, private foundation grants, and business and local council sponsorships. The coordinator of fundraising for the program has already established various options for contributions that selectors can make their choice from. The first option is cash donation, which ranges from £1,000 for yearly youth sponsorship to £30 as funding for activities and challenges held outdoors that every participant is involved in (Schaltegger & Wagner, 2013: p33). Another option is the gift of appreciated stock, in which a gift of mutual funds, bonds, or appreciated stocks that can save the donor from taxation and support the youth programme. A third option involves corporate sponsorship and giving, in which corporate entities either provide grants or cash. Corporate entities are also encouraged to take part in Future Hope fundraising events throughout the year, during which such events as wine tasting, fun runs, raffles, and bike races will be held (Shinn & Yoshikawa, 2013: p40). The final option is a food store partnership programme with communities around the community schools. In this case, Future Hope will get a portion of local food store spending if the shopper chooses to use Future Hope programme cards during the purchase. After the card is scanned during the customer’s checkout, Future Hope will get credit for the purchase. Future Hope’s Funding Forecast Future Youth’s forecast for revenues in the year 2015 is £267,396, of which the stable primary funding will come from the local council that runs community schools, private foundations, and government contracts (Ronis, 2010: p52). However, estimated and anticipated growth in these sources of funding is only 6%in the coming 3 years. Future Hope is focusing on enhancing funding significantly from sources where the youth organization projects percentage growth to be higher. In this case, the targets include fundraising campaigns, corporate sponsorships, and private donations. The estimated revenue by 2017 is expected to be approximately ore than £350,000. Funding Forecast Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Funding Private Donations £39,966 £43,163 £46,616 Government Contracts £89,112 £93,568 £98,246 Private Foundations £42,316 £44,432 £46,653 Local Councils in charge of Community Schools £52,156 £54,764 £57,502 Corporate Sponsors £26,472 £40,000 £60,000 Fundraising Campaign £17,374 £30,000 £50,000 Total Funding £267,396 £305,926 £359,018 Direct Cost of Funding Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Costs £0 £0 £0 Other £0 £0 £0 Subtotal Cost of Funding £0 £0 £0 (Ronis, 2010: p52) Marketing Strategy Future Hope holds dear the goal that no child must be left behind. As a result, the organization’s goal will be to raise the programme’s visibility to ensure that adults volunteer to be mentors, the sources of funding directly support the youth programme, and that the services will be used by referral services. Future Hope’s marketing strategy is to sell the programme successfully to community schools, the local authority that runs the community schools, and the youth justice, court system. Referral coordinators will accomplish this task, forming and maintaining contact networks, which Future Hope will use as the programme’s referral source (Harvard Business School, 2011: p65). Future Hope will also develop brochures that sell the programme’s benefits to potential participants and referrers. Future Hope’s referral coordinators will present reports on the programme’s progress for the referring government agency, school, or programme. In this case, the goal will involve creating an effective programme for marketing that is based on the mentoring relationships’ success. Marketing efforts are also implemented to identify, attract, and retain quality volunteer mentors for Future Hope’s youth programme. The mentor trainer/recruiter for the programme will provide presentations to stakeholders, selling them the benefits the community seeks to gain from taking part in Future Hope (Harvard Business School, 2011: p68). For the mentors, Future Hope will plan reward activities to appreciate their work and these activities will be included in the strategy for recruiting volunteer mentors from the associates and friends of present mentors. Creating a board of directors for the programme will be critical to the marketing strategy, especially as they will be given the responsibility of selling the community to the programme’s benefits. Summary of Future Hope’s Management Future Hope’s management will involve the executive director for the programme and the board of directors. In addition, a dedicated and professional team of fundraising and programme managers will be put together in order to manage the programme and grow it. Personnel Plan Future Hope will have various staff members to cover essential services required for the effective and efficient operations of the organization. The staff will include the grant/fundraising coordinator, the office manager, the youth referral coordinator, and the mentor training/ recruiting coordinator. Personnel Plan Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Executive Director £30,000 £30,000 £30,000 Grant/Fundraising Coordinator £24,000 £24,000 £24,000 Mentor Training/Recruitment Coordinator £24,000 £24,000 £24,000 Youth Referral Coordinator £24,000 £24,000 £24,000 Office Manager £20,400 £20,400 £20,400 Total Personnel 5 5 5 Total Payroll £122,400 £122,400 £122,400 (Chaskin, 2010: p41) Financial Plan Future Hope seeks to source support funding from private donors and corporate entities from the surrounding community at an aggressive growth rate. However, the organization expects that it will take 5 years prior to the funding sources being strong enough to ensure programme expansion. The youth programme’s basic expenditure are for the management of programme activities for mentors and youth, as well as the management and training of mentors. As a result, it is important to ensure that the organization applies due diligence in allocation of funding to these vital programme duties and responsibilities. Finally, Future Hope will also establish an effective system of communication that will report to the board of directors on fiscal data, specifically so that adjustments can be incorporated swiftly to make sure the programme continues to be in good financial health. Finally, according to the programme’s treasurer, Future Hope is assuming that cash reserves as of January 1st will be £71,500. The financial plan will be based on several critical assumptions. Some of the vital assumptions that underlie this financial plan are that the economy will undergo slow-growth without any recession. In addition, it is also assumed that there will be a continued for programmes and services aimed at at-risk young people, that there would be no major changes in availability of government and local authority funding, and that the community will offer broad support for volunteer mentoring. Major Assumptions Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Plan Month 1 2 3 Current Interest Rate 10% 10% 10% Long-term Interest Rate 10% 10% 10% Tax Rate 0% 0% 0% Other 0 0 0 References Bird, F. B., & Westley, F. (2011). Voices from the voluntary sector: Perspectives on leadership challenges. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Buchroth, I., & Parkin, C. (2010). Using theory in youth and community work practice. Exeter: Learning Matters Ltd. Business Case Pro. (2010). The business case checklist: Everything you need to review a business case, avoid failed projects, and turn technology into ROI. Lexington, KY: Business Case Pro. Chaskin, R. J. (2010). 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