Marketing planning of Roddick Foundation - Assignment Example

?Running head: Marketing Planning Marketing Planning Insert Insert Grade Insert February 26, Marketing Planning Introduction A charity, in the UK, is a body established under the law of England and Wales for exclusively charitable purposes (Charity Commission, 2011). The UK laws specify some of the purposes that are capable of being charitable by the Commission of Charity. Some of the purposes include poverty prevention or relief, promotion of education, improving health or saving lives, promoting community development, preservation of culture of some people, environmental protection, protection of human rights or conflict resolutions among many others (Charity Commission, 2011). The Roddick Foundation is one of the recognized charities in the UK. The foundation was registered by the commission on March 18, 1997 with registration number 1061372 and company number 3304866 (Open Charities, 2012). The foundation was developed to provide support to the ‘visionary individuals and organizations who saw leadership and results in making this a more just and kind world’ (The Roddick Foundation, 2010). The foundation is mainly concerned with provision of support to the hardworking individuals of the society who would want to transform the world. 2. Macro and microenvironment analysis Different macro-environmental factors will affect the operation and success of a charity. The legal provisions, economic, social, environmental, and political factors affect the success of the organizations. England is a developed economy and a charity is able to attract donors and volunteers who are willing to change lives of others. The state has had political stability in the past that can promote philanthropic activities. Factors that are of particular significance here are the legal provisions on charity. The Charity Commission is a legal body that is mandated to examine the aims of a charity before registering it. The commission provides a definition for the appropriate and acceptable purpose of a charity (Balabanis et al, 1997). Before some charity is registered and recognized as a charity in England and Wales, the legal requirements provide that the organization must able to prove that its aims are meant to benefit the public (Charity Commission, 2011). The organization has to show that it is being established for charitable aims and the aims are geared towards the benefits of the public. It has to be stressed that all, and not some, of the aims should benefit the public. To prove this, the organization has to state clearly the benefits of the initiative, their relations to the aim, and a balance between the benefits and potential harms that may result from the program (Charity Commission, 2011). Besides, the legislation also requires that charity organizations should not develop political purpose or affiliate to some political organization (Charity Commission, 2008). However, since they often advocate for the right of the people, the charities can involve in political activities to achieve their purposes. The Roddick Foundation has developed purposes in line with the above provisions. One of the purposes is poverty eradication (Open Charities, 2012). The foundation funds development initiatives that are aimed at eradicating poverty in the region. The other purpose is promotion, improvement, and advancement of education to the members of the public (Open Charities, 2012). It also promotes culture and social welfare through provision of recreational facilities. As a charity, key stakeholders to the organization are the donors and volunteers. Several charities have been registered in England and the whole of UK and all the charities compete for these donor funds. This is analogous to competition for customers among profit organizations. Profitability is one of the elements of marketing concept. However, the charity organizations would not want to make profit- their analogy for profitability is survival (Balabanis et al, 1997, p.585). Thus, they also need to apply similar marketing concept for this survival. This involves generation of sufficient revenue for long-term operation of the organization through attracting the donors and volunteers. 3. SWOT analysis Strengths One of the strength of the charity is its registration and recognition by the Charity Commission. The foundation has outlined purposes that are in line with the legal requirements. This enables the donors and sponsors to develop good will towards supporting the foundation. The Commission’s certification enables the foundation to be entrusted with the donated funds. The other strength is the ability and willingness to work together with other bodies. The foundation is open to collaborations with other foundations and charitable organizations (The Roddick Foundation). Weaknesses A possible weakness is that the Roddick Foundation is a family managed organization. The trustees of the foundation include Miss Justine Roddick, Ms Samantha Roddick, Mr. Gordon Roddick, and Ms Tina Schlieske (Open Charities, 2012). As such, some donors and even the competitors may claim that the foundation is established in the pursuit of long-term self-interest even though it currently serves the interest of the public. This may affect the donor’s willingness to contribute towards the charity. Threats A major threat is competition from other foundations. England has several registered charities with similar objectives and aims of improving the lives of the public in some way. Each of the charities competes for sources of funding like donor agencies and individual sponsors. The other threat that is common to large non-profit organizations is barriers to market orientation. Researches have revealed that as organizations expand their operations and create more departments, the circulation of information between the departments is hindered and the organization becomes less responsive to the changes in the market (Balabanis et al, 1997, p.599). This scenario maybe seen as the foundation expands. Opportunities There are always more opportunities to learn and adapt to the market trends in order to be more effective. The foundation has the opportunity for continued market research and innovation. 4. Key area of Competitive Advantage To attract more donors as a charitable organization, the founders of the organization should have demonstrated the willingness to improve social welfare of the public long before the establishment of the charity. The major competitive advantage of this foundation is that one of the founders, Dame Anita, had the philanthropic spirit and feeling long even before the establishment of the foundation. This was evident when she was operating her business, the Body Shop. The business would go for over thirty years and expand before Anita sells it out to settle on the charity. While managing the Body Shop business, Anita often held onto the principles of Corporate Social Responsibility for businesses. Anita appreciated CSR for business and she asserted that being good is eventually good for business (Tutor2U, 2012). After selling the Body Shop, Anita settled on the management of the Roddick Foundation with the initial proceeds from the business. In writing her will in 2005 before her death in 2007, Dame Anita Roddick did not include either of her two daughters in the will (Barton, 2008). She believed that leaving money for inheritance by your family is obscene and she always insisted that she would not love to die rich. She had always wanted that her vast wealth be used ‘to fund campaigns on green issues, human right, and the Third World debt’ (Barton, 2008). The body Shop business was sold to some French investor. Anita donated half of these business proceeds, ?51million, to the Roddick Foundation that has charitable purposes she had championed (Barton, 2008). This spirit can appeal to the donors to develop trust in the foundation. 5. Gap Analysis and Strategic recommendation The Roddick Foundation has shown a promising trend towards realizing its objectives through the grant initiatives that it has offered over the past. Over the years, the Foundation has offered grants towards various programs in the community towards environmental management, humanitarian acts, protection of human rights, and preservations of culture. For instance, in the 2010-2011 financial year, the foundation provided grants worth ?296,215 towards arts and culture programs, ?140,413 on humanitarian programs, ?649,180 on human rights programs, ?104,040 on media programs, ?170,000 on health programs and ?200,371 on social rights programs (The Roddick Foundation, 2010). These programs were facilitated through various organizations and in a number of events and occasions. The organization seems to have touched on most of the social development aspects in the society. However, it seems that little attention has been given to programs directed towards education. There idea here is to attract more sponsors and increase the market share of the foundation. This becomes the gap between what has been realized so far and what was intended by the foundation. In business terms, this gap can be closed through marketing mix and two aspects of marketing mix are appropriate here. The gap can be closed by introducing more products (the variety of programs that the foundation supports financially) and then carrying out promotion. Even though education may fall in some of the areas that have been touched like humanitarian programs, it would be appropriate to support stand-alone programs on education as well as independent economic programs to empower the vulnerable members of the society. The sponsors would be more willing to provide support if the foundation invests more on education and poverty eradication programs. The gap can be closed by introduction of programs on education. Besides, the sponsors will need to know the foundation’s support of such programs in order to provide their contributions. Promotion of the program can be made through electronic and print media. The donors will also get to know the foundations programs through periodic reports of the foundations on its progress and the funded programs. These reports should be availed to the sponsors regularly. The recommendations are made on the assumption that the donors will continue to value quality service following their donations and that more and more organizations will be competing for the funds. This illustrated in the diagram below. Gap analysis diagram 6. Possible competitor reactions Following the trend that has been recorded in the past with several charities being registered, there is an assumption that there will be increased competition in the, market. It is likely that more of the organizations will enter the market to increase competition. Competition will ever be prevalent as long as several players are involved in the market. To get more revenue, the competitors will also appeal to the sponsors and advocate for inclusion of more integrated activities supported by their programs. It is likely that there will be increased use of the logos by of the charity organizations by other marketers to promote their products. That is, business organizations will appeal to the public that they are in support of some charity and that purchase of their product is a contribution towards this program. Reference List Balananis, G. et al. 1997. Market orientation in the top 200 British charity organizations and its impact on their performance. European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 31 No. 8, pp. 583-603. Barton, F. 2008. How Body Shop founder Anita Roddick kept her word and left NOTHING to her children - despite having a ?51million fortune. Mail Online. (Online). Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-559946/How-Body-Shop-founder-Anita-Roddick-kept-word-left-NOTHING-children--despite-having-51million-fortune.html#ixzz1nYrEuHzi[Accessed February 26, 2012] Charity Commission. 2008. Speaking out: Guidance on Campaigning and Political Activity by Charities (CC9). (Online). Available at: http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/publications/cc9.aspx [Accessed February 26, 2012]. Charity Commission. 2011. CC21 - Registering as a Charity. (Online). Available at: http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/publications/cc21.aspx [Accessed February 26, 2012] Open Charities. 2012. THE RODDICK FOUNDATION. (Online). Available at: http://opencharities.org/charities/1061372 [Accessed February 26, 2012]. The Roddick Foundation. 2010. The Roddick Foundation. (Online). Available at: http://www.theroddickfoundation.org/ [Accessed February 26, 2012]. Tutor2U. 2012. Corporate social responsibility – introduction. (Online). Available at: http://tutor2u.net/business/strategy/corporate-social-responsibility-introduction.html [Accessed February 26, 2012]. Read More