Volunteer Turnover of a Sporting Club - Essay Example

MARKETING Q 1: Volunteer Turnover of a Sporting Club: Sports and games serve as a dominant feature of every society of the world. It is partly due to the very fact that it not only provides leisure and recreational opportunities to the individuals belonging to different classes, communities, statuses and both the genders, but also turns out to be highly productive and beneficial ones for their health and fitness at large. Being the CEO of a large sporting club, one is well-aware of the very fact that there is a long list of various indoor and outdoor sports people take interest into them in order to keep them happy, fit, vigorous and busy. Among these sports, football is universally accepted sport, which is played and watched at global scale with great enthusiasm. Horne & Manzenreiter submit to state that football has successfully outmaneuvered many other team sports, such as ice hockey, basketball or handball, and has been accepted as the number one sport with regard to media attention and audience reception worldwide (2002: 12). The non-profit organization makes arrangements for the conducting of sports in order to generate money for some charitable purposes. Since these sports events are not conducted with any profit motifs behind them, volunteers are invited to participate in them for the recreation of the public on the one hand, and for some noble social cause on the other. Consequently, players, spectators and staff members attend the sporting club as regular participants and generate huge donations for the club. Since the staff and workforce play most important part in the development of an organization, decline in the volunteer turnover is really startling for the CEO, who has to make quick action in respect of exploring the reasons behind the decrease in volunteer turnover. For this purpose, he should conduct interviews from the volunteers in order to extract the reasons behind their leaving the voluntary organization. The first question included in the interview would be decline in their interest as volunteers. The main reason behind asking the very question is the exploration of the causes that drift the fresh graduates away from the organization. The answer could be low salary, less growth opportunities and low social status as well. It is therefore the graduates will feel proud and delighted to work at Microsoft Corporation, but will not demonstrate any enthusiasm while working at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, though both are owned by the same person. Macionis states that the non-profit organizations provide limited growth and exposure opportunities, which are not attractive and fascinating for the youth (2011, 178). Another important reason behind leaving the non-profit organization is this that all staff members work against almost the same positions, and there are very dismal chances of promotion and salary increase. Thirdly, the voluntary clubs require very hard efforts from the staff members in order to generate money from different contacts and sectors on the on hand, and to keep the ball of struggle rolling for the social welfare purposes on the other. Somehow, in order to retain the volunteers at the sporting club, the CEO will highlight the benefits of the welfare and development of society. He will infuse new spark of hope and courage in them by stating that they are the distinguished individuals that would bring positive changes and revolutionary alterations within their social establishment by dint of their innate talent, hard work and dedication to the noble cause. The CEO will also reveal the benefits of sports and games, which keep the society healthy, vigorous and efficient. In addition, he will encourage them by stating that they are accomplishing the Herculean task by promoting sports and recreation on charity basis, which will earn name, fame and respect for them for the future years to come. Vedder et al. are of the opinion that the young individuals’ involvement and interest in sports turns out to be productive in keeping them away from delinquent behavior as well as crime prevention (1976:391). Hence, their selfless efforts and investment of time, money and energies will make society constructive and healthy, by keeping the youth away from drug addiction, crimes and chemical dependency etc. Q 2: NGOs and Social Media: Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) refer to the voluntary organizations that have been developed generally by the voluntary community groups with the aim of rendering services in one or more social areas with the welfare purposes. These purposes could be protection of human rights, elimination of women battering and child abuse, eradication of ethno-racial conflicts and discrimination, socioeconomic uplift of the individuals, strive for the freedom of thought and action, preservation of religious rights and much more. The NGOs, Brown et al. argue, play a very dynamic role at national and international scales as an important political actor for the safeguarding of social, political, cultural and other interests attributed to different communities living in various states and societies of the globe (2000:7). Since NGOs serve as voluntary organizations, their authorities do not have profit motives in mind to be generated for the financial uplift of the staff members. In addition, they contain limited income and resources that could never be stated as sufficient to launch a crusade against social evils, problems and challenges experienced by the individuals belonging to one social structure. Furthermore, they also need finances in order to pay their staff members including managers, researchers, research teams, marketers and others. Moreover, they also have to develop relationships both in public and private sectors in order to communicate their programs and strategic plans to the society in general. Consequently, like every commercial unit and corporate firm, the non-profit organizations also require finances in order to conduct their operational services in an effective and powerful manner. They have to render social and financial support to the individuals undergoing starvation, torture, abuse, denial of basic rights, life threats and much more. For this purpose, they have to launch a powerful campaign through print and electronic media, social networking and personal contacts in order to seek financial aid from the philanthropists, large companies, humanists, multinational groups, governmental agencies and religious people. If an organization has been established for the protection of the rights of one specific racial group, the respected NGO can seek support from the affluent and influential members of the same ethno-racial community by convincing them that the NGO looks for benefiting the entire community through its platform. Similarly, the NGO working at health, education and environment sectors could penetrate into every social group by realizing them that these problems are direct association with every individual; consequently, the personal or financial help from all citizens would be beneficial in respect of combating with the challenges faced by the respective public sectors at large. Social media has played formidable role in this regards. The term social media is somewhat newer one in social sector, corporate culture and marketing, which simply concentrates upon the print and electronic media representing the members of one or more social establishments. The advent of several social and professional websites, including linkedin.com, twitter.com, facebook.com, skype.com and others, has revolutionized the concept of social media; consequently, people are in a position to convey their message and express their viewpoints without any hindrance, barrier or difficulty altogether regarding the political policies, corporate strategies, cultural activities and religious beliefs etc. Social media, according to Mayfield, could best be understood as a group of new kinds of online media, which share the characteristics including participation, openness, conversation, community and connectedness (2008:5). There was a time when the non-profit organizations had to spend a lot in their advertising campaigns by printing leaflets, billboards, flyers and other material along with visiting and calling the influential individuals and companies existing in society through phones, mobile cells and postal services etc. However, the advent of technological revolution has made their task austere, fast and comprehensive. The non-profit organizations can contact the members of some specific community, religious sect, racial group and genders through the most popular media sites including linkedin.com, facebook.com and twitter.com etc. Not only this that using these platforms save time and money of the NGOs, but also the particular targeted population could also be hit within a jiffy through the social media. Boyd & Ellison notice that MySpace.com. Bebo.com and other social media sites have helped out in preserving privacies and joining the like-minded people through their networks (2008:9). It is therefore, the NGOs working on the most controversial issues even including the extra-marital relationships, homosexual rights and pornography sectors, are in a position to communicate with the people living in pole-apart areas of the world, without any fear or threat of being prosecuted. In addition, the NGOs working in recruitment sector are also successfully advertising the jobs and positions to the people of their acquaintance in order to place right person at right position. Q 3: Working in a Non-Profit Organization: It is a reality beyond suspicion that non-profit organizations work without having any profit gains for the personal benefits. On the contrary, these organizations aim at bringing positive and constructive alterations in one or more areas of social life through hard work and against very low compensation subsequently. However, the concept of marketing campaign in a voluntary organization cannot be denied altogether. On the other hand, the non-profit organizations also have to penetrate into corporate and social sectors as marketers in order to communicate the schemes and plans they have articulated on the one hand, and the requirement of the time, money and resources necessary for the successful launching of the same on the other. A responsible and proficient marketing manager of a non-profit organization maintains imperative responsibilities in this regards. One of the most significant responsibilities of the marketing manager includes his command over training his sub-ordinates in such a manner that could be fruitful for the elimination of the pecuniary embarrassments of the organization as well as in respect of generating money from the social and corporate sectors on the other. He should inform Curtin graduate sub-ordinates that they are working in an environment that is determined to set the public free from the awkward clutches of injustices, inequalities, maltreatment and abuses of various kinds, where some nasty and nefarious individuals have planned to exploit and hurt the fellow-beings, environment and society in one way or the other. Allison & Kaye argue that the passion for mission is a great source of strength for nonprofit organizations. As strength, the passion for mission taps incredible creativity, energy and dedication for the work of an organization (2010: 2). It will be the professional duty of the Curtin graduate personnel to make the public aware of the problems their organization is working for. For instance, if a non-profit organization is working on the improvement of security measures to protect the society from the violent assaults, theft and robberies etc, the graduates will be trained to seek financial support of the local people in respect of buying weapons and ammunition on the one hand, and for the appointment of security guards and volunteers on the other. Since all these activities cannot be operated without money and finances, the fresh graduates will be trained to convince the public to generate money for the organization, so that they could be provided with an effective protection umbrella that could ensure the safety of their life, honor and finances. The worker of a non-profit organization, according to Dayton, should have knowledge aboutb the market situation and the reputed brands offering their services, so that they could enter into venture with them in order to seek their moral, social and financial help for the projection of promotion of their programs (2001:5). The marketing manager would train them to communicate with the public in a confident and dignified manner that their organization and its staff members have allocated their time, energies and money for some noble cause, where the moral help and financial support from all members of a social establishment is essentially required in order to fast diminishing of the malpractices the organization is determined to observe. In addition, the worker of non-profit organization should have command about the aims, objectives and purposes of his organization, so that he could communicate the same while representing his company at various stages and platforms. He should work diligently and should demonstrate dedication and loyalty to his work place without having the greed for incentives and pecuniary gains. Bibliography Allison, Mike & Kaye, Jude (2010) Reference Article: Characteristics of Nonprofit Organizations -- Implications for Consultation Available at http://www.nten.org/uploads/transferpodolsky02.pdf Boyd, Danah M. & Ellison, Nicole B. Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship School of Information (University of California-Berkeley, 2008): 1-17 Brown, L. David., Khagram, Sanjeev., Moore, Mark H. & Frumkin, Peter. Globalization, NGOs and Multi-Sectoral Relations The Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations and The (Kennedy School of Government Harvard University, 2000): 1-39 Daytone, Kenneth N. Governance is Governance (Independent Sector, 2001): 5-8 ISBN: 0-929556-08-9 Horne, J., and W. Manzenreiter The World Cup and television football. In: Horne, J., and W. Manzenreiter (eds): Japan, Korea and the 2002 World Cup, London: (Routledge, 2002): 195-212. Macionis, John J. Sociology 11th Edition (Prentice-Hall 2011): 173-181 Mayfield, Antony What is Social Media? An E-book (Icrossing, 2008): 2-11 Available at http://www.icrossing.co.uk/fileadmin/uploads/eBooks/What_is_Social_Media_iCrossing_ebook.pdf Vedder, Clyde B., Koenig, Samuel & Clark, Robert E. Criminology Holt, Rinehart & Winston (New York,1976): 391 Read More