Social Marketing and Fundraising Strategy - Business Plan Example

List of Figures

Figure 1: Volunteering among women and men in the UK (adopted from CAF, 2015)2

Figure 2: Technological device usage in donation giving (adopted from Young-Powell, 2012)1

Figure 3: UK Charity Market in 2014 (adopted from Charities Aids Foundation, 2014)3

Figure 4: Marketing Strategies for NSPCC5

Figure 5: Donor stewardship cycle7

Figure 6: Progression of NSPCC campaign (Gantt Chart)8

List of Tables

Table 1: NSPCC Current Social Media Presence5

Table 2: NSPCC SWOT Analysis0

Table 3: PEST Analysis2

Table 4: Objectives of the NSPCC Marketing Campaign4

Table 5: NSPCC Marketing Mix7

Table 6: Control Measurement for the Marketing Plan9

Introduction

NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) is a charity organization fighting for the children rights in the UK and Channel Islands. NSPCC provides children with protection and prevention from abuse in schools, homes, and online due to increased cases of cyber bullying. Currently, NSPCC faces stagnation in fundraisers, gifts, and donations. Report for the financial year 2014/15 revealed that the overall voluntary income reduced from €110.6 to €109.9 million while the regular giving income reduced from €66.6million to €64.9 million (NSPCC, 2015). The reduction of the income offset the ability to meet expenditure and governance costs. The financial problems occurred despite consistent contributions from pensioners, investments, and fundraising events. In addition, NSPCC aims to increase corporate partnerships and achieve collaborative working from the community and volunteers on an on-going basis.

The group’s task was to develop a not for profit strategic marketing plan to establish a steady voluntary income from fundraiser events, donations, and gifts within UK as well as the Channel Islands. The plan further addresses the corporate partnerships and collaborative connections with the community in four nations, which will reinforce the current efforts in protecting children from abuse. The strategic marketing plan provides the best propositions for NSPCC move to establish a consistent performance in the charity market.

Situational Analysis

NSPCC Support

NSPCC is a leading charity organization overseeing a protection system for children through stringent legislations (NSPCC, 2016). However, the scope of responsibilities is enormous leading to management difficulties, which impedes the overall performance as expected by the core stakeholders. The organization relies on volunteers to carry out its fundraising events, awareness, and reconcile the complaints from the child line. The charity seeks more support from potential donor population and the community that register child abuse cases regularly (Flegel, 2009).

NSPCC is highly dependent on the fundraisers, gifts, and donations, which reduces the amount of income it can generate within any financial year. Establishing a regular voluntary income remains a challenge for the NSPCC despite envision expanding its presence in UK and the Channel Islands. Meeting financial objectives will require stable revenue streams; hence, the need for dynamic corporate partnerships and additional online fundraising including PayPal, charity promotions as well as competitions.

The organization registers significant interest considering that it receives a call every 25 seconds through the child line. While the volunteers uphold a consistent awareness campaign, increasing awareness through digital marketing will expand the number of stakeholders who can provide voluntary income.

According to Quinton and Fennemore (2012, p.18), online social networks help UK charities to regain and reach new audiences while providing a lasting consumer experience. Currently, NSPCC has sustained a regular social media presence, but it should aim at increasing its followers. Table 1 shows the NSPCC statistics on the social platform.

Table 1: NSPCC current social media presence

Facebook

319,193 Page Likes

Twitter

187,000 Followers

LinkedIn

13,764 Connections & Followers

Google Plus

709 followers & 373,068 Views

YouTube

3739 Subscribers

NSPCC Attrition Rate

The essence of having a wide scope of fundraising is to reduce the attrition rate. The attrition rate for charities entails the number of donors who decline giving charities within a specified period, which may destabilize the financial performance of a charity organization (Sargeant and Shang, 2010). Donors fail to identify with the brand and the objectives an organization leading to poor voluntary giving (Bester and Jere, 2012). Guided by SWOT analysis on Table 2, charities across the UK have shown a decreasing performance where donations and donors have decreased by 20% since 2012 (Young-Powell, 2012).

According to the organization’s annual reports and accounts 2014/15, the reduction of income from €157million to €126million in 2008-2015 shows NSPCC’s struggles with high attrition rate. The declining donor loyalty and attitude comes amidst aggressive participation and engagement events across UK as well as the Channel Islands. Reductions in giving occur due to failure to engage the audience. UK charities seek to reduce the cost of fundraising and effectiveness by engaging donors on an on-going basis (Aldrich, 2009). However, Skarmeas and Shabbir (2011) suggest that charities must establish relationship quality to reduce attrition rate. In addition, seeking religiosity and self-construal individuals will increase donations. NSPCC should seek a collaborative working approach with the community, volunteers, and the donors to increase the likelihood of a regular giving behaviour. The technique will sustain its acceptability and financial position to meet its income expectations as well as reduce costs.

Table 2: NSPCC SWOT Analysis

NSPCC SWOT Analysis

Strengths

• Strong brand in UK and Channel Islands
• High social media presence on Facebook, Twitter
• Government recognition
• High interest due to one call every 25 seconds on child line

Weaknesses

• Low volunteering rate
• Decreasing financial stability in accordance with 2014/15 budget
• Loss of trust in the charity sector

Opportunities

• Social media presence on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Google +
• Developing relationship quality
• Increase technology device usage

Threats

• 20% decrease in donations and donors
• High attrition rates
• Competition from medical research and hospital related charities

The Current UK Charity Market

The 2008/09 financial crisis affected the charity market in the UK and Channel Islands, which contributed towards reduced donations in many charity organizations (Cancer Research UK, 2009). The government has reduced expenditure to €2billlion, which will affect small and large charities from 2016. Lack of proper funding reduces the spending power in the market (Young-Powell, 2012). The loss of trust in the voluntary sector contributes to the declining donor fund with most of the organizations grappling with negative publicity due to the belief that they do not perform their fiduciary responsibilities. NSPCC is among the charity organizations subject to regulatory framework envisioned to tame charities. In addition, people are giving more to charities related to religious and medical research causes.

The reassurance of donors is as important as raising the number of volunteers. NSPCC invites applications for volunteer programs every year, which becomes an additional source of donations. Charity Aid Foundation Report (2014) revealed that only 14% individuals volunteered for charity in 2014. Garner and Garner (2010) indicate that volunteer attraction and retention is an important component of any charitable organization seeking to maintain quick response to its problems. Additionally, Bekkers and Bowman (2008) concurs that increasing volunteering is a viable way of increasing confidence, social trust, and the instrumental relationships with other stakeholders.

The most important aspect of NSPCC is to understand the potential market for charities to increase the awareness campaign, voluntary income, and collaborative relationships with the government as well as the community. According to Charities Aids Foundation (2015), 48% women and 41% as shown in Fig 1, contribute by way of direct donations, sponsorships, and gifts.

Figure 1: Volunteering among women and men in the UK (adopted from CAF, 2015)

With the donations from all age groups being an average of €16 across UK in 2014, the likelihood of organizations raising awareness to generate more income is high. Remarkably, 75% of donors in the UK give for a specific cause, which implies that NSPCC can increase the donation and income opportunities if it positions itself in the charity market appropriately (Young-Powell, 2012). In 2014, donors and sponsors made contributions online, which indicate the essence of employing online fundraising as shown in Fig 2.

Figure 2: Technological device usage in donation giving (adopted from Young-Powell, 2012)

Competition Analysis

The declining donor funding since 2008 has been the source of financial problems for NSPCC. Additionally, the existence of new and old charities at local as well as the national level has reduced the amount of voluntary income the organization gets from its target audience. Carroll and Stater (2008, p.948) found that any charity willing to offset competition must embark on a differentiation exercise to reduce the influence of competitors. NSPCC must convince target donors why it deserves sufficient finances in its bid to prevent child abuse across UK and Channel Islands. Similarly, challenging traditional fundraising, volunteering framework, and resource exchange will achieve competitive advantage while giving organizations scaling capacity. Both small and large charity organizations have similar objectives, which remains a compelling source of competition for NSPCC.

Table 3: PEST Analysis

Political

• UK government changed law to cut grants for charities after 2009
• States unveiled reporting and spending levels for charities

Economic

• Slow recovery of UK charity market from 2008/09 financial crisis
• Low donor spending power due to decreased donation
• Charities using traditional fundraising and resource exchange frameworks

Social

• Increasing proportion of children contributing charities
• 48% women and 41% men making regular donations

Technology

• Increased use of social media by charities and donors
• Amplified Technology device usage to make donations

The biggest competition comes from the charity dealing with medical agenda (33%). While Charities Aids Foundation found that children and young people charities attract 30% attention from the UK public, other emerging areas such hospitals shows the essence establishing long-term relevance in the charity as shown in Fig.3. UK Giving (2012) rated hospitals-related charity at second with 15% while children-related followed with 11%. The achievement of 30% growth in 2014 implies that organizations have made significant effort to reduce competition.

Figure 3: UK Charity Market in 2014 (adopted from Charities Aids Foundation, 2014)

Marketing beyond schools, homes, and government organizations will be in line in helping NSPCC achieve its budgetary projections in the long-term. Charities Aids Foundation report (2014) reveals that NSPCC occupies a leading position against other competitors. Focusing on a stable financial stability and competitive advantage will reinforce NSPCC efforts to take a lead position in the charities market.

Objectives

The principal aim of developing a strategic marketing plan for NSPCC is to improve the volume of voluntary giving through donations, gifts, and fundraiser events. The reduction in the income for 2014/15 necessitates revival of its financial situation. A thorough analysis of the charity market in the UK and the Channel Islands has established the need to pursue other objectives as listed in Table 4.

Table 4: Objectives of the NSPCC marketing campaign

• To increase regular voluntary funding, with individuals giving at least €16 by end of the year

• To increase responsiveness from community and volunteers by 25% by the end of the year

• To increase donor loyalty by reducing prevailing attrition rates

• To increase the scope of corporate partnerships and reduce overreliance on BT, Spar, BHS and Matalan

Strategic Plan

The achievement of the four objectives will require the use of effective marketing strategies. Online fundraising will increase regular voluntary funding considering the proportion of people using online platforms to donate to charities. Fundraising through online will diversify revenues due to convenience (Carroll and Stater, 2008).

Digital marketing through social media will increase the response from the community and potential volunteers who identify with preventive and protection systems against child abuse. Prevalent social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Google Plus will increase the number of people who acknowledge children rights at homes, schools, and online among other settings where abuse occurs (Wymer, 2010). Social media will promote discussion against child abuse and provide a platform for reporting abuses to reinforce the child line. According to Carim and Warwick (2013), charities use social media to increase responsiveness, monitoring, and public relations in the community.

A loyalty-gaming program will boost loyalty among existing donors, which will make donating fun and effortless. The primary aim of loyalty gaming is to tap into the competitive nature of the donor population (Wilkinson, 2013). NSPCC will record the donors on its website and engage them with free-choice games. Subsequently, an appealing website design will promote the process to help donors manage their donation preferences.

Dedicating sufficient time to corporate sponsorship will increase the number of partners at NSPCC. Currently, the NSPCC has nine corporate partnerships, which include O2, First Utility, Virgin Money, Credit Suisse, BT, Spar, BHS, and Matalan (NSPCC, 2016). The essence of corporate partnership in the modern charity market is to increase funds in charities that receive little funds from the government and traditional sources (Mourdaunt and Paton, 2013, p.100).

Figure 4: Integrated Marketing Campaign for NSPCC

Strategies

Website Design

NSPCC should consider a simplified and responsive mobile site to increase the scope of audience accessing its website. The website should enable potential donors in all age groups to identify with the campaign and events that NSPCC carries out on a regular basis. In addition, the site should contain payment functionality with a platform such as PayPal and card payment options as a way of increasing online fundraising. The payment functionality on the website will entice more donors to donate; hence, increasing the operating finances for the organization.

Social Media Campaign

The social media campaign will entail creating consistent online updates that will engage the proportion of the community, potential volunteers, and donors on the social platforms. Engaging online audience will increase awareness and sustain discussions that focus on the plight of children in the UK and Channel Islands. Social media provides a platform for undertaking cause-related marketing when compared to advertisements (Hyllegard et al., 2010).

Donor Stewardship

NSPCC will need to retain one-off donors by using stewardship to establish long-term relations. The campaign will incorporate the community and the volunteers who could become donors once they identify with the cause of preventing child abuse. The importance of donor stewardship is to help NSPCC demonstrate the value that donors bring to the organization. The move involves writing reports to show the manner in which the finances or gifts are put to good use (Hedrick, 2009). NSPCC will engage the donating cycle as shown in fig. 5 to improve repeat and increase voluntary giving. The overall pool of donors will increase, which will boost prospects and fundraising income for the non-profit organization.

Figure 5: Donor stewardship cycle

The overall marketing mix for the NSPCC will appear as shown in Table 5.

Table 5: NSPCC Marketing Mix

Product

• Increase awareness programs for child abuse prevention

Place

• UK and the Channel Islands
• Expand social media

Price

• No fixed amount of donation, but a the minimum target of €16

Promotion

• Corporate sponsorship
• Donor stewardship
• New website design
• Loyalty gaming method

People

• New volunteers will help in carry out fundraiser events and awareness
• Increase the number of corporate partnerships

Processes

• Report writing to increase donor value
• Seeking feedback through direct calls and emails

Physical Evidence

• New website design to accommodate payment functionality
• Change the appearance of social media pages to attract new audience

Action

The group has chosen cost effective options for NSPCC in the marketing plan because the intention is to reduce overall costs to have sufficient income for children abuse prevention and protection program. Corporate sponsorship, social media, and stewardship program are cheap and effective techniques for expanding the current budget for NSPCC. The Gantt chart in fig. 6 shows the progress of the marketing campaign.

Figure 6: Progression of NSPCC campaign (Gantt chart)

Evaluation and Control

The group has stipulated measures to ascertain the appropriateness of the marketing tactic and the achievement of the objectives of the campaign. The results of the evaluation and control will facilitate adjustment of the tactics as well as the campaign.

Table 6: Control Measurement for the marketing plan

Objective

Measurement

To increase regular voluntary funding, with individuals giving at least €16 by end of the year

• Develop an online database to register new and existing donors as well as determine funding trend
• Update the database on weekly base to accommodate sign ups
• Monitor of the database to determine the patterns of funding and donors from all age groups

To increase responsiveness from the community and volunteers by 25% by the end of the year

• To measure the number of people from the UK and Channel Islands
• Monitor contacts on child line to determine community interest
• Census of the volunteers after one year

To increase donor loyalty by reducing prevailing attrition rates

• Check the donor program to understand how regularly they contribute to the NSPCC cause
• Contact one-off donors to understand the reason for stopping their contribution in accordance with donor stewardship

To increase the scope of corporate partnerships and reduce overreliance on BT, Spar, BHS and Matalan

• Register interested corporate partners
• Undertake monitoring of the type of institutions declaring interest in NSPCC

Reference List

Aldrich, T., 2009. Benchmarking the fundraising performance of UK charities. International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 14(4), pp.353-364.

Bekkers, R. and Bowman, W., 2008. The Relationship Between Confidence in Charitable Organizations and Volunteering Revisited. Non-profit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 38(5), pp.884-897.

Bester, S. and Jere, M., 2012. Cause-related marketing in an emerging market: Effect of cause involvement and message framing on purchase intention. Journal of Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management, 19(4), pp.286-293.

CAF, 2015. UK Giving 2014: An Overview of Charitable Giving in the UK during 2014. [online] London: Charities Aids Foundation. Available at: <https://www.cafonline.org/docs/default-source/about-us-publications/caf-ukgiving2014>.

Cancer Research UK, 2009. Annual Report and Accounts: Saving Lives. [online] London: Cancer Research UK. Available at: <http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/prod_consump/groups/cr_common/@abt/@gen/documents/generalcontent/cr_052383.pdf>.

Carim, L. and Warwick, C., 2013. Use of social media for corporate communications by research-funding organisations in the UK. Public Relations Review, 39(5), pp.521-525.

Carroll, D. and Stater, K., 2008. Revenue Diversification in Non-profit Organizations: Does it Lead to Financial Stability?. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 19(4), pp.947-966.

Carroll, D. and Stater, K., 2008. Revenue Diversification in Non-profit Organizations: Does it Lead to Financial Stability?. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 19(4), pp.947-966.

Flegel, M., 2009. Conceptualizing cruelty to children in nineteenth-century England. Farnham, England: Ashgate.

Garner, J. and Garner, L., 2010. Volunteering an Opinion: Organizational Voice and Volunteer Retention in Non-profit Organizations. Non-profit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 40(5), pp.813-828.

Hedrick, J., 2009. Effective Donor Relations. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Hyllegard, K., Yan, R., Ogle, J. and Attmann, J., 2010. The influence of gender, social cause, charitable support, and message appeal on Gen Y's responses to cause-related marketing. Journal of Marketing Management, 27(1-2), pp.100-123.

Mourdaunt, J. and Paton, R., 2013. Thoughtful Fundraising. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.

NSPCC, 2015. Piece by Piece: Annual Reports and Accounts 2014/15. Annual Reports and Accounts. [online] London: The NSPCC. Available at: <https://www.nspcc.org.uk/globalassets/documents/annual-reports/nspcc-annual-report-2014-15.pdf>.

NSPCC, 2016. About us. [online] NSPCC. Available at: <https://www.nspcc.org.uk/fighting-for-childhood/about-us/>.

Quinton, S. and Fennemore, P., 2012. Missing a strategic marketing trick? The use of online social networks by UK charities. International Journal of Non-profit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 18(1), pp.36-51.

Sargeant, A. and Jay, E., 2014. Fundraising Management. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.

Sargeant, A. and Shang, J., 2010. Fundraising principles and practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Skarmeas, D. and Shabbir, H., 2011. Relationship quality and giving behaviour in the UK fundraising sector. European Journal of Marketing, 45(5), pp.720-738.

Wilkinson, N., 2013. The top charities finding innovative ways of fundraising. [online] the Guardian. Available at: <http://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sector-network/2013/jan/07/top-charities-innovative-fundraising>.

Wymer, W., 2010. Rethinking the boundaries of social marketing: Activism or advertising?. Journal of Business Research, 63(2), pp.99-103.

Young-Powell, A., 2012. Charity donations and donors decrease, says survey. [online] the Guardian. Available at: <http://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sector-network/2012/nov/13/charity-donations-donors-decrease-survey>.

Appendix

Data used to draw Fig. 2.

Appendix 1: Technology usage by device (Charities Aids Foundation, 2014)