SWOT Analysis - Americas Foundation for Chess - Essay Example

SWOT Analysis Number Introduction America’s Foundation for Chess abbreviated as AFSC is a nonprofits organization that was started in year 2000 in Seattle, Washington. In June, 2000 Seattle Chess Foundation was started by Scott Oki and Laurie Oki which was later changed to America’s Foundation for Chess. Originally, the foundation was based at Carillon point and it was later moved to Bellevue in the year 2013. The mission of this organization is to strengthen the character and the mind of young scholars by promoting chess in American schools and culture. AF4C promotes chess in American schools by organizing scholastic projects that use the first move chess curriculum. It advances chess in the American culture through the hosting of the United States Championships. SWOT Analysis The performance of children and their character are improving. This is considered as strength. According to the mission states of the association, it aims at strengthening the character and the mind of the young scholars. This result is a clear indication that the foundation is realizing its mission statement. This strength is distinctive as the change can be felt in the entire nation. Strengthening the mind of children improves their academic performance. Also, the children affected will impact others and this guarantees the future of a nation. This shows that the organization is beneficial to the nation (Allison et al., 2005). Since the organization is a nonprofit organization which is still achieving its goals, then its volunteers feel motivated. With motivated volunteers, there is the assurance of quality delivery from them. This will also attract more volunteers who will want to work for the organization. With a large number of volunteers, it means that the organization is saving quite an amount of money that could be utilized to meet its goals. Thus the organization will continue being a success, as good work force is vital for success (Allison et al., 2005). Weaknesses The nonprofit organization faces deficit of funds to cover its expenses. It cannot match the salaries of its for-profit competitors. The staff therefore, may not be motivated by the amount of money they earn and the founders, by the profits that they make. This lowers their compensation and diverts their focus on the satisfaction they get from their work. Since the foundation is realizing its goals and making an impact in the entire nation, this should motivate the founders and the staff. The organization’s stakeholders should try to involve donors who provide funds and engage in activities that can raise funds for the foundation (Allison et al., 2005). Another weakness is that of not having effective communication between the clients and the foundation. This is a weakness since, for the programs to be successful; communication among the schools, children and the foundation members has to be effective. Ineffective communication hinders the flow of activities. The foundation management should ensure that members of staff who are involved in teaching skills are competent enough to be able to deliver the best to the scholars and that the agreement between the teachers and the foundation is well understood. Opportunities Support from the schools’ administrations and the department of sports is a value that AFSC continues to enjoy. Having support from the schools’ administrations helps the foundation to implement its plans and to realize its goals. The schools support the foundation by providing some of resources that are needed such as the venue for training, materials and the teachers who co-work with the chess tutors. The sports departments also help the foundation in materials and other resources that are needed in accomplishing its course. The foundation therefore, finds it easy to finance its budget, is motivated to continue with its course and also motivate its staff (Allison et al., 2005). The foundation gets grants and charity from donors. There are a lot of grants and donations that are given even during recession. Other organizations’ support to the foundation enables it to continue running. The resources that are from grants and donations can be utilized by the foundation to expand its activities and to invade more cities. Because of these values, the foundation has been experiencing growth since its formation to today. Threats The organization is experiencing a lack of administrators in needy areas. Lack of administrators is due to lack of adequately experienced workforce in the organization. This development threatens the expansion and the growth of the organization. The course of the organization is also being threatened. The reality of this threat is underscored by the fact that administrators are vital in the running of the activities of the organization. The areas that lack sufficient administrators tend to lag behind. Also, the facilitation of the programs is poor compared to the other areas (Allison et al., 2005). Another threat is that there are other upcoming nonprofit organizations promoting the same product or identical products. There are other large and small nonprofits organizations that are expanding and will expand to the base service parts of the organization. This is a threat because they bring competition of the resources. The resources that were being given to one organization will have to be divided among the many upcoming ones. The state will also feel overburdened as it attends to the welfare of many nonprofit organizations. Therefore, the organization’s funders and administrators will not feel motivated to carry out duties that are observed by most all other organizations. This competition will also favor organizations that are doing better than the others. Summary Since the organization has the support of the schools’ administrators, it has no need of going to look for children elsewhere and finding them a class where they can be taught the skills. The skills can be administered right in the classrooms where normal lessons occur. The organization can make good use of the donations and grants from the government and other organizations to realize its objectives. The organization can utilize some of its resources from donations and grants to motivate its staff so as to solve the issue of lack of administrators. In spite of the other upcoming organizations, the foundation could do its best to maintain its reputation and to also improve on its weaknesses, so as to be at the top. Reference Allison, M., et al. (2005). Strategic Planning for Non-profit Organizations: A Practical Guide and Workbook. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. Read More