Running head: SEASONAL FUNDRAISING INITIATIVE Secondary Research for Seasonal Fundraising Initiative Client: Wolverine Worldwide Family YMCA Jowei Yek CAP 220 13 February 2018
SEASONAL FUNDRAISING INITIATIVE 2 Abstract YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids has been serving the Grand Rapids community for over 150 years, all along striving to enrich its community through holistic programs that strengthen the bodies, minds, and spirits of the people. This research aims to collect existing information to aid in the execution of the upcoming fundraising campaign. Information gathered in this paper will include YMCA s current initiatives and how those initiatives can be utilized to aid the campaign. It will also discuss media, current trends, and projected opportunities that are crucial to the success of the campaign. The goal of this report is to set a strong foundation and create a clear guide for the campaign to take shape and to be initiated. Keywords: YMCA, fundraising, brand overview, social media analysis, cause analysis
SEASONAL FUNDRAISING INITIATIVE 3 Seasonal Fundraising Initiative Brand Overview For years, YMCA has pride itself on being a welcoming, all-inclusive community; a place where everyone can feel belong. This culture can be clearly seen in their slogan, The Y. For a better us. Through their emphasis on the sense of belonging, YMCA serves over 22 individuals all across the United States today. YMCA strives restlessly to push boundaries, to challenge expectations, and to progress in their work. The work that they aim to accomplish is a mixture of their three core focuses- youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility. Though not realized by many, it is evident that pursuing for better health of people is only a small portion of their great ambition. Organization Core Focuses Of all the things that YMCA cares about, youth development had always been primary. YMCA recognizes that all youths today has the potential to succeed, which is why they want to help equip youths, to provide them with the right tools to ensure they actualize those potentials. A child is 60% less likely to attend college if they never received high-quality childhood education (YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids, 2015, p.5). In order to stop this, YMCA has stepped in and provided 563 children with care and education in eight locations (YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids, 2015, p.5). YMCA also goes beyond the academics and tackle the usually unseen aspects of youth development, because they know essential traits like leadership, independence, and self-protection cannot be equipped by most academic environments. For this sole purpose, YMCA has created summer camps that catered to over 9000 children (YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids, 2015, p.5). YMCA knows, that these summer camps, along with other programs provides a safe space for youths to thrive. In addition to that, in the age where, every day, three children lose their lives as a result of drowning (YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids, 2018b, p.1), YMCA intervenes by providing
SEASONAL FUNDRAISING INITIATIVE 4 swim lessons and water safety classes for over 4000 children (YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids, 2015, p.5). The other thing that YMCA focuses on is healthy living, more specifically, holistic health. YMCA strongly believes that being healthy is not just being physically active. YMCA has catered services that allow one to balance their well-being in a multitude of aspects including, but not confined to, mental health and spiritual growth. YMCA wants to champion a community of people who are not only physically healthy, but well-informed and precautious about healthy lifestyles. One of the most impressive achievements of YMCA is their food nutrition programs that have educated more than 22,000 children on healthy eating and lifestyles (YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids, 2015, p.7). This number brings hope, as people know that YMCA is shaping the future generation into a healthier one in a very sustainable way. Lastly, it goes without saying that YMCA focuses on giving back to the community that they serve; they are convicted to ensure that the community is benefiting the most. In reaction to the inaccessibility to food assistance, YMCA has put more than 100,000 healthy meals on the tables for the children in need. YMCA also fosters engagement by encouraging people to be more active in giving back to their own communities. YMCA does this by giving people the opportunity to volunteer, in ways that they feel most comfortable. YMCA also subsidizes many costs for people who cannot effort YMCA s services. So, not only is YMCA s membership fees income-based, they also provide financial assistance for 1 in 4 of their members enrolled in their health living programs (YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids, 2018c, p.2). YMCA has also given more than $130,000 in financial assistance to youths, investing in their health, safety, and future. YMCA also does not shy away from displaying where all the money is flowing from and to, all these information are detailed in their annual report. YMCA does this to reassure its community of its promise of transparency.
SEASONAL FUNDRAISING INITIATIVE 5 Social Media Content and Engagement YMCA has a good social media presence. YMCA publishes two Facebook post per day on average, and have a very high response rate to Facebook messages and reviews. YMCA s Facebook page pushes out content that are related to their core focuses, and rarely publishes any membership and costs related posts. Recurring contents include healthy living tips, inspiring stories, and awareness messages. These contents are summarised and posted on their Instagram and Twitter accounts as well. The social media accounts of YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids, on the other hand, is mainly for their community to quickly access information; these include their operating hours, activities, and membership details. One thing that YMCA and YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids social media pages have in common is their selection of visuals. Pictures that can be found on their social media accounts mostly feature diverse people from all walks of life, this is an overt way for YMCA to embody their inclusiveness. YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids does not have a high engagement to follower ratio on their social medias, but they have an exceptional review of 4.5 stars on Facebook. There are over 550 individuals who shared with others their good experiences, some people can also be seen defending YMCA with their own experiences when some individuals post bad reviews. Overall, YMCA s social media presence is fuelled by the community, while the page s content itself does not generate as much engagement. If this fundraising initiative is taking the digital route, the strategy will be to make sure that the community is actively engaging with the campaign through interacting with YMCA s posts, curating their own posts about the campaign, and also giving views and feedbacks on other community members posts.
SEASONAL FUNDRAISING INITIATIVE 6 Campaign Featured Causes Safe spaces, water safety, and holistic health are the three causes that YMCA emphasized on for this seasonal fundraising initiative. These causes are all connected to YMCA s core focuses. Safe spaces and water safety links directly to the youth development focus, and holistic health links to the healthy living focus. Through the operation of these causes, YMCA also fulfils their social responsibility, in the form of community sustenance, and volunteering and career opportunities. All these featured causes, in some way, are presented in a way that addresses pressing issues in Michigan today, then YMCA provides a solution with ways that YMCA can lend its hand. With the increase rate of unsupervised children falling victim to substance abuse, juvenile crime, and dropping out of school, YMCA wants to ensure that all children are indiscriminately provided with a space to thrive (YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids, 2018a, p.1). In the light of 80% percent of drowning cases happened in less than 4 feet of water because the children were not taught to swim, YMCA wants to provide the solution. YMCA wants to ensure every child stay safe, by providing 300 children with swimming lessons (YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids, 2018b, p.1&2). YMCA also recognizes the epidemic of obesity and other chronic diseases that inactivity brings to our country. So, YMCA provides health programs that, not only improves the physical health of community members, but also upkeep their spiritual and mental growth (YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids, 2018c, p.1&2). According to YMCA s annual report in 2015, more than $17,000,000 is spend on physical fitness and wellness, community outreach, and aquatics. The spending in these three areas is 55% of YMCA s total expenses (YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids, 2015, p.10). The revenue that YMCA made from the membership fees only adds up to be $14,000,000. So, to keep up the work that needs to be done, YMCA will need monetary support from its community, and this is where this fundraising campaign steps in and takes action.
SEASONAL FUNDRAISING INITIATIVE 7 The goal is, through this campaign, fund could be raised and be dedicated to rendering safe spaces to youths, teaching water safety, and championing holistic health. With these funds, not only can YMCA organize more programs that work out these causes, YMCA can also support community members who cannot afford programs at the Y. This just shows that the people in the community are truly the main focus of YMCA in this campaign. Trends and Opportunities It is apparent that most campaigns today are carried out digitally. Digital medias, though useful, also have to consider many factors like market trends, target audiences, and compellability of the message. Hence, trends have to be studied, and from trends, opportunities should be inferred to bring the campaign to its next phase- the planning of strategy. The biggest trends in online fundraising today are the utilization of online crowdfunding tools and the use of video content. In the year 2015, about $34 billion worth of funds were raised through crowdfunding, and crowdfunding also raised the most amount of funds compared to other fundraising methods (CrowdExpert, 2015). Crowdfunding s method relies on a collective effort of funders. The funds come from small sums of money that accumulates linearly with the increase of the number of funders. A good way of integrating the method of crowdfunding in this YMCA campaign can be through disclosing the funds that are raised to the funders. These receivers are usually specific groups of people in YMCA s community whom YMCA s featured causes are primarily serving. Then, the target audiences are encouraged to develop interpersonal relationships with the beneficiary, through opportunities like video testimonials. Then, funders are encouraged to donate funds in the role of a supporter, neighbor, or even a friend. This approach is a way that this campaign can raise fund by emphasizing YMCA s focus on community. As briefly mentioned above, video testimonials are also a great tool, and it may also be the key to the success of this campaign. Video content retains the most audience attention,
SEASONAL FUNDRAISING INITIATIVE 8 moreover, videos are able to portray emotions and other elements that words, or even pictures, cannot. Furthermore, video content is leading media platforms today. Mike Templeman, in his article, explicated that 55% of people consume video content every day, and video content will be 80% of all internet traffic by the year of 2019. Facebook alone is leading the video content distribution by generating eight billion views every day (2017, para. 4&5). By playing into the video content trend, this campaign will be able to attain the large number of people needed for the crowdfunding. After the campaign ends, video content can also be posted as a way to express gratitude to funders for their contribution, as well as assuring the community of YMCA s work and transparency. Conclusion YMCA is an organization that is built on the trust and support of its community, and only with those support can YMCA continue to serve its community, especially in the indispensable areas. This fundraising initiative aims, not only to give YMCA the monetary support that it needs, but also to show current and potential community members of YMCA what YMCA stands for. This research has listed some methods that can be used to improve this fundraising campaign, hoping to create an initiative that is effective in communicating YMCA efforts in bringing betterment to the community that YMCA is intending to serve.
SEASONAL FUNDRAISING INITIATIVE 9 References CrowdExpert. (2015, March 31). Massolution crowdfunding industry 2015 report. Retrieved from http://crowdexpert.com/crowdfunding-industry-statstics/ Templeman, M. (2017, September 6). 17 Stats and facts every marketer should know about video marketing. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/ miketempleman/2017/09/06/17-stats-about-video-marketing/#5d0b3e6c567f YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids. (2018a). "Safe Spaces" [Flyer]. Grand Rapids, MI: YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids. YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids. (2018b). "Water Safety" [Flyer]. Grand Rapids, MI: YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids. YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids. (2018c). "Holistic Health" [Flyer]. Grand Rapids, MI: YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids. YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids. (2015). Impact 2015, annual report. Grand Rapids, MI: YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids. Retrieved from https://www.grymca.ord/books /15-Annual-Report/html5/index.html?page-1&noflash