INTERNET EXERCISES

Chapter 21: Not-For-Profit Marketing

Exercise #1 - Marketing Happens in Not-for-Profit Companies, Too
Exercise #2 - Marketing to the Homeless or Marketing for the Homeless?

Exercise #1 – Marketing Happens in Not-for-Profit Companies, Toog

Vignette: HIV is a major concern in South Africa. To help educate children, the South African version of the popular children’s series, Sesame Street, incorporated an HIV-positive Muppet into its cast.

Marketing is Always about Meeting People’s Needs
The first HIV-positive Muppet was added to the cast of Sesame Street in South Africa in September 2002. The character, Kami, will associate freely with the show’s other characters to fight stereotypes and help instill positive attitudes toward people infected with HIV. This is an example of social marketing, a specific type of marketing designed to work for the benefit of the target audience by influencing their behaviour. With more than 4.7 million people living with HIV, South Africa has the world’s largest population infected with the virus. It is important to take action to help distill the stigma surrounding the virus.

Activity

1. Tour the featured Web site and read the articles provided about Sesame Street in South Africa.
   

2. Summarize the marketing plan involved in this case. What is the marketing objective that the plan developers are trying to achieve? What are the product, price, distribution, and marketing communications components of the plan?
   

3. The Web site does not clarify whether marketing research was conducted to base this plan on. If you were working on this project, what type(s) of marketing research would you have conducted to help you develop and defend this plan? Remember that the target audience is children under five and that your plan and the use of the Kami character could be criticized for trying to manipulate vulnerable young minds.
   

4. How would you go about determining whether this plan met its objectives without having any negative effects on your target audience? Specifically, what types of market research would you conduct after the new character had been on the program for, say six months, to determine whether to keep the character in the cast or to change it in some way to make it more effective?

Resources

Major nonprofit organizations in Canada:

Canadian Cancer Society: – one of Canada’s most prominent and successful charitable organizations; this site contains information on its history, mission, alliances, and finances

The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada: – another prominent charitable organization and active marketer in Canada

Greenpeace: – an international environmental advocacy group that operates in over 40 countries worldwide, including Canada

Nonprofit Support Organizations:

Charity Village: – provides news and other resource information for NPOs in Canada; this site provides links to numerous NPOs in Canada

Association of Fundraising Professionals: – an association that provides information and instruction for fundraising professionals across North America

Exercise 2 – Marketing to the Homeless or Marketing for the Homeless?

Most Nonprofits are Really Small Businesses
Most nonprofit organizations in Canada are actually very small operations without the staffing or financial support enjoyed by the major charitable organizations listed in the Resources section above. Ryandale Shelter for the Homeless is a typical Canadian NPO. It is one of six shelters for the homeless operating in Kingston, Ontario. It offers five-day emergency support to women, men, youth and families all under the same roof. It is open from 4 pm to 8 am, and operates on a first come, first served basis. While Ryandale receives funding from Social Services and the United Way, it relies heavily upon volunteers and the generous financial support of local churches, individuals and groups to keep its doors open.

Activity

1. Tour the featured Web site for the Ryandale Shelter for the Homeless. Note its occupancy statistics provided under “Facts on Homelessness.” What are Ryandale’s “business” objectives? Remember to consider its financial goals as well as its nonfinancial goals, even though it is not profit-oriented.
   

2. If you were the marketing director for Ryandale, who would be the target market for achieving the organization’s financial goals and who would be the target market for achieving its nonfinancial goals? What are the needs of each of these target groups? Can you meet these needs with the same marketing plan?
   

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