Sample fundraising plan to expand the prosperity and awareness of the March of Dimes Foundation.

1. Dimes to make a dollar<br />dedicated to improving the health of babies<br /> Public Relations Plan<br />April 19, 2010<br />uNIVERISTY OF hOUSTONdimes to make a dollar<br /> dedicated to improving the health of babies<br />Introduction<br />As the Public Relations sector of the March of Dimes Foundation, we are planning an event to expand the prosperity and awareness of the March of Dimes Foundation. <br />Knowing many of the factors that play into publicity and promotion, we would like to exercise as many as of the best of them, in regards to our planned engagement, as possible in efforts to draw in as much awareness as possible. In efforts to do so for the March of Dimes Foundation as well as for needing families, we feel that a silent auction would utilize many essential determinants in creating a successful PR event. The theme for the event will be “Dimes To Make A Dollar”, in efforts to emphasize the ease and maximize the potential to the utmost degree of growth for the foundation and all that are affected. <br />The objective of the March of Dimes Foundation is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality. The March of Dimes Foundation will accomplish this objective through research, community services, education and advocacy to save babies' lives. This silent auction will be a formal event consisting of primary as well as secondary research that overall will bring in more attention and knowledge toward the organization as well as bring about positive (behavioral and knowledgeable) changes from third parties (We will pay close attention to the foundation’s institutional memory and we will apply it towards the prosperity exertion).<br />There will a budget established for the event and regardless of if a profit is made, all proceeds made and/or donated through the silent auction will go towards 1, access to healthcare for women of childbearing age, infants and children, 2, research to prevent prematurity, birth defects, and infant mortality, and 3, prevention and treatment programs to improve maternal, infant, and child health; 3 of the 4 top public affairs issues that the foundation has for 2010, as seen fit.<br />Research<br />Primary Formal Research: March for Dimes will need to know how many people plan on coming to the silent auction and the dinner so event planners can make the proper accommodations for them. The amount of people planned to show for the events will determine where the venue will take place and how large the venue needs to be. We will need to provide the number to the venue of choice will need to know how many people plan on coming due to fire marshal regulations. In order to gather such information, we will conduct surveys and polls of the local neighborhoods of target audiences.<br />1. Primary formal research is necessary because a numerical value must be obtained in order to find a venue able to accommodate our guest. That value will determine the price of the venue itself, plus it will determine how many chairs, tables and plates of food will need to be considered. All these factors will affect the budget planned for the event.<br />2. The research is considered primary because it addresses the specific concern of how many people are planning to be in attendance for this event. The research is also considered formal because the data is reliant on projected numbers. <br />Secondary Formal Research: March of Dimes will examine the records and results of past silent auctions, particularly at the venue we decide to hold our events. We will need to know the time of the year and the season of each event. The types of items being auctioned and how much the winning bid for each item will allow us to predetermine which items will be most successful out our event. Who was invited, what demographic they belonged to, and how many of the invited showed up will all be useful to determine the how successful that event was and to forecast how successful our event can be.<br />1. Secondary informal research is necessary because it is important to know the chance of success for our event. It will help carve out a budget and project profits. <br />2. The research is considered secondary because it’s evaluating past events to help project the success of future events and it helps serve as a guide. Number or percentages are not used and also consider the research informal because it deals with data that is not represented by them. <br />Planning<br />Objectives: Specific objectives for this PR plan fall into three categories: behavioral, attitudinal, and informational based.<br />Maintain donation revenue for the organization<br />Increase traffic to March of Dimes website<br />Inform donors of how donations are being used and what has been achieved with them<br />Increase the amount of donors/ donation amounts that are being received. The amount will be increased from $241.8 million to $5000 million for the 2010.<br />Thank the donors for making contributions to the organization<br />Increase the amount of new donors for the organization<br />Program Management Documents:<br />Work Breakdown Structure: To achieve the specific objectives by the PR department of the March of Dimes, it will execute and see thru the following tasks:<br />Secure a venue for the gala/ silent auction, and other arrangements such as food, entertainment, etc<br />Send out formal invitations to donors and sponsors<br />Select a family to be featured during the dinner as a success story for the organization<br />Send a press release with details about the event thru the organizations website<br />Acquire and secure donors for the silent auction:<br />Bank of America Corporation<br />Citigroup<br />American Express<br />GNC (General Nutrition Corporation)<br />Coach, Inc<br />The Houston Opera<br />Houston Mercedes Dealership<br />Bloomingdales, Inc.<br />Louis Vutton, Inc.<br />Neiman Marcus, Inc.<br />Gucci, Inc.<br />Acquire and secure sponsors for the gala:<br />The Kroger Co.<br />Kmart Corporation<br />Houston Verizon Theater<br />The PepsiCo Foundation, Inc<br />Sallie Mae<br />Toys R Us/ Baby’s R Us<br />Readers Digest Foundation<br />ExxonMobil Foundation<br />Microsoft Corporation<br />GEICO Direct<br />MasterCard<br />J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.<br />Dave & Buster’s, Inc.<br />Wal-Mart, Inc.<br />Budget: Our budget will include the following expenses:<br />Print Advertisements:<br />Production Costs: $2,000<br />Direct Mail Solicitation of Sponsorship: <br />Personalized Invitation to sponsors: $12,000<br />Postage: $500<br />Online Advertising/Website Modifications: $1,000<br />Personnel: $15,000<br />Miscellaneous Costs: $2,500<br />Total Cost of PR Plan: $ 33,000<br />Taking Action<br />Message Points: Message points will be both informative and persuasive. Informative message points will educate those who are not already aware of March of Dimes and its mission while further educating those who do. Persuasive message points will persuade guests and donors to donate funds and time to March of Dimes. The overall message will address the current health issues of children and babies and how March of Dimes is committed to finding cures and preventive medicine as well as request for donations in order for March of Dimes to continue doing so. Persona will be employed in order to present the organization in a mutually beneficial and convincing light so that donors will want to continue to donate time and/or money as well as obtain new sponsors and donors.<br />A. Informative Message Points:<br />Mission of March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality through research, community services, education and advocacy to save babies' lives. March of Dimes researchers, volunteers, educators, outreach workers and advocates work together to give all babies a fighting chance against the threats to their health such as prematurity, birth defects and low birth weight.<br />March of Dimes is committed to enhancing education and research worldwide to improve education of healthcare providers in prenatal health. <br />March of Dimes encourages expanding the capacity for community action by developing parent and community support of babies and children with birth defects.<br />March of Dimes increases and expands awareness of human and economic costs of birth defects by providing policymakers, donor organizations and the media with data they can use to develop cost-effective solutions.<br />B. Persuasive Message Points:<br />To purchase dinner tickets and participate in silent auction in order to help March of Dimes to continue to issue research grants and carry out its mission to improve the health of babies and keep the community informed about the on-going crisis.<br />To not only donate monetarily, but also time in other fundraisers coordinated by the March of Dimes, particularly the March for Babies. <br />Reach out emotionally to prospective sponsors and donors by having selected three nominated families with children and/or babies with health issues that exemplifies the March of Dimes mission to speak about the hardship of being a parent of these children and how important it is to donate in order to increase preventative measures during and before pregnancy.<br />