Yellow Team
Marketing Plan
December 12, 2010
Marketing Plan
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Filippos Raditsas
December 12, 2010
Marketing Plan for uRaise
1.0
Final
Yellow Team
Marketing Plan
December 12, 2010
Market Analysis
Urai$e is designed to serve to specific customer groups. The first group is the
non profit organizations which are going to be the primary customers that are going
to provide most of the funding for the development and maintenance of the product.
The second customer group will be Old Dominion University which will mainly be
the product’s case study. Both customer groups are vital to the product’s
development and distribution; the first one is going to be the main customer which
the final product is going to be targeted to, and the second one is going to help
testing the product and making sure it is capable of serving an organization and
satisfies all of their needs.
According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics, there are over 1.6
million non profit organizations registered with the IRS. Additionally, according to
the National Center for Education Statistics there are over 4400 degree granting
institutions. So, both of the customer groups have a satisfying number of possible
customers that are facing the same problems to which our product provides the
solutions.
Since this product is a web-based application the team must focus on the
internet and the tools provided in order to promote both our product and our
customers. Thus, we have decided to integrate social networking into our
application. uRai$e is going to have facebook and twitter integration. According to
Edison Research facebook has over 500 million active users. In addition, twitter has
more than 100 million registered users. In conclusion integrating social networking
Yellow Team
Marketing Plan
December 12, 2010
will expose our application to a very large number of potential donors in addition to
advertising both our customers and the product for free. Continually, since the Haiti
donation campaigns, mobile donations have become really popular. So, based on the
$30 million raised via mobile donations, in addition to the fact that 80% of
Americans use a cell phone, we have decided to implement mobile donations in
uRai$e giving the donors an extra easy way of payment.
Product Package
uRai$e is a web-based application; thus no additional hardware is needed by
the customer. Anyone with internet access and a web browser can access it. Our
main website will have all of the essential information concerning both the
customer and the donor. First of all, there will be a registration web page for both
customers and donors. Customers are going to be given a fully analyzed cost
analysis. In addition they are given a list of all the features that are going to be
included in their subscription; they are going to be able to create customized
fundraisers according to their current needs and promote them through social
networking. On the other hand, donors are going to be given the choice to create a
profile, through which they are going to chose whether they wish to be contacted by
our website concerning the organization they are interested in. In addition, they are
going to have access to all fundraisers regardless they have registered or not.
Finally, users are also going to be able to edit their profile anytime and change their
preferences.
Yellow Team
Marketing Plan
December 12, 2010
Customer Return on Investment
Customers can expect a radical decrease in overhead and a significant
increase in their donations when they subscribe to uRai$e. In addition to free
advertising and improved communication with their donors, organization will have
at least 40% in monthly fees, if they use a product from one of our competitors. In
fact, they would also save hundreds of dollars in sign-up fees as uRai$e does not
have any. Finally, uRai$e has no transaction processing fees, thus decreasing the
overhead.
Benefits for Donors
In addition to the customer, there are also going to be benefits for the end
user. So, for the donors, uRai$e is going to have a profile creation option through
which donors are going to choose whether they want to be contacted about
fundraiser updates or not. Mobile donation is a feature that makes the process of
donating so much easier for the donors. Added transparency allows donors to keep
track of where their money goes, how much more is needed to achieve the
fundraiser’s goal, and finally what are the specific needs that will be satisfied
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Marketing Plan
December 12, 2010
through that fundraiser. Finally, donors are going to be able to stay connected with
organizations without donating, or subscribing to uRai$e.
Sales Plan
Case Study:
Developing a fundraising software comes with great responsibility, so
everything needs to be done in the right way. So, everything needs to be tested
under a real setting. uRai$e is going to be tested at Old Dominion University, which
is an nonprofit organization as well. In fact, the application is going to integrate with
ODU’s existing database. As any other customer, the university will not need any
additional hardware or software to use uRai$e as it is accessible through any web
browser. Finally, the university will provide feedback on whether the application
needs improvements or not.
This case study is a great beta testing environment which provides a place
for us to test our application, as well as a great place to advertise our product. In
addition, testing uRai$e in ODU is easier for the team as there is a lot information
around the university’s data, needs, opportunities, and finally the team has
connections with the office of development which is currently involved with the
donating process. If uRai$e succeeds in fulfilling ODU’s needs, it will become
popular and trustworthy; thus it will attract new customers. Finally there will be a
much better understanding of what the team’s needs will be on phase 3.
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Marketing Plan
December 12, 2010
Year One:
After the case study is completed, the team is going to collect all the feedback
available from ODU in order to do all of the final changes, implementations, or
improvements that might be needed. Then, the team would approach new
customers, providing them with the data from the case study which will give them a
general idea of how beneficial this product would be for them. In the meantime,
uRai$e is going to be promoted through social networking along with sample data
from the case study proving how valuable it is.
In particular the team is going to approach both small non-profit
organizations and big ones as well. Although initially the target are the
organizations that need the product the most, uRai$e is going to be promoted to
every non-profit organization that could be a potential customer. By the end of the
first year of distribution, the uRai$e team plans on having 16,000 customers. Finally,
we plan on attracting donors that will regularly visit uRai$e to discover new
fundraisers and see how their favorite organizations are doing.
Beyond Year One:
As the years progress, we will continue increasing our customer base,
including educational institutions, which are great both in number and needs.
Finally, in the future, the team’s vision is to be able to serve any kind of organization,
school, or business that might need uRai$e.
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Marketing Plan
December 12, 2010
Profit Overview
The uRai$e team has made estimates on the initial cost for phase one through
three which will be $834,554 of which SBIR will cover the first two phases leaving
us with the cost of $421,014 to fund for phase three. These estimates include the
cost of all the staffing and resources that will be needed, as well as advertising costs.
For uRai$e customers, the team has decided on charging a standard monthly fee of
$40.00. According to the team’s estimates uRai$e is going to turn a profit at 1,739
subscribed organizations. So considering our goal is to get 16,000 customers,
breaking even at only 1,739 is a very satisfying number.
Figure 1 below shows the anticipated cost results for all phases. However, since
SBIT covers the first two pages the team will end up with a final cost of 421,014.
Phase
Total
Phase 1 Staffing
$14,820
Phase 1 Resources
$8,590
Phase 2 Staffing
$374,585
Phase 2 Resources
15,095
Phase 3 Staffing
$391,014
Phase 3 Resources
$10,450
Advertising
$20,000
Total
$834,554
Figure 1
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Marketing Plan
December 12, 2010
Figure 2 below shows that within the fifth month of distribution, we will make up
the phase three costs and begin to turn a profit.
Figure 2:
Profit Overview for the first Five Months
Month 1
500 Customers
x $40.00
per Customer
Profit = $20,000
Month 2
1000 New Customers
x $40.00 Per
Customer
Profit= $40,000
Total = $80,000
Month 3
1000 New Customers
x $40.00 Per
Customer
Profit = $40,000
Total =$180,000
Month 4
1000 New Customers
x $40.00 Per
Customer
Profit = $40,000
Total =$320,000
Month 5
2000 New Customers
Figure 2
x $40.00 Per
Customer
Profit = $80,000
Total =$540,000
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Marketing Plan
Figure 3 is the break even graph for uRai$e:
Figure 3:
December 12, 2010