Case study 1 A Not-for-Profit Medical Research Center You are Alexis, the director of external affairs for a national no
Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2022 6:06 am
Case study 1 A Not-for-Profit Medical ResearchCenter
You are Alexis, the director of external affairs for a nationalnot-for-profit medical research center that does research ondiseases related to ageing. The center's work depends on fundingfrom multiple sources, including the general public, individualestates, and grants from corporations, foundations, and the federalgovernment.
Your department prepares an annual report of the center'saccomplishments and financial status for the board of directors. Itis mostly texting with a few charts and tables, all black andwhite, with a simple cover. It is voluminous and pretty dryreading. It is inexpensive to produce other than the effort to pulltogether the content, which requires time to request and expediteinformation from the center's other departments.
At the last board meeting, the board members suggested theannual report be "upscaled" into a document that could be used formarketing and promotional purposes. They want you to mail the nextannual report to the center's various stakeholders, past donors andtargeted high-potential future donors. The board feels that such adocument is needed to get the center "in the same league" withother large not-for-profit organizations with which it feels itcompetes for donations and funds. The board feels that the annualreport could be used to inform these stakeholders about theadvances the center is making in its research efforts and itsstrong fiscal management for effectively using the funding anddonations it receives.
You will need to produce a shorter, simpler, easy-to-read annualreport that shows the benefits of the center's research and theimpact on people's lives. You will include pictures from varioushospitals, clinics, and long-term care facilities that are usingthe results of the center's research. You also will includetestimonials from patients and families who have benefited from thecenter's research. The report must be "eye-catching." It needs tobe multicolor, contains a lot of pictures and easy-to-understandgraphics, and be written in a style that can be understood by theaverage adult potential donor.
This is a significant undertaking for your department, whichincludes three other staff members. You will have to contract outsome of the activities and may have to travel to several medicalfacilities around the country to take photos and get testimonials.You will also need to put the design, printing, and distributionout to bid to various contractors to submit proposals and prices toyou. You estimate that approximately 5 million copies need to beprinted and mailed.
It is now April 1. The board asks you to come to its nextmeeting on May 15 to present a detailed plan, schedule, and budgetfor how you will complete the project. The board wants the annualreport "in the mail" by November 15, so potential donors willreceive it around the holiday season when they may be in a "givingmood." The center's fiscal year ends September 30, and itsfinancial statements should be available by October 15. However,the non-financial information for the report can start to be pulledtogether right after the May 15 board meeting.
Fortunately, you are taking a project management course in theevenings at the local university and see this as an opportunity toapply what you have been learning. You know that this is a bigproject and that the board has high expectations. You want to besure you meet their expectations and get them to approve the budgetthat you will need for this project. However, they will only dothat if they are confident that you have a detailed plan for howyou will get it all done. You and your staff have six weeks to makeready a plan to present to the board on May 15. If approved, youwill have six months, from May 15 to November 15, to implement theplan and complete the project.
Your staff consists of Grace, a marketing specialist; Levi, awriter/editor; and Lakysha, a staff assistant whose hobby isphotography (she is going to college part-time in the evenings toearn a degree in photojournalism and has won several localphotography contests).
CASE QUESTIONS
You are Alexis, the director of external affairs for a nationalnot-for-profit medical research center that does research ondiseases related to ageing. The center's work depends on fundingfrom multiple sources, including the general public, individualestates, and grants from corporations, foundations, and the federalgovernment.
Your department prepares an annual report of the center'saccomplishments and financial status for the board of directors. Itis mostly texting with a few charts and tables, all black andwhite, with a simple cover. It is voluminous and pretty dryreading. It is inexpensive to produce other than the effort to pulltogether the content, which requires time to request and expediteinformation from the center's other departments.
At the last board meeting, the board members suggested theannual report be "upscaled" into a document that could be used formarketing and promotional purposes. They want you to mail the nextannual report to the center's various stakeholders, past donors andtargeted high-potential future donors. The board feels that such adocument is needed to get the center "in the same league" withother large not-for-profit organizations with which it feels itcompetes for donations and funds. The board feels that the annualreport could be used to inform these stakeholders about theadvances the center is making in its research efforts and itsstrong fiscal management for effectively using the funding anddonations it receives.
You will need to produce a shorter, simpler, easy-to-read annualreport that shows the benefits of the center's research and theimpact on people's lives. You will include pictures from varioushospitals, clinics, and long-term care facilities that are usingthe results of the center's research. You also will includetestimonials from patients and families who have benefited from thecenter's research. The report must be "eye-catching." It needs tobe multicolor, contains a lot of pictures and easy-to-understandgraphics, and be written in a style that can be understood by theaverage adult potential donor.
This is a significant undertaking for your department, whichincludes three other staff members. You will have to contract outsome of the activities and may have to travel to several medicalfacilities around the country to take photos and get testimonials.You will also need to put the design, printing, and distributionout to bid to various contractors to submit proposals and prices toyou. You estimate that approximately 5 million copies need to beprinted and mailed.
It is now April 1. The board asks you to come to its nextmeeting on May 15 to present a detailed plan, schedule, and budgetfor how you will complete the project. The board wants the annualreport "in the mail" by November 15, so potential donors willreceive it around the holiday season when they may be in a "givingmood." The center's fiscal year ends September 30, and itsfinancial statements should be available by October 15. However,the non-financial information for the report can start to be pulledtogether right after the May 15 board meeting.
Fortunately, you are taking a project management course in theevenings at the local university and see this as an opportunity toapply what you have been learning. You know that this is a bigproject and that the board has high expectations. You want to besure you meet their expectations and get them to approve the budgetthat you will need for this project. However, they will only dothat if they are confident that you have a detailed plan for howyou will get it all done. You and your staff have six weeks to makeready a plan to present to the board on May 15. If approved, youwill have six months, from May 15 to November 15, to implement theplan and complete the project.
Your staff consists of Grace, a marketing specialist; Levi, awriter/editor; and Lakysha, a staff assistant whose hobby isphotography (she is going to college part-time in the evenings toearn a degree in photojournalism and has won several localphotography contests).
CASE QUESTIONS