Introduction
This project plan is for a non-profit organization that is raising money to enable it donates eBooks and other electronic learning aids to various school districts in XYZ County. The name of the charity is Shining Light Charity and we are intending to raise a total of $30,000 for the financial year 2016. Two thirds of this amount will be solicited from businesses while the rest is anticipated to be sourced individuals and families. The main avenue to raise money for the project is through personal solicitation and via the media. According to Larson (2010), the primary purpose has to be defined as clearly as possible and the deliverables made known to the stakeholders (p102). Monies will be raised throughout the year but there will be a fundraising dinner scheduled for the end of June where both small and large business owners and partners will be invited to help support the cause. Attendees at the fundraising dinner will be required to contribute $200 minimum per head and a raffle will be conducted with the winners receiving gift hampers and other giveaways. This fundraising is geared towards helping kids from poor backgrounds that may not be able to afford eBooks and other supplemental academic materials. The eBooks estimated to cost $200 each will meet the guidelines as provided by the school boards and parents and teachers will give an input to ensure that the right resources are put in the project. There will be a teacher-parent meet to hear their input and what role they can play in helping out. The key stakeholders will be local businesses, schools, principals, teachers, parents, tech advisors (consultants), and local leaders. All the stakeholders but the advisor will be on volunteer basis. The school districts will sign on the fundraiser by end of January and will help in identifying students in need
Project scope
Project scope is the keystone binding the particulars of a project (Heur, 2009). They include the objectives, deliverables, milestones, technical requirements, limits and exclusions, and reviews. The project scope statement is as follows;
Objectives
I will solicit 4 fundraising mini projects. The main project will be from local businesses and the three others will be from parents, one from general public and the final is raising money via the fundraising dinner. By April 1, I will generate $5000 as minimum from local businesses and another $3000 from the general public.
We will identify vendors who will supply the first 20 tablets and draft a training schedule to beneficiaries on how to use them for class activities.
I will organize parent teacher meetings on how students will benefit from the eBooks and what programs and materials that is appropriate to be installed for use.
Deliverables
The charity fundraising deliverables are; Individual and family fundraising campaign to raise $10,000 and planning a fundraising dinner for businesses to raise $20,000.
300 Raffle tickets printed each costing $10 for a total of $3000.
Project management deliverables are work breakdown structure, schedule, and budget
Milestones
A milestone is a significant event in a project that occurs at a given point in time and shows the rough estimates of cost and schedule progress. The milestones for the fundraising project are;
Regulations pertaining charitable fundraising approved by individual school districts (By January 31st)
Memos, fliers, calendars, and targets sent out to potential donors(By January 31st)
Fundraising event location booked and secured through a down payment (By March 31st)
Volunteers hired for the fundraising event (By May 31st)
Limits and exclusions
Volunteers will be available on a part-time basis. A lot of charitable projects may have a significant number of volunteers who must be adequately trained for a fundraising event to be successful (Fonda, 2008)
Donations are unpredictable due to factors such as the economy
There is no initial funding to cater for initial project objectives
Risk evaluation and contingency planning
Risk evaluation involves identification and assessment of risks and determining contingency plans to mitigate those risks. This is because risk is inherent in all projects regardless of size and the earlier the risk is identified the better for the successful completion of the project (PMBOK 2006). Specific to this project, individual mail or phone solicitations may lead to privacy concerns (Risk Management Center, 2003).The possible risks for the project are;
Not meeting fundraising target due to low attendance or poor economic conditions. According to Nonprofit Risk Management Center, people will tend to give less or none at all during harsh economic times (2003)
Inability to sell enough raffle tickets (low yield). The ideal situation is to have all the printed raffle tickets sold with all the possible attendees. This is not possible in an ideal world thus a percentage target of 50% can be set to mitigate further risk.
Concurrent fundraising events around the same time: There may be similar events happening around the same time or area. Some businesses may have permanent commitments towards other charities which may make them unavailable for the fundraising dinner.
Establishing project priorities
The success of this fundraising project will depend on how we optimize cost, time, and scope so as to meet the fundraising goals. I will complete a project matrix for the project so as to define expectations, constraints, and acceptance criteria. The matrix below is the basis on how to assign resources towards raising money.
Work breakdown structure
The work breakdown structure shows small work breakdowns after the scope and deliverables have been identified. It is the map of the project (Larson, 2010) and it assures project managers that all work elements are identified and reconciled with overall project control.
Planning
Set Objectives with timelines
Project control at various stages which is monthly
Regulatory compliance
Review school policies on donations from charitable organizations
Review charitable organization policies
Identify compliance constraints
Meet parents and teachers to discuss the requirements
Search for volunteers
1.4 Identify potential donors
1.4.1. Determine if fundraising needs will be met by the donors
1.4.2. Draft communication strategy and channels
1.4.3. Evaluate feedback from potential donors and create final donor list
1.4.4. Create potential donor list
1.5. Plan fundraising dinner event
1.5.1. Define event theme
1.5.2. Identify venue
1.5.2.1. Define criteria- Capacity, seating, special access,
1.5.2.2. Draft menu items and refreshments requirements
1.5.2.3. Review policy on fire and safety protocols
1.5.3. Contract catering services
1.5.4. Conduct raffle
1.5.5. Sell merchandise and identify other fundraising activities
1.5.6. Source entertainment activities
2.0. Donation management
2.1. Contact by mailers phone/email potential donors
2.2. Tracking donations
2.3. Banking
2.4. In kind donations collection
2.5. Online giving platform
3.0. Attendance
3.1. Ticket sales
3.1.1. Print tickets
3.1.2. Marketing
3.1.2. Distribute tickets to vendors
4.0. Fundraising dinner day
4.1. Ushering guests
4.2. Introducing guests
4.2.1. Presentations
4.2.2. Sale of raffle tickets
4.2.3. Key address and testimonials
4.3. Main event- food and refreshments
4.4. Clean up and vote of thanks
5.0. Project closing
5.1. Audit review/lessons learned
5.2. Thank you letters
5.3. Media awareness
Cost estimation/Budget
Project estimation for cost and time is important because it determines if the project will be successful through better decisions, determine how the project is performing as time progresses. The estimated revenues and expenses for the fundraiser are shown below.
Revenue Item Total
Projected income:
Registration 100 attendees @$200 $20,000
Raffle tickets 75 attendees @20 $1,500
Miscellaneous $2,000
Revenue from families and individuals $10,000
Expenses:
Catering ($2,500)
Stationery & Printing ($1,500)
Consultant services ($600)
Mailing and Marketing ($350)
Travel and transportation ($200)
Event giveaways ($450)
Net revenue $27,900
References
Fonda, K. (2008). Your best fundraisers could be your volunteers. Volunteer Hub. Retrieved on 20 March 2016 from www.volunteerhub.com/blog/
Heur, A. (2009). Project Management principles. New Jersey Institute of Technology 2009.
Kerzner, H. (2009). Project Management: A systems approach to planning, scheduling and control 10th ed. Wiley 2009.
Larson, E. and Gray, C. (2010). Project management: The managerial process 5th ed. McGraw-Hill 2010.
Project management and planning resources (March, 2015). Example fund raising project WBS. The project diva. Retrieved on 19 March 2016 from www.nonprofitrisk.org/library/articles/donation09101999.shtml
Project Management Institute. A guide to Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK). Project
Risk Management Center. (2003). Risks of fundraising and collaboration. Retrieved on 19 March 2016 from http://www.nonprofitrisk.org/library/articles/
