Why is Charity Important: Evaluation of Wrasac

Introduction

I have been given the task to produce a report on behalf of the Woman’s Rape & Sexual Abuse Centre, this charity's main purpose is to assist and support women who have experienced any form of sexual violence, abuse, or exploitation. The charity is looking to increase the volume of unrestricted funds raised to put towards other sectors of the organization ensuring all areas are supported. The majority of funding the charity obtains is restricted funding, meaning it’s given to the organization for a specific purpose and must be spent where it is assigned. This report aims to establish why is charity important and investigate strategies supporting Wrasac to increase awareness and engagement through the use of various marketing networks. With the expansion of its social media presence, the charity will look to reach a wider audience to engage and educate potential volunteers and sponsors. Resulting in sustainable, incremental growth of unrestricted funds in line with restricted funds year on year. Along with a partition in local events, the charity can grow strong relationships with bigger charities and businesses that can help when increasing awareness of the cause.

Problem and Solutions of the Charity Organization

Research has shown that WRASAC currently operates with outdated procedures. To allow for growth in the present market, innovative strategies to connect with potential sponsors are required. The charities lack of engagement and awareness online and within the local community is one of their main issues, which overall hinders their chances of growing their unrestricted funds. By continually developing their relationships online and off with existing and potential donators, the charity has the opportunity to grow stronger relations with the public which will overall benefit the organisation. Investigation into this topic has shown the data of rape and abuse that goes undetected by the Tayside Police Division within Dundee in recent years, as can be found within an article written by the Evening Telegraph. Due to this significant figure of undetected abuse, Wrasac must explore different methods of promoting their organisation in order to support the suffering woman through their horrific experiences. By raising awareness and engagement within the local community Wrasac has the power to lower statistics for abuse, supporting woman finding their voice and reporting their abuser to the police.

One specific way of assisting the charity develop its online presence is by allocating this duty to a group of volunteers who specifically excel in this department. The charity should consider approaching and recruiting senior school/college and university students who are looking for extra experience and voluntary work for future reference. Using young and fresh minds will give the charity better opportunities to raise awareness of their cause as these individuals are the most up-to-date with communicating effectively online. Having individuals who dedicate their time to post content on each of Wrasac’s social media sites will help the charity stay relevant and known in its sector. Currently, Wrasac’s online presence is solely run by the manager of the charity, who has countless other responsibilities and can’t keep up with the daily running of each site. From this continued pressure the charity’s online existence is insignificant, it now holds 3 Facebook pages, 1 current, 1 last updated in 2013, and the other in 2014. The organization's Instagram has only 6 posts between March 18th and August 19th. This lack of engagement is one of the reasons why the charity’s unrestricted funding is so low, the organization must consider the changes that must be made in this department to help engage with individuals on a deeper level. Kurt Lewin’s change management model is an ideal approach for when an organization needs to radically change in order to grow and thrive. The theory ensures that the organization analyses every feature that must be changed correctly and helps expose any unseen faults that can hinder the success of the new implementations. (Ben Mulholland, 2017).

This particular change model is a simple and easy-to-understandable structure for dealing with change within an organization. It contrasts with the ever-growing demand for the charity to become more advanced within the social media department in order to grow and thrive in the future. William Pollard once said, “Without change, there is no innovation, creativity, or incentive for improvement. Those who initiate change will have a better opportunity to manage the change that is inevitable”. Social media is a key tool for engagement with potential donators and sponsors, it’s a means for the organization to meet a completely new audience in a cost-effective manner. Using social media rather than traditional forms of advertisement, therefore, allows the organization to be seen by a higher percentage of people at a lower cost, as can be found in a website article (Big Foot Digital, 2019).

Benefits of Social Media for Charity

Having a group of volunteers who can run the social media platform on behalf of the charity will benefit the organization completely. More time and energy spent in this department will eventually show in their growth of unrestricted funding as awareness and engagement on behalf of the organization will increase. The urgent change in the charity’s social media presence is shown in recent investigations. Research has shown that cases of sexual crimes including both rape and attempted rape have rapidly increased, as can be seen from an article found in the courier. (Jake Keith, 2019). This significant jump in numbers indicates the crucial demand for adjustments within this sector, social media will be the beginning for the Wrasac to make a bigger difference within the community. 

Examination has shown that conjoined with social media Wrasac’s event planning presence is minimal, the only form of fundraising events that can be found on their social media is their involvement in the 2019 Kilt Walk. Wrasac states within their strategic plan for 2018 – 2023 that they wish to grow the number of individuals that they can help through their experiences. In doing so they have stated that one of their strategies is to “promote the service in a variety of formats and methods”. Increased participation in local events should be one of the charity’s main priorities in order to achieve its desired goal.

Dundee Pride is a marketing opportunity that Wrasac can use when raising awareness and engagement. Pride is a yearly event that is held in Dundee City Centre, which is a great location for the charity to connect with people and the cause. Having a permanent site at this event every year will grow the name of the charity and provide the possibility of linking with superior charities and organizations in the future for upcoming partnership projects. The yearly commitment delivers individuals a greater opportunity to donate to the organization, sign up for volunteering hours, or simply learn more about the charity, its causes, and its aims. Having a group of individuals who are assigned to the social media side of the organization can help when promoting the charity’s attendance at these types of events. Creating and designing special and unique posts that attract potential donators to attend and get more involved in the distinct events. Slessor Gardens is another area that the charity can use, it is located in the heart of Dundee City Centre and is a great space to hold particular events on behalf of the charity in order to help grow funds. Having a collection of team members that can organize a yearly event within this area that includes other major charities can help when growing future partnerships and also developing brand awareness to the public. Change in this sector is immediately needed, using Kurt Lewin’s change model as a guide when developing this strategy will pinpoint the demand for modification and in doing so how it will benefit the charity altogether.

Recommendations

Based upon the above findings, I recommend that WRASAC develop its relationship with different branches within the local area, this includes schools/colleges/universities and also local businesses. Creating a strong connection with each division can benefit the charity on different levels. The charity has the opportunity to grow its volunteering sector with new, young, and different opinions that can help when developing its current presence within the community. It also gives the charity the chance to construct free advertisement, growing partnerships with local businesses such as DC Thompsons will help the organization with easy fundraising and awareness. Working hand in hand with these types of businesses will provide the organization the prospect to develop free advertisements within their company’s newspapers, therefore increasing knowledge of the organization. The theory constructed within this report reflects the charity’s urgent need for change, using this specific recommendation when analyzing the change model within the organization will help show the importance of strong and powerful relationships with different sectors within the community that help when raising awareness for the charity.

Carrying on with growing strong relationships with different branches within the local community, the charity has the opportunity to produce an increase in easy unrestricted funding. Partnering with these divisions when fundraising gives the charity a better chance to connect with the public, while also growing their developing relationships. Simple efforts such as school bake sales and donation bins at supermarket checkouts and at universities and college fayres is an opportunity for the charity to increase unrestricted funds in such an easy and cost-effective way. The charity can focus on other elements of the organization while increasing its funds without even having to do anything. The organization must also ensure that effective market research is carried out, confirming they are marketing the charity within the correct sectors and undertaking accurate methods of advertising to reach a higher audience.

Finally, Wrasac must update its current website. ‘it is crucial that you invest time and effort into developing your website, your website is like your virtual storefront, the place the public will engage with you’ (Ida Lucente, 2017). Currently, Wrasac’s main website delivers an engaging form of advertisement but there is room for improvement. The charity should continually use its website when implementing the changes that have previously been discussed throughout the report, showcasing its fresh and up-to-date social media sites that can be used for communicating with individuals who need help or people who wish to give help. Also letting people know of upcoming events the charity will be appearing and participating in. The website is a space that can be used in many different ways and it’s essential that Wrasac consider the possibilities an up-to-date website can bring to the charity.

Conclusion

In conclusion, The Woman’s Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre (WRASAC) is a charity that aims to help women that have been affected by sexual violence, abuse, or exploitation in their lives. This is a small charity that is currently run by 17 members of staff, 2 of which are admin. This report highlights many areas the charity must focus more attention on to help increase their unrestricted funding. Through my findings I gathered that the charity has minimal social media coverage, this area of the charity needs to be reevaluated and changes must be made if the charity wishes to increase their unrestricted funds. As stated by (Azure Collier 2019), ‘social media does more than just exposure, it provides you with the opportunity to grow relationships with your target audience’. By growing strong relationships with the public and local businesses It gives the charity a prospect of working together on future events, therefore increasing awareness and engagement. I also discovered that WRASAC is missing easy funding pools in terms of its presence at special events. There are many occasions and events within the community that the charity can get involved to spread awareness of their cause. Their lack of engagement at these events deters their chances of growing easy unrestricted funds. By using the recommended strategies stated above, Wrasac has the opportunity to thrive in the future and therefore increase the number of people they can reach with the charity and make more of an impact when supporting individuals through their experiences. 

Works Cited

1. Ben Mulholland. 'The Kurt Lewin Change Model: Is it still valid?' ChangeActivation, 10 May 2017, www.changeactivation.com/the-kurt-lewin-change-model-is-it-still-valid/.
2. Big Foot Digital. 'Social Media Advertising vs Traditional Advertising.' Big Foot Digital, 10 Sept. 2019, www.bigfootdigital.co.uk/social-media-advertising-vs-traditional-advertising/.
3. Jake Keith. 'Sex crimes rise in Tayside, but detection rates fall.' The Courier, 23 Nov. 2019, www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/local/dundee/920251/revealed-sex-crimes-rise-in-tayside-but-detection-rates-fall/.
4. Ida Lucente. 'Why Websites are Important for Business Success.' DreamHost, 1 June 2017, www.dreamhost.com/blog/why-websites-are-important-for-business-success/.
5. Azure Collier. '5 Reasons Social Media Marketing is Important for Your Business.' Constant Contact, 11 Sept. 2019, blogs.constantcontact.com/social-media-marketing-importance/.