Abstract
This report is aimed at investigating how Daffodil day donations can be sustained in the future during a pandemic for the Cancer Society Otago and Southland Division. The daffodil day is the leading Cancer Society’s fundraiser in New Zealand. Besides, creating awareness, the fundraiser supports thousands of cancer patients and their loved ones annually. However, in the face of the COVID 19 pandemic, the Cancer Society in New Zealand was unable to hold this year’s Daffodil day which is a huge impact on all those who need the charity’s services. The provision of healthcare services funding, advice, as well as support to cancer patients and their families by the Cancer Society is mainly dependent on the ability to attract new donations and retain the existing ones. However, this has proven rather challenging based on the social and economic disruptions caused by COVID-19. The objective of the report is to determine how the cancer society can build brand loyalty through marketing to achieve sustainability in terms of donations. Also, the report provides an in-depth analysis of the factors that contribute to a change of personal spending behaviours which in turn affects donations during a pandemic. Based on the research, it has been determined that while the number of cancer patients that are dependent on charity services continues to grow so does the need for more donations but during a pandemic, people are less willing to donate due to economic disruptions. The loss of jobs alongside economic uncertainty has an adverse influence on donation. Therefore, it is proposed that the Cancer Society should focus on building brand loyalty by promoting its services through marketing, particularly across social networking platforms. Brand loyalty entails the commitment of New Zealanders to continuously make donations to Daffodil day hence increasing the competitiveness of the brand.
Table of Contents
Introduction and Background. 3
Background of Cancer Society Otago and Southland Division. 3
Brand Loyalty and Marketing. 5
Disposable Income Spending Behaviour during a Pandemic. 6
Research Methods Justification. 12
Current Donor Survey Results. 0
Potential Donor Survey Results. 6
Introduction and Background
Introduction
For New Zealanders battling cancer, hope comes in rather different ways ranging from the care provided by medical professionals, support from family and friends, and the optimism restored by daffodil signifying a future free of cancer as well as willingness among strangers to help (Egan et Al., 2016). In the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, the daffodil day is different due to the imposed restrictions on gatherings. Still, it is especially important due to the rising cases of cancer in addition to the rooming economic recession. In New Zealand, 2020 marks the 30th daffodil day for the Cancer Society, which is a yearly, fundraising event that is characterized by volunteers taking to the streets to raise funds to aid in the provision of free and feasible support to cancer patients and their families (Nobbs & St, 2012). Also, the money is used to fund cancer research and share the information in the bid to create awareness and familiarity about those at risk to minimize exposer and impact on future generations. However, the existing restrictions during the pandemic have created further barriers in fundraising, forcing the Cancer Society to rely on virtual sources to mobilize supporters to donate. Similar to other charity organizations, the Cancer Society is struggling to raise funds as the spending habits have changed due to economic adversities and restrictions on gatherings and sporting activities.
Background of Cancer Society Otago and Southland Division
Cancer Society New Zealand is a national community-based organization of staff and volunteers whose mission is to reduce the incidence and impact of cancer. There are six divisions located around the country, and I am currently doing my internship with Cancer Society Otago and Southland Division (Cancer Society of New Zealand, n.d). The Otago and Southland Division work to improve community well-being by reducing the incidence and impact of cancer with core activities in Support Services, Health Promotion, Information and Research (Nobbs & St, 2012). They have several departments, and I am working for the marketing and promotion department as my major in sales and marketing. It consists of 30 paid staff with varied hours and many volunteers (Egan et Al., 2016). Non-profit organizations form the third sector of the society as these institutions are neither governmental nor business-related. They work towards addressing the social problems that remain largely unaddressed by the state and market.
Research Question and Aims
Aims
This investigation focusses on the factors that may influence Daffodil Day donations. Specifically, this research is seeking to discover the effect of Brand loyalty, Disposable income, spending behaviour, and charity giving behaviour may have on the Daffodil day donation of Cancer Society Otago and Southland Division. The conclusions of this report will be passed on to the management of Cancer Society Otago and Southland Division to be considered for implementation.
Research Question
How to sustain Daffodil Day donations in a Future Pandemic for Cancer Society Otago and Southland Division?
Sub-Questions
- How to build brand loyalty through marketing?
- What makes personal spending behaviour change regarding disposable income?
- How does charity giving behaviour change during a pandemic?
Scope of the Research
In this report, ways in which Cancer Society Otago and Southland Division can sustain Daffodil day donation in a future pandemic will be researched. The factors I will address in this research will be Brand loyalty, Disposable Income Spending Behaviour, and Charity Giving Behaviour. It is my understanding that these three factors strongly influence Daffodil day donation in a future pandemic.
I plan to analyse literature on each of the three topics listed above to give us a better understanding of how they may impact Daffodil day donation in a future pandemic.
Other methods to use in this research are:
Surveys completed by the general public, Competitor Analysis of other Charities, Autoethnography and Historical Data.
Literature ReviewNumerous factors can contribute to the donation decisions people make. Although a search of the literature reveals a range of such factors, three areas are identified as being the most crucial for growing and developing an NPO's donations. These areas are Brand loyalty and Marketing, Disposable Income Spending Behaviour during a Pandemic, and Charity Giving Behaviour (Eweje & Palakshappa, 2015). There are highlights and challenges within each area, and usually, these areas are shaped around the objective and core value of the business. Although the literature explains these areas in a variety of business context, this review will focus mainly on their application within Cancer Society Otago and Southland Division (Gianduzzo et Al., 2016).
Brand Loyalty and Marketing
Brand loyalty translates to the continuous purchase of a product from one seller despite other sellers is selling the same products because of the trust issues. These loyal customers continuously continue to buy the product despite the competitors trying to lure them away. An example is a person who always buys a coke despite there being many other brands such as Pepsi. In this regard, brand loyalty relates to the commitment of New Zealand to donate towards daffodil day (Egan et Al., 2016). Also, brand loyalty means the commitment of the people of New Zealand to fully own Daffodil day and be committed fully to support it financially every year.
On the other hand, marketing relates to those activities of promoting buying and selling of a product or a service. Marketing elements includes advertising, selling and delivering. Marketing helps to bring awareness of the existence of a certain product or services. Brand loyalty and marketing goes a long way in customers’ retention and also increases the sales volume (Novel, 2020). In this, brand loyalty and marketing can either increase or decrease the volume of donation on the daffodil day. For a person to donate, he/she must have the trust that the donations given will go into the intended purpose (Erdogmus & Cicek, 2012).
To enhance the brand loyalty customer engagement is vital as it takes them through the process and answering their queries. So many people would want to have an idea of whatever you are offering and thus engaging them in your conversation will help them know more (Week et Al., 2017). The organisers and the management of Daffodil day can engage the public through public gatherings, social platforms and other means with the capability of connecting a large population. This engagement helps them gain trust in whatever you intend to tell them. Connecting with your users help you to create a sense of belonging amongst them, and this makes them feel engaged and enthusiastic. The organisers of the daffodil day can involve the public through the use of media and other platforms to involve the public (Ahmed et Al., 2014). By so doing, the public will feel involved and will own the day since they are conversant with the goals and the agendas of the day. Brand loyalty can also be built by offering incentives to the public. We constantly see companies offering some incentives to their customers, such as gifts and monetary items. The organisers can develop such incentives, for example, give a gift to the highest donator, and offer a trip to a regular contributor. By so doing, many will help solidify brand trust (Carlos et Al., 2020).
Marketing creates awareness of the existence of a product or a service to the public (McClure M, 2013). Although the daffodil day is an annual event practised since 1990, it is possible that some of the people, especially living in rural areas, are not aware of the existence of such a day. Marketing serves as informative as well as educative to the targets. Through marketing, the organisers will be able to explain the need for the annual Daffodil day as well as explaining the target of the same. Marketing through all medias available in New Zealand can help push for the success of the day. These may include the print media, TVs, Radios and social media. By so doing, the majority of the people will get to know about the day and give their contribution towards the day. Currently, there is a lot of people who needs help, especially at such a time of a pandemic. Whereby, the majority of the people have been affected adversely by COVID 19 (He, Li & Harris, 2012). Thus, from the explanation given above, brand loyalty and marketing will affect the decision people makes in giving their donations during that day of daffodil.
Disposable Income Spending Behaviour during a Pandemic
The spending behaviour of different people varies from one person to another. Some people are known to be more extravagant and heavy spenders as compared to others. This spending variation is attributed to among others level of income, job security and also the anticipation to get money tomorrow (Chronopoulos, Lukas & Wilson, 2020). First, a person who earns daily and has a secure job may tend to spend more as compared to a person who earns monthly. A person who works on a casual basis will tend to spend less as compared to a person who is permanently employed and is on a pension scheme. A permanent position has more security in terms of the job, and thus the person is guaranteed on an income at the end of the payment interval. When employed on a casual basis, the financial discipline entirely depends on you, unlike on permanent position whereby your employer saves for you through the pension. Second, a person with a huge salary will tend to spend more as compared to a person earning peanuts. In such a scenario, a person will have a flexible budget to allow him to do his things and also find some for charity. Third, spending behaviour is attributed to the anticipation of getting income tomorrow. With fact, a person who earns on a daily will be tempted to spend more as he/she is still expecting to get money tomorrow. This spending behaviour is not an exceptional when it comes to the business and organisation (Li et Al., 2020). They operate on the same structure, such that when there is the uncertainty of a ready market, they tend to spend less.
However, certain norms may change income spending behaviour, especially during a pandemic. It has been observed that, while at a time of a pandemic, the government tends to spend more to try and fight the pandemic. However, individuals and companies will always try their level best to withhold money to cater for the uncertainty. The business has to remain in operation even after a pandemic. Individuals also have to continue meeting the basic needs regardless of the pandemic. Thus, it calls for a withholding culture at such time. A study has shown that, over the past few months in New Zealand, due to the coronavirus pandemic, spending has been mostly oriented on the basic needs only as compared to other times people used to spend on other activities (Andersen et al. 2020). This is because people have to save for the unforeseeable future.
Henceforth, Daffodil Day of this year may be affected adversely since the people may get reluctant to spend due to the current pandemic. The probability of convincing a hungry person to contribute to another person is almost close to zero. Many may want to offer their help towards the day, but on another side, they don't have even for their basic needs (Sigh et Al., 2013). Not forgetting that, New Zealand has a lot of tourism and hospitality sectors which serves as a source of employment to a large number of the citizens. Since the pandemic began, all we are seeing is the redundancy of very many employees, especially in those sectors. A large number of people in New Zealand have been rendered jobless since the pandemic started. According to a study conducted, the rate of unemployment in the country during this period of COVID rose by 4% (McClure M, 2013). These people are operating on limited resources, and thus they may tend not to give. Yes, they may have the willingness to offer their support to the day, but at the same time, they are constrained by their budget.
Charity Giving Behaviour
What, when, and whom to give is probably one of the toughest questions that most people have to ask themselves whenever they want to give help. In our society, we encounter various classes of people who at one time or the other need our help. Although over time it has developed a class of people who lives by the sweat of others, there are those genuine people of deserves our help. Among those people is the cancer patient in our country (Smeets, Bauer & Gneezy, 2015). Cancer has proved to be a menace in our society as it is fatal and resource-consuming in the medication process. As a way of pooling resources together to help those affected by cancer, an annual day of giving was established called daffodil. The sole purpose of this national day to New Zealand's is to bring resources together and help in helping cancer patients in the form of free treatment, medication and other needs.
Charity giving behaviour of people; however, plays a great role in any national country donation, as in one country it may register great success as compared to another (Zealand, 2014). In some countries, they believe in collaborative works so much as compared to others. Social norms are great contributors to either a success or failure in a donation. Studies have shown that human beings rely on a wide range of external cues when deciding how to act in a certain situation. There are external factors as well as the internal attributes. An example of an external actor is the influence of others. People tend to observe what others are doing and do the same. Thus, in a certain locality, if a good number of people donate towards the programme, it may make the others also to follow and donate. This is because they don't want to be regarded as a mean. On the contrary, if only a few a people or even none at all who contribute towards the day, it will be hard for others to chip in the scenario. In such a scenario, a person is afraid to give since he fears to be regarded as going against the others.
Also, giving behaviour is attributed to society perception of giving (Esmail Alekam, 2018). In some community, giving especially to the needy is a norm which is passed from generation to generation. In some communities, there is a culture and a norm whereby children are taught the act of giving while still young. This giving norm is passed on from one generation to another such that, even after a person is fully grown up, will still be generous. While in other community, giving is regarded as a show-off or an act of public relation, especially on the leaders (Byrd & Cote, 2017). Although in some instances, especially during the campaign period, many leaders tend to be generous in a way to attract votes towards them. This giving act, however, doesn't go forever since after either being elected or failing to clinch the position they disappear (Chalise &Anong, 2017). Giving is unconditional and should expect nothing in return as a favour. The individual perception and norms of giving plays a significant role in charitable giving in a country. In both circumstances, it affects giving behaviour. However, it good to acknowledge the role the international donor plays in contributing to such important events. Some international bodies and organisations, however, play a significant role in supporting events such as Daffodil Day. Such organisations include the UN, Red Cross and World Health Organization (Chohan U.W, 2020). These organisations, at a time, come into our aids and give their donation towards a community-based programme.
Research MethodsInitially, there were four methods of the research proposed for the conducting of research and collecting information. These were surveys, competitor analysis, autoethnography and historical data. However, due to limitations arising that have been detailed in the subsequent section 'limitations', there was no historical data as a method of research.
Surveys
Surveys were created by drawing up a series of questions that were relevant, concise and appropriate to the research question (Nardi P.M, 2015). Surveys help the respondent to directly report on their thoughts, behaviours and feelings concerning the subject matter. To enhance privacy and ensure that the respondent is at ease to give an honest opinion, the questionnaires were labelled anonymous. This technique is an alternative to giving a name as a means of identification. The targeted population was 50 to 100 respondents scattered along different days of the week to realise at a realistic conclusion (Saris & Gallhofer, 2014). To avoid taking a lot of the respondent's time, a short-structured survey was formulated with the majority having multiple choices to allow the respondent to use the shortest time possible. There were many options to use to pass the survey to the respondents such as emails, social media and others, but on this scenario, the most appropriate one was a face to face approach. The task was run for a week after which all fully completed surveys were properly stored awaiting data recording and analysis (Rea & Parker, 2014). The questions gained approval and were entered into a secure database on Qualtrics; this allowed the researchers to have stored all data collected in one place (Ornstein M, 2013).
After the surveys had been collected, the next step was to record the data and analyse the data to arrive at the intended output. Both qualitative and quantitative analysis was applied in analysing the data. The reason behind this is because the survey involved both numerals and the "why" and "how" answers. To analyse the data, python tool was used as a tool for data analysis. Also, in some instances, other tools such as SQL, JAVA, MATLAB, were used to supplement the primary tool of analysis (Beam G., 2012). This made sure that all the data are analysed exhaustively. After the data have been analysed, the next step was data presentation to give a clear picture of the actual scenario. Various graphical techniques were used to visually show the reader the relationship between the gathered data sets and to emphasise the nature of a particular aspect of the data. Also, it aimed at geographically place the data appropriately on a map (Fulton B.R, 2018). The various methods used for data presentation were graphs, pie charts, bar graphs and histogram. This helped to quickly compare the various targeted subjects in terms of the matter in question.
Autoethnography
An autoethnography was another source of information for the research. The Autoethnography was based on the tendency to spend of an individual before, during and after a pandemic (Jewkes Y., 2012). This information was from a first-hand source, and thus it is equally reliable just like the other sources. The first paragraph explains the spending behaviour before a pandemic. From this, it can be seen that the spending behaviour before the pandemic was normal. Everything was operating at an optimum level ranging the basic needs consumption to the clothing's (Hughes & Pennington, 2016). This was because there was nothing which was constraining the budget and the resources inflow was steady at the moment. When the pandemic struck, all the irrelevant issues came to a halt and now one could only spend on the just necessary expenditures. Various job positions were declared redundant, and now people had to stay indoors with no income. With this pandemic lockdown, as illustrated from the autoethnography spending was scaled down and directed towards the "must have" products and services. These included foodstuffs and other essential items like masks, sanitisers and liquid hand washing detergents (Lapadat J.C, 2017). Worthy to note also is that, the quantity of purchase also went down by almost half the usual budget.
The third scenario explained from the autoethnography is a period after the lockdown. This period is when things seem to be almost back to normal (Chang H., 2013). However, the spending behaviour doesn't seem to bounce back to normal instantly. The upgrade on the spending behaviour is gradual with time. For example, even after easing on lockdown and resuming to their workplaces, the financial targets before lockdown are yet to be realised. Also, the charity behaviour towards the projects within the society is far from resuming. Clothing's buying also is kept to the floor as there is an anticipation of another lockdown may be and thus need for saving. The information realised from this autoethnography is vital in forming the basis of this research. As highlighted in the research, the spending behaviour of an individual is greatly influenced by a pandemic. The occurrence of a pandemic slows down the spending behaviour of an individual, including helping the needy. This scenario is attributed to limited resources inflow since the job is affected adversely (Hamdan, 2012). The information contained from this article perfectly matched the research objectives.
Competitor Analysis
Competitor analysis forms an essential source of information for the research (Phadermrod et Al., 2019). Competitor analysis was necessary for this exercise as it helps the involved person or organisation to be able to gauge how to curb competitions and refine the existing strategies. There are four main competitors to the Otago Daffodil Day that were identified. The competitors include Breast Cancer Foundation, Can Teen Aotearoa Incorporated, Cancer Society Otago and Southland Division and Hospice Otago Division (Adams T.E., 2012). All these organisations in one way or the other deals with cancer patient just like the Otago Daffodil day aim at doing. Thus, they qualify to be worthy competitors and hence featured in our competitor analysis. Competitor analysis was structured to focus on various aspects of the organisation from the general organisation to the external and internal forces behind them. The categorisation was; target group, finance sources and uses, SWOT analysis and PESTEL analysis. From the competitor information, it is evident that all the competitors have some common characteristics, mostly depending on the community for their funding (Gurel & Tat, 2017). Well, wishers and donors are the primary sources of income for these organisations same case as Daffodil day.
Also as noticed, their primary purpose for the formation is to look into the welfare of the cancer patients as well as their families in providing medical services, education to the families, and psychological supports (Ghauri, Gronhaug & Strange, 2020). Although a slight difference may occur concerning their operation and execution of their mandate, the expected results are the same with all. However, all the organisations are subjected to operations under the same political, climate, legal and also social environment. Thus, we expect that about the above elements, the differences will not be significant as compared to other aspects such as finance sources. For the information from competitor analysis it to be relevant to this research, data analysis was carried out. Competitor analysis tools helped to effectively do an analysis of the focused organisations and arrive at a favourable conclusion. First, the data were represented in documents and papers for preservation (Shephered &Zacharis, 2018). Then graphical representations were created, which enables the information gotten to be presented in an easy way to understand and interpret. These create a visual image for comparison. As said before, this source of information for the organisers of the daffodil day are essential as will help them plan and try to do their things differently as compared to others (McQuarrie, 2015).
Research Methods Justification
Autoethnography, competitive analysis, and field surveys were selected as the research and data collection methods for the research. The research methods were deemed suitable as they fall under the qualitative research design. The integration of the three research methods is appropriate as it enhances the ability of the research to generate maximum and relevant data to support the objectives of the research. Thus, the research methods have the capability of producing adequate and reliable data that provides answers to the research question. Also, it is worth noting that the methods provide flexibility in data collection without limiting the scope of the investigation and the responses of the participants (Yates & Leggett, 2016). Besides, unlike other methods, they are appropriate for small and large samples and the outcomes are measurable and therefore generalizable to the larger population.
Traditionally, the most common research methods used in investigating the factors that affect donations to charity are field surveys and case research. While these traditionally used methods are appropriate for social and humanity studies, they rely on small research samples and therefore the results are not quantifiable and generalizable (Mulvihill & Swaminathan, 2017). In this context, a large sample is required in order to boost the reliability and accuracy of the research findings under these methods. Thus, the researcher opted to utilise a combination of Autoethnography, competitive analysis, and field surveys to counter the challenge and ensure that the findings are reliable, credible, and quantifiable and accurately represents the subjects of the research.
Autoethnography was selected based on its ability to generate in-depth data about the subject of investigation. The approach is widely used in social sciences studies based on its ability to account for the emotions, thoughts, and beliefs of the study population (Méndez, 2013). Autoethnography is a type of qualitative research method that allows the researcher to utilise self-reflection and narrative in investigating the personal and anecdotal experiences and in turn link the autobiographical data to the larger cultural, social and political meanings. Qualitative research is guided by the assumption that reality is constructed and influenced when individuals interact with the surrounding. Therefore, qualitative research researchers observe trends in the environment where they live in an attempt to understand concepts, as shaped by people, are experiences (Custer, 2014). Autoethnography was chosen because it aligns with the aspects of an effective qualitative study which assumes that reality is unbiased similar to the positivist approach.
A survey was selected as a data collection method since it is an important element of geographic or case-based inquiry. Surveys are carried out in form of interviews, observation, or sketching and this implies that the approach provides ease and flexibility (Jansen, 2010). In addition, the method was deemed for the geographic inquiry as the study focuses on the Cancer Society in Otago and Southland Division. In this context, the approach is beneficial given that it allows the researcher to gather geographic-specific information about daffodil day donations (Jansen, 2010). In addition, the approach helps in understanding people’s behaviours which plays a crucial role in this study in determining donations habits and how they are shaped.
An in-depth competitive analysis is vital for investing trends in a given sector. It is by understanding the level of competition that feasible measures can be proposed to mitigate the existing barriers (Cantele & Zardini, 2018). The approach was selected given that the current research is focused primarily on understanding the factors that are likely to affect daffodil day donations in the face of a pandemic. Thus, the research method was deemed as suitable in understanding existing and potential barriers for donations as well as analyse the source of competition. In addition, the analysis is crucial as it identifies the strengths and weaknesses of the existing competitors in the industry and proposes measures that the players can adopt to enhance their competitive advantage and achieve sustainability.
Data Analysis
For the purpose of the research, content analysis was selected to analyse data acquired from surveys, autoenthnography and competitive analysis. Content analysis is a data analysis technique that categorises data in terms of themes hence making it comparable in alignment with the objectives of the research. Content analysis was selected because it is suitable for a qualitative research. The approach is advantageous because it helps in simplifying and reducing data into specific themes while ensuring that the results are qualitative. In addition, the technique gives the researcher the capability to organise the collected data in a manner that answers the study’s questions and meets the objectives of the research. However, it is main weakness is that it is highly vulnerable to biases since it is fully dependent on the interpretations of the researcher. Thus, as a result of human error this can lead to the generation of unreliable and inaccurate conclusions that are not reflective of the study population’s experiences or responses. Therefore, to mitigate the issues, the skilfulness and competence of the researcher in data analysis is highly required to generate credible and reliable data.
Limitations
Besides the advantage of every research method used, there exist several shortcomings to each one of them (Clow & James, 2013). Regarding the survey, one of the shortcomings is that it may give a false conclusion since the respondents may decide to give dishonest answers. It is difficult to tell when a person I giving false information and thus if you entirely depend on it for information, you end up making wrong conclusions. The second shortcoming is differences in understanding the questions, and thus you end up having the wrong answers for the right questions. People have a different understanding when it comes to questions and thus may not be depended upon (Adams et Al., 2015). On the autoethnography part, the shortcomings are that it requires a complete level of honesty for the person to express his feelings. Just like the survey, this type of research depends on a personal inner feeling, and thus no scale can be used to measure the level of sincerity achieved.
When it comes to competitor analysis, there are also shortcomings which are possible to emerge. First is that there may arise cases of insufficient data of the competitors either online and in public domains (Jones, Adams &Ellis, 2016). Majority of the organisations don't publicise their vital information due to fear of competitors using the information against them. A little secret may act as an advantage in the long run for the company. Also, organisations tend to keep some documents such as financial documents as private to avoid government agencies such as tax agencies. Thus, a person may end up making an assumption of a competitor hence ending up with a false conclusion (Jones, Adams &Ellis, 2016). Another possible shortcoming is the possibility of overestimating your competitors and also how well your competition is meeting the customers need. Due to shortcomings, the researcher needed to employ all of them to bridge the gap left by either of them.
Results and Findings
Surveys of the current donors and potential donors, and content analysis of competitors of Cancer Society Daffodil Day had been conducted during the research.
With the current customer survey there were 112 responses, and 83 valid responses for the potential customer survey. Both potential and current were surveyed by various categories, including Brand loyalty, Disposable Income Spending Behaviour, and Charity Giving Behaviour. Data is displayed as percentages.
Current Donor Survey Results
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Potential Donor Survey Results
Competitive Analysis
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Company 1 (Cancer Society Otago and Southland Division) |
Competitor 2 (Breast Cancer Foundation NZ) |
Competitor 3 (CanTeen Aotearoa Incorporated) |
Competitor 4 (Hospice Otago division) |
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Company Profile |
Company Highlights |
Works to improve the wellbeing of the community by reducing the impact and incidences of cancer within the region |
This is an organisation that deals with cancer-related mostly to breasts |
Can Teen organisation provide emotional and psychological problems that come as a result of cancer to patients |
Hospice organization helps people living with life threatening diseases and whom have limited time to live, to live well and die well. |
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Key Competitive Advantage |
The organisation mostly operates in Otago, where it has a firm grip of support from the people living there who willingly give their all towards the betterment of the cancer patients. |
It is a Non-governmental organisation and therefore has the advantage of not being under government rules and easy to access funding. Also, pink Ribbon supports the organisation. |
Its competitive advantage is that they deal with the youth of which the youths make the highest population of New Zealand's population. |
Hospice organization provides its services for free to anyone in need. Also, they have inclusive of inpatient care and have health services delivery capability to the door of the patient. |
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Target Market |
Market Information |
The targeted market mostly in the rural and the deprived area. It helps the poor and vulnerable |
The target market for this organisation is mostly women since are the ones who experience breast cancer |
Can Teen targets mostly young people with psychological torture who are either infected or affected by the disease. The age bracket of 13 to 24 years. |
The targeted customers for this organization are the patients who have a short period to live and including their family. |
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Market Share |
Its operation is based mostly in Southland, Queenstown ¢ral Otago, Dunedin & Coastal Otago, |
This organisation works with breast cancer-related member groups all over the country and also some individuals. |
The organisation operates within all corners of the country, providing supports to the young people. |
The organization is based in Otago district and thus mostly serves the people from this area. |
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Market Strategy |
The market strategy most used by this organisation is social media marketing since this strategy is capable of reaching a wide range of the population. Majority of people in Otago uses social media daily. |
This organisation applies mixed marketing strategy by use of social media, emailing, digital marketing and content marketing. These enable the organisation to easily reach to the targeted market with a lot of ease. |
With the targeted customers mostly being the youths, the organisation uses mostly social media marketing strategy to reach their audiences who are the youths. |
The marketing strategy mostly applied by Hospice organization is mostly use of social media, and locally available channels such as newspapers. |
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Product and Services |
Product Information |
Cancer Society of New Zealand provides education, health promotion, advocacy, research funding and support to those affected by cancer and their families. |
They provide education and information on breast cancer, scholarships, medical grants, community education and registration. By so doing, they help reduce the impact of cancer in the country. |
This organisation provides peer support/recreation, face to face counselling, phone/ online counselling, canteen online peer community and information relating to cancer to the youths. |
Hospice offers wide range of services ranging from educating to the community, care and advice to the family, whanau, supports, carers and health and social services. |
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Distribution Channels |
The organisation applies a short distribution channel as opposed to a lengthy one. The only channel is the producer to the consumer the producer being the organisation and consumer being the affected person. |
Breast cancer foundation of New Zealand doesn't involve intermediaries in their operations. Their services are directed directly to the consumer being the sick person. |
In some situations, this organisation uses an agent to get to know the whereabouts of a certain teen patient. However, on most occasions, their services are directly directed to the final user. |
The distribution channel for services and products from this organization is direct to the patient. Their relationship is a direct relationship. |
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Strengths |
SWOT Analysis |
Cancer Society of New Zealand has a good team of competent and experienced directors. Also, they have a large base of a supportive community who support their activities either financially and physically. |
This is an NGO, and thus most of its operation is financed by international organisations; thus, there are minimal chances of lacking funds to cater for daily activities. |
All the other organisations mostly focus on adults leaving Can Teen organisation to only focus on the youths, thus reducing the competition in market share. |
The competitive advantage regarding Hospice organization is that it has a good reputation in the area its operating from thus becoming easy to attract funding from the community as well as District Health Board. |
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Weaknesses |
The organisation depends mostly on the donation from the community, which is not reliable, and thus they can't manage to predict their financial capabilities. |
The organisation is chained to the Ngo rules which are supposed to be strictly be adhered to, and failure to may attract financial disappointments. |
The youths are not mostly in the risky bracket of the prevalence cancer group as compared to the adults; thus, their market share may be limited with time. |
Despite having a vibrant market and attracting a lot of customer, the organization only have twelve beds for the inpatients thus not enough to accommodate the huge number. |
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Opportunities |
The organisation has a lot of opportunities in terms of growth capabilities. Currently, it is operating from one region, and with time, I can manage to penetrate to other regions. |
This organisation has varieties of opportunities at their disposal. Among them is scope diversification to cover other types of cancers and also an expansion in terms of catering for women empowerments. |
Can Teen incorporated organisation is not an exemptional when it comes to the opportunities at hand. This organisation is capable of diversifying its operation to include the adults. |
The organization has a lot of opportunities based on the fact that it operates from only one district its easy to acquire market from other regions and extends the marketability. |
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Threats |
The most imminent threats likely to face this organisation are threats to competition from rival organisations and also market expansion constraints. |
The organisations' possible threat mostly is the competition from other organisation dealings with cancer-related matters such as Can Teen organisation. |
The possible threats to Can teen organisation is the possibility of other organisations indulging themselves in youths related services. |
Most probable threats most likely to occur to the organization is the competitors adopting Hospice strategy of services delivery to the customers. |
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Trends |
The organisation is embarking on a programme to register primary schools in a programme called SunSmart. Also advocating for a smoke-free environment including in cars. |
This organisation has established September and October as their charity week whereby anybody interested in supporting their project may do so. |
The organisation has developed a trend of using online messaging and phone applications to be able to track the progress of the youths. Also, holograms, virtual reality and artificial intelligence are possible developments soon. |
Hospice management have embarked on improving the communication infrastructure to always help in keeping their customers updated. |
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Political |
PESTEL Analysis |
The political temperature in New Zealand is cool, and they allow the smooth operation of organisations without interferences such as clashes and demonstrations. |
New Zealand in one of the most peaceful countries in terms of politics, and this allow the smooth operation of organisations without interferences such as clashes and demonstrations. |
The political temperature in New Zealand is cool, and they allow the smooth operation of organisations within the country without interferences such as clashes and demonstrations. |
Generally, the political temperature in New Zealand is conducive for the operation of such organization. Also, there is government goodwill to support this organization financially. |
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Economical |
The economy of New Zealand is among the fastest-growing in the world ranked position 51. This gives cancer organisation a good breeding ground. |
The economy of New Zealand is among the fastest-growing in the world ranked position 51. This gives cancer organisation a good breeding ground |
The economy of New Zealand is among the fastest growing in the world ranked position 51. This gives cancer organisation a good breeding ground |
New Zealand’s Economy is among the fastest growing in the world ranked position 51. This gives cancer organisation a good breeding ground |
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Social |
The New Zealand people believe in communism in their activities, and hence when called upon to support a certain project, they wholeheartedly participate and help. Especially the people of Otago. |
The New Zealand people believe in communism in their activities, and hence when called upon to support a certain project, they wholeheartedly participate and help. |
The New Zealand people believe in communism in their activities and hence when called upon to support a certain project, they wholeheartedly participate and help. |
The New Zealand people believe in communism in their activities and hence when called upon to support a certain project, they wholeheartedly participate and help. |
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Technological |
The technological environment of the country is quite dynamic with rapid technological developments which support treatment and diagnosis of cancer disease. |
The technological environment of the country surrounding breast cancer foundation is quite dynamic with rapid technological developments which support treatment and diagnosis of cancer disease. |
The technological environment of the country is quite dynamic with rapid technological developments which support treatment and diagnosis of cancer disease. |
The technological environment of the country is quite dynamic with rapid technological developments which support treatment and diagnosis of cancer disease. |
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Environmental |
New Zealand is a green country, and over the years it has proved to be eco-friendly thanks to conservation activities in place. |
New Zealand is a green country, and over the years it has proved to be eco-friendly thanks to conservation activities in place. |
New Zealand is a green country, and over the years it has proved to be eco-friendly thanks to conservation activities in place. |
New Zealand is a green country, and over the years it has proved to be eco-friendly thanks to conservation activities in place. |
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Legal |
Cancer Society Otago and Southland division has complied with all the legal requirements put in place by the government such as licenses. |
This organisation is an NGO and thus has complied with all the requirements from the government of New Zealand as well as the governing rules of an NGO. |
Can Teen organisations a government organisation and thus is governed and managed by the government |
Hospice organization has complied with all the legal requirements put in place by the government such as licenses. |
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Ways to Gather Funds |
Expenses and Income |
Their main source of funding is from public donations and charitable events. |
They gather funds mostly through the agency fundings and organisations such as Pink Ribbon. |
The main source of funding for this organisation is through government funding and international organisations. |
The main source of income for the organization is from community donation. However, they also depends on contract from the District Health Board. |
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Expenses |
Their most expenses come from supporting patients and families, research, premises and insurance. |
The funds gathered are mostly used in the treatment of breast cancer patients as well as supporting the family. |
Their most expenses go to treatment, supporting the families of the affected youths. |
Most of their expenses goes in taking care of the patients and the relatives. |
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Income |
Legacies and bequests, events, Daffodil Day, serves as the major source of income. |
Pink Ribbon donations and international bodies grants are among the sources of income for the organisation. |
A significant amount of income comes from the government as well as the well-wishers. |
The main sources of income for the organization comes from the donors, corporate supporters, services clubs, shoppers, and volunteer workforce. |
Autoethnography Findings
While writing the autoethnography, most of the memories are from the reflection of what happened in the past few months while others are the current occurrences. The researcher aimed at explaining the spending behaviours experienced before, during and after the pandemic. In summary form, the researcher’s spending behaviour before the pandemic was among the most enjoyable ones. During the pandemic period, I started reducing my expenditure and work with must-buy products. After the pandemic, with the economy yet to resume, my expenditure habits haven't normalised.
Spending Behaviour before COVID 19 Lockdown
It is the desire of every person to leave a better life and enjoy life to the maximum. Though I am a student, these have always been my desire too, and this made me search for a part-time job. School life is hard, especially if you are by yourself since you have to meet the daily basic needs and also cater for school fees. Majority of college students are known to be extravagant in their expenditures due to factors such as peer pressure (Lea R, 2020). For me, I believe financial discipline is a necessary skill that should be taught to all students on a compulsory basis. To be a good business manager tomorrow, you have to start today. Spending behaviours among students are among the craziest things that can ever happen. A student is possible of spending almost all of his money on a single day only for tomorrow to sleep hungry. Although, there are some exemptions for some and I guess am one of them in this. I believe in the financial discipline due to the many responsibilities on my shoulder. I flat by myself, and this tells you to rent is upon myself to pay. However, this is not a challenge since being under students Study link allowance programme which top-ups by budget by $270(Lim et Al., 2014). This allowance is a great boost as it helps me to do even cloth shopping once in a while. Besides, from my part-time hustle, I manage to scoop a total of $200 which adds into my wallet.
My budget every week on groceries ranges from $60 to $80. Before corona, groceries worth this amount of money was worthy of taking me for a whole week. And if at all my appetite would go beyond the budget, I wouldn't mind to go an extra mile and purchase some more since money was not a problem. I remember on a certain month whereby I almost used over 100$ in one week, but there wasn't anything to surprise me there. The frequency of getting the money would often tempt me to overuse as am sure even tomorrow will work and still get money. However, during this period, I did not voluntarily contribute to any charity except Mufti day. Mufti day is a day when students and staffs attend school duties without their official wears (Lecocq et Al., 2020). For the student, they wear casual clothes instead of school uniform while for the staffs they work with casual wears instead of business clothes. By that period, early December 2019, I only used to hear about a virus which was killing people in China Wuhan (Hall et Al., 2020). I never knew it would come to our country New Zealand and none of what we went through recently ever crossed my minds. Spending was normal as before until the sad reality finally came into existence, the lockdown that shall remain to be in my mind.
Spending During the COVID 19 Lockdown
It was on 28th February when the first case of Coronavirus was reported in the country (Martin, Rosemarie & Matthew, 2020). The virus which we only used to hear about it through the media was finally here with us from China. It is at this moment that what used to happen in other countries such as China came into my minds as a possible scenario almost to happen. Early April, the virus picked its momentum with reported cases of about 89 cases per day. At that juncture, the entire border was closed for non-residents with a mandatory quarantine of 14 days for all the returnees (Ebert et Al., 2020). An alert level system was introduced starting from level 2 progressively up to level 4 from date 21st March to date 25th when the country went into a complete lockdown (Harari Y.N, 2020). This is where the problem for the majority of New Zealand's people started. Just like the majority of the people, I was declared redundant during this period and had to stay indoors. At this point is where you had to apply principles of economics to the letter; otherwise, extravagant spending will only lead to starving. No earning whatsoever and you have to foot the daily bills for the basic products such as food and therefore, you cannot risk spending on irrelevant things; otherwise, you will run out of the savings, and you are not sure till when the lockdown would last, maybe a year, month, week or even a day. It is a desperate time for desperate measures (Bona, 2017). It was a time whereby controlled spending was mandatory for all regardless of the status.
I will be lying to you if I say I ever bought any clothing ware at that lockdown period. The only important items to buy on such a circumstance were only foodstuffs. I had to scale down my spending on foods from a budget of $80, about 40$ per week. This was a great move to try and take me through the lockdown period since by then was jobless (Chohan U.W, 2020). Actually, before the start of lockdown, I did a special purchase of cleaning materials, methylated spirit and faced masks to enable me to protect against the virus. Spending behaviour during that pandemic was affected in both ways in that I had to incur some unexpected costs in the procurement of the personal protective equipment's. At the same time, I had to forego some unnecessary expenses such as clothing's and as well as reducing the weekly food budget. I want to appreciate the government for coming to our aids and granting us wage subsidy. The subsidy came directly on purpose to redistribute income and to obviate the welfare trap attributed by the pandemic. Luckily, the lockdown period was not long-lived since on 13th May, some of the measures were dropped with only level 1 left (King & Waldegrave, 2012). It is until 8th June that the lockdown came to an end, which ushered a new period of reconstruction of the economy (Ahdar R, 2020). It is evident that during the lockdown period, my spending behaviour was significantly reduced to only the necessities.
Spending After the COVID 19 Lockdown
Luckily, the national lockdown in New Zealand didn’t last long as witnessed in other countries which had many cases of the infected person. As at 2nd October 2020, the country had a total of 1,848 cases of which there were 43 active cases and 25 deaths from the virus (Lea R, 2020). After the lockdown was over, it was now time to look for another job since I had lost one after the declaration of the lockdown. As you expect, resuming back to the normality may be a process which takes some time. It is hard for me to take the normalcy status of things bearing in mind what I passed through during the lockdown period. I still fear that since the cure for the virus is yet to found, we may as well find ourselves again to the lockdown period (Ball & Creedy, 2016). As of now, some countries have experienced the second wave of the pandemic, and they are initiating partial lockdowns as opposed to total lockdown. Nobody knows of what will happen tomorrow, and hence I have to save so as will be in a better position if such occurs.
Of course, it's my prayer that will never experience such a scenario again because it's extremely traumatising. Everybody fears death and will do anything to cheat it. At the moment, I have decided to partially resume to normal budget on foodstuffs while other items have to wait. As time goes by, I will go on returning to normal gradually to avoid a possible scenario again ever (Gorman & Horn, 2020).
In conclusion, I hope my autoethnography help in bringing forward the tendency of spending on a normal circumstance, under a pandemic and after a pandemic. People may always tend to spend less in a time of a pandemic as compared to when there is no pandemic. Return to normal takes time even after the pandemic is over as witnessed in my autoethnography. However, for the government, it may act in contrary to an individual. For example, the New Zealand government increased its expenditure during the pandemic as opposed to before the pandemic (Nolan, 2018). In other countries, they went an extra mile of making a supplementary budget (Carter et al., 2013).
DiscussionIn satisfying the objectives of the research in exploring how the Cancer Society can sustain donations during a pandemic, several research methods were used to collect data particularly, surveys, autoethnography and competitive analysis. The literature and primary research covered several topics including disposable income spending behaviour during a pandemic and after lockdown, charity giving behaviour and the effects of brand loyalty and marketing on sustaining donations. The charity giving behaviours were analysed across ages, gender and nationality using surveys. Surveys were selected based on their ability to capture the feelings and experiences of the participants. Thus, this discussion section provides an in-depth analysis of the findings based on the above these which serves as the ground for proposing feasible solutions to help Cancer Society to boost brand loyalty and achieve donations sustainability during and after a pandemic.
Understanding the factors that influence donation behaviours to charity organisations is critical in adopting effective marketing strategies. Donation behaviour similar to purchasing behaviour is mainly influenced by the level of motivation and satisfaction that individuals get from a given brand. It is without a doubt that charity organisations are highly dependent on brand loyalty which helps in creating sustainability of donations. However, building brand loyalty in the midst of a pandemic which results not only in social but also economic disruptions is challenging and in some cases impossible. Therefore, following the review of existing literature, it was established that charity organisations such as Cancer Society needs to strategically build positive relationships with their clients to achieve the most. Cancer Society in New Zealand and across the world mainly relies on Daffodil Day to raise funds and while the event has been successful in the past, this year, things have turned rather different as a result of Covid-19 leading to low donations among the current and potential donors.
Based on the results of the survey, majority of the current donors is female comprising of 77.68%percent while male donors account to 21.43% while 0.89% of the donors were unidentified. With respect to age, the age bracket with the most donors is individuals between 45 and 54 years with 21.43% while those older than 64 years only account to 6.25 %. Thus, this therefore demonstrates that age and gender are some of the factors that influence donations currently in New Zealand. Therefore, the Cancer Society needs to take account of the middle aged population and females when marketing as this will ensure that maximum donations are acquired.
As expected majority of the donations to Cancer society were made through cash payment amounting to 62.15% followed by online transfers at 20.72%, whereas, only 2.7% of the population surveyed used QR code which was newly introduced in 2020. Therefore, the findings of the current study generally demonstrates that online activities in terms of making donations are gaining popularity rather gradually and therefore, the organisation needs to exploit the development. The organisation should focus on online marketing based not just on its ability to reach more people within the shortest time but also as a convenient approach to build brand loyalty. In the face of a pandemic where social distancing measures are in place, online donations are a necessity in increasing the productivity of a charity organisation.
58.56% of the population surveyed stated that they expect nothing from their donations as they do it to help those in need, while 34.43% percent expect small gifts in return. Value based services is important in building customer satisfaction. The same case applies to donations as some donors are more likely to remain loyal to a brand that rewards their efforts as a form of investment. In the absence of small gifts such as cards it is possible that the Cancer society will not retain the 34% of the donors in the long-term which will affects its donations sustainability during and after a pandemic. Therefore, building customer loyalty through the introduction of value based returns to the donors will boost the ability to attract new and retain existing donors.
Most of the current donors who were surveyed which is 19.63% saw Daffodil day promotion at street stalls followed by 17.13% on TV. Only 1.25% saw Daffodil Day promotion on YouTube. Therefore, the findings of the research reveal that the Cancer Society has not optimised the potential that online marketing provides. Unlike the use of traditional marketing, it is evident that the use of social media for marketing is a cost-effective approach that has the ability to reach millions of people within the shortest time possible. In addition, to attract young donors, the organisation should focus on the use of online marketing. The organisation mainly attracts middle aged individuals as they are the ones that rely on traditional media such as TV and posters. Changing its marketing approach would hence boost its donations.
Majority accounting to 70.27% of the population donate annually to Cancer Society and 23.42% donate less than once a year. Also, Funding cancer research is the service which is most well-known to current donors (22.84%). Therefore, to increase donations, the Cancer Society should focus on creating awareness and familiarity on the services which it supports through the acquired donations in general. By understanding the wide range of services that the organisation supports such as financing treatment for cancer patients and also supporting their families this would also boost the willingness to make donations.
Following the survey, 18.92% and 44.14% of current donors strongly agree and agree respectively with the statement that “I have been provided enough information regarding how my Daffodil Day donation is used”. 4.5% of the population disagrees with that statement. While the population that disagrees is rather small, this indicates the need for the Cancer Society to create awareness and increase information availability on its operations as a whole which will increase transparency and in turn build trust among current donors leading to loyalty. For instance, constantly updating its website would demonstrate the transparency of the brand which is a vital aspect when it comes to marketing and building brand loyalty.
For over half of the population surveyed, their financial situation stayed the same during the pandemic. Only 1.8% got better and 30.9% got worse. Thus this explains the reason behind the reduction in donations, but demonstrates the potential for the Cancer Society to maximize on donations from the population which was not affected and that whose financial status improved as a result of the pandemic. COVID -19 affected 23.86% of population’s giving habit and out of these, 8.26% gave more whereas 15.6% gave less.
With respect to potential donors, out of the 83 survey respondents, 77.11% were female, 21.69% were male, and 1.2% of the respondents were identified as other with the majority being between 18-24 years. Thus, this demonstrates the potential of the young generation in becoming donors. Therefore, through marketing the Cancer Society can attract this population and retain them by appealing to their needs which mainly involves building better relationships through social media marketing.
The main reason given by respondents for not making donations during Daffodil Day is because they “did not see any places to donate”. “Wasn’t aware of Daffodil Day happening and no money was the other two major reasons. In this case the availability of information with regard to Daffodil day and options for making donations payments for this regard seems to be missing. While the event is usually marketed in the best possible ways, the channels are not effective in reaching most individuals particularly social media users. All of the potential donors have seen some sort of Daffodil Day promotions on different platforms. With the other 2.48%, they have seen Daffodil Day promotion via emails. It is worth noting that the use of emails has decreased over the last couple of years which illustrate its inability to inform a significant number of potential donors about the Daffodil day.
With the list of the other charities which potential donors donate to, Dementia and Alzheimer’s Foundation is the most popular one followed by Red Cross and Heart Foundation. 59.1% of the potential donor donates to other charities while the other 40.9% do not donate to other charities. The most important factor for potential donors to donate to a charity is the cause and the mission of the charity. The least important factor is the size of the charity. Potential donors think there is nothing Cancer Society can do to encourage them to donate for Daffodil Day. More information about where the money goes, Eftpos machine at stalls and easy of donation would encourage some of the potential donors to donate. 64.20% of the potential donor are very likely and likely donate for Daffodil Day in the future. Only 7.41% of the potential donor survey said it’s unlikely for them to donate for Daffodil Day which can be accounted to financial challenges. Thus, the Cancer Society should focus on improving its marketing strategies to maximize on its overall donations by building brand loyalty.
Similarly, the findings of the autoethnography revealed that before the COVID-19 pandemic/ lockdown the spending on disposable was rather high. My budget every week on groceries ranges from $60 to $80. Before corona, groceries worth this amount of money was worthy of taking me for a whole week. However, during the lockdown my budget reduced by half based on the need to save as the sources of income were closed in addition to the uncertainty of not knowing when the pandemic will be over. THe frequency of getting the money before the pandemic would often tempt me to overuse as am sure even tomorrow will work and still get money. However, during this period, I did not voluntarily contribute to any charity except Mufti day.
When the pandemic hit the country in February, I had to scale down my spending on foods from a budget of $80, about 40$ per week. The only important items to buy on such a circumstance were only foodstuffs. Spending behaviour during that pandemic was affected in both ways in that I had to incur some unexpected costs in the procurement of the personal protective equipment's. At the same time, I had to forego some unnecessary expenses such as clothing's and as well as reducing the weekly food budget. After the lockdown I am gradually returning to normalcy in terms of spending and this cautious behavior is intended to protect me from a financial breakdown.
Equally, the competitive analysis was carried out using a SWOT analysis, and PESTLE analysis to determine the potential of the Cancer Society Otago and Southland Division to achieve donations sustainability during and after the pandemic. The analysis revealed that their main competitors are Breast Cancer Foundation NZ, CanTeen Aotearoa Incorporated and Hospice Otago division. Cancer Society Otago and Southland Division work to improve the wellbeing of the community by reducing the impact and incidences of cancer within the region. Besides, funding cancer research, it helps in supporting cancer patients to acquire treatment while providing them and their families with emotional and psychological support which is vital in fighting the disease.
Cancer Society Otago and Southland Division have a competitive positioning against its competitors based on the availability of resources and its large size. The competitive advantage results from some of its strengths as Cancer Society of New Zealand has a good team of competent and experienced directors. Also, they have a large base of a supportive community who support their activities either financially and physically. The organisation has built a desirable brand image which enables it to attract new donors and retain the current ones. However, the organisation depends mostly on the donations from the community, which is not reliable, and thus this affects its ability manage to predict their financial capabilities. Its competitors such Breast Cancer Foundation NZ attracts their donations from international donors well-meaning that their source of revenue is broad and sustainable.
The organisation has a lot of opportunities in terms of growth capabilities. Currently, it is operating from one region, and with time, it can manage to penetrate to other regions. In addition, it is yet to exploit the potential that the young population can bring as potential donors. Therefore by increasing its use of social media in marketing this will boost its productivity in general. The organisation is embarking on a programme to register primary schools in a programme called SunSmart and also advocating for a smoke-free environment including in cars. The most imminent threats likely to face this organisation are threats to competition from rival organisations and also market expansion constraints. The competitors are well established in the industry in terms of donors share, global presence and accessibility to resources. Therefore, the organisation must therefore redesign its marketing approaches to boosts its competitiveness in general.
In terms of the industrial status as revealed by the PESTEL analysis, the political temperature in New Zealand is favourable and it allows smooth operation of organisations without interferences such as clashes and demonstrations. In addition, government regulations towards charity organisations are favourable as it recognizes the important role that the industry plays in improving the well-being of the communities across New Zealand. The government has also been supporting charity organisations particularly those dealing with Cancer since the condition has become prevalent and one of the leading causes of death in the country. Also, the economy of New Zealand is among the fastest-growing in the world ranked position 51. This gives cancer organisation a good breeding ground due to a high disposable income which increases spending among donors.
The New Zealand adheres to a collectivist culture and the people believe in communism and hence when called upon to support a certain project, they wholeheartedly participate and help. The technological environment of the country is quite dynamic with rapid technological developments which support treatment and diagnosis of cancer disease. Therefore, this means that most people in the country rely on the use of social media. Therefore, online marketing is an effective and feasible approach through which the Cancer Society Otago and Southland Division should utilise in building brand loyalty as a whole. In addition, these platforms can be used in creating awareness regarding the services that the organisation provides and ensuring that the information is readily available.
RecommendationsThe findings of the study have revealed that the Cancer Society Otago and Southland Division have managed to achieve a steady flow of donations over the years to support its operations. However, in the face of the pandemic, the organisations is facing major challenges as due to the lock down and social distancing measures, this year’s Daffodil day which assists it in raising most of its revenue did not take place. While the organisation depends on a combination of online and traditional marketing, its social media marketing is not as effective which is likely to affect its future sustainability.
Therefore, it is recommended that the organisation should embrace social media as its main marketing channel to attract young donors and retain them through online engagement. Social media marketing is beneficial since it is cost effective tool compared to the use of posters and Television marketing which the company relies on most of the time and this will help in reaching more people. It has been established that most of its current donors are individuals between 45 and 54 years and the young population is widely excluded in the use of traditional marketing since they rely on social media. Online marketing can assist the organisation in reaching this population of individuals between 18 and 35 years since they comprise of about half the New Zealand population. Therefore, this creates a potential opportunity for the organisation to grow its share in the market and also increase donations. Also, it is worth acknowledging that through posts engagement, this will help in increasing awareness about the services that the organisation provides and also boost transparency. A significant number of the respondents noted that they are only aware that their donations are used for funding cancer research. Hence, through online marketing the organisation can families them with other activities that it does such as funding treatment, advocacy, education and provision of emotional and psychological support to patients and their families.
Additionally, recognizing and appreciating donors is necessary given that some donors want to be rewarded with small gifts. The objective is to build loyalty by ensuring that the donors are motivated. Such appreciation through messages and posts can be helpful in creating a sense of belonging among donors and in turn boost their willingness and readiness to support the organisation through donations. The needs of current and potential donors must be satisfied for the organisation to benefit from brand loyalty. It goes without saying that consumers are mainly attached to the brand that is centred on their needs. In this case, the organisations needs not to focus on maximization of donations but on satisfying the preferences and needs of the current and potential donors which will leads to sustainability in donations. In that, when the public understands that the organisation values and recognises their effort, this pushes them to donate more frequently. The Cancer Society is involved in a social responsible venture which allows it to attract donors but it is by appreciating them that it can retain their donations.
Thus, the organisation should build brand loyalty through cause or valued based marketing. In this context, the organisation has the obligation to constantly inform the public of its operations and progress as part of rewarding its donors and giving potential donors a reason to support its operations. Providing positive feedback to its donors online and through its marketing posts, this will increase the engagement of the donors. In that, positive feedback is crucial in attracting new donors while at the same time boosting the trust of the existing donors. It is without a doubt that as a result of the on-going economic disruptions due to the pandemic, donors are struggling to afford basic needs. Thus, in this context the decision to make donations should be appreciated and recognised. The approach helps in building social proof which results in band loyalty. People tend to follow the crowd in decision making and the positive feedback that majority leave for the organisation can help in increasing donations. People rely on the opinions of others in deciding whether they should make donations. Therefore, through positive engagement between the current donors and the organisation, this can be an effective channel for attracting new donors and hence boost the organisation’s competitiveness.
The Cancer Society Otago and Southland Division are mainly dependent on community donations, which limit its revenue sources. Some of its competitors mainly depend on sponsorships and international donors as well. Therefore, it is proposed that the organisation should expand its donation channels by building partnership with other corporations particularly in the global landscape. The approach will be helpful not only in increasing its revenue gains but also boosting its sustainability as a whole. There is a necessity to restructure the marketing structure since unlike before competition continues to intensify in the not-for-profit industry as each organisation struggles for donations.
The success of any charity organisation is based on the ability to retain a growing flow of donations in general. Therefore, relationship building with current and potential donors is needed to boost the commitment of the donors and in turn increase their support towards an organisation’s agendas. Reputable brands are highly successful in attracting new supporters and retaining the existing ones. A reputable brand is built based on the ability to exceed the expectation of the supporters, fulfil its promise and the ability to build meaningful relationships with the supporters. The Cancer Society has made its objective clear which is to assist cancer patients and their families and therefore, it needs to constantly proof to its followers that it intends to fulfil it regardless of the conditions. It should therefore use emotional appeals in its marketing to ensure that it retains the support while mobilizing donations leading to sustainability. Once the followers achieve a positive relationship with the brand this will enable the organisation to increase donations and in turn build brand loyalty. Hence, the objective is to ensure that the followers are able to trust the organisation and this can be achieved through marketing.
ConclusionThe current study sought to explore the factors that determine donations behaviours and how the Cancer Society Otago and Southland Division can achieve donations sustainability during a pandemic. The study provides insight on charity giving behaviours during and after lockdown in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of the research have revealed that brand loyalty and marketing are the most vital aspects for increasing donations during and after a pandemic. The findings of literature illustrated that while the COVID-19 has resulted in major economic and social disruptions, it is apparent that donations can best be increased through marketing which helps in building brand loyalty. The competition that is faced by the Cancer Society Otago and Southland Division is intense mainly from Breast Cancer Foundation NZ, CanTeen Aotearoa Incorporated and Hospice Otago division. Therefore, succeeding in the current setting requires the organisation to stand out by understanding and considering donations trends and behaviours in its marketing. While the organistaion has a significant market share, with the declining donations during the pandemic this might affect its sustainability in the future. As an organisation that is fully dependent on community donations, increasing its market base is crucial and this involves attracting and retaining current donors. Hence, the results indicate that marketing is a vital factor in building brand loyalty and increasing donations.
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