Save The Music Foundation Case Study
Founded in 1997, VH1 Save the Music Foundation is a non-profit organization geared towards ensuring music education programs are available to students in public schools across the United States. John Sykes, the original founder of VH1 Save the Music Foundation, volunteered as principal for a day in a New York City public school in Brooklyn. He noticed the condition of the instruments being used and how worn out and broken some looked. At the time Sykes was the President of the VH1 Cable Television Network, and felt like he had to do something. After this visit Sykes had his public affairs team investigate and they came to the realization that this problem was widespread across America. With budget cuts and constraints facing public school
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the music programs were the first ones to be cut. Sykes then created the organization which began as a public affairs initiative of VH1. Instead of buying brand new instrument at first they would collect used instruments, fix them, and donate them to the schools. When they realized that this didn’t provide children with the right size/kind of instruments required they decided to become an independent organization. This would allow them to raise the funds through contributions to buy the correct packages of instruments for schools based on their needs.
The process to receive a grant from the organization is by invitation only. Once a school is invited to apply they fill out an application. Qualified schools that fit the criteria are a mostly Title I schools with a low-income student population where large percentage of students receive free/reduced lunches. The timeline of the process from applying to receiving the grant is as follows:
STEP 1 (June - October)
After initial contact, the organization will reach out to school district personnel to determine the amount of need in that specific area.
STEP 2 (October - December)
A VH1 Save The Music representative will set up a meeting with school district leaders to further explain how they work and their partnership expectations.
STEP 3 (December - February)
With a firm commitment from the district, they will create a partnership proposal outlining their vision for building music programs district-wide.
STEP 4 (Until every child has access)
Once approved, they will work alongside the district until instrumental music education is in place in every elementary and middle school.
Once schools receive grant, $30,000 worth of new musical instruments is given to them. Schools can choose from the following instrument packages- keyboard lab, mariachi, guitar lab, band, and string instruments depending on their needs at the time. The foundation believes this to be effective because it jump starts music programs at schools to ensure that America’s youth is being musically educated. This relates to the organization’s core mission which is that they are “dedicated to restoring music programs in America’s public schools, and raising awareness about the importance of music as part of each child’s complete education.” Their main goal is to give every child in this country access to a musical instrument.
Economic Challenges and Budget Cuts
When public schools face budget cuts they are faced with the issue of cutting jobs, programs, and spending. In today’s public education environment students are being more pressured to perform well on standardized testing and these tests are becoming more and more emphasized. This is important to mention in relation to music education because when school are choosing to cut programs they start with the arts and music programs. Public school officials seem to view the arts and music classes as a luxury to students. VH1 Save the Music Foundation has been working with communities to embrace the impact of music education on children to express themselves and think creatively.
In order to advocate the importance of music education in school, members of the program management team make presentations at national conferences every year to make sure school officials are aware that if they qualify, the VH1 Save the Music exists and wants to work with schools that need the assistance. The Foundation argues that music education important because music education helps develop the whole person and instill that creative, critical thinking skill in children at an early age. Looking at Exhibit 1 below, the Foundation shows in an infographic how the standard curriculum is not the only way to prepare students for the workforce. Studying music
Exhibit 1 lets students think creatively and teaches them about self-confidence and time management. It is another form of expression that students can use as a way of building their character and deciding who they want to be in the future. Music education can provide the similar effects as math and science do.
Organization
Since the organization was founded in 1997, there have only been two major leaders.
The founder, John Sykes, handed the responsibility of overseeing the organization to Bob Morrison in 1998. He was responsible for overseeing the development of the Foundation at the direction of John Sykes and became the foundation's executive director and CEO. In 2003 Morrison stepped down from his position to pursue other interests. In 2004, a search firm called Paul Cothran who at the time worked as the Director of Health and Community Programs at the Big Apple Circus in New York. They told him about the executive director position at VH1 Save the Music Foundation. In an interview with the New York Times Cothran said, “I wasn’t confident I’d be hired because I didn’t feel that I was particularly cool and I didn’t have a deep musical background. But they were looking for someone with my experience and offered me the job.” Cothran has been in the position for 11 years as he still serves in a dual position as the Vice President and Executive Director of the Foundation. Previously, Paul was the Director of Health and Community Programs from 1997-2004 for The Big Apple Circus where he managed to significantly expand and reach of all programs nationally. From 1992 to 1997 Paul served as Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at Pace University. Before his employment at Pace University, Paul was Development Director for the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund. Paul also served …show more content…
as Director Development for the Community Research Initiative on AIDS and Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at Fordham University. As seen in below in Exhibit 1, the Foundation has 15 members on its board of directors including founder, John Sykes. Other members are involved with the music industry and other non-profits. Their team includes Paul Cothran as mentioned previously and 7 other directors who work to fulfill the Foundation’s mission and goals.
Board of Directors as of January 7, 2015
Name Title Institution Affiliation
Mr. Wynton Marsalis Jazz at Lincoln Center
Mr. John Sykes iHeart Media Inc.
Mr. Tom Calderone VH1
Mr. Larry Cohen Seven Bridges Advisors
Ms. Gordon Singer Elliott Advisors Ltd.
Mr. David Nathan Big Machine Label Group
Mr. Paul Cothran VH1 Save The Music
Ms. Maureen Reidy The Paley Center for Media
Mr. Matt Speilman Return Path, Inc.
Ms. Lisa Versacio LVNY LLC
Mr. Scott Rauch SHR Jewelry Group
Mr. Morris Reid Mercury
Perez Hilton PerezHilton.com
Ms. Julie Maclowe
Ms. Mireya D'Angelo Link Strategies LLC
Name Title
Paul Cothran Vice President & Executive Director
Jennifer Dunn Director of Corporare Sponsorships & Special Events
Ariel Usatin Director of Development, Partnerships
Jaclyn Rudderow Program & Communcations Manager
Trell Thomas Press and Talent Relations Manager
Chicho Feindler Grantee & Compliance Manager
Nia Mack Development Officer, Special Events & Partnerships
Deniece Dykes Foundation Relations Coordinator
Exhibit 2
.
Financial Performance and Fundraising
In 2013 the Foundation’s Revenue was $2,758,874.
Breaking down their contributions revenue which is 94% of their overall revenue, as seen in Exhibit 3, the Foundation heavily relies on donations and gifts. The other 6% comes from federated campaign and fundraising events. IN terms of their expenses they spend 73.4 % of their expenses on program services. 7 out of 10 charities spend at least 75% of their budget on the programs and services they deliver and 9 out of 10 spend at least 65%. So the Foundation falls into an average range in terms of spending money on the programs they deliver to the schools. Fundraising efficiency is the amount spent to raise $1 in charitable contributions and the Foundation spends $0.20 to raise $1 in charitable contributions. An ideal amount would $0.10 or less to the $1. For the year of 2013 their excess (or deficit) for the year was $-36,565. Previously in 2012 their excess was $504,771 as seen in the Income Statement in Exhibit 4 under net/gain loss. The causes of the deficit in 2013 could be because they received 9% less in contributions from 2012 to 2013 and spent 9% more on program services in 2013 than in 2012. Despite having a decline in contributions, they still receive large donations from their biggest supporters in year 0f
2013:
William Hill Estate Winery - $309,262. William Hill Estate believes that, “like fine wine, the arts transcend all walks of life and fulfill a universal need for self-enrichment and cultural enhancement” Ralf Holdenried, who is their winemaker has two children that played instruments at a young age and he believes everyone should have access to instruments and music education. Since the partnership began in 2011, the Winery has contributed $750,000 to the Foundation.
Gordon and Jenny Singer Foundation - $100,000
Bloomberg - $75,000
Exhibit 3 Exhibit 4
Marketing and Partnerships The Foundation has successfully utilized social media and its partnerships to reach a larger scope of audiences and increase donations over the past several years. A more recent partnership and effort to raise money is the Alex and Ani promotion. Between August 2014 and December 2015, 20% of proceeds received by Alex and Ani from selling the Sweet Melody Bangle, with a minimum donation of $25,000, will be donated to the VH1 Save The Music Foundation to restore instrumental music programs in America’s public schools and raise awareness about the importance of music as part of each child’s complete education. IN terms of social media campaigns they launched a Twitter campaign with the hashtag #PasstheNote. This was launched in November 2012 and this hashtag and social media campaign includes past and present celebrity ambassadors working together to generate followers for ‘@vh1savethemusic’ and to get #PassTheNote trending nationally. This campaign was started by Mariah Carey and has now resulted in over 11 million impressions for the Foundation.
Every summer the Foundation holds a benefit concert in the Hamptons which attracts a-list celebrities and people. It is an ultra-exclusive concert event at the private home of a Foundation supporter. Well-known musician perform and a series of supplementary activities are developed that will also raise funds in support of the Foundation.
Large partnerships the Foundation include Viacom/VH1 because founded as a public affairs initiative of VH1, the Foundation is an independent nonprofit and maintains a close association with the parent company. Viacom and VH1 provide ongoing in-kind support and direct contributions which is important for both their brand and financial stability. The ASCAP Foundation is another large partner for the Foundation. Sheet music and method books are provided to grant-recipient schools through a generous grant from The ASCAP Foundation as part of their Music in Schools Program, in conjunction with Alfred Publishing.
Branding
Musical ambassadors help fundraising efforts and create awareness about the importance of a musical education particularly via social media. The ambassadors help raise awareness and deliver key messages about the importance of music education in a young person’s life, and help raise funds in support of the Foundation’s mission: to restore instrumental music education programs in schools. Their voices reached more than 321 million Facebook fans and 182 million Twitter followers in 2013. Using famous musicians like their most recent ambassadors, B.O.B., Matchbox Twenty, Andy Grammer, Henrik Lundqvist, LeAnn Rimes, Mariah Carey, Ingrid Michaelson, and Robin Thicke, associates the Foundation with well-known people who can reach the audience of their fans to help promote music education awareness. This builds on their brand making them more well-known with younger audiences who might be fans of B.O.B. and Andy Grammer. The Foundation associates themselves with A-list people in order to maximize its revenue and holds benefit concerts in wealthy areas like the Hamptons and Napa, CA. Their association with VH1 and Viacom also gives them the support of well-known and recognized media channels.
Performance Measures
To measure their short-term success the Foundation ensures that when schools receive a grant of music instruments certain eligibility requirements are agreed upon in order to sustain the program. Schools must agree to teach an instrumental music program as part of the regular school day as part of the core-curriculum so every student has access. They must also agree to provide the salary for a certified music educator. Once the grant is awarded The Foundation monitors the progress in the schools by conducting site visits to the schools.
Steps that the Foundation takes to measure its long-term success includes distributing an annual survey to all of the schools verifying who the music teachers are and what the time frames are for the music classes during the school day. They also ask the schools to share stories about how the new music programs have affected the students and school overall.
Since its inception in 1997, the VH1 Save The Music Foundation has provided $49.5 million in new musical instruments to 1,850 public schools in more than 192 school districts, impacting the lives of over 2.1 million children.
An annual progress report is administered by the Foundation and sent to all the grant recipient schools. Specific information collected covers performance measurements based on students' access to the music programs provided, such as attendance, academic, self-improvement, discipline and teamwork. In these surveys, the Foundation also collects anecdotal data based on teacher and student observation about the impact music education has had on their lives which helps bring the data to life.
Impact on stakeholders/audience After measuring their performance the Foundation can recognize the impact they have on the people they have helped and the people who make the donations are able to see the results of their contributions. Exhibit 5 shows the donations the Foundation was able to make and locations of the schools they were helped. Across the U.S., 48 schools were given donations and grants to fund and improve their music programs. The amount of money the Foundation receives and how much they actually spend on their program services relates back to its percentage of expenses spent on program services which was 73.4%. When donors see this they are able to know they almost 75% of the donations go directly to fulfill the Foundation’s mission statement and goal. Exhibit 5
The Future Moving forward as a well-known music non-profit organization I think it is important for the Foundation to figure out a way to avoid the often mentality that since the Foundation is already well known, people may think that awareness of the need for music education in schools is already high and choose not to donate.
In order to avoid this, the Foundation organization can try to divide its potential donors into segments. The Foundation has several goals including: creating awareness and fulfilling their goal: to give every child in this country access to a musical instrument. In order to fulfill this goal they also need the donations and funds to support it. For existing donors, who are already familiar with the charity, they could focus on providing musical instruments to schools. For potential donors, who are not as familiar with the organization could focus on their awareness-raising goal. This strategy could allow the charity to take advantage of positive effects of people who care familiar with the organization and those who less familiar. As the less familiar potential donors are trying to focus on the awareness-raising goal they will also be learning more about the organization so they can eventually become regular donors. Focusing on the more on the younger generation when marketing, the Foundation should create campaigns that are led by young people so they are aware of the importance of music education and others will be interested and follow them. If schools continue to cut music programs then children who go to these public schools will not understand how important the arts and music are to people who creatively express themselves through music whether it’s playing it or just listening. If the younger generations (middle school and high school aged) are creating awareness then children will be more prone to listen to what they have to say than adults. The Foundation could also raise more awareness by partnering with large symphonies like the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra who already implements a plan to educate young children by having orchestra’s musicians visit schools and educate children about the orchestra. They could also develop a program that provided mentors for children who played instruments at the public schools. Young musicians at public schools could have a mentor come in maybe once a week or a few times a month to coach and teach the children about the music industry whether it be a musician in the orchestra or singer/musician in a band. Seeing others that are in the career field could inspire the younger children to achieve their dreams. So instead of just donating the grants to buy new instruments, the Foundation could provide a mentor or coach to visit the school or plan for an assembly where a musician can talk to younger children what it’s like to be a professional musician or person who works in the music industry. This compliments the Foundation’s mission to educate children in music by hearing from people that work in the industry first-hand.
the music programs were the first ones to be cut. Sykes then created the organization which began as a public affairs initiative of VH1. Instead of buying brand new instrument at first they would collect used instruments, fix them, and donate them to the schools. When they realized that this didn’t provide children with the right size/kind of instruments required they decided to become an independent organization. This would allow them to raise the funds through contributions to buy the correct packages of instruments for schools based on their needs.
The process to receive a grant from the organization is by invitation only. Once a school is invited to apply they fill out an application. Qualified schools that fit the criteria are a mostly Title I schools with a low-income student population where large percentage of students receive free/reduced lunches. The timeline of the process from applying to receiving the grant is as follows:
STEP 1 (June - October)
After initial contact, the organization will reach out to school district personnel to determine the amount of need in that specific area.
STEP 2 (October - December)
A VH1 Save The Music representative will set up a meeting with school district leaders to further explain how they work and their partnership expectations.
STEP 3 (December - February)
With a firm commitment from the district, they will create a partnership proposal outlining their vision for building music programs district-wide.
STEP 4 (Until every child has access)
Once approved, they will work alongside the district until instrumental music education is in place in every elementary and middle school.
Once schools receive grant, $30,000 worth of new musical instruments is given to them. Schools can choose from the following instrument packages- keyboard lab, mariachi, guitar lab, band, and string instruments depending on their needs at the time. The foundation believes this to be effective because it jump starts music programs at schools to ensure that America’s youth is being musically educated. This relates to the organization’s core mission which is that they are “dedicated to restoring music programs in America’s public schools, and raising awareness about the importance of music as part of each child’s complete education.” Their main goal is to give every child in this country access to a musical instrument.
Economic Challenges and Budget Cuts
When public schools face budget cuts they are faced with the issue of cutting jobs, programs, and spending. In today’s public education environment students are being more pressured to perform well on standardized testing and these tests are becoming more and more emphasized. This is important to mention in relation to music education because when school are choosing to cut programs they start with the arts and music programs. Public school officials seem to view the arts and music classes as a luxury to students. VH1 Save the Music Foundation has been working with communities to embrace the impact of music education on children to express themselves and think creatively.
In order to advocate the importance of music education in school, members of the program management team make presentations at national conferences every year to make sure school officials are aware that if they qualify, the VH1 Save the Music exists and wants to work with schools that need the assistance. The Foundation argues that music education important because music education helps develop the whole person and instill that creative, critical thinking skill in children at an early age. Looking at Exhibit 1 below, the Foundation shows in an infographic how the standard curriculum is not the only way to prepare students for the workforce. Studying music
Exhibit 1 lets students think creatively and teaches them about self-confidence and time management. It is another form of expression that students can use as a way of building their character and deciding who they want to be in the future. Music education can provide the similar effects as math and science do.
Organization
Since the organization was founded in 1997, there have only been two major leaders.
The founder, John Sykes, handed the responsibility of overseeing the organization to Bob Morrison in 1998. He was responsible for overseeing the development of the Foundation at the direction of John Sykes and became the foundation's executive director and CEO. In 2003 Morrison stepped down from his position to pursue other interests. In 2004, a search firm called Paul Cothran who at the time worked as the Director of Health and Community Programs at the Big Apple Circus in New York. They told him about the executive director position at VH1 Save the Music Foundation. In an interview with the New York Times Cothran said, “I wasn’t confident I’d be hired because I didn’t feel that I was particularly cool and I didn’t have a deep musical background. But they were looking for someone with my experience and offered me the job.” Cothran has been in the position for 11 years as he still serves in a dual position as the Vice President and Executive Director of the Foundation. Previously, Paul was the Director of Health and Community Programs from 1997-2004 for The Big Apple Circus where he managed to significantly expand and reach of all programs nationally. From 1992 to 1997 Paul served as Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at Pace University. Before his employment at Pace University, Paul was Development Director for the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund. Paul also served …show more content…
as Director Development for the Community Research Initiative on AIDS and Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at Fordham University. As seen in below in Exhibit 1, the Foundation has 15 members on its board of directors including founder, John Sykes. Other members are involved with the music industry and other non-profits. Their team includes Paul Cothran as mentioned previously and 7 other directors who work to fulfill the Foundation’s mission and goals.
Board of Directors as of January 7, 2015
Name Title Institution Affiliation
Mr. Wynton Marsalis Jazz at Lincoln Center
Mr. John Sykes iHeart Media Inc.
Mr. Tom Calderone VH1
Mr. Larry Cohen Seven Bridges Advisors
Ms. Gordon Singer Elliott Advisors Ltd.
Mr. David Nathan Big Machine Label Group
Mr. Paul Cothran VH1 Save The Music
Ms. Maureen Reidy The Paley Center for Media
Mr. Matt Speilman Return Path, Inc.
Ms. Lisa Versacio LVNY LLC
Mr. Scott Rauch SHR Jewelry Group
Mr. Morris Reid Mercury
Perez Hilton PerezHilton.com
Ms. Julie Maclowe
Ms. Mireya D'Angelo Link Strategies LLC
Name Title
Paul Cothran Vice President & Executive Director
Jennifer Dunn Director of Corporare Sponsorships & Special Events
Ariel Usatin Director of Development, Partnerships
Jaclyn Rudderow Program & Communcations Manager
Trell Thomas Press and Talent Relations Manager
Chicho Feindler Grantee & Compliance Manager
Nia Mack Development Officer, Special Events & Partnerships
Deniece Dykes Foundation Relations Coordinator
Exhibit 2
.
Financial Performance and Fundraising
In 2013 the Foundation’s Revenue was $2,758,874.
Breaking down their contributions revenue which is 94% of their overall revenue, as seen in Exhibit 3, the Foundation heavily relies on donations and gifts. The other 6% comes from federated campaign and fundraising events. IN terms of their expenses they spend 73.4 % of their expenses on program services. 7 out of 10 charities spend at least 75% of their budget on the programs and services they deliver and 9 out of 10 spend at least 65%. So the Foundation falls into an average range in terms of spending money on the programs they deliver to the schools. Fundraising efficiency is the amount spent to raise $1 in charitable contributions and the Foundation spends $0.20 to raise $1 in charitable contributions. An ideal amount would $0.10 or less to the $1. For the year of 2013 their excess (or deficit) for the year was $-36,565. Previously in 2012 their excess was $504,771 as seen in the Income Statement in Exhibit 4 under net/gain loss. The causes of the deficit in 2013 could be because they received 9% less in contributions from 2012 to 2013 and spent 9% more on program services in 2013 than in 2012. Despite having a decline in contributions, they still receive large donations from their biggest supporters in year 0f
2013:
William Hill Estate Winery - $309,262. William Hill Estate believes that, “like fine wine, the arts transcend all walks of life and fulfill a universal need for self-enrichment and cultural enhancement” Ralf Holdenried, who is their winemaker has two children that played instruments at a young age and he believes everyone should have access to instruments and music education. Since the partnership began in 2011, the Winery has contributed $750,000 to the Foundation.
Gordon and Jenny Singer Foundation - $100,000
Bloomberg - $75,000
Exhibit 3 Exhibit 4
Marketing and Partnerships The Foundation has successfully utilized social media and its partnerships to reach a larger scope of audiences and increase donations over the past several years. A more recent partnership and effort to raise money is the Alex and Ani promotion. Between August 2014 and December 2015, 20% of proceeds received by Alex and Ani from selling the Sweet Melody Bangle, with a minimum donation of $25,000, will be donated to the VH1 Save The Music Foundation to restore instrumental music programs in America’s public schools and raise awareness about the importance of music as part of each child’s complete education. IN terms of social media campaigns they launched a Twitter campaign with the hashtag #PasstheNote. This was launched in November 2012 and this hashtag and social media campaign includes past and present celebrity ambassadors working together to generate followers for ‘@vh1savethemusic’ and to get #PassTheNote trending nationally. This campaign was started by Mariah Carey and has now resulted in over 11 million impressions for the Foundation.
Every summer the Foundation holds a benefit concert in the Hamptons which attracts a-list celebrities and people. It is an ultra-exclusive concert event at the private home of a Foundation supporter. Well-known musician perform and a series of supplementary activities are developed that will also raise funds in support of the Foundation.
Large partnerships the Foundation include Viacom/VH1 because founded as a public affairs initiative of VH1, the Foundation is an independent nonprofit and maintains a close association with the parent company. Viacom and VH1 provide ongoing in-kind support and direct contributions which is important for both their brand and financial stability. The ASCAP Foundation is another large partner for the Foundation. Sheet music and method books are provided to grant-recipient schools through a generous grant from The ASCAP Foundation as part of their Music in Schools Program, in conjunction with Alfred Publishing.
Branding
Musical ambassadors help fundraising efforts and create awareness about the importance of a musical education particularly via social media. The ambassadors help raise awareness and deliver key messages about the importance of music education in a young person’s life, and help raise funds in support of the Foundation’s mission: to restore instrumental music education programs in schools. Their voices reached more than 321 million Facebook fans and 182 million Twitter followers in 2013. Using famous musicians like their most recent ambassadors, B.O.B., Matchbox Twenty, Andy Grammer, Henrik Lundqvist, LeAnn Rimes, Mariah Carey, Ingrid Michaelson, and Robin Thicke, associates the Foundation with well-known people who can reach the audience of their fans to help promote music education awareness. This builds on their brand making them more well-known with younger audiences who might be fans of B.O.B. and Andy Grammer. The Foundation associates themselves with A-list people in order to maximize its revenue and holds benefit concerts in wealthy areas like the Hamptons and Napa, CA. Their association with VH1 and Viacom also gives them the support of well-known and recognized media channels.
Performance Measures
To measure their short-term success the Foundation ensures that when schools receive a grant of music instruments certain eligibility requirements are agreed upon in order to sustain the program. Schools must agree to teach an instrumental music program as part of the regular school day as part of the core-curriculum so every student has access. They must also agree to provide the salary for a certified music educator. Once the grant is awarded The Foundation monitors the progress in the schools by conducting site visits to the schools.
Steps that the Foundation takes to measure its long-term success includes distributing an annual survey to all of the schools verifying who the music teachers are and what the time frames are for the music classes during the school day. They also ask the schools to share stories about how the new music programs have affected the students and school overall.
Since its inception in 1997, the VH1 Save The Music Foundation has provided $49.5 million in new musical instruments to 1,850 public schools in more than 192 school districts, impacting the lives of over 2.1 million children.
An annual progress report is administered by the Foundation and sent to all the grant recipient schools. Specific information collected covers performance measurements based on students' access to the music programs provided, such as attendance, academic, self-improvement, discipline and teamwork. In these surveys, the Foundation also collects anecdotal data based on teacher and student observation about the impact music education has had on their lives which helps bring the data to life.
Impact on stakeholders/audience After measuring their performance the Foundation can recognize the impact they have on the people they have helped and the people who make the donations are able to see the results of their contributions. Exhibit 5 shows the donations the Foundation was able to make and locations of the schools they were helped. Across the U.S., 48 schools were given donations and grants to fund and improve their music programs. The amount of money the Foundation receives and how much they actually spend on their program services relates back to its percentage of expenses spent on program services which was 73.4%. When donors see this they are able to know they almost 75% of the donations go directly to fulfill the Foundation’s mission statement and goal. Exhibit 5
The Future Moving forward as a well-known music non-profit organization I think it is important for the Foundation to figure out a way to avoid the often mentality that since the Foundation is already well known, people may think that awareness of the need for music education in schools is already high and choose not to donate.
In order to avoid this, the Foundation organization can try to divide its potential donors into segments. The Foundation has several goals including: creating awareness and fulfilling their goal: to give every child in this country access to a musical instrument. In order to fulfill this goal they also need the donations and funds to support it. For existing donors, who are already familiar with the charity, they could focus on providing musical instruments to schools. For potential donors, who are not as familiar with the organization could focus on their awareness-raising goal. This strategy could allow the charity to take advantage of positive effects of people who care familiar with the organization and those who less familiar. As the less familiar potential donors are trying to focus on the awareness-raising goal they will also be learning more about the organization so they can eventually become regular donors. Focusing on the more on the younger generation when marketing, the Foundation should create campaigns that are led by young people so they are aware of the importance of music education and others will be interested and follow them. If schools continue to cut music programs then children who go to these public schools will not understand how important the arts and music are to people who creatively express themselves through music whether it’s playing it or just listening. If the younger generations (middle school and high school aged) are creating awareness then children will be more prone to listen to what they have to say than adults. The Foundation could also raise more awareness by partnering with large symphonies like the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra who already implements a plan to educate young children by having orchestra’s musicians visit schools and educate children about the orchestra. They could also develop a program that provided mentors for children who played instruments at the public schools. Young musicians at public schools could have a mentor come in maybe once a week or a few times a month to coach and teach the children about the music industry whether it be a musician in the orchestra or singer/musician in a band. Seeing others that are in the career field could inspire the younger children to achieve their dreams. So instead of just donating the grants to buy new instruments, the Foundation could provide a mentor or coach to visit the school or plan for an assembly where a musician can talk to younger children what it’s like to be a professional musician or person who works in the music industry. This compliments the Foundation’s mission to educate children in music by hearing from people that work in the industry first-hand.