OPERATION WARM STRATEGIC PLAN April 1, 2012 March 31, 2013
I. Executive Summary Our Company Elevator Pitch is as follows: Operation Warm, Inc. is a thirteen year old, national nonprofit raising money to provide new winter coats to at-risk children. Operation Warm partners with both funders and other community based organizations to identify children most in need and distributes coats before the coldest days of winter set in. Since 1998 we have provided over one million coats in 33 states. Our Company Mission and Vision Statement are as follows: Since 1998, Operation Warm has provided new winter coats to at-risk children who live in need. Our vision is that every child wearing a new winter coat is warm, feels valued, and is empowered to get to school and gain an education, helping break the cycle of poverty. Strengths: 1. A simple idea that meets a basic human need 2. Diverse board of directors with extensive talent and experience, who engage with the organization in governance, clarity of mission and vision, performance, and support 3. Talented & productive staff 4. Strong executive team with superlative skills in leadership and business and agility to adapt to and address socio-economic changes, etc. Opportunities: By accepting donations of new winter coats and not just cash contributions, Operation Warm could extend its outreach with marginal expense and potentially penetrate new markets/niches. [Relates to expanding in kind] Identifying, rallying, and mobilizing volunteers in the communities we serve would expand OW s brand recognition and human resources with marginal expense. [Supports challenge of endorsements may include IAFF/firefighters program and retailer events] By introducing more to the OW story about how the new coats help break the cycle of poverty, (philanthropy) we may garner additional funder support. Localize the store with remote OW personnel and retailer events Better funder and potential funder presence at distribution events would ensure eye-witness accounts of the program s impact, building a fan base of loyal support. [Key part in addressing improvement in fundraising story and social media.] Operation Warm, Inc. Strategic Plan Page 1
Open naming opportunities to corporate, foundation and individual funders for name recognition during large distribution events (housing authority distributions, etc.) Open opportunities for planned giving Open opportunities for next generation giving The Top Opportunities that we will execute upon in FY`12/13 include: 1. Extend development outcomes without increasing overhead through national, local service organizations, (Rotary, Knights, Lions) 2. Increase donor base and benefit from endorsements through the Fire Fighters Program, radio broadcast partnerships, and Combined Federal Campaigns 3. Increase brand awareness and funder support by hiring development associates in 3 critical geographic areas 4. Map out multi-year strategy for funding appeals with short-term funding goals 5. Develop 2 programs similar to CHA w/ BHA 6. Investigate retail opportunities 7. Strategize for opportunities w/ both planned and next generation giving Our Company s goals are as follows: 5 Year Goals: Distribute one million more coats Establish relationships with a minimum of 6 additional housing authorities for annual distribution events 30% of OW coats are through in-kind, community coat drives (large, retail programs or lots of mini drives Individual giving increased by 30% (from 2011) 1 Year Goals: Support 7 community-based coat drives Increase Fire Department participation, at least 10 stations Pilot Combined Federal Campaign expansion in NJ and DE Hire 3 field staff (Development Associates Increase overall giving by 13% Establish relationship w/ national retailer Sign-on 2 housing authorities for distribution event/collaborative funding Produce annual report Establish alternate manufacturing sources Establish social media strategy to ensure FB readership is up 20% and drives on-line giving Operation Warm, Inc. Strategic Plan Page 2
The following are the key performance indicators (KPIs) that we will measure and include in our dashboard: KPI Update Frequency $ Sales/Revenues Monthly, (weekly Sept.-February) # of new donors, (foundation, individual, Monthly corporate) # of website visitors Monthly # of PR mentions Monthly Inventory levels Bi-weekly Sept.-February Cash forecast Monthly (July-Oct.) Net Income Quarterly FB/Twitter metrics Weekly Google Analytics Monthly Our target customers are: Funders: Foundations, Corporations, Individuals Beneficiaries: Coat recipients and their families, community partners The key customer needs we solve include: Funders: Funders at any level want to be assured that OW is an excellent steward of their money. Want to ensure that coats go where they want them to go, and to the children who need them most. Funders want to know that they are receiving recognition for their donation, and that the recipients know from where the gift came. Proper acknowledgement of gifts is mission critical, (acknowledgement from OW and from the beneficiaries as well.) Investigate cost savings and feasibility for on-line acknowledgements, only, Operation Warm writes grants tailored to a funder s specific guidelines and uses the most descriptive language possible to communicate the impact and importance of a gift. Operation Warm ensures governance and yearend reports are thorough, accurate and timely. Beneficiaries: The beneficiary organizations want their orders to arrive on time, accurately and in good condition. They often need help with distribution event organization and best practices. They want quality coats and want them as early on in the season as possible, (frequently challenging given timing of funding support). OW provides an order form and does all possible to ensure accurate and timely orders. Operation Warm, Inc. Strategic Plan Page 3
Our market size is: There are currently 16.4 million children living at or below the federal poverty level. That s a market of 16.4 million coats or $820MM. From a funding perspective, there are over 10,000 U.S. foundations that award grants for children s causes. Key market trends include: The need for winter coats has grown exponentially in the past 5 years. In 2007, there were 13.1 million children living in poverty. In 2009 that number jumped to 14.7, and today the number is at 16.4.Current predictions indicate that the rate of childhood poverty will continue to escalate through the coming years, some predictions as high as 20 million. Operation Warm s coats, primarily manufactured in China will likely escalate in cost if we don t source other countries for manufacturing. 2010 brought significant change to China and their industrial revolution resulted in higher wages, affecting the cost of products exported from their country. The quality of OW coats is of paramount importance, and so OW should begin looking for alternative, cost-effective sources. With childhood poverty escalating out of control, other economic indicators are driving grant seekers in the form of non-profits to compete for limited funds. Operation Warm must seek alternative ways to extend our mission and rely less upon grant awards from foundations and corporations. OW s exploration of alternative business models will hopefully result in less dependence on grantors. Funders are looking to non-profits to get to root-cause of issues such as poverty. Inasmuch as possible, OW capitalizes on the advantages of the coat that go beyond warmth, and speak to the coat s value relative to education, nutrition, self-esteem, and physical health. Given limited funds, grantors are also interested in collaborative grants grants that demonstrate money and resource savings through collaboration. Areas in which we have competitive advantage include: Operation Warm s competitive advantage is two-fold; new coats and coat orders tailored to the beneficiary organization(s). OW uses in-kind shipping as much as possible to keep the cost of the coats as low as possible. Operation Warm, Inc. Strategic Plan Page 4
For FY`2013, OW will examine manufacturer packaging to determine cost savings of MP orders, (packed in boxes of 6) versus Core orders which could be packaged w/ larger quantities to a box. Also, consider more solid colors vs. color block. Our key products/services and their unique selling propositions are: CORE (Raise money from grants/corporations for coats) Marketplace (Take orders for coats from non-profits) Radio/Broadcast Program (Appeal to local stations to so PSAs and raise money/host coat drive) Our key promotional tactics include: Appeal letters/e-mails Newsletters Social media Radio/TV/Periodical PR/Marketing Endorsements (Letters of Support, FedEx, Combined Federal Campaign, Firefighters) Word of mouth/testimonials Contests through social media We do/will do the following to maximize the lifetime value of our customers: Thank them, recognize them, keep them informed Deliver a quality product, (always) Invite them to witness/volunteer events, when possible Exceed expectations, (coat quality, communication, gratitude) The following are the key members of our team and their key skill sets: Sanford Development/Operations Palmquist Development/Operations/Marketing/Management Cohen Finance/Development/Operations Smith Grant writing/database Admin./Research Friedman Database admin./grant writing/writing Daigle Development/Management/Marketing Harrison Grant writing/event coordination Lalley Development/Marketing/PR/Grant writing Heiderschedit Admin./Marketing/event coordination Lewis Logisitics/Procurement Hollenshead Human resources, accounting & admin. Tily Back office/event coordination (Part time) Sanford, Jr. Development Bailey Program development/development (Part time) Operation Warm, Inc. Strategic Plan Page 5
To execute on our opportunities, we will train and/or hire the following employees to gain the required skill sets: Hire/Train 3 additional field personnel (CO/OKC/TBD) Train Harrison as interface to community partners at distribution time Train all personnel to answer questions re: OW and how it works As part of our Operations Plan, we will work on the following key projects within the next 12 months: Fire fighters program Retail program New coat drive program Radio/Broadcast Program Marketplace Core Combined Federal Campaigns (National Capital Area, DE, NJ) Operation Warm, Inc. Strategic Plan Page 6