Running head: STRATEGIC PLAN 1 Strategic Plan for Medical Teams International Molly Boyle, Girsang, Knighten, Andrei Roata, Christina Ho, Oleksiy Bezverkhyy, Christa McMurray Northwest University Author Note Christa McMurray, Buntain School of Nursing, Northwest University. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Christa McMurray, Buntain School of Nursing, Northwest University, 5325 113 th Pl. NE Apt #2, Kirkland, Washington 98033. Contact: christa.peterson10@northwestu.edu
STRATEGIC PLAN 2 Strategic Plan for Medical Teams International Introduction Medical Teams International is a Christian organization with a passion for meeting the practical needs of the underserved populations in America and around the world. Their main service in the US is their mobile dental clinics amazingly compact buses that are set up to provide dental care you could receive in a dental office. Around the world, they send supplies and medical workers to countries and communities struggling after the destruction of all kinds of natural disasters. Problem identification Upon working with Medical Teams International at their Redmond location we identified one major problem they have been experiencing. The office location in Redmond includes a public exhibit that is used to bring awareness to current problems faced around the world. This exhibit brings attention to what Medical Teams International is doing to help combat those problems and how people here can partner with Medical Teams International in support. However, the organization has found that there is a lack of public participation and awareness of the exhibit. Strategically, this problem is merely a lack of awareness of the exhibit s existence. Operationally, this problem is due to a lack of partnership and networking with local public schools within the community. These problems pose significant issues to the organization s goal of involving the local community in their mission around the world. Strategically this problem is significant because it threatens and limits support and awareness that could be drawn from the local community in expanding the mission of this organization. Operationally, this issue also holds a great deal of significance in that without partnership and exposure within the local public school system, it
STRATEGIC PLAN 3 omits opportunities of educating adolescents of global problems and empowering them in ways they can get involved. These issues reflect the underlying values of Medical Teams International, especially in regards to their mission in the local community. Medical Teams International strives to engage others in partnerships with their mission that leads to improved health and realization of Godgiven potential for who they serve. Not only this, but they desire to see lives transformed by the power of God s love and the faith inspired service of their staff, teams, and partners around the world. Finally, the root of these core values, or their mission statement, is deeply grounded in their Christian faith which is to demonstrate the love of Christ to people affected by disaster, conflict, and poverty around the world. Statement of Strategic Planning Goal The goal of this strategic plan is to overall increase the number of visits to the exhibit. Specifically, these goals include: increasing the number of visitors by 25% and have at least ten churches send groups by the year 2017. Operational goals revolve around increasing public school awareness of the exhibit. Goals include: each middle and high school from the Lake Washington School District will send a group of students to the exhibit and two public colleges in the Seattle area will send groups of students by the year of 2015. These goals reconnect the values and mission statement of Medical Teams International within their outreach in the local community for many reasons. Bringing members of the community to the exhibit will generate awareness, and thus contribute to the overall cause of the organization locally and around the world. Secondly, by targeting schools and adolescents, this will educate and empower students at a receptive age to have a broader perspective of the world as well as a better understanding of what they can practically do to help.
STRATEGIC PLAN 4 SWOT Analysis Medical Teams International is not fully dependent upon government grants, which allows them to continue to operate throughout government funding cycles or when budget changes occur. Their main sources of funding are their auction and exhibits, as well as generous donations from other organization and foundations. Their real life exhibits, portraying actual disaster sites all around the world, are located in Redmond, Washington, and Tigard, Oregon. The real life exhibit in Redmond Washington is placed strategically in the middle of Redmond school district, which oversees 14 schools and several community colleges. Even though the real life exhibit in Redmond is right in the middle of the Redmond school district, there is lack of awareness even in this area. This is due to lack of publicity. Additionally, volunteer opportunities are mainly limited to medical professional, which makes other organizations more accessible for volunteers who do not have a medical background. Medical Teams International posts their yearly fiscal report on their home website. The report shows all of their yearly income, which comes from different sources, and their yearly spending. In addition, it shows how many supplies were received in a particular year and where they were shipped to. In 2013, they mobilized 2500 volunteers to disaster sites all over the world. Based on their 2013 fiscal report, they received over $105 million in contributions which ranges from medical supplies, dental supplies, donations, investors, and cash gifts. Medical Teams International has helped over 2.7 million people in need all over the world. One of their goals is to focus not only on rebuilding the disaster sites but also investing long-term in the victims of the disasters. They intentionally work with each site for at least three years in order to build a long lasting relationship. They also make a point to move out of the central areas and reach the less-reached cities, which are often forgotten. A challenge they have experienced in
STRATEGIC PLAN 5 some countries where they lack partnership is delays in distributing resources such as medical and dental supplies. Proforma There are many opportunities for Medical Teams International. There is a great opportunity for enhanced awareness and support in local community schools and churches. There is opportunity for expanding the reach of the mobile dental clinic in the Seattle area, and opportunities for expansion of the services of their organization by creating partnerships with other organizations. In the area of disaster relief there are great long-term opportunities to provide services after initial funding of the disaster event has stopped. External threats to the organization include the fact that computer charting and tracking of medical supplies in U.S. medical facilities has recently limited donations of unused medical supplies to the efforts of Medical Teams International. There are barriers to acceptance of Christian organizations in the Seattle and Portland communities. This barrier also applies in foreign countries, because many governments assume that the ulterior motive of Christian organizations like Medical Teams International is to convert people to Christianity in times of distress. That is not the motive for this organization, but it hinders their work in some disaster zones. Medical Teams International also encounters difficulties overseas because many of these undeveloped countries require bribes to cross the border with medical supplies. This is a significant threat because Medical Teams International does not pay bribes in an effort to honestly manage the donations that they are given. Financial projections for the first three years of this project include three hundred dollars budgeted for a promotional video about Medical Teams International that emphasizes the need for volunteers and contributions to this organization. A budget for this project needs to also
STRATEGIC PLAN 6 include one-hundred and fifty dollars for printed brochures to distribute at the visited schools, and transportation costs to and from the schools that equal seventy-five dollars. After these startup expenses, operational expenses are fifty dollars a month for brochures, two-hundred dollars a month for transportation, and fifty dollars a month to pay for advertisement on Facebook. Revenue to support these expenses will come from the donations collected at the schools, and from donations collected at the Redmond exhibit. This Strategic plan will be implemented in March of 2014. If by November 2014, four or fewer schools have sent groups to the exhibit, the planning committee will reevaluate the methods used, and this strategic plan. If more than four school groups have visited the exhibit this plan will stay in place until the end of December 2014. Strategic Plan Action Implementation In order to carry out the operational goals and objectives, a timeline has been arranged by which the strategic plan will be implemented. Beginning in March 2014, representatives will visit middle and high schools, colleges, and churches each month until June 2014, meaning that a targeted 25 groups will be visited. When school resumes again in September, each of the schools will arrange a follow-up and schedule a date to visit the Real Life exhibit in Redmond, Washington. This strategic plan will be evaluated in November 2014 and if by then, four or fewer schools have expressed an interest in visiting the Real Life exhibit, the plan will be reevaluated. If progress shows that the attendance rate at the exhibit has been increasing as a result of our efforts, the plan will continue until its scheduled termination in December 2014. At this time, final data will be collected and the effectiveness of marketing plans and actions will be analyzed.
STRATEGIC PLAN 7 Under the marketing direction of Christina, the team will disperse into groups to go forth as representatives to the local middle and high schools, colleges and churches. and Andrei will work with middle schools and will pinpoint high schools and colleges. Molly will act as the main communications officer and Oleksiy will manage the finances. In order to ensure successful performance and execution of this strategic plan, several key policies and procedures will outline a particular set of rules that will guide the program. It begins with the essential standard that representatives must set up a meeting with the schools a minimum of one week ahead of the scheduled presentation time. A team-leader will be designated to manage each visit and trip to the exhibit in order to organize and coordinate constructive and practical relationships between the schools and our organization. The strategic planning team would then meet two times a month to plan and discuss progress. When schools are ready to visit the Real Life exhibit itself, groups must consist of at least ten students, but no more than twenty-five at a time. Additionally, each group will have two chaperones to accompany each class. These guidelines will model a pathway by which the strategic plan will be executed in such as to produce the utmost results and success. Marketing, advertising, and public/constituent relations The video created for promotion of the project will be shown in schools and churches within the Puget Sound area. Please see table below: Month March 2014 March 2014 April 2014 Representative Name School Name / Church Name Evergreen Middle School Inglewood Middle School Renton Jesus The Savior Church Kennydale High School Renton Technical College Renton Lutheran Church Finn Hill Middle School International Middle School Visit Date Scheduled
STRATEGIC PLAN 8 April 2014 May 2014 May 2014 June 2014 June 2014 September 2014 October 2014 Bellevue Christian School Juanita High School Bellevue Bethel Christian Church Northwest University Kirkland Middle School Northstar Middle School Lake Washington High School Kirkland Elevation Church Redmond Cedar High School Redmond Good News Baptist Church Mercer Island High School The United Church of Mercer Island Juanita Middle School Juanita Methodist Church of Christ First Ukrainian Church of Kirkland Kirkland Lake Middle School Golgotha Church of Kirkland At the end of each event the team will distribute an average of 30 brochures at each facility. The team will also post and promote Facebook and Twitter ads daily to an estimated 5,000 online friends collectively. After groups visit the exhibit, we will follow up with the opportunity of starting a club at the school for students who want to donate/volunteer long term with Medical Teams International. Outcomes The expected result of the marketing plan is that by April 2014, two schools and three churches will have sent groups to the Medical Teams International Exhibition. We expect that by January 2015, at least 6 middle schools send groups, and at least 1 college sends a group to the exhibit. We expect increased donation to the organization. Evaluation Evaluation of our goals is an important part of our strategic plan. We developed a questionnaire about the impact of the exhibit on the students. In this questionnaire, we will ask the people to express their feelings about the exhibit at the end of the walkthrough. Furthermore, in the
STRATEGIC PLAN 9 questionnaire, we will ask if they would be willing to make a $1 donation to Medical Teams International. To meet our strategic goals, we expect that at least 60% of kids who attended the exhibit will express their feeling about the exhibit. Every month, we will evaluate our expenses to see if we are following our financial plan. Our ongoing operational costs are $50 a month for brochures, $200 a month for transportation, and $50 a month to pay for advertisement on Facebook. In addition, we will examine the changes in donation to Medical Teams International to see if there is an upward trend in donations from the Redmond area. This will help guide our decisions about whether our methods of marketing are working. In addition, every month we will continue to communicate with the listed schools and colleges. We will keep them updated with any changes in working hours of Medical Teams International exhibit. Our timeliness will be measured by our team meeting with schools at planned time and giving them enough time to set up field trips. Measured by our group goals being met on time. We will keep our meeting with schools and colleges at planned time, and we will give them enough time to set up their field trips. Conclusion We look forward to the implementation of this plan and to the results it will bring for Medical Teams International. An increased awareness of their organization in the community has the possibility to bring further support, global perspective, donations, and medical workers to increase the reach of their already influential organization.