Free Marketing Goals and Objectives Essay Sample
ENMU Athletics is proposing to build a new facility at the Greyhound Arena location. This facility will support the entire athletic department of the university. In order to take on such a large project, sources of funding must be located and the percentage of costs covered must be calculated. It is crucial that the new athletic facility has the support of the school, the boosters and the public.
The marketing goals for this project are to raise the funds to construct the facility within the proscribed time. Such funding will come from multiple sources, very little of it from taxpayers. Each source will provide a specific percentage of the funding. The objective of this section is to describe each source of funding and the projected percentage that it will provide toward the financing of the new ENMU athletic facility.
Grants
The first source of funding for ENMU will be the Federal Government. Most commonly, the federal government contributes about 7% of the total school budget, and the remainder is split fairly evenly between local contributions (primarily raised through local property taxes) and state contributions (primarily raised through state income taxes and sales taxes). (Howard, 1997).
Subsidies
The second source of funding for ENMU athletics will be subsidies from the broadcast of sporting events that will occur at the new complex. Approximately 25 percent of the necessary money for construction will come from this source. This is a realistic estimate when one notes that in 2009, New Mexico State University received more than $6 million in subsidies for their athletic programs.(ESPN, 2009).
Fundraising
School athletes and other students will take part in fundraising activities, designed to raise approximately 10 percent of the funds required for the facility. Such fundraising includes:
- Selling products
- Performing services (car washes, for example)
- Holding events
Ticket Sales
The fourth source of funding for the ENMU athletic complex will come from ticket sales from the games held there, as well as a percentage of ticket sales from games held at the existing facility prior to the completion of the new construction. Based on past game attendance and ticket sales, 43 percent of the funds will come from the support of fans through their ticket purchases.
Contributions and Donations
The fifth and final source of funding will come from donations and contributions from local and national boosters. These boosters are individuals and companies who show their continued support by providing no less than 15 percent of the revenue needed to complete this project.
These percentages are based on a history of successful fundraising for other projects undertaken by ENMU and research conducted by this department into relevant sources. The objective of this plan is to cover all of the costs of planning, design and construction for the new ENMU athletic facility that will be built at the old Greyhound Arena location.
Marketing Strategy
Once we have established sources for the funding needed to construct the new athletic facility, it is imperative to reach out to the necessary individuals and companies to secure their support, both for the facility itself and for the fundraising effort.
Analysis
ENMU has a number of strengths that it can rely upon to garner the support it needs for this project. It is “[r]anked highest in overall student satisfaction among N.M. universities each year since 1999-2000.” (ENMU.edu, 2011). The school boasts strong academics, broad diversity and a rock-solid reputation throughout the state.
The difficulty arises from the state of the economy in both New Mexico and the country as a whole. Financial struggles may affect revenues from ticket sales, which is the largest component of the fundraising effort.
In order to overcome these difficulties, the following strategies will be implemented:
Hiring a professional grant writer
The university will select and hire a professional grant writer to create the documents that will be submitted requesting funds from the government. Many professors on staff are both willing and able to handle this task, though it may be hired out, based upon the writer’s successful track record.
Awareness campaign
A comprehensive awareness campaign will be created that will spread news throughout the campus and surrounding community regarding the new athletic facility. This campaign will span print, broadcast and online media. In order to be most effective, the campaign will launch two to three months prior to beginning fundraising efforts in the community.
Promotion
As an institution of higher learning, academics will always be the focus at ENMU, however, in order to boost ticket sales, the school will undertake a broad-based promotional program. This program will include season ticket packages for all sports with tiered pricing based on the seat location and the sport. It will also include offering bulk ticket pricing to local companies and organizations. By getting people to the games, the goal is to encourage them to then come to a subsequent event and purchase a full priced ticket to do so.
Measurement
In order to track the effectiveness of the marketing strategies used in this effort, each source will be assigned a group to oversee its progress. The group will report to the project director on a regular basis with regard to actions taken and funds raised to date.
It is crucial that ENMU take the long view on this project in order to be successful. “Colleges and universities where fund raising continued to flourish during hard times, [John Glier] says, tended to be those that planned for the economy to sour as well as those that were sensitive to the need to take special measures and took a long view of their fund-raising operations.” (Hall, 2008). The current economic climate will require persistence and patience. Combined with the marketing strategy, ENMU will find it is able to see this project through to completion with a minimum of difficulty.