Writing a press release HW

Introduction/Situation Analysis

Camp blessing is a young business that was begun with the aim of helping children with special needs get some time off from the hustles of daily life. The business's proprietors actually began it as more of a divine calling as opposed to a normal business. They used to find a place to camp each year and host their clients for a summer camp. However, as time went by, a volunteer came along and gave them a seventy acre piece of land. This gesture was inspired by the good work the proprietors were carrying on with the children.

Now, the business can use the piece of land to host people that need camping services. The business has divided its calendar year into two sections-the summer time and non summer time. During the summer time, the business has extra staff to help with handling of guests. The staff number has to be reduced to keep operational costs in check.

The main target market for the business is parents who have children with special needs. The facility also has programs for adults with special needs as well. Available data suggests that there are about 3 million with varying disabilities in Texas, where the business is situated. As such, there is indeed a viable market for the business. The business plan will detail the expected operational costs for the business as well as the various sources of funds. The management structure of the business will also be explained because the business will have to hire some professional staff to help with creating camp programs.  As will be seen, the camp will also target other markets including Christian groups and government organizations

Camp Blessing is indeed a viable business if the business plan is implemented to the letter. The management team has to make the camp known to as many people and organizations as possible. The programs prepared for the guests must be dynamic and refreshing so that people experience something new each year. Before finding the piece of land now set for occupation, Camp Blessing had to turn away people who wanted the Summer camp experience. Now, the business has to find ways of getting those customers back and growing its revenues. It is important for the business not to lose the core values that helped it set on a growth path.  The business is founded on Christian values and it is important not to lose this aspect.

The business will now be handling a more diverse clientele and revenue is expected to grow. As such, the proprietors have to be ready to get professional staff to run the day to day operations. More marketing is necessary to grow sales because operational costs are also set to grow in the new facility. Professionals should help the business stay within its limits in terms of spending. It will also be able to use the right type of funding in order to reduce the cost of capital. Overall, Camp Blessing is a business that is well on a path to prosperity going by the interest already shown in Summer camps.

S.W.O.T.

Strengths

1. Price

a. Councilors - $135/wk

b. Campers - $585/wk

c. Self Sustaining

i. All others are dependent on annual donations

2. Location

a. Located as close to downtown Houston as possible

i. Within 40 miles of most points around metroplex

3. Camper to Councilor ratio

a. 1:1 camper to councilor ratio

Weaknesses

1. Lack of male volunteers

2. Poor social media presence

a. 1059 Facebook likes

b. 54 Twitter followers/ 6 tweets

c. 325 Instagram followers

3. Limited to 2 fundraisers per year

4. Lack stability in long-term plan

Opportunities

1. Expanding to include extreme cases of some types of disabilities

2. Using social media to gain more influence

3. Providing scholarship opportunities for counselors as well as campers

Threats

1. Competing camps

a. Especially secular ones

2. Weather

a. The better the weather the better the experience.

3. Something that would prevent campers and/or counselors from coming to camp

Goal and Objectives

Goal: To become a self-sustaining ministry to the special needs community. 

Objectives:

Informational:

· Increase awareness of camp by 20% by the beginning of the 2016 season. 

· Increase social media presence by 50% for Facebook and 100% for Twitter and Instagram in 18 months.

· Motivational:

· Attain a 75% return rate of volunteers by the end of the 2016 season. 

· Improve male to female volunteer ratio to 1:1 by the 2017 season.

Tactics

Increase awareness of camp

· Depending on budget:

Underwrite public broadcasting program 

Pitch articles to Texas newspapers and magazines 

TV commercials 

75% return rate

· Offer same price as previous year to returning volunteers 

· Make arrangements for special meals for volunteers, i.e. chic-fil-a for lunch one day. 

· Other ways to make the experience better for volunteers 

Social media

· Push out at least 1 tweet a day pertaining to daily prep activities or camp activities depending on season. 

· Post 1 Instagram for every 4 days. 

· During off-season, should show prep activities including staff members who will be seen by campers during actual camp. 

· During camp-season, should show camp activities and show both campers and volunteers, but emphasize volunteers. 

· Repost and retweet any news articles published about camp blessing throughout the year

· Once a week: post a quote from a camper, volunteer or parent about their experience with camp blessing.

· Post each Instagram photo to Facebook as well. 

· Add several photos once a week to a Facebook photo album. 

Improve male to female volunteer ratio to 1:1 by the 2018 season

· Find schools that require volunteer hours and advertise there. 

· Emphasize the more physical/outdoor activities to be done by volunteers. 

· Offer certificate of completion of volunteer duties for use with college applications, resumes, etc. 

Budget - $1000

· Fast Food day - $300

· Provide fast food biscuit for volunteer breakfast one day. (Chic-fil-a, Cracker Barrel, etc.)

· 600 Campers, average $1/biscuit. Take $0.50 of each volunteers tuition, cover the rest with budget ($300)

· Facebook advertising - $693

· Facebook ads - $33 per day for 138 clicks

· Pick 1 week each out of March, April, and May (or whatever the most common weeks for sign-ups are) to run ads.

· $33 for 21 days total = $693