Introduction
The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) is a not-for-profit organization that was started in 1978 with the primary objective of ending violence against women (NCADV, 2015). The organization has worked with legislators to develop public policies. Among the organization’s success stories is its involvement in the passage of the Violence against Women Act through advocacy campaigns, joined by other groups of similar interest.
This report seeks to study the operations of the organization with the primary goal of identifying its weaknesses and recommending changes to boost its growth. In this regard, the company’s mission and vision shall be studied in comparison to those of similar organizations and a gap analysis generated. The gap analysis shall inform the changes that will be recommended.
Mission
The mission of the NCADV is to advocate for societal power by training communities to encourage change and support a structure of thinking and authority among people, which aims at bringing domestic violence to an end (NCADV, 2015). NCADV works under the premise that violence against women and children arises from the use of force and threats to gain dominance over the other parties in personal relationships.
The organization also believes that domestic violence is fuelled by the misuse of power and authority through such biases as racism and homophobia (NCADV, 2015). The organization understands that the abuse of power in society encourages domestic violence by creating environments that support battering of women and children (NCADV, 2015)., It is, therefore, the mission of NCADV to advocate a change in society, which serve to fight all forms of domestic violence directed at women and children (NCADV, 2015).
The organization works by building strong coalitions at all levels of society. It provides technical and financial support for community-based organizations, some of which provide shelter for women and their children affected by domestic violence. The focus of NCADV’s leadership is to fight for the rights of marginalized groups with the aim of getting rid of societal elements that encourage violence against women and children (NCADV, 2015).
Vision
NCADV works to ensure that the welfare of victims of domestic violence is one of the main political and legislative item in America (NCADV, 2015). The directors of the organization believe that in days to come, political parties will add domestic violence legislation as key campaign element while consulting NCADV’s research data and expertise (NCADV, 2015).
NCADV works to compound all efforts aimed at ending domestic violence under one body. This will make the unified voice stronger and it will have a bigger impact on society (NCADV, 2015). NCADV also hopes to educate the society about domestic and dating violence while offering support to all marginalized groups (NCADV, 2015). The organization seeks to widen its information database while dealing trying to reduce the damaging effect of domestic violence on women and children (NCADV, 2015).
In addition, NCADV hopes to make the public know that the symbol of the purple ribbon represents the mission of the organization, which is to bring peace to all American households (NCADV, 2015). The directors of the organization foresee a time when incidences of violence in homes are broadcast and printed in all media channels.
This will give the work of the organization the same level of attention institutions working to end Cancer and AIDs (NCADV, 2015). NCADV also hopes be a leader in teaching countries around the world on the best approaches that can be used to fight domestic violence (NCADV, 2015).
Swot analysis
Strength
NCADV’s main strength as a human services organization is that it has a number of strong supporters, among them Take a Stand and Mineral Fusion, organizations that are of great repute. The organization’s directors have good relationships with most of the leaders of companies with big sponsorship budgets, an advantage that could be used to increase the sponsorship funding.
Another strength NCADV has is a strong management team. The team is smaller compared to those of rival organizations, but it has been properly nurtured to give these older rivals a run for their money.
The fact that NCADV has been involved in advocacy missions that have successfully led to a decline in domestic violence against women and children gives the organization an edge over younger institutions, which have no portfolio to boast of. The institution’s successes have been properly documented and can be used to secure more sponsors.
Weaknesses
One of NCADV’s weaknesses is that it has fewer sponsors, in comparison to younger rivals Communities United Against Violence and Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence. Being an older institution that has vastly remained unchanged over the years, it wrongly gives the impression of not being a ‘serious’ organization, and sometimes drives uninformed publics to regard it as being ineffective.
Being an old organization, NCADV is also disadvantaged in terms of getting more sponsorship, with most companies now working towards establishing working relationships with younger organizations. Another weakness, the organization has, is its low spending power, which makes it unable to compete with the other organizations that have bigger budgets dedicated to marketing their services. This weakness is further worsened by the fact that the organization is yet to get a strong sponsorship-seeking team.
Opportunities
As members of the public continue to appreciate NCADV’s services, it has developed its own networks, making it attractive to potential individual sponsors. Companies dealing with organizations that target older members of society are likely to find NCADV the best organization to sponsor, further increasing its operating revenue.
In addition, sponsors are gradually realizing that they have for some time been short-changed by sponsoring younger organizations, most of which do not live up to the vision they had when they were started. One of the directors of the organization says they are getting increased attention from new sponsors, who are tired of supporting organizations that do not have an impact on society (Stake, 2011). This vote of confidence might see an increase in the organization’s working capital (LeRoux, 2009).
Threats
As NCADV continues to embrace change, other organizations, and particularly those in the human services industry, are beginning to view it as a strong competitor for sponsors’ attention. Similar organizations that have a stronger financial backing than NCADV can easily launch competing services once they start feeling threatened. The organization is also under constant threat from rising organizations, which bring better organizations and ideas into the market.
Environmental scan of competitors
In order to identify NCADV’s competitors, we interviewed a director at the organization. He informed us that the institution competes with three other organizations namely: Communities United Against Violence, Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence and the National Council on Child Abuse and Family Violence. Two of these organizations offer a similar service to NCADV.
Services offered by competitors
In order to identify the services offered by the competitors, we spoke to a volunteer from each of the three organizations that NCADV competes with. Below are the interviews we did:
Interview with Communities United Against Violence volunteer
Researcher: What services does Communities United Against Violence (CUAV) offer?
CUAV volunteer: Communities United Against Violence aims at increasing the strength of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning people in a bid to tame the violence and oppressive forces that have traditionally been directed towards these groups.
Researcher: How is this accomplished?
CUAV volunteer: The organization aims to give services that lead to the healing of victims of abuse. It also seeks to encourage the communities to break chains of trauma and replace them with bonds of protection and liberation. CUAV aims at creating communities in which the rights of all people are respected.
The organization has witnessed increased membership in recent days due to the general rise in awareness of sexual minority groups (CUAV, 2015). It is regarded as the fastest rising organizations because of the support it receives from individuals and companies cutting across all facets of society.
Interview with Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence (CAEPV) volunteer
Researcher: What services does Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence offer?
CAEPV volunteer: Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence (CAEPV) has championed the fight against domestic violence since 1995.
Researcher: What is the main difference between CAEPV and the other human services organizations it competes with?
CAEPV volunteer: The main distinguishing factor of this organization is that it was established by business leaders, with the aim of fighting the vice in the workplace. Since the time CAEPV was started, the hundreds of companies joined it with the aim of exchanging information, working on similar projects, and using their strength and power to bring about change in communities.
The organization has on occasion sent out messages encouraging peaceful relations between the genders in family setups, but its key objective has been ending gender-based violence in office setups (CAEPV, 2015).
Interview with National Council on Child Abuse and Family Violence (NCCAFV) volunteer
Researcher: What services does NCCAFV offer?
NCCAFV volunteer: NCCAFV is an organization that seeks to prevent reports of violence against women and children, by bringing all involved parties together. These involved parties include spouses, police and professionals trained to handle emotional and physical trauma. We offer guidance and counselling services as well as conduct training on how to prevent the incidence of domestic violence in communities.
Need for services provided by NCADV and community capacity
Even with young organizations posing a major threat to older community Service organizations, there is a great section of the American population that greatly appreciates the service that NCADV is offering. As a mature organization, NCADV has been effectively gradually selling the idea that it is a people-centred organization, which does not aim at making Americans wait months for services. By appealing to this emotion, the organization has in its existence managed to get a legion of loyal followers and supporters.
Gap in services
From the gap analysis, it has been shown that NCADV’s competitors have benefited from keeping their scope of coverage open. NCADV’s strategy is to be the preferred organization for the older community.
Unfortunately, influencing this group is harder to convince than younger generations, because of the lesser exposure that members in the group have been subjected to. The younger group is constantly on the internet from where they now get most of their information and they can easily identify programs and organizations, whose mission and vision they relate with.
Older individuals generally do not care to seek the services of human service organizations and it is, therefore, difficult for NCADV to convincingly reach its mission of being a formidable organization in the region. The management at NCADV pegs their success on numbers.
By keeping their scope narrow, the organization can easily increase reach, without the costs being too high. However, the community, in which they operate, has traditionally been led to believe that any organization worth its name has to have extensive coverage.
The two organizations that NCADV is in competition with have the backing of wealthy companies and they can easily scale up. Another gap in services, which has been shown in the analysis, is the fact that NCADV, like its two rivals, has been slow in the implementation of modern communication systems.
For instance, being a human service organizations, it would be great for NCADV to have live-chat functions integrated with their website. This is fundamentally because most of the problems that members seek help need immediate answers (Chen, Hedrick and Young, 2010).
Contracting the services of social media managers will also help the organization deliver service to the public with ease, while appealing to younger audiences. Modern society has driven young people to congregate on social media platforms and any organization of repute needs to utilize these platforms to drive its agenda. NCADV should get professionals to help them effectively run Facebook, Twitter and Instagram account and campaigns in a bid to win new followers and supporters.
As a human service organization, NCADV needs to find new ways of making the public aware of the services it offers. This can be achieved through door-to-door campaigns, where team members from the organization deliver brochures to potential households.
There is a chance that there are numerous families in America that would be interested in the services offered by NCADV, but do not know how to go about it. Attending public fora, such as basketball games, and placing banners at venues is another good method of making the public aware of the services offered by the organization.
Strategic plan
NCADV is dependent on sponsorship revenue for its successful growth. In this regard, every element of the organization’s strategic plan should be focussed on making their services irresistible to the public.
Strategic goals
Nurture and expand its following
NCADV has over the years developed a good following. However, for it the organization to gain more followers, the management needs to take into account the needs and desires of their public, top on the list being the depth of services they offer.
The management at NCADV needs to re-evaluate their plan and consider increasing the number of services they offer. This might necessitate a reduction in their nationwide bases, but it will win them more sponsors, who want to associate with a respectable organization.
To measure success in this strategic goal, NCADV can contract the services of various data collection firms. Companies such as Magnetic 360 and Data Services Inc. can do survey on NCADV and provide data that shows how the number of NCADV followers and awareness has been increasing over time.
The organization can come up with an estimate of the number of members it should have within a particular amount of time and then collect data to find out whether it meets the targets. For instance, it can aim to gain 100,000 new members in three months and if it does, then success will have been achieved. If on the other hand it falls short, then the board needs to meet and find ways of improving their reach.
Acquire new sponsors
For NCADV to be taken seriously, the management might need to consider increasing its attractiveness to individual financial partners. By encouraging individuals to sponsor their programs, NCADV stands a great chance of not only increasing its working capital, but also widening its contacts list.
This is because, once small sponsors come on board and see that their money is put to good use, they will convince peers to support the program. In this strategic goal, the organization’s board of directors needs to agree on the amount of money they need to raise and send out proposals to potential sponsors. A milestone for this goal would be securing the signature of strong individual sponsors, both in terms of finances and the expertise brought on board.
For human-service organizations like NCDAV, the process of fundraising is always ongoing and there can never be a time when the organization says it has more money than it needs. It is on this backdrop that NCDAV will continue to look for new and creative ways of raising funds to further its causes.
Improve and expand relationships with existing sponsors
NCADV has managed to foster organization relationships with some companies. However, for the organization to grow, the stakeholders need to make sure that they keep up these relationships as they forge more partnerships. The organization needs to invest heavily in its publicity department.
The organization heads should ensure that the people they recruit have the necessary skills to approach and convince companies to sponsor the organization. Constant interaction with sponsors and leaders of an organization in the country will help NCADV get more support. In the human service industry, there is no maximum number of sponsors that an organization can have.
However, there is an optimum number, which when reached can confirm that the organization is successful (Ross, 2010). The organization, after evaluation of its expenses, can then decide how many sponsors it needs to have to be successful. This can be one milestone, which can then be improved upon in later assessments.
Encourage employee growth
The success of any organization is dependent on the dedication and commitment of its employees. NCADV has managed to recruit a strong team, which has successfully provided support to the public for years. Its sponsor-signing team has also done well to register a number of organization accounts and promises to do better in coming days.
The senior management staff at NCADV needs to recognize the hard work that has been done by its employees so far and encourage them to keep working hard. NCADV has a generally flat structure in its departments. However, a competitive environment, with proper promotion and pay-rise structures, needs to be created.
Employees are generally more motivated when they know that their hard work could lead to a promotion, which comes with better pay. Fostering a culture that encourages employee growth is a continuous process (Sridharan and Nakaima, 2011). However, while setting up the promotion and pay hike structures, a number of milestones can be set up with specific metrics. For instance, the establishment of the promotion structure can be one milestone and once it is set up successfully, it can be checked off the list.
Stakeholder needs assessment A
The primary stakeholders in NCADV are the sponsors. These individuals have committed a substantial amount of their money to funding the project and they expect it to bring a great impact on society. Below are five questions, fronted to one of the key sponsors, and which were used to identify and assess his needs.
What are the toughest challenges you have to deal with?
Before NCADV was started, extensive research was conducted and clear milestones established. It was clearly shown that the organization was headed to success and as I injected money into the project, I was sure of a return on my investment, in terms of seeing a violence-free society, in less than two years.
However, not everything has gone according to plan and I have had to shift my expectations. As a sponsor in the organization, the biggest challenge has been managing my expectations. I do not actively participate in the development of the project, but I would like to see that all promises made are adequately delivered. I invested a lot of money in the project and I hope to see it work to the benefit of the general society.
The other challenge, I have to deal with as a sponsor in the organization, is trying to stay away from the daily development of the project. I do not have the technical expertise or experience required to run an organization, but I sometimes would like to be more involved, just to see how my money is being used. However, I know that by doing this, I will be getting in the way, further slowing the successful growth of the organization. I have learned to trust the team managing the project because they are better skilled than me.
What do you consider success to be?
Success in any human services organization is seeing all the goals outlined in the company’s mission being achieved. For non-profit organizations, one of the key milestones is self-sustainability. Once the organization has enough cash-flow to meet daily expenses, it can be said to be headed for success.
For the case of NCADV, the organization is yet to raise enough sponsorship to adequately cover its daily operating costs. Projections show that in the next few months this trend will be reversed and the organization will be well on its way to success. It may be easier to give up on the organization the moment it appears not to meet growth expectations, but I know that success tends to come after a difficult beginning.
NCADV is an organisation founded on the desire to make the communities we live in safer for everyone. The primary desire of the founders is to see men, women and children peaceful living together. If this objective of domestic peace is maintained, then the organization can be said to be 100 per cent successful. However, like with every element of society, there is bound to be some difference between the intended goal and reality.
Measures of success can be based on individual families impacted by the organizations work. For instance, if three different families come to seek assistance from NCADV and to get the help they need to be peaceful, then the organization will be 67 per cent successful, which by most ranking methods is a passing grade.
What elements do you think have affected the growth of the organization?
As far as the growth of the organization is concerned, I am inclined to believe that its growth has been slowed down by forces beyond our control. For instance, being a relatively old organization, NCADV was bound to be met with slow acceptance from young members, who are used to a handful of organizations.
Convincing them that a mature organization is more credible than the emerging fancy lot was a difficult task, but after many success stories, I think we have managed to win them over. Sponsors also have their own preferences, and getting them to shift their allegiances is still a challenge.
Companies nowadays prefer to stick with organizations that make their brand appear edgy and convincing them to put their money on an old organization may prove challenging. It is this delayed crossover that has led to the slowed growth of NCADV in terms of cash-flow.
On the positive side, a number of big spenders, have given the organization great endorsement by severally sponsoring it on it. If this trend keeps up, the organization is bound to keep growing, to reach the ultimate goal of national and even global coverage.
What would happen if we don’t change the way things are done today?
One of the things that need to change is unnecessary spending. The organization has registered a number of expenses that are not immediately necessary for the growth of the institution. Given the fact that the organization’s cash flow is not yet at desired levels, it is imperative that expenditure be limited to things that are needed to run the organization.
If spending is not properly tamed, the organization’s finances may run out earlier than projected. The sponsor-recruitment representatives have also been sitting in a comfort zone and have not been performing as per expectations. The team appears unmotivated, perhaps because they know that at the end of the day, they are subject to a basic pay whether or not they sign a sponsor.
The head of this department needs to push her team to bring in more advertisements and if the situation calls for it, cut down on the retainer salaries of her team until enough sales are registered. Without a functioning sponsor-recruitment team, it may be difficult for the organization to attain the desired levels of profitability.
What would be the worst case scenario for the organization?
The worst case scenario would be to have NCADV shut down. This would be unfortunate the tens of workers will lose their jobs and their only source of livelihood. However, after sticking with the project for a couple of years, we are committed to seeing its success and unless things happen that are beyond our control, we will not allow the organization to fail.
Another undesirable scenario is the withdrawal of key sponsors. If for some reason some of our primary sponsors begin to see little advantage in working with us and opt out, the organization will have difficulty maintaining daily operations.
This can in turn lead the administration to either temporarily or permanently relieve some workers. During the last stakeholders’ meeting we agreed on several things, among them the recruitment of stronger board members, someone with a strong network. This is one of the measures that have been taken to ensure that the organization keeps growing and that it has a strong network of sponsors to keep it running efficiently.
Stakeholder needs assessment A
The workers at NCADV make up the other group of stakeholders. These members of staff depend on the success of the organization for their salaries to be considered. Below are five questions asked to one auditor at the organization to establishing his needs.
Are you satisfied with the level that NCADV, as an organization, has reached so far?
Yes, I am satisfied with how the organization has grown but I believe there is room for improvement. When the organization was starting in 1978, it was not easy to discern what it would look like several years down the line. However, the organization’s services have been effective and it continues to stand out from older rivals. The team has been successful by offering credible services for months.
I find the performance of the sponsorship department wanting because projections at the start of the organization had indicated that by such a time, there would be regular sponsors coming on board. Some members of the team have left and others come in but the performance is still less than desirable.
The organization sometimes goes months without signing new sponsors, which means that it has to rely on particular sponsors to fund the day-to-day administration. The directors of the organization need to find a way of making the sponsorship representatives work harder in order to keep the organization running once the funds raised by long-term partners runs out.
What do you think should be done to make the organization more attractive to members and sponsors?
Most Americans believe that the bigger and fancier an organization is, the more credible it is. NCADV being a relatively old and quiet organization has had to contend with the challenge of convincing both young members and sponsors that it is progressive. In order to have a meaningful impact on the public, I think the management should consider increasing the number of services offered.
This will effectively lead to an increase in the operating expenses, but the risk can be mitigated by cutting down on the number of offices until the organization has gained the desired reputation. The design and layout of the organization’s website also need reworking to make it modern. When the organization was, the main aim was to get the message out and little thought was given to giving it a vastly modern face.
However, years later, I believe it is time that the organization’s look be revised to make it compete effectively in the ever-changing market. Proper investment needs to be dedicated to getting the website live as well as marketing the organization on various social media platforms.
In addition, the organization’s printed publicity material needs to be properly updated for the purposes of reaching the members who do spend a good amount of their time on the internet. At the moment, the organization’s flyers look haphazardly done and do not immediately catch the eye of the members.
What changes would you recommend to the NCADV administration to improve employee comfort?
The salaries, that NCADV accords its employees, is fair based on the industry rates. However, the organization needs to consider providing more benefits such as house allowances for its permanent employees. These incentives will encourage the staffs to work harder, further leading to the success of the organization.
In addition to the allowances, the organization needs to set up a promotion framework, which clearly outlines the criteria for moving an individual from one job group to another. Employees are generally motivated when they know that their hard work could lead to them getting promoted. Regular meetings with members of staff will help senior administrators at the organization find out how the employees view their positions in the organization and things that can be done to improve their welfare.
Another way, by which the organization can encourage employee comfort, is properly rewarding good performance. Members of staff who meet their targets should be publicly rewarded as a way of encouraging their peers to work equally hard. Such small incentives make the organization appear people-focused from within, making it have an even bigger impact on society.
What would be the impact if NCADV was to shut down?
It would be unfortunate if NCADV was to shut down because not only will a great organization have left the market, but also because a number of people will lose their source of livelihood. After years of operation, NCADV is constantly bucking trends in the human service industry and if it keeps up, sooner or later sponsors will realise that they are missing out on a great opportunity to get their brands recognized by members of the public.
It is, therefore, imperative that the directors stay patient and allow the organization to grow to sponsors and members. Shutting down at this stage will be harmful to the objective of maintaining peace in households. It will also be undoing the steps that have been made in the right direction during the past 37 years.
What strategies can NCADV use to fight competition?
NCADV is a relatively old organization but has managed to keep its younger competitors threatened. However, a lot more needs to be done for it to stay relevant. First, the organization needs to invest more in publicizing its services. The shuttle-branding and flyer distribution, that was done a few years ago, had a slight impact, but it needs to be redone.
Billboards on select routes and radio spots are good ways of giving the organization the attention it needs from members of the public. On the partnership front, NCADV’s sponsorship division leader needs to find ways of attracting smaller sponsors. Given that the project is still in the growth stage, encouraging people to give anything they can afford will lead to an increase in the organization’s sponsorship pool.
Developing an online platform that will allow individuals contribute as little as $1 could boost the organization’s funding options. I believe the time, when organizations would wait for a fat cheque from one company to come their way, is fast going behind us as we approach the era of crowd-funding. By embracing these modern methods of fund-raising, the organization is bound to appeal to the youth, ultimately giving it a new edge over competitors.
Personal reflection
While working on this document, I have learned a number of key things about the administration of human services organization. The exercise has helped me appreciate the challenges that institutions such as NCADV go through on a daily basis as they seek to teach societies on the importance of maintaining harmonious living in families.
Speaking with key heads at NCADV was informative and it also made me aware of the complexities of the decision-making process within large organizations. The directors interviewed made us understand that the administration of human service organizations such as NCADV does not just stop at getting money from sponsors. On the contrary, we were made to know that the work gets harder once the money comes in.
This is because it is at this stage that the persons in charge are required to maintain accountability. Working with fellow classmates on this project has also helped me appreciate the importance of teamwork. We decided to split the work based on our individual strengths and at the end of it all we managed to present a paper that could be used to inform changes in the organization.
Among the challenges we faced while working on this project was the coordination of group meetings. We could not find a time that was convenient for all team members and we were forced to compromise on a number of things in order to get the work done. These are challenges I am sure to expect in my position as a human services administrator.
Our collective strength as a group made it easy for us to identify the key stakeholders in the organization that our report was based on and get them to give us the kind of information we needed. In some cases, we had to promise the members involved that we would present them with a copy of this report, for the evaluation of their work. This self-sacrifice is an important element of my work as a human services administrator and it is one area that I hope to keep working on.
After this exercise, my report-writing skills have vastly improved. I can now walk into any affiliate organization, collect information about it and do a report on its performance and changes that can be made to make its operations more fluid. I now understand that the report-writing classes, we have taken in this course, were not exercises in futility.
I plan to take the knowledge garnered seriously and use it to better myself as a human services administrator. In addition, I intend to take more short courses that improve my human services administration skills. I also hope to volunteer with more institutions in duties that will improve my skills as a human services administrator.
Reference List
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