Non-Profit Marketing Plan

I. Executive Summary

Grief Counseling Center (GCC) is a non-profit organization established to provide counseling services for individuals who are suffering the loss of a family member. Services will be provided at a nominal fee. The Founder of GCC not only believes in the need for this service, but also is willing to devote his time and money to help those suffering from grief.

Grief Counseling Center provides mental health services for a diversified clientele. Clientele ranges from young children to senor citizens and consist of various cultures and nationalities. Professionally trained therapists, facilitators, and volunteers, who have a passion to help others, will serve at GCC. Market research shows that while there are many counseling centers in and around Los Angeles, most are either too expensive or do not specialize in grief counseling. This creates a need for an organization like Grief Counseling Center.

Initial funding for Grief Counseling Center will come from its founder, and early fundraising activities. Funding for Grief Counseling Center will be maintained by charging nominal fees and supplemented by fundraising activity.

There are also plans to raise funds in the future by applying for government grants.

II. General Company Description

The Grief Counseling Center (GCC), provides mental health services to individuals and families who have suffered the loss of a family member or friend. The Center will provide its services at a nominal cost to the client, as opposed to private therapists, who may charge up to $250 per hour.

Services will consist of group counseling sessions for up to ten clients. The groups will be composed of individuals with similar life situations. "Mature" widow/widowers and young widow/widowers will comprise separate groups. Groups for children who have lost their parents will be provided, and the children will be grouped by age. In the future, sibling loss groups and other, more generalized grief groups will be established. Groups will be run primarily at GCC's planned counseling office, with an eye toward future expansion into public schools, health care centers, and senior citizen organizations. Groups in these community settings will be part of GCC's outreach program, and will be provided at no charge.

III. Service Description

Grief groups will be led by two facilitators, at least one of which will be a trained therapist. All facilitators will undergo training at the center via a proprietary training program developed by the Executive Director. Facilitators will come from three sources:

1. Established therapists who wish to volunteer time to help the community.

2. Therapists in training, who need intern hours (under supervision of a licensed therapist) to qualify for a therapist's license.

3. Laymen who want to help others cope with loss.

GCC will charge $20 per session for each client, with a sliding fee scale for those that cannot afford to pay. Groups at the Counseling Center will be held primarily after school, evenings, and Saturdays, which are convenient times for clients and facilitators. Some daytime groups will also be provided, as staffing allows.

IV. Market Analysis and Strategy

The service GCC provides will be for all people suffering from grief. GCC's goal is to cross demographic lines and make people of all backgrounds feel welcome at their counseling sessions. The center will form focus groups, consisting of randomly contacted people to determine how beneficial GCC's services would be for this particular community. The data collected can be used to adjust the scale of operations.

Currently, there are many non-profit counseling centers available to people, but GCC is targeted towards grief. GCC does not believe there are many centers on this particular niche. Ideally, this would put GCC in a good position to obtain government grants, and raise funds from the community, to sustain costs.

GCC's general strategy is to become well known in the area so that people feel they can come to the center to receive help. GCC also plans to maximize donations, in order to expand its capacity. To do this, the center will target government organizations, local churches, and the community at large, as well as individual therapists.

GCC will advertise cheaply and effectively, using fliers that can be placed in churches, recreation centers, public offices, corners, windshields, or inserted into local publications for newspapers that are willing to support the institution. The center will hold an annual benefit dinner to help secure additional donations to sustain operations. Other promotional campaigns include weekend pancake breakfasts and lectures at hospitals and medical schools. The center will solicit local government figures and celebrities sympathetic to its cause to speak to generate interest. GCC will also use low cost local television ads on public access television stations. This expense is not listed in the pro-forma statements, since it is a "stretch goal".

V. Operational Strategy

The primary focus of GCC's organization is to provide counseling service to more people at nominal cost. GCC services include:

1. Group counseling sessions.

2. Referrals to individual therapist, if requested.

3. Distribution of literature to interested third parties.

Each group counseling session lasts 90 minutes and is targeted toward individuals who are in similar circumstances (pain). Two facilitators will be counseling each session. One facilitator will be a specialist in the target area and the other will be a volunteer who has experienced similar pain in the past and wants to help and share with people who are in a similar situation.

GCC also provides services to the clients who need more help by referring them to correspond with other private therapists, doctors, psychiatrists, or other qualified professions. Additionally, GCC also has a small library where clients can borrow books and CDs with topics related to grief counseling therapy.

GCC has a small registered office that has 2 conference rooms with a maximum occupancy of 20 in each. Normally, most sessions are conducted in these conference rooms. Sometimes, sessions will