Marketing plan for icc kinney

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Marketing Plan Advocacy • Awareness • Assistance

All Images this page: International Christian Concern’s website

Carol Kinney

Marketing 1086, Erickson International Christian Concern

Table of Contents

Executive 3 CompanyDescription 4

Summary

Strategic Focus and Plan 6 Situation Analysis 7 Market-Product Focus 11 Marketing Program 13 Financial Data and Projections 15 2

Organizational Structure 16 Implementation 17 Evaluation and Control 17 Appendixes 18

1. Executive Summary International Christian ConcernÂŽ (ICC) has a strong focus: Advocacy, Awareness and Assistance on behalf of the persecuted church around the globe. This is no small task, as it is estimated that every year, over 200 million Christians are persecuted for nothing other than believing in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior (1)This focus has driven the organization since inception and will continue to be its focus in the present and future, for as long as this service is needed.

International Christian Concern currently operates as a 501c (3) organization, compliant with United States government regulations of not-for-profit organizations. As such, ICC’s policy is to generate funds from the private sector and individuals, and to utilize as much of those donations in the manner in which each giver chooses. Currently, over eighty-six percent (2) of all donations are given directly to the program in which each donor chooses. The small remainder is spent on administrative and operational expenses. ICC’s sound Christian stewardship practices have earned ICC top honors with charitable watchdogs in the past (3). These strengths within the organization will be the cornerstones in which ICC will reposition itself for greater market share against competitor organizations, and increase participation and aid from target segments.

International Christian Concern is to be commended for its good stewardship practices, since this is the main contributing factor for allowing the organization to be able to offer many different programs that aid those who are suffering persecution for their faith in Jesus Christ in foreign countries. ICC will be applying these same principles to restructuring the assistance programs to become more efficient, which will allow a higher percentage and dollar figure to be provided to fewer programs. These

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programs, while important to survival and spiritual wellbeing of persecuted Christians, are just a portion of ICC’s purpose.

ICC lobbies government officials in the United States to create or alter foreign policy in regards to persecuted Christians, and acts as a liaison between free believers and persecuted Christians. ICC encourages all free Christians to act responsibly, as mandated by scripture, to pray and advocate for and support the persecuted. International Christian Concern is unique amongst its competitors, in that its home office is located in Washington, D.C., and is one of the few of its kind located on the East Coast of the United States.

This strategic location is not only beneficial to ICC’s advocacy focus to the Legislative Branches of governments, but also is accessible to several major metropolitan areas on the East Coast, making it a prime location for a large amount of potential donors, as well as a prime location for contact with foreign diplomats and access to transportation and logistics centers. International Christian Concern is dedicated to taking full advantage of this strategic location.

Greater attention to advocacy is what will set ICC apart from its larger competitors, located in other regions of the United States.

Source: Google Images

The strength of ICC’s passion to aid persecuted Christians, its reputation as a fiscally sound organization, along with the ability and willingness to listen to the Holy Spirit’s guidance for the organization’s direction, and its strategic location, are prime building blocks for reorganization.

International Christian Concern is determined to continue aiding the persecuted church by carefully analyzing its weaknesses and making necessary changes in order to gain a larger, more prominent place in the market of ministry.

The goals accomplished by reorganization will move International Christian Concern into position for greater market share against competitor organizations, increase participation and revenue from target segments and increase aid to persecuted Christians. ICC is confident that the next five years will bring about exciting and rewarding results on behalf of persecuted Christians around the globe and the organization itself.

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Source: Google Images

___________________________________ 2. Company Description (4)

International Christian Concern was founded in 1995 by Steve Snyder who began serving the persecuted Church in 1986 when he assumed the presidency of Christian Solidarity Intl. USA Division. In 1995, ICC became a completely independent organization. After Mr. Snyder suddenly passed away in 2002, Jeff King assumed leadership of ICC after spending years in the banking industry and from serving 11 years with Campus Crusade for Christ.

ICC is a small non-denominational organization strategically based in Washington, D.C., and assists all persecuted Christians who affirm the Apostles’ Creed and believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God. ICC operates under the assumption that the persecuted church cannot easily afford to be isolated based on denominational differences, and feels that there exists a Biblical mandate to support persecuted Christians.

“Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body.”– Hebrews 13:3, NASB By acting as a bridge between believers in free countries and believers in persecuted countries, encouragement, prayers and aid are sent to those who are suffering for their Christian faith. Education of free believers on persecution is a necessary and important role of ICC. International Christian Concern constantly monitors Christian persecution around the world and offers practical assistance through prayer, advocacy, financial support, indigenous pastor training, and community building projects. This marketing plan outlines how ICC will increase advocacy, awareness and assistance within the next five years. _____________________________________________

3. Strategic Focus and Plan This Section encompasses three strategies that influence this marketing plan: 1.the mission, 2. the goals, and 3. core competency/sustainable competitive advantages that International Christian Concern has over its perceived competitors.

Mission To provide support to persecuted Christians through the three tenets: Advocacy, Awareness and Assistance; to serve as a loving liaison between Christians of the Western Church and persecuted Christians in foreign nations.

Five Year Goals Non-financial: 1. Hire three new associates:

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2.

3.

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5.

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a. Lobbyist: to increase lobbying efforts by 50%, on a full-time basis. b. Volunteer Coordinator: will seek, coordinate, educate and train new volunteer “salesforce”; provide support and organize mission trips. c. Public Relations Manager: will coordinate all promotions, events and control the flow of information to the public and staff. Goal of this position is to increase awareness of ICC by 65% over the next three years to the Eastern region of the United States, and by 35% over the remainder of the country within five years.

Diversify the board of directors to include women and U.S. citizens with ties to foreign nations in heavily persecuted areas of the globe by 20%.

Change the overall image of the website to better reflect the image that is more desirable to the target segments.

Create a new army of volunteer “sales” associates of at least 75, and increase unpaid internship positions to at least 10 each year.

Increase donor membership by at least 50% within five years.

Increase Bibles sent to foreign nations by 50% each year for the next five years.

Financial: 1. Reorganize and restructure assistance programs whose revenue is generated through donations so that dollar amounts are given to fewer programs.

2. Increase revenue by at least each year.

3. Continue to offer monetary aid to persecuted Christians.

Source: Google Images

Core Competency and Sustainable Competitive Edge ICC is strategically located in the capitol of the United States, a leader in civil and human rights. This location offers ICC an edge above its major competitors and allows ICC to lead the market in governmental advocacy on behalf of the persecuted church. In addition to this competitive edge, ICC has had fifteen years experience in sustaining its mission by advocating for human rights in foreign nations, providing assistance to persecuted Christians and their families, by creating awareness through its website, and an outstanding history of sound business practices.

International Christian Concern is dedicated to educating and training its employees, volunteers and interns to uphold the “Three A” tenets in order to effectively serve persecuted Christians, its donors and Board of Directors.

International Christian Concern is also held to a higher moral standard than some organizations and businesses, as it is Christian by nature and is held accountable to the standards set within the Bible by God. This includes everything from dealing with governmental agencies, to making sure that each employee is not only aware of the code of ethics, but subscribes to it.

Dealings with potential donors (customers) and the general public need to live up to these codes as well. Since ICC’s chief goal is to address social responsibility to persecuted Christians, it is important to stay that course.

_____________________________ 4. Situation Analysis This situation analysis starts with a look at the existing organizational environment of International Christian Concern. The SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis can be seen in Figure 1, which consists of highlights of internal and external factors, as

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well as the complexities of the work, that affect the marketing opportunities for International Christian Concern. The SWOT shows strong internal building blocks and a strong recognition of where ICC can improve. Detailed explanations of internal and external factors follow the highlighted SWOT analysis.

Figure 1. SWOT Analysis for International Christian Concern Internal Factors Strengths Management

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Offerings

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Marketing

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Personnel

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Finance

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R&D

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External Factors Consumer/Social

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Competitive

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Weaknesses

Experienced and knowledgeable in matters of human rights, persecuted Christians and logistics.

The “Three A” tenets allow for diverse offerings for consumers to participate and donate and assistance to persecuted Christians.

Centralized website promotes all actions of organization and keeps consumers informed of news events concerning persecuted Christians.

Dedicated, hard-working knowledgeable staff with little turnover.

Has won several awards for its financial accounting as a not-forprofit in the past.

Christian stewardship principles based upon scripture hold ICC to a higher standard.

86.6 % of all donations are given directly in aid to persecuted Christians.

ICC allows the Holy Spirit to guide it to new assistance and advocacy programs.

Desire to become unique in their standing against competitors.

New information updated on website on a regular basis.

Opportunities

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Spread too thin without enough proper staff support.

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Too many programs that copy competitor programs and spread the assistance too thin.

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Very little time to fully market organization.

Very little outside marketing.

Increase of population in democratic, non-persecuting nations rising.

Growing trend of awareness of persecution in Western cultures.

Competitive forces not actually a threat, as there is more than enough work to be done for

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Increase of population in countries that persecute Christians.

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Competitors have larger organizational structures.

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Extremely small, nondiverse staff is spread too thin.

Currently filing EZ forms of tax records to United States government (5).

No recent new programs or marketing added.

Threats

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 Technological   Economic 

thousands of competitor organizations acting as one unified Body of Christ.

Location of headquarters beneficial for advocacy, connections to foreign diplomats and travel.

Social networking on the internet allows more people to become of the growing need for assistance to the persecuted.

Current website designed to accommodate social networking and “stickiness.”

Consumer income in Western cultures is higher than a majority of world.

Consumers in Western cultures are often very generous when a need is presented to them to help others.

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 Legal/Regulatory

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15 years of experience working with domestic and foreign government agencies.

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Consumer driven comparisons with “larger is better” mentality.

Increase of governmental influence by competitors.

Current website not designed to entice target segments.

Economic downturns, increased unemployment rates.

Aging western population concerned about vanishing retirement funds.

Travel costs steadily increasing.

Legislation regarding Christian not-for-profit organizations increasingly stricter.

Greater concern for privacy and personal information collection through internet.

Fear of potential socioeconomic retaliation toward persecuted Christians.

As the population increases in countries whom historically persecute Christians so will persecution; possibly to the point of the extinction of Christianity in some foreign nations. However, the awareness of the atrocities committed against Christians in non-Western countries, also increases as Western populations also increase and social networking on the internet increases. When awareness increases, so too will the concern, thus creating an opportunity for Western Christians to unite in prayer, and offer financial and spiritual assistance to the over 200 million persecuted fellow believers, as the Bible instructs. This is an opportunity for Christians around the world to share their commonalities. This also opens more doors for International Christian Concern to become a major influence in this field of ministry.

International Christian Concern has been fighting the battle of human rights for persecuted Christians in foreign nations for fifteen years and has exhibited strengths in widespread aid through a variety of programs, and has given over 86 percent of all revenue directly to aid persecuted Christians through those programs. Their strong Christian principles guide the entire organization and have earned awards for their sound financial structure. ICC has used the internet to relay their message and

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the small staff is capable, dedicated, experienced and educated. ICC has also chosen a strategic location to help their organizational goals grow.

The main unfavorable factor of ICC is that they have not grown as an organization. The small staff cannot handle all of the functions of the organization in order to increase their market share amongst competitors. The staff and Board of Directors are not diverse in their representation, with females only serving as interns or secretarial support (6). The number of programs offered to consumers to support, to be commended for their diversity, is too many for a small staff to provide full attention and detail and has spread the aid too thin. Additionally, they have made use of technological advances by mainly marketing the organization through the organization’s website and participating in online social networks, yet the website needs to cater more to the target segments. Lastly, they are up against some legitimate external negative forces, but none that cannot be overcome by tweaking their strengths, praying and persevering.

Industry Analysis: Trends in Aiding Persecuted Christians: Complicated Business (7) “Two Evangelists in Vietnam Sentenced to Prison” (December 1, 2010) “More than 500 Iraqi Christian families flee to Kurdish north” (November 29, 2010) “UK Christian Couple Lost Business After Expressing Views on Islam” (November 30, 2010) “Muslim Militants Kill Three Christians, Wound One in Nigeria” (December 1, 2010) These are just a few of many headlines expressing the rising hatred of Christians and their Biblical worldviews around the globe in which mission organizations that aid persecuted Christians deal with in any given week or day. While culture in the United States promotes political correctness and tolerance for all religious beliefs, nations around the world do not practice the same worldview.

Persecution ranges from mild non-bodily harm forms, such as confiscating and/or banning all Christian reading material to harsher sentences of imprisonment, torture, sentences to extreme work camps and even murder. Anti-Christian sentiments begin in expected places where non-Christian religions dominate the culture. However, as people from these cultures emigrate to Western cultures, the West will not be free from these sentiments infiltrating the culture there, as evident from the above headline about the couple in the United Kingdom losing their business.

As persecution of Christians steadily increases, so too will the need for organizations such as ICC to offer assistance and advocacy. As the need increases, the number of Christians in free developed nations who are aware of the need, and are called to respond, will also need to increase. It is a vicious circle; one in which Jesus Christ predicted as the fate of all faithful believers.

Trends in this missional industry include the provision of monetary aid to families, legal aid, Bibles in native languages, improved communication portals between the persecuted and the free believers, mission trips organized from free nations to persecuted nations, dedication to prayer on behalf of the persecuted and other forms of relief.

This trend for growing need for assistance can be seen in industry trends of expenditures versus revenue. Comparing ICC to three competitors, Christian Freedom International®, OpenDoorsUSA® and Voice of the Martyrs® for 2009, all but one (Voice of the Martyrs) had greater expenditures on

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all programs than revenue. Comparatively, revenue for three of the four organizations either grew only slightly or has remained flat over the previous year (8).

There are threats to ICC that the industry, as a whole, must also deal with. 

As the economy worsens in developed countries, resulting in increased unemployment rates, this will have a negative impact upon donations made to our organization. The aging population will also pose a threat to donations, as this age group will be more concerned about holding onto their savings in order to live, than to donate money to people that they do not know. Another threat in a bad economy is the rising cost of travel from Western countries to the countries that promote persecution. Increased travel costs could mean fewer trips to personally support the persecuted in prisons, refugee camps, and mission centers.

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As the separation of church and state is pushed to limits in Western governments, the governments are forced to create legislation that poses stricter regulations upon Christian notfor-profits, such as the already instituted regulations of grant applications made by such organizations. This could pose a threat to organizations seeking additional funding for special programs. There also exists a growing trend of government officials to disassociate themselves with any subject or organization that has Christian ties which can hurt advocacy efforts.

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Greater concern for privacy and personal information collection, especially in regards to internet transactions, could pose a threat to the number of online donations.

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Ethical and legal dilemmas are common and fairly unique to this industry. This dilemma falls under utilitarianism and cannot, nor should not, be avoided or adhered to in dire circumstances. Often governmental agencies and laws need to be ignored for the greater good.

While these earthly governments say that it is illegal for a person to own a Bible, these organizations are under no obligation to adhere to this, due to a mandate set by God. They may also have to smuggle Christians out of a country to provide safety of life. It is their moral obligation and Christian duty to try to work with government agencies, but sometimes the greater good wins. These organizations are dedicated to following Biblical mandates to aid Christians who are persecuted (Matt. 5:10; 13:21; Mk. 4:17; Lk. 21:12; Jn 15:20; Rom. 8:35; 1 Cor. 4:12; Gal. 6:12; 2 Tim. 3:12). Since these are Biblical mandates set forth by God, it may be necessary to skirt man made laws to achieve these mandates.

These threats may seem large to outsiders, yet these are factors that all of these organizations have been dealing with for years. Experience is an advantage that these organizations share.

Another advantage that they all share within the industry is increased technological advances that increases awareness of the goals of the organizations. The internet is viewable by people all around the world. Persecuted Christians in other nations, who may have access to a computer, may be spiritually uplifted by support offered on websites and blogs. This may not be available to every persecuted Christian, yet as technology grows, becomes cheaper, and security increases, it is a viable option. Western Christians can also become more aware of issues facing Christians through internet news sites, websites and blogs.

Regardless of the organization, a widespread awakening and response of the Western Church to the plight of the persecuted is necessary in order for the industry to survive, achieve its goals and heed Biblical commands to care for the persecuted.

Competitors:

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Competition toward this organization is not a threat, as any developments made by any Christian missional organization, are to be considered an opportunity to carry out God’s plans for His people.

However, in order for ICC to become a larger contender in this field, it must be aware of the advances that are made by its competitors. Careful financial self regulation and reliable, scripturally based initiatives will result in glorification of God and His people through ICC and will make it a trustworthy servant of the Lord that consumers can turn to.

Tracking all organizations that assist the persecuted or advocate or pray on their behalf is a difficult task. Different organizations that offer different services are classified under many different categories and are too numerous to count (9). For the sake of brevity, this marketing plan identifies OpenDoorsUSA®, Christian Freedom International®, and Voice of the Martyrs® as its main competitors.

Each of these competitors have proved to be a dominate force in the industry, performing many of the same ministries as ICC, yet larger staffs and greater marketing efforts have resulted in greater revenues than ICC, therefore increased assistance and advocacy are offered by these

organizations. ®

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Company Analysis “Since 1995, ICC has served as an advocate for the worldwide persecuted Church. We are committed to connecting the largely ignorant Western world to the needs of the 200 million Christians around the world who suffer persecution for their faith in Christ” (10).

ICC commits itself to this work by providing assistance programs to the persecuted funded fully by donations from customers. They also provide to their customers opportunities to pray, volunteer, and become involved in advocacy campaigns. This information is primarily communicated through its website.

The website “provides daily news on Christian persecution in over 45 countries. Our contacts in countries around the world provide us with the information to publish incidents of persecution… We also publish an annual report on the world’s ten worst persecutors of Christians to draw attention to the plight of persecuted Christians around the world and, ideally, to urge leaders here and abroad to take action” (11) against threats to religious freedoms.

Customer Analysis

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International Christian Concern recognizes that the diversity of its offerings creates diversity within the characteristics of customers, and categorizes target segments by program (product), interests, financial data and ability/potential willingness to volunteer within ICC’s organization.

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7. Market-Product Focus This section describes the five year marketing and product objectives for International Christian Concern, points of difference, and positioning within the industry.

Market 

Currently, ICC primarily markets its organization through its website www.persecution.org, to individual Christian consumers, churches, schools and business within the United States and Canada. ICC plans to position the organization with a higher market share amongst its competitors by utilizing additional promotional and advertising means.

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ICC will be implementing a marketing strategy to increase revenue and donor membership by seeking active local volunteer partners who will first be trained and educated about the organization and persecuted Christians and then will act as ICC’s salesforce in local geographical regions. The initial target region for this marketing strategy will be the East Coast of the United States. Additionally, the newly appointed public relations manager will increase awareness of ICC to the target markets by improving the website, becoming involved in public events, hosting its own events, flooding the media with information and press releases. A main focus of the public relations manager will be to reach out to college and church organizations seeking mission trip partners to minister to persecuted Christians in foreign nations.

Target Market Figure 2. Program type to meet consumer needs based upon market evaluations.

Churches Church College Young ProgramType/Segmen organizations Students Adults t (25-35) Financial Contributions Prayer/Awareness Activities Volunteer Opportunities Internships

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3

0

0

Middle Aged persons (36-60) 3

Senior Citizens (60+)

3

3

3

3

2

3

2

3

3

1

0

0

0

0

3

2

0

0

Special one-time programs

1

2

3

0

2

1

2

0-no market, 1-small market, 2-medium market, 3 large market

Each target segment will be chosen to partner with ICC in a different product/program focus based upon communication preference, ability to volunteer, general interests, and financial means. Even though these groups are very diverse in every characteristic, the

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one commonality that they all share is a desire to follow Biblical mandates to care for others as all groups will be classified as Christian. 

Young Singles: This group consists of college students and young single adults who are seeking opportunities to serve others by becoming involved in advocacy programs, mission trips and other volunteer opportunities that do not involve financial donations. This group tends to be aware of up-to-date technologies. They seek products and organizations that are highly energetic and innovative.

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Middle Aged Married/Unmarried, with/without children. This group consists of a variety of persons in the middle stages of the lifecycle. They are the group that often does not have time to volunteer as they are busy with career focuses, but are more than willing to donate portions of their disposable income to organizations that they deem worthy. Levels of technological interest vary with this group; emails and simple search engines are better forms of widely accepted communication as well as printed newsletters and mail.

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Senior Citizens. This group has more time to dedicate to low energy volunteer activities such as prayer programs. This group also may have financial means to donate larger sums in the form of living trusts or wills. This group is the least technologically advanced and prefer traditional means of communication.

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Churches. This group is seeking ways to become involved in ministry and like to support organizations that are close in geographical proximity so that access to the organization is easy. This group is diverse in age, geographical regions, denominations, financial means and race. They seek organizations that provide special projects that all members can become involved in.

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Church Organizations. This group is a sub-group of churches and is even more diverse than churches themselves. They consist of Sunday Schools, youth groups, men’s and women’s clubs, mission teams, focus groups and other groups. They are often seeking ways of donating time and money to organizations in the form of special or on-going financial support, special projects and mission trips. The groups are also diverse in number of members at any given time and prefer communication methods similar to churches.

Points of Difference 

ICC’s main point of difference amongst its competitors is the advantage of location in Washington, D.C. which allows ICC to heavily focus on advocacy of human rights on behalf of persecuted Christians and to influence foreign policy for the United States with the help of petition signing campaigns directed to members of the legislative branches of government.

This is also prime location to attract unpaid college interns to supplement organizational staffing and act as teachers to newer generations. Christian Freedom International, formerly headquartered in Washington, D.C, is now located in Michigan. Voice of the Martyrs and Open Doors are located, respectively, in Oklahoma and California. All three are located outside of the lobbying capital of the United States and must spend valuable Source: Google Images

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resources to send representatives to Washington, D. C. to accomplish their own lobbying/advocacy programs. 

ICC’s program/product offerings include a radio, internet and television broadcast system to nations that persecute Christians to encourage others who have witnessed persecution. This program/product is not widely offered by competitors.

Positioning International Christian Concern has faithfully sustained its organization and its goals for 15 years and will continue to do so, while increasing the recognition of its name as a reputable Christian organization within the United States. ICC is committed to serving persecuted Christians and Western consumers on an equal basis. ICC will restructure assistance programs, institute new volunteer opportunities and seek out new opportunities to serve persecuted Christians. _____________________________________

6. Marketing Program The four marketing mix elements, Product, Price, Promotion and Place, are highlighted in this section along with their application to International Christian Concern.

Product Strategy The main focus of the product strategy of this marketing plan is to restructure the product offerings which are categorized by financial assistance and hands-on assistance, by eliminating, condensing or improving upon current products.

Financial Assistance Programs/Products:  Hands of Hope, Community Rebuilding, and Funding for Legal Assistance will either be eliminated or condensed into a general “Assistance as Needed” fund, due to the low interest in these programs amongst consumer donators, competitive repetition, or inability to effectively communicate purpose of program specifics.  Bibles, Families, Underground Pastors, Broadcasts and Greatest Needs are now to be the five main focuses of assistance products/programs.

Figure 3. Chart represents improvements to assistance programs in relation to percentage of dollars given to each program on average, currently and after restructure.

20 Current per program

15 10

Restructured per program

5 0 percent

Hands-on Assistance Programs/Products:

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New volunteer opportunities will exist to build a “salesforce” for ICC to serve Western consumers and to provide western consumers opportunities to travel to foreign nations on short-term mission trips. Each of these opportunities will equally benefit persecuted Christians, Western consumers and ICC. Special program/product opportunities will be communicated to Western consumers on an asneeded basis, or at special times during the calendar year, such as Christmas.

Pricing Strategy Because of the uniqueness and nature of ICC’s organization as a not-for-profit, there is no active pricing strategy, except in application to assistance with Bible funding to persecuted Christians. ICC will seek to increase revenue from donations by at least 3.5% each year in the next five years and increasing total Bibles sent to foreign nations by 50% each year.

Promotion Strategy ICC will utilize and improve current promotional strategies, as well as seek new opportunities.

Online Advertising. ICC’s current website is functioning as its primary promotional tool. It is informative about all of its goals, “Three A” tenets, programs/products, and organizational structure and utilizes social networking site links to its advantage. However to better communicate ICC’s image, the website will undergo updating of colors and streamlining links/pages to suit Western consumer tastes.

It will continue to use an opt-in process and address any security issues.

Events. ICC will be actively seeking participation in events at colleges, churches, church organizations, and concerts to increase awareness of the organization, promote volunteerism, internships and to increase revenue. Promotional items such as T-shirts, hats, and pens will be handed out at events. ICC will also host events in Washington, D.C. that will focus upon advocacy/lobbying efforts such as rallies, marches and prayer vigils. Additionally, ICC will actively seek out speaking engagements at churches and within church organizations.

Print and other Advertising. ICC currently mails printed newsletters to consumers who opt-in, and will continue to do so. Additionally, ICC will take a more active role in direct mail campaigns and free media press releases and offer interviews to media as requested, as well as utilizing all forms of free media on television and radio.

Place (Distribution) Strategy  

International Christian Concern will focus on one program within one of the “Three A” tenets per month that corresponds with legislative branch schedules or program/product time requirements.

ICC will begin the restructuring focus within the Eastern states of the United States for a period of 2 ½ years. All promotional strategies will focus in this region, with continuing access to all regions of the globe to its website. At the end of the three years, ICC will repeat the promotional strategy to the remainder of the United States, moving westward by region in 9 month increments. ___________________________________

7. Financial Data and Projections 15

Figure 4.

Source: ECFA.com

Figure 5. Five Year Financial Projections Financial 2011 2012 Element Income 952,706 986,050

2013

2014

2015

1,020,561

1,056,280

1,093,249

General/Admin

142,906

147,907

153,084

158,442

163,987

Fundraising

85,744

88,744

91,850

95,065

98,392

Program Expenses

724,057

749,398

775,626

802,772

830,869

Analysis of Data 

3.5% increase in income each year for the next five years, accomplished primarily through the efforts of the public relations manager and volunteer coordinator.

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Increase to General/Administrative Expenses will cover new salaries of Lobbyist, Public Relations Manager and Volunteer Coordinator. Each position will pay around $20,000. The lobbyist will need to live in the Washington,

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D.C. in order to be effective, but the other two new positions will not require residence in D.C. Additionally, the type of persons that ICC will attract to the organization for these positions will have a passion for working for Christ and His people, as opposed to earning a substantial salary. It is ideal to hire experienced people for these positions, yet entry-level associates would most likely be more financially feasible, and will also reflect ICC’s good stewardship practices. 

During 2009, under the current aid organization, approximately each program that ICC supported received $7,866.67 (756,772/9 programs). Under this marketing plan, Bibles, Families, Underground Pastors and Broadcasts – each get 22% of the program expenses and “where most needed” will receive 12%. By reorganizing programs in this manner, ICC will have a larger impact, carve out a niche for themselves that would give them a substantial market share and point of difference from their competitors, and increase value of their services to the persecuted church and to their donors. ___________________________________________

8. Organizational Structure Figure 6. Organizational Structure of ICC.

Board of Directors President Professional Managers Office Staff Volunteers and Interns

Figure 6 represents the organizational structure of ICC. Currently all members of the Board of Directors, President and Professional Management team are comprised of all male members. ICC is seeking to diversify all levels of its organizational structure to include female members as well as U.S. citizens with personal cultural ties to foreign nations where persecution exists . __________________________________________

9. Implementation Plan

International Christian Concern is moving forward in its plan to reposition the organization within the industry of assisting, advocating for and creating awareness of persecution within Western cultures. Within the organization, ICC plans to implement hiring new managerial associates to ease the burden of the workload, diversify its Board of Directors and staff members, and change the image of the organization as seen on its website. ICC also plans to place a stronger emphasis on advocacy programs, as its key location in Washington, D.C serves as its main point of difference amongst competitor agencies, as well as streamlining its programs to better serve its target consumer base in the West and persecuted Christians around the world. Each of these factors, when combined with ICC’s longstanding

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experience and good financial practices, will prepare ICC to enforce the external implement of ICC. This component is a strong, geographically focused promotional plan that will increase revenue, participation of consumers in ICC, and awareness of the organization and its mission throughout the United States. At the end of five years, ICC will have moved ahead in its ranking amongst its competitors, created a large volunteer “salesforce” and assisted countless persecuted Christians around the world. ________________________

10. Evaluation and Control

“… have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it ” 1 Corinthians 12:25b, 26.

One year after implementation of this marketing plan, ICC will conduct a pre-testing evaluation, using two diverse focus groups.

ICC will then conduct an IMC audit, evaluating all aspects of promotions, employee/volunteer feedback, and increase of involvement of target segments in ICC operations. At the end of the audit, promotional efforts will be adjusted to

the outcome of the audit and will recycle itself accordingly through the five-year

reorganization.

If changes in the marketing plan are necessary adjustments will be made at this time.

This process will then reoccur bi-annually through the five-year period.

®

APPENDIX A. IMAGE SOURCES. Image Sources in order of appearance in plan:

Three Cover Page Images, persecution.org, mainpage, 26 November 2010.

Capital Building, pg.3, Google images, dailymail.co.uk, 26 November 2010.

Persecution Map, pg. 4, Google images, cilektriesibu gaipa ICC ir pubice jusi, Google images, draudze.baltic-ireland.ie, 27 November 2010.

Hands in Chains, pg. 6, Google images, themissionaledge.wordpress.com.

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27 November 2010.

Logo for Voice of the Martyrs. Vom bw lg.png. Google Images. www.philadelphiafellowship.com. 02 December 2010.

Logo for Open Doors. Google Images. www.iccm-europe.org. 02 December 2010.

Logo for Christian Freedom International. Cfi stamp.jpg. Google Images. www.gmau.org.

02 December 2010.

Collage of Washington, D.C. images.Google Images. www.lincoln.senate.gov. 06 December 2010.

Persecution.org logo. Google Images. www.churchestogether.be. 06 December 2010.

Figure 4. Graph Chart of ICC revenue/expense history. www.ecfa.org/MemberProfile.aspx?

ID=7479&Type=Member. 29 November 2010.

APPENDIX B. CITED SOURCES Sources are numbered accordingly within marketing plan.

(1) Statistics on number of persecuted Christians in world. ICC’s 2010 Annual Report, p. 6. www.persecution.org/persecutionnl/2010-12/annualreport/index.html.

06 December 2010.

(2) EFCA, 2010. Financial data for International Christian Concern www.ecfa.org/MemberProfile.aspx?ID=7479&Type=Member. 01 December 2010.

(3) International Christian Concern, 2010. Financial information for ICC. www.persecution.org. September 2010.

(4) International Christian Concern, 2010. About us information. www.persecution.org.

September 2010.

(5) Charity Navigator. ND. Tax filing information for ICC. www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm? keyword_list=International+Christian+Concern&Submit2=GO&bay=search.results.

October 2010.

(6) International Christian Concern, 2010. About us information; examination of website details of financial report, who we are, interns, staff members. www.persecution.org. September 2010.

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(7) International Christian Concern, 2010. Headlines from main page of website. www.persecution.org. 02 December 2010.

(8) EFCA, 2010. Comparative financial data for ICC, OpenDoorsUSA, VOM and CFI through search efforts. www.ecfa.org. October 2010.

(9) EFCA, 2010. Comparative search data for organizations that minister to persecuted Christians. www.ecfa.org. November 2010.

(10) International Christian Concern, 2010. Fact Sheet information. Our Work. www.persecution.org. 02 December 2010.

(11) International Christian Concern, 2010. Fact Sheet information. Awareness. www.persecution.org. 02 December 2010.

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