Days For Girls Final Report

By Emma Trout
Table of Contents
Executive Summary ......................................................................................................... 3
Goal/Time/Numbers.......................................................................................................... 3
Top Five Ideas Learned ................................................................................................... 4
Big Idea .............................................................................................................................. 4
Programming .................................................................................................................... 4
Strategy One .............................................................................................................................. 4
Tactics .................................................................................................................................................. 4
Strategy Two.............................................................................................................................. 5
Tactics .................................................................................................................................................. 5
Strategy Three ........................................................................................................................... 5
Tactics .................................................................................................................................................. 5
Objectives and Evaluations ............................................................................................ 6
Output Objectives ..................................................................................................................... 6
Impact Objectives ..................................................................................................................... 7
Appendix............................................................................................................................ 7
Brand Essence .......................................................................................................................... 7
Unique .................................................................................................................................................. 7
Intangible ............................................................................................................................................. 8
Single-Minded ...................................................................................................................................... 9
Meaningful ......................................................................................................................................... 10
Consistent .......................................................................................................................................... 11
Authentic ............................................................................................................................................ 11
Sustainable ........................................................................................................................................ 12
Scalable .............................................................................................................................................. 13
Consumer Profile .................................................................................................................... 13
Research Methods ............................................................................................................................ 13
Population .......................................................................................................................................... 14
Segments ........................................................................................................................................... 14
Education Level ................................................................................................................................. 15
Demographics ................................................................................................................................... 16
Psychographics................................................................................................................................. 17
Media Habits ...................................................................................................................................... 18
PEST ......................................................................................................................................... 19
Political Trends.................................................................................................................................. 19
Economic Trends .............................................................................................................................. 19
Social Trends ..................................................................................................................................... 20
Technology Trends ........................................................................................................................... 21
References ...................................................................................................................... 22
Executive Summary

Days for Girls, a nonprofit that focuses on menstrual health education in third world
countries, has a goal of creating awareness for the nonprofit and expanding its
volunteer base. More specifically, Days for Girls is looking for young women, aged 18 to
24, to volunteer for a Chapter in their area. The reason that Days for Girls is reaching
out to younger women, rather than older women, is both because the majority of
volunteers are currently older women, and because if they attract younger women, they
have the ability to get volunteers for “life.” Therefore, my recommendation is to
showcase the three core values of Days for Girls: Empowerment, Health, and
Sustainability through three different strategies. Strategies include
• Working with the women’s clubs on campus, similar to HerCampus.
• Showcasing the Days for Girls mission during Women’s Health Week.
• Differentiating the reusable aspect of Days for Girls.
To make sure these strategies have the largest possible impact, I have recommended
many tactics including working with bloggers to get the Days for Girls mission out there,
creating videos and social media posts to showcase menstrual health, and partnering
with environmental nonprofits to create an event for Earth Day.

Goal/Time/Numbers

• Goal

The main goal of Days for Girls is to increase the number of younger volunteers that
help produce Kits for the nonprofit. Another goal is to keep increasing the donations to
Days for Girls International so that the number of Kits produced can also increase.

• Time
Figure 1: The Days for Girls
Giving Tuesday, the day after Cyber Monday, is important for all 2017 financials taken from
nonprofits, not just Days for Girls. In 2017 on the Days for Girls 2017
Giving Tuesday, an estimated $274 million was annual reports.
given to nonprofits (“2017 #GivingTuesday…,”
2017).

Another important time for nonprofits is the

summer months. With less responsibilities,
especially for students, people will have more
time to volunteer. Therefore, with a target
audience of women aged 18 to 24, an important
time for Days for Girls is May through August.

• Numbers
As a nonprofit, the important numbers for Days for Girls are their revenue and
expenses, which can be found in their annual reports. The financials for 2017 include:

• Revenue: $1,937,436
• Expenditures: $1,748,042

Top Five Ideas Learned

1. There are approximately 250 million girls in the world that lack access to
menstrual products.
2. Women in third world countries, with no access to menstrual products, skip
school or sit on cardboard when on their periods.
3. Days for Girls is one of the only nonprofits that donates reusable menstrual
products.
4. 57.5 percent of people aged 18 to 24 stated they want to volunteer to impact the
community in positive way (“National Volunteer…,” 2018).
5. According to the United States Department of Labor, in 2015, “individuals with
higher levels of education were more likely to volunteer than those with less
education” (“Volunteering…,” 2015).

Big Idea

The Launching Pad to Empowerment, Health, and Sustainability

Programming

Strategy One

Partner with collegiate empowerment organizations like HerCampus to

bring awareness to the Days for Girls mission with 18 to 24-year old
women.

Tactics

• Controlled Media
o Develop social media posts to highlight the HerCampus
partnership, focusing on how Days for Girls affects
college-aged women, both in the United States and
internationally.
o Create a section on the DfG website to promote this
partnership, women from both Days for Girls and HerCampus can write
about their experiences.
• Uncontrolled Media
 o Pitch local campus media, like the Lantern at Ohio State, to share the
Days for Girls story and how it affects women.
• Special Events
o Create a packing event where HerCampus women pack Kits for Days for
Girls.
▪ Not only is this getting women ages 18 to 24 involved in Days for
Girls, but it also helps Days for Girls create Kits to send abroad.
Strategy Two

Showcase the Days for Girls mission of increasing education on menstrual health during
National Women’s Health Week, a week where women are encouraged to discuss their
health.

Tactics

• Controlled Media
o Work with healthcare companies to create
content opportunities about menstrual
health for women.
o Work with other menstrual nonprofits to
bring awareness to women’s menstrual
health via social media posts.
• Uncontrolled Media
o Pitch bloggers that write about women’s
nonprofits to volunteer for Days for Girls
and write about their experience with DfG.
o Pitch women’s podcasts to discuss how
Days for Girls is making strides in
menstrual health education, both in the
U.S. and internationally.
• Special Events
o Pop-up National Women’s Health Week
events to inform women about menstrual
health at:
▪ Hospitals
▪ Universities
▪ Health Clubs

Strategy Three

Differentiate the reusable aspect of the Days for Girls Kits.

Tactics

• Controlled Media
 o Create video for Days for Girls YouTube channel detailing the materials
used for the reusable menstrual pads, showcasing the sustainability of the
Days for Girls Kits.
▪ This video can also be shared on social media accounts including
Facebook.
o Develop blog posts written by Days for Girls
volunteers/ workers to showcase how Days
for Girls is sustainable, and therefore unlike
other menstrual health nonprofits.
▪ They can also touch on what they
learned about reusable menstrual
products from DfG.
• Uncontrolled Media
o Pitch to Green-oriented bloggers to write
about Days for Girls’ sustainability mission.
• Special Events
o Partner with on-campus sustainability clubs
for an event to promote Days for Girls
mission.
▪ This event can also help female
students understand what
sustainable changes they can make with their own menstrual
materials.
o Partner with an environmental nonprofit to create an event for Earth Day
(April 22, 2019), such as Greenpeace or Environmental Working Group, to
provide information on menstrual products and how they affect the
environment.

Objectives and Evaluations

Output Objectives

• To distribute 20,000 Kits to girls after creating the above partnerships in the next
year.
• To get 1,000 new volunteers, specifically women aged 18 to 24, after six months.
• To create 20 more chapters around the United States within the next two years.
• To be featured in at least five different local media by the end of six months.
• To partner with six other menstrual nonprofits to demonstrate menstrual health
by May 12th, 2019 (National Women’s Health Week).
• To partner with two healthcare companies to demonstrate menstrual health by
May 12th, 2019 (National Women’s Health Week).
• To create three new videos for the Days for Girls YouTube channel detailing their
sustainability aspect in the next eight months.
• To partner with three on-campus sustainability clubs by the end of six months.
 • To partner with two environmental nonprofits to show the effect of menstrual
products on the world by April 22, 2019 (Earth Day).

Impact Objectives

• To increase awareness for Days for Girls in the United States by 30% by the end
of one year.
• To increase social media followers by 30% by the end of four months.
• To have 25% new repeat Days for Girls volunteers by the end of six months.
• To increase blog following by 15% by the end of three months.
• To increase website traffic by 80% by the end of eight months.

Appendix

Brand Essence

Unique

Days for Girls (DfG) is an international nonprofit

that focuses on providing reusable menstrual
products to girls in third world countries.
Specifically, the nonprofit produces reusable pads
for menstrual periods that they package along
with soap, washcloths, and underwear for the
girls, as can be
seen in Figure 2.
They also focus on
providing menstrual
health education to
the 250 million girls
that lack access to feminine Figure 2: The Supreme Days for Girls Kits,
taken from Days for Girls website.
hygiene products
(Kowalczewski, 2018). Days for Girls reaches more than
one million women and girls in more than 124 countries
(“The Days for Girls,” N.A.).

While there are other nonprofits that focus on teaching

Figure 3: A Days for Girls
Enterprise Partner, taken from
the Days for Girls website.
menstrual health and providing menstrual instruments to
girls, Days for Girls is the only international nonprofit. They
also focus on women of every age and education level.
Not only does Days for Girls focus on menstrual health but
they also focus on “global issues like gender inequality, clean water
and sanitation, and quality education” (Mercado, 2017).
 Days for Girls is also different from other nonprofits focused on menstrual health
because it supplies reusable pads to the girls they reach, whereas other nonprofits
simply supply non-reusable tampons and pads. This shows that Days for Girls is not
only focused on menstrual health but also helping the environment.

As a nonprofit, Days for Girls has multiple levels. The first level is that of a Chapter.
Days for Girls Chapters focus on making the Supreme Days for Girls Kits, as seen in
Figure 2. Throughout the year they meet to sew, inspect, and pack the Kits to distribute
to any country or city that needs them. Days for Girls also has volunteers that are
Sewists, people who only focus on sewing the bags and liners. These Sewists can
either be Solo, Teams, or Chapters. Lastly, the Enterprise program allows for partners
to “support women and men to meet hygiene needs in their own communities, through
making and selling DfG kids at an affordable price” (“Become an…”, N.A.). Enterprises
keep the income they earn from selling the Kits to other women, NGOs, schools, and
government ministries in order to reinvest in more materials for more Kits.

Intangible

The product is used by those around the world that

do not have access to menstrual health and
instruments. In the embedded video from Figure 4,
Days for Girls’ volunteers distribute kits in Ghana,
Haiti, Guatemala, and Jamaica. The video shows
volunteers as they discuss the DfG Kits, specifically
how to use them. It also shows girls receiving their
Kits. While the emotion
at the beginning of
Figure 4: A thumbnail for a distribution is one of confusion, once
video distributed by Days for the girls understand what they are
Girls International on their
YouTube channel. receiving it turns to joy. Chapter
leader in New Hope, Minnesota, Amy
Charpentier, said, “It is always the underwear that gets the
girls excited. Most of them do not have access to
underwear, so to receive two free pairs is the best thing in
the world.”

Figure 5 taken from

Ann’s Words Blog post.
 While the Days for Girls’ volunteers do not use the Kits,
they do feel pride and value in their work with DfG.
Farhat Bello, a volunteer with the New Orleans DfG
chapter, said, “the first day I volunteered with the Days
for Girls New Orleans Chapter was the happiest I had
been in a while…. With every step, I am that much closer
to reaching another girl in need” (Bello, 2018).

With videos such as the one above, the volunteers for

Figure 6 taken from a post by
Candice Stanford on the Days for
Girls International website.
Single-Minded
Days for Girls are able to see the change they are
making for girls all around the world. Not only are
volunteers helping others, but they are also making a
chance in each other’s lives. Each DfG chapter is
different, with some meeting twice a week and some
meeting only once, but the volunteers are able to grow a
bond and create lifelong friendships because of their shared
passion for menstrual health.

During its creation, the core value of Days for Girls was to improve menstrual health for
women and girls that do not have access to it. With its growth, however, Days for Girls
has become a nonprofit that focuses on more than just that one aspect of menstrual
health. The Days for Girls’ Statement of Impact includes “creating a more free, dignified,
and educated world through
lasting access to feminine hygiene
solutions” (“Monitoring &
Evaluation…” N.A.).

The first core value is still

improving menstrual health and
education. Days for Girls does this
with the use of the Kits they
distribute. This allows for girls to
have a regular menstrual cycle,
whereas in the past they would
skip school because they did not
want to bleed through their
clothes, or they would sit on
cardboard. It also allows for girls to
not be ashamed of their menstrual
cycles, especially in countries
where women’s rights are almost
Figure 7: A thumbnail for a video distributed
nonexistent. by Days for Girls International on their
YouTube channel.
For example, in the video “Turning Periods into Pathways,” girls from Western Nepal tell
the stories of when and where they got their first periods. In the first story, the girl says
that her mother told her that “menstruation was impure and bad.” In Western Nepal, a
menstruation taboo called “Chhaupadi,” makes women stays in caves while
menstruating, leading to deaths and assaults. By improving menstrual health and
education, Days for Girls also improves the discussion on menstruation, making sure
the girls understand that it is natural and ensuring they are not at-risk during
menstruation.

The second core value of Days for Girls is sanitation, specifically through the use of the
reusable pads they give girls. At the beginning of Days for Girls, its founders started by
giving girls disposable pads, but they “quickly discovered a major problem - without any
place to dispose of the pads, this was neither a viable nor a sustainable solution” (“How
It All…”, N.A.). With the creation of reusable pads, not only is Days for Girls helping the
girls by allowing them to wash their pads after their cycles, but they are also helping the
environment and common sanitation problems that occur in third world countries.
While Days for Girls focuses on improving the education and discussion surrounding
menstruation, they also focus on improving the environment these girls have to live in
and help them understand not to fear menstruation.

Meaningful

With the impact statement of “creating a

more free, dignified, and educated world
through lasting access to feminine hygiene
solutions,” Days for Girls focuses on
impacting women all around the world
(“Monitoring & Evaluation…” N.A.).

The core audience for Days for Girls are

women and girls of any age that are
menstruating. Although, for the
educational aspect of the core values,
they focus on girls that are not
menstruating as well, in order to educate
them before menstruation happens. With core values of helping Figure 8 showing a Days for Girls
women and girls all over the world receive education about distribution taken from Practice Café.
menstruation and improve menstrual health, Days for Girls aligns with the core
audience of girls and women who lack knowledge about menstruation.

Not only does Days for Girls reach the women and girls that receive the Kits, but they
also reach the women and men who volunteer for the nonprofit. Therefore, they are
educating women and men on menstrual health, information volunteers will be able to
share with others as well. Not only are the volunteers educated on menstrual health, but
they are also educated on sustainable resources for feminine hygiene. This allows
 volunteers to make their own sustainable impacts on the environment when it comes to
feminine hygiene.

Consistent

On distribution days, Days for Girls makes sure to deliver their core values by educating
the girls before distributing their Kits. Not only do volunteers discuss how to use the Kits
but they also talk about feminine hygiene as a whole. This ensures that Days for Girls’
values of educating women and girls about menstruation is achieved.

Days for Girls achieves its core value of

improving sanitation by providing the girls
with the reusable Kits. The Kits last
approximately three years, meaning the
girls will be covered for 36 periods. This
ensures that girls are not using cardboard
or non-reusable feminine hygiene products
while menstruating, while also ensuring
that the environment is not negatively
impacted.

Days for Girls International also has 4.9

Figure 9 taken from Days for Girls
Interaction Facebook Page. stars out of 5 on its Facebook page. It is recommended by 42
people. This shows the volunteers for Days for Girls agree that the
nonprofit is consistent in its core values. Although, since Days for Girls is a nonprofit,
Facebook reviews are not the best way to consider its consistency.

Authentic

Days for Girls uploads videos

from distributions, where
volunteers can see how their
hard work payed off. These
videos are uploaded to the
Days for Girls International
YouTube Channel. The
videos range from Days for
Girls distributions to stories
from volunteers, and How To’s for assembling the Kits, as can be Figure 10 taken from Days from Girls
International YouTube Channel.
seen in Figure 10.
 With the motto, “Every Girl. Everywhere. Period.” the
question of whether or not every girl everywhere is
impacted arises. Therefore, Days for Girls uses a
Monitoring and Evaluation tool that they discuss on
their website. The video posted on the website focuses
on how easy it is to use the tools provided, more
specifically it focuses on the surveys that are available
for distributors to give to the girls receiving the Kits.

Days for Girls has numerous surveys for volunteers to

use in order to collect information on distribution. The
surveys are taken before and after distribution by both
individuals and groups. As can be seen in Figure 11,
the surveys include questions about the girl’s age,
education, and menstruation. The information collected
on these surveys is sent to DfG International where they use it to Figure 11 taken from Days for Girls
improve their nonprofit, distributions, and even update their website International Website Survey.
with the knowledge gained.

Sustainable

Days for Girls has been in existence since

2008. Since then, not only have they increased
the number of women and countries reached
each year, but they have also increased the
number of volunteers and improved the Kits.

As can be seen in Figures 12 and 13, the

number of countries and women that Days for
Girls reached every year since DfG started
publishing their annual Figure 13 created by Emma
reports in 2014 has Trout with information gained
increased. from Days for Girls International.
Figure 12 created by Emma
Trout with information gained
from Days for Girls International.
These reports show
that even though the
cost of materials has increased, from
$10 in 2014 to $12-$15 in 2018, Days for
Girls is still increasing the amount of
people that they reach with their Kits and
education programs. This shows that
Days for Girls has the ability to keep up
the pace of increasing Kits made, and
people impacted.
Scalable

Days for Girls currently delivers the Kits to a mass audience all around the world.
According to Guidestar, “Since 2008, DfG has reached over 800,000 women and girls in
over 110 countries” (“Days for Girls…”, N.A.). Although, Days for Girls currently reports
on their website that they are reaching more than one million women and girls in more
than 124 countries (“The Days for Girls,” N.A.).

Days for Girls also has “a global network of 1000+ grassroots volunteer chapters
throughout the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe that raise
awareness, create hygiene kits that last 2-4 years with proper care and ensure that Kits
and training get to those that need them most” (“Days for Girls…,” N.A.).

In 2016, the Days for Girls Kits cost $12 to $15 to make (Moody, 2016). With a budget
of $2,665,000, Days for Girls International, hypothetically, would be able to make
197,407 Kits a year, thus affecting that same number of girls. Although, since Days for
Girls also has Chapters that raise their own donations, they are able to reach more than
that number of girls. While this can be considered a mass audience, Days for Girls is
constantly trying to raise their current numbers and bring Kits to even more girls, which
they have succeeded in doing as, according to their website, they are currently reaching
more than one million women and girls (“The Days for Girls,” N.A.).

Consumer Profile

The consumers targeted in this consumer profile are women aged 18 to 24 years old in
the United States. This age segment was chosen because Days for Girls wants to reach
a younger generation of women to volunteer for the organization. While Days for Girls
has older generations of women volunteering, they believe that by focusing on the 18 to
24 demographic they can make a large impact on younger women in the United States.

Research Methods

The research conducted for the brand essence includes an interview with my point of
contact at Days for Girls, Amy Charpentier. Charpentier runs a chapter of Days for Girls
and is in contact with the international organization. The reason an interview was
conducted, rather than a focus group or survey, is because Days for Girls understands
their nonprofit, and what they want out of it, better than any insight a focus group or
survey would give me. Therefore, I interviewed Charpentier about Days for Girls’
history, present, and future. Charpentier also pointed me to the website, as Days for
Girls is incredibly open about their nonprofit, where I gained majority of my secondary
research for the brand essence on Days
for Girls. For the consumer profile, I
focused on secondary research found on
government websites. This secondary
research contained information about the
population of the United States, women’s
education level, etc. I used government
websites to make sure the information
was accurate.

Population

The estimated total population in the

United States in 2017 was 314,060,763 Figure 14 created by Emma Trout with
(“Sex by School…,” 2017). information taken from United States
Census Bureau.
The population of women in the United States, as of 2017, was 159,634,181 and the
population of men was 154,426,582 (“Sex by school…,” 2017).

As can be seen in Figure 14, the population of women in the U.S. was larger than men
in 2017.

In 2017, the population of women in the United States aged 18- to 24-years was
approximately 14,992,855 (“Educational Attainment,” 2017).
Figure 15 taken from the
Segments Harvard Business Review.

A segment in the population of women in

the United States that should be looked at
is the number of women who volunteer. In
2015, “the [volunteer] rate for women was
27.8 percent, down from 28.3 percent in
the previous year” (“Volunteering…,”
2016).
According to the Harvard Business
Review, women can be segmented into
different types of women. As can be seen
in Figure 15, these segments include Fast
Tracker, Pressure Cooker, Relationship
Focused, Managing on Her Own, Fulfilled
Empty Nester, and Making Ends Meet.
Days for Girls would most likely be looking
at Fast Tracker and Relationship
Focused.
Fast Tracker
• Economic and educational elite
• Seeks Adventure and learning

Relationship Focused
• Content and optimistic
• Isn’t pressured for time
• Has ample discretionary Income
• Focuses on experiences not product Figure 16 created by Emma Trout with information
taken from United States Department of Labor.
A segment in the population of those
aged 18 to 24 to be looked at is the
percentage of people that volunteer.
According to the United States
Department of Labor, 26.4 percent of
those aged 16- to 19-years old
volunteered in 2015
(“Volunteering…,” 2016). The
volunteer rate for those aged 20 to 24
was 18.4 percent (“Volunteering…,”
2016). While this information is men
and women combined, it can be
presumed that women make up the
heavier percentage of these numbers as “across all age groups, educational levels, and
other major demographic characteristics, women continued to volunteer at a higher rate
than men” (Volunteering…,” 2016).

According to Oracle, “millennials,” those aged 18 to 35, can be segmented into five
groups: Up and Comers, Mavens, Eclectics, Skeptics, and Trendsetters. Days for Girls
would be targeting the Mavens, although they are older “millennials,” because their
“favored activities include volunteer work” (Oracle, 2015). In order for Days for Girls to
reach this segment they must create an experience, make the Figure 17 created by Emma Trout
volunteer experience “frictionless” i.e. optimized for mobile with information taken from the
devices, offer customization, build loyalty, and demonstrate value United States Census Bureau.
(Oracle, 2015).

Education Level

Of the 159,634,181 million women in the

United States, approximately 40,967,239
were enrolled in school as of 2017 (Sex by
school…,” 2017).

Approximately 8,326,962 women were

enrolled in high school, grade nine to 12.
There were approximately 9,835,300
 women enrolled in college undergraduate, and 2,427,343 women were enrolled in
graduate or professional school. This means that 118,666,942 women were not enrolled
in any type of school (Sex by school…,” 2017). These percentages can be seen in
Figure 17.

For the population aged 18 to 24 years, approximately 4,257,256 women graduated

high school in 2017 (“Educational Attainment,” 2017). Approximately 7,153,201 women
had some college or an associate’s
degree and approximately 1,957,140
women had a bachelor’s degree or higher
in 2017 (“Educational Attainment,” 2017).
These percentages can be seen in Figure
18.

Volunteering has also been found to have

Figure 18 created by Emma Trout with information taken from
the United States Census Bureau.
a correlation with education level.
According to the United States
Department of Labor, in 2015,
“individuals with higher levels of
education were more likely to volunteer
than those with less education”
(“Volunteering…,” 2015).

Demographics

For adults aged 18 to 24, in 2015,

approximately 17.2 million were
Caucasian, 4.4 million were
Black, 6.9 million were Hispanic,
1.4 million were Asian, .3 million
were Native American/ Alaska
Native, and .7 million were a mix
of two or more races (“Youth
Indicators…,” N.A.). As can be
seen in Figure 19, the majority of
adults aged 18 to 24 were
Caucasian (56%), following with
Hispanic (22%), Black (14%), Asian (5%), Two or more races Figure 19 created by Emma Trout with
information taken from National Center
(2%), and Native American/ Alaska Native (1%). for Education Statistics.

The median income for people aged 16 to 19 is $422 weekly/ $21,944 annually (Martin,
2017). For those aged 20 to 24, the median income in 2017 was $525 weekly/ $27,300
annually (Martin, 2017).
Broken down by gender, women aged 16 to 19 earned a median of $404 weekly/
$21,008 annually and for women aged 20 to 24, the median income was $508 weekly/
$26,416 annually (Martin, 2017).

In 2010, for women aged 18 to 19, approximately 4.0 percent were married and
approximately 95.3 percent had never been married. (“Marital Status…,” 2010). For
women aged 20 to 24, approximately 19.2 percent were married and approximately
79.3 percent had never been married (“Marital Status…,” 2010). According to the United
States Department of Labor, in 2015, “married persons volunteered at a higher rate
(29.9 percent) in 2015 than those who had never married (19.9 percent) and those with
other marital statuses (20.2 percent)” (“Volunteering…,” 2016).

For adults aged 19 to 25, approximately 12 percent lived in the District of Columbia
(“Population…,” 2016). Utah comes in second with approximately 11 percent of 19- to
25-year old’s making up the population of the state (“Population…,” 2016). In Alaska,
Arizona, California, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi,
Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Texas, and Washington, 10
percent of the population is made up of 19- to 25-year old’s (“Population…,” 2016).

Psychographics

For the purpose of this section,

common volunteering
characteristics among women
and people aged 18 to 24 were
looked at. According to the
United States Department of
Labor, in 2015, “the main
organization--the organization
for which the volunteer worked
the most hours during the
year--was most frequently
religious (33.1 percent of all
volunteers), followed by
educational or youth service
related (25.2 percent)”
(“Volunteering…,” 2016). Figure 20 created by Emma
Trout with information taken
For women, “volunteers were most likely to collect, prepare, distribute, or from Volunteering Trends of
serve food (12.9 percent); tutor or teach (10.6 percent); or fundraise (9.9 2018.
percent)” in 2015, compared to men who were more likely to coach or supervise sports
teams (Volunteering…,” 2016).

Compared to older volunteers (42.7 percent), younger volunteers, those aged 16 to 24,
were less likely to volunteer for religious organizations (25.4 percent) (“Volunteering…,”
2016). Specifically, as can be seen in Figure 20, for people aged 18 to 24, 39 percent
 volunteer for schools, 27 percent volunteer for a specific nonprofit and 14 percent
volunteer for a church (“National Volunteer…,” 2018).

Similarly, 57.5 percent of people aged 18 to 24 stated they want to volunteer to impact
the community in positive way (“National Volunteer…,” 2018). This is compared to 23.1
percent that say they volunteer to meet new people and build relationships, 11.5
percent that say it makes them feel happier,
and 7.7 percent that say someone asked
them to volunteer (“National Volunteer…,”
2018).

Lastly, “as people age, they become more

Figure 21 created by Emma Trout
with information taken from
Volunteering Trends of 2018.
likely to donate money over volunteering time”
(“National Volunteer…,” 2018). Overall, as
can be seen in Figure 21, 77 percent of
people said they were more likely to volunteer
time, compared to 23 percent that said they
would give money (“National Volunteer…,”
2018).
Media Habits

Information gained from a study with

more than 2,500 women aged 18 to 67
found that 74 percent of women use a
laptop to access the internet, 67
percent use a smartphone, 57 percent
use a desktop computer, 46 percent
use a tablet, and 14 percent use an E-
reader (Adweek Staff, 2015).

Facebook is the most popular social

media channel for women, with the age
range 18 to 67, with 83 percent using it
(Adweek Staff, 2015). YouTube follows
with 58 percent, then Pinterest with 41
percent, and Twitter and Instagram with
Figure 22 taken from Business Insider.
34 percent and 33 percent, respectively (Adweek Staff, 2015).

96.2 percent of people aged 18 to 24 used the internet in 2017 (“The Media…,” 2017).
While older generations use television, “75 percent of 18-to-24-year old’s watch digital
videos on YouTube” (“The Media…,” 2017). In 2017, radio reached 125,427,000 people
aged 18 to 49 (“The Media…,” 2017).

According to Business Insider, “Pew’s data shows that social media continues to be
most popular among younger age groups” (Tran, 2018). Among 18- to 29-year old’s, “88
percent indicated using some form of social media (Tran, 2018). As can be seen in
Figure 22, YouTube, Facebook, and Snapchat are the most popular social media
platforms used by people aged 18 to 29.

PEST

Political Trends

In return for their contributions to the welfare of the community, nonprofits receive all
government services and benefits (Toscano, 2013). Now, “revenue-strapped
government units have nonprofits in their sights, creating special tax districts, assessing
fees, and negotiating payments in lieu of taxes to tap the revenue” of nonprofits. For
larger nonprofits, this means facing “the possibility of losing all exemption from local,
county, and state taxation” (Toscano, 2013).

A number of politicians have proposed “various limitations on allowing tax deductibility

for the full amount of an individual’s charitable donations” (Toscano, 2013). This could
limit the number of donor’s nonprofits receive donations from, as many people donate to
charitable causes for the tax deduction.

Lastly, the Johnson Amendment prohibits nonprofit organizations from endorsing

political candidates. Nonprofits and churches are currently allowed to promote their
political views but are not allowed to endorse a candidate. If nonprofits do engage in
political campaign activity, they could lose their tax-exempt status (“Political
Campaign…,” N.A.). President Trump “has announced that he plans to work toward
repealing the Johnson Amendment to allow churches and other nonprofit organizations
to speak freely about the candidates they support” (Barlow, 2017). The repeal of the
Johnson Amendment “would have serious implications for political campaigns…. the
donations that the public makes to their favorite charitable organizations could be used
to support political candidates” (Barlow, 2017).

Economic Trends

As stated above, politicians are looking to decrease the tax deductibility for individuals
giving charitable donations. Unfortunately, since people are more willing to donate to
nonprofits when it benefits them, this means that people are going to be less likely to
donate.
Similarly, with the political state the
United States is currently in, and with
the possible repel of the Johnson
Amendment, if nonprofits started
endorsing political candidates, they
could cut off a large majority of donors
that do not have the same political
views. Also, donors who do not share
the political views of nonprofits they
donate to will stop donating simply
because they do not want their
donations to go to political candidates,
which would be allowed if the Johnson
Amendment were repealed.
Figure 23 taken from
Lastly, while the current U.S. economy looks healthy and positive, as The New York Times.
can be seen in Figure 23, at any moment that could change, resulting in a decrease of
contributions to nonprofits (Amadeo, 2018). This was seen during the economic
recession in 2008, when “more than half (52 percent) of [nonprofits] experienced a
decrease in contributions” (McLean, 2009). The nonprofits that found a decrease in
contributions “cited a decrease in individual giving as the most important factor in the
decline, both because of a decrease in the number of individuals giving (71 percent)
and the amount that those individuals gave (71 percent)” (McLean, 2009).

Social Trends

There have been multiple social issues throughout the past year that have the ability to
affect nonprofits. According to the National Council of Nonprofits, relevant social trends
throughout 2017 were sexual harassment, natural disasters, gun violence and other
crises, cybersecurity, and lack of diversity (Chandler, 2017). These social issues can
affect nonprofits both internally and externally. For example, if sexual harassment
claims were found in a nonprofit it can affect the employees that work for the nonprofit
while also affecting how the public views the nonprofit. If these social trends were to
affect nonprofits negatively, it could obliterate all the good work they have done, and
there could be a decrease in donations as well. Therefore, these issues are important to
think about, more importantly, it is important to think about how these social issues
would be handled.

A social trend that has the ability to positively effect nonprofits is the increase in
influencer marketing (Ibrisevic, 2018). While Days for Girls does not currently use
influencer marketing, if they were to reach into influencer marketing, it is important they
think about the type of influencer they are using. Using an influencer that accurately and
positively represents the nonprofit has the ability to greatly increase the amount of
people that know about the nonprofit and its mission.
 Technology Trends

With an increase in technology, nonprofits are being forced to keep up in order to attract
donors. Such technological advances include express checkout options when online
shopping and mobile optimization.

With an increase in simplicity while online shopping, donors expect the same simplicity
when donating online, especially since majority of the time they are unable to give cash
donations. Therefore, an easy way to make sure donation forms are simple to complete
is to add an “express checkout” feature that can be seen in Figures 24 and 25. An
“express checkout” feature will allow for donors to enter the amount they would like to
donate to the non-profit, pick and enter their payment option,
Figure 24 taken from PayPal “Donate: and enter any additional information the
Checkout experience.” Figure 25 taken from PayPal
non-profit needs to complete the “Donate: Checkout
transaction, such as billing address and experience.”
name. Not only does an “express
checkout” option combine all the above
scientific laws to simplify the process, but
it can also increase mobile sales and
donations by up to 55% (“The Ultimate
List…”, 2018).

Another technique that can be used to

improve online fundraising is mobile-
optimization. Mobile-optimization means
making sure the online donation form can
be easily accessed on a mobile device
and, more importantly, that it is easily
navigable on a mobile device. Mobile-optimization is important for
non-profits because 25% of donors complete their donations on
mobile devices (“The Ultimate List…”, 2018).

By incorporating mobile-responsive design to their websites, non-

profits can increase their donations by 126% on average (“The
Ultimate List…”, 2018). Mobile-response design means making
sure the non-profit’s website and donation form will load correctly
on a smartphone. If they do not load correctly, it is likely that donors
will abandon their donations due to it not being easy enough.
Therefore, making sure that donors can simply and easily complete
a donation form online via their mobile devices will increase the
number of donors that finish donating.
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