GATEPATH'S DAY OF GIVING

2019 - 2020

GATHPATH

PREPARED AND PRESENTED BY

GHENA JUDGE / NAOMI ISOM / HARPREET DEHAR / KAMRYN
FORTMEIER / BYRREN GONZALES
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. SITUATION ANALYSIS ………………………………………………………….....................… 2

II. COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS ………………………….………………………………...........…. 3-4

III. TARGET MARKET ………………………………………........………………………...........…….. 4

IV. CORPORATE OR BUSINESS OBJECTIVES………………………………….……. 5

V. MARKETING OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGY …...……….…………...……….. 5

VI. IMC OBJECTIVES …….………………….…………………………......... ... .... ... ... ... .... 5

VII. IMC STRATEGY…………………………...……………………….. ... ..... ... .... .....…………… 5

VIII.TARGET AUDIENCE/PERSONA ……………….…………….………….......….……..6-7

IX. MESSAGE PLATFORM ....................................................................... 8-9

X. TACTICS .……….……………….………………………............………………...................……....9-10

XIII. EVALUATION ……………….………………………........………………………................…….. 10

XI. BUDGET……………….………………………........……………………………................ ..... .... 11-12

XII. TIMETABLE AND CALENDAR OF EVENTS…………………………………. 13-15

01
I. Situation analysis
Gatepath is a non-profit organization in the Bay Area that provides services for
people with developmental disabilities. Their mission is to “Empower people with
special needs to achieve their full potential through innovative, inclusive
programs and community partnerships.” 

Over the past decade the non-profit industry has been growing slowly. From
2005-15 the number of organizations has increased 10.4%. Private giving
increased by 3% after inflation between 2016 and 2017. Volunteer hours also
increased 1.6% in this same time. Current trends and issues in the sector include
the need to stay non-partisan, changes in the ways donations are given, and
governmental budget cuts to charitable causes. 

Gatepath offers services in therapy and school readiness for children, therapy and
employment and job assessment services for adults, and run a family resource
center that serves San Mateo. These are very important services to those with
disabilities because they rely on them and there are few other places they can
get them. 

Currently, Gatepath is approaching its 100th anniversary. This is a great way to

reinforce the legitimacy of the organization to bring in donations. There is an
unfavorable political climate for Gatepath. The local and state governments are
not very supportive of the cause. There is little to no support financially from the
government to support Gatepath’s mission. 

A major factor affecting Gatepath’s ability to deliver their services is the fact that
they are a non-profit organization. They are reliant on donors to keep their doors
open and to be able to help people. A lot of their current donors are getting
older which is a threat to the longevity of the organization if they cannot get
new, younger donors. 

The major issue Gatepath is facing with the Bay Area Day of Giving is that they
have very little recognition in the community, outside of those who take
advantage of their services and their employees and their families. Potential
donors are not aware of reasons they should donate to Gatepath or why their
mission is so important.

02
II. COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES

OLDER DEMOGRAPHIC OF
STRONG CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS VOLUNTEERS AND DONORS
VARIETY OF PROGRAMS AND LOW BRAND/COMPANY
EVENTS RECOGNITION
OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES- LOW HEAVILY RELIANT ON
COST TO SERVE GOVERNMENT REVENUE
STRONG VISION AND STRATEGIC ARTICULATION OF PROGRAM
ROADMAP  IMPACTS THAT PERSUADE DONOTS
DEDICATED AND MISSION DRIVEN TO INCREASE GIVING
EMPLOYEES NEED TO CRAFT STRONGER
SUPPORT STATEMENTS 
SHIFTING CULTURE OF CUSTOMER
CENTERED OPERATION VS.
FUNDER CENTERED

SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE/E-BUSINESS SHRINKING GOVERNMENT FUNDING

INITIATIVES - ESPECIALLY AND HIGH COST SERVICES 
INSTAGRAM 20/80 RATIO, FEW CUSTOMERS,
USING YOUNG AMBASSADORS MANY SERVICES
RECENT LEGISLATION- PROVIDES EMPLOYEES UNIONIZATION
INCENTIVES TO EXPAND PROGRAMS E-BUSINESS EXPERTISE AND
EDUCATING THE PUBLIC ABOUT THE COMPETITIVE IN SILICON VALLEY
IMPORTANCE OF FUNDING FOR FOR PROFIT COMPETITORS
PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

OPPORTUNITIES THREATS

COMPETITION
There are many competitors, some for profit and they focus on children, adults, seniors or employees.
Gatepath’s direct competition comes from HOPE Services, Janet Pomeroy Center, ARC (San
Francisco), and Abilities United - they all provide similar services in comparison to what Gatepath
offers and some of these organizations are better known. One advantage Gatepath has is that none
of these competitors are located in San Mateo and a big portion of Gatepath’s services are provided
there. However, that doesn’t mean that these competitors can’t impact that region in the near
future. Competitors have multiple offices and facilities in the Bay Area and HOPE services
outnumbers Gatepath’s locations even though Gatepath has been established longer.
03
 COMPETITION CONT.
In summary, Gatepath has opportunities to grow and develop a larger
presence in the market which they plan to do with a greater E-Business
focus, as well as the implementation of a younger brand/company
ambassador. In one of the statistics shared, ambassadors generated $19,218
out of a total of $94,424. Hence, it is necessary for Gatepath to adopt a
younger generation of donors due to the decrease in government funding
and their dependence on this funding, so the adoption of current
marketing practices crucial. Also, the younger generation may tend to be
more vocal about its support to Gatepath, therefore this support would
benefit Gatepath’s publicity and financials.

III. TARGET MARKETs

Right now, Gatepath has strong core donor base that has been with them from
the beginning. The only problem is they are older and already know who
Gatepath is. We ultimately want to bring brand visibility and awareness for
Gatepath to beyond this core and give tangible examples to how Gatepath
helps the community. Their target market for the Bay Area Giving Day needs to
be participants and families, people from 18 to 35 who have no connection to
Gatepath, and media and activity specific influencers. Their target audience
would be located in the Bay Area, as their services are available across different
counties. This market of media and activity specific influencers may be
someone who has volunteered with people that are mentally challenged,
people that have a friend or family member that has special needs, or someone
who has a blog related to helping people with developmental disabilities. These
are the people that would be ideal to help raise money as an ambassador.

04
IV. Corporate or Business Objectives
Provide services for individuals in the Bay Area
who have developmental disabilities 

Increase government funding to help support

funding programs

Grow presence in nonprofit sector in Bay Area

V. Marketing Objectives and Strategy

Increase donor base by 5% and diversify age to
include 16-35. 
Implement ambassador program

Reach goal and raise $110,000 in donations for

Gatepath in 24 hours. 
Implement ambassador program by May
2020

VI. IMC Objectives

Increase awareness for the need of funding for
Gatepath by increasing Facebook engagement
numbers by 10% from last year.

Expand the donor base by getting 8-10 new

ambassadors under the age of 35 who had
previously not heard of Gatepath

Raise awareness through online platforms and

traditional media

VII. IMC STRATEGY

Expanding the Ambassador Program by having
ambassadors participate in advertising and
getting people to give

Utilize traditional advertising and

communications platforms such as television ads
and radio ads, flyers, email, newspapers, etc. as
well as social media.

05
VIII.Target Audience/Persona
Name : Sarah
Age : 27
Income: $100,000-125,000
What Does She Do : Sarah is a Social Media
Manager for a tech company
What Does She Like : Yoga, cooking, hiking,
spending time with friends, and volunteering
with people that are mentally challenged 
Where Does She Live : Sarah lives in San
Francisco, CA
Social Media Presence : Has a Facebook
account and may have an Instagram or Twitter
account. She is active on the accounts she has.

GEOGRAPHIC
Gatepath has a majority of its clients, ambassadors, and donors in the Bay
Area, especially in San Mateo County. People in this area have been most
impacted by Gatepath’s services. 46% of the target audience lives in the North
County/Coastal areas. The ideal persona and primary audience is a volunteer
that works or hosts events from South San Francisco to Palo Alto. A secondary
persona is a person who doesn't have a connection to Gatepath but relates to
the mission of helping people of all ages with developmental disabilities.

DEMOGRAPHIC
The demographic of the target market for ambassadors are men and women
between 16 and 35 years of age. They’re middle to upper class and may be
married, but are likely single. They also have little to no previous knowledge of
Gatepath or its mission but have a connection to people that are mentally
challenged. The primary and secondary personas have access to social media.
The donors’ persona consists of men and women between 16 and 90, middle to
upper class, highly educated, with disposable income. The person that fits this
persona is married or single, passionate about Gatepath’s mission, and has
access to social media.

06
 PURCHASING/USE CRITERIA:
On Bay Area Giving Day people who support the cause might
know or have a relationship with someone affected; most of
them are located in San Mateo county. The target audience
should choose Gatepath because they truly care about helping
people. As of 2018, Gatepath has helped 240 adults get employed
in the community. Donors and ambassadors must understand the
impact Gatepath has and want to share it with other people.
Gatepath also provides supplemental material, which makes
setting up a donation page easy. The ambassador persona needs
to have a steady amount of followers or must know how to get a
large group to participate. This will make sure that people
donate.

PSYCHOGRAPHIC
The ideal lifestyle of the primary audience is someone who is
interested in community service and has a heart for helping the
less fortunate. They’re preferrably outgoing with a wide social
group and has extra time to get people to donate. They must
also understand how to use multiple types of media to spread
their message. The secondary audience must have a nicer
lifestyle to have the money to give. They might be people that
spend their day giving to those in need of help.

SELF-AWARENESS
Both the primary and secondary audiences are aware of privilege.
They know they have the ability to help give either with time
and/or money. They’re aware that they can spread Gatepath’s
message and inform people of the good work that they do. The
ambassadors care about making other people self-aware. The
donors care about making someone else’s life better.

07
IX. Message Platform

VISION STATEMENT
Provide innovative and resourceful programs to individuals with special
needs so they can achieve their full potential and be accepted and
respected in society.

VALUE PROPOSITION
Educational, therapeutic, vocational and family support services such as
reading services to employment readiness programs are offered to children
and adults as well as numerous events that are held throughout the year to
help raise awareness, provide resources, and bring donors in.

VALUE DRIVERS
Gatepath provides: (a) an extensive array of services for all ages, (b) events
such as galas, luncheons, speaker series that bring in donors and
communities, (c) large partners such as Target and Safeway that contribute
to programs like employment services, and (d) various campuses oriented for
specific needs such as Learning & Resource Campus and a Learning &
Employment Campus.

CAMPAIGN MESSAGES
Providing a substantial collection of services teaching individuals with
disabilities how to live in society happily and effortlessly in order to make
their chances of success and enjoyment higher.

08
IX. Message Platform cont.
POSITIONING STATEMENT
Gatepath is a 99-year-old nonprofit with revenues of 15 million that supplies
educational, therapeutic, vocational and family programs to special needs
individuals with the help of government funding, donors, and volunteers.

TAG LINE:
Providing a New Path for the Developmentally Disabled

X. TACTICS
Partner with after-school volunteer programs, specifically programs targeting
high school students, 2-3 months before the Bay Area Day of Giving. They
should go at least once a month to remind students about who they are, how
to register as an Ambassador, and when Bay Area Giving Day is.
Hands On Bay Area. https://www.handsonbayarea.org/nonprofits
The youth council could be a strong pool to draw on for
ambassador program.
https://www.handsonbayarea.org/youthcouncil

Publish print ads in local newspapers and magazines monthly that highlight
success stories of people who Gatepath has supported and include the date of
the Bay Area Giving Day. These ads should start 3-5 months before the Bay Area
Giving Day (depending on how many stories Gatepath wants to give out).
San Francisco Chronicle, Ability Magazine, San Mateo County
Times, The Mercury News, San Francisco Bay Guardian

Make a video and use as an ad for local TV channels. This ad will be shown
once a day every 3 weeks starting 2 months before the Bay Area Giving Day. On
the actual Bay Area Giving Day the ad will play every 5 hours on each station
(or on whichever station Gatepath can pay). The video will showcase personal
statements from people that have personally benefited from Gatepath.
NBC Bay Area, KRON, KPIX, KNTV

Post ads on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Facebook and Instagram ads will use the same picture ad used for print media.
The video ad for YouTube will be the one used with local news stations

09
IX. TACTICS cont.
Radio ads to convey information about Gatepath and on the day, there could
be reminder ads (ex. Ladies and gentlemen, there are only 5 hours left for
Gatepath’s Bay Area Giving Day. Don’t forget to give back to the community!)
KNBR, KQED, KMVQ

Gatepath can table at malls on weekends in April (there will be a lot of people
there to take pictures with the Easter Bunny).NBC Bay Area, KRON, KPIX, KNTV

XIII. Evaluation
We will measure the success of each of our objectives separately.

We will measure our first objective “Increase awareness for the need of funding
for Gatepath by increasing Facebook engagement numbers by 10% from last year”
by looking at the number of likes, comments, and shares and seeing if they have
increased by 10% or higher in the first quarter of 2020. 

We are measuring our second objective “Expand the donor base by getting 8-10
new ambassadors under the age of 35 who had previously not heard of Gatepath”
by acquiring at least 8 new ambassadors under 35 years old join the program for
Bay Area Giving Day.

The last objective “Raise awareness through online platforms and traditional
media” is going to be measured by the amount of traffic to the Gatepath website.
It will be considered successful if it increases by 10% and the average time spent
on the website is 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

10
XI. BudgeT OBJECTIVE 1: RAISE AWARENESS THROUGH ONLINE
PLATFORMS AND TRADITIONAL MEDIA

UNIT # OF UNITS RATE OVERALL COSTS

2 ads:
STNEMESITREVDA
SREPAPSWEN NI

-1 Informative ad
prints in March-
TNIRP

April 1x a month $300/ad

⅔ of a page print ad -1 Testimonial ad $ 3,000
per week
prints in March-April
1x a month
-1 Reminder ad runs 2
weeks before BAGD
STNEMESITREVDA

2 ads:
SENIZAGAM NI

-1 Informative ad
runs March to
TNIRP

⅔ of a page print ad $2,276/ad per

April 1x a month $ 6,828
month
-1 Reminder ad runs
all of May

1 ad runs
EBUTUOY

March-May
3 minute video ad $.30 per view $ 75
(Goal: 250 views)
STNEMESITREVDA

2 ads:
Public radio
1 Informative audio -1 Informative ad runs
sponsorship:
OIDAR

ad March-April 1x every
$600 for one $ 4,200
1 Reminder audio other week
mention one
ad -1 Reminder ad runs
time during the
May1x per week
show/daypart
STNEMESITREVDA

1 ad:
VT LACOL NO

-Once a day every 3 $5 per 1,000

OEDIV

30 second personal weeks March-April viewers for a 30-

$ 5,000
story video -On BAGD, shown second
every 5 hours commercial
(Goal: 1,000,000
viewers)

11
XI. BudgeT cont.
OBJECTIVE 2: GET 8-10 AMBASSADORS

UNIT # OF UNITS RATE OVERALL COSTS

-RETFA HTIW RENTRAP
REETNULOV LOOHCS
SMARGORP

Volunteer/Community
Young volunteer 3 people lead an $0
Service hours or an
activity
employee volunteer
SLLAM TA ELBAT

Volunteer/Community
Adult volunteers 2 people tabling
Service hours or an $0
employee volunteer

OBJECTIVE 3: INCREASE FACEBOOK ENGAGEMENT

BY 10%

UNIT # OF UNITS RATE OVERALL COSTS

AIDEM LAICOS

Facebook and  $0
4 times a month $0
Instagram posts

12
XII. Timetable and Calendar of
Events
MARCH:

13
XII. Timetable and Calendar of
Events
APRIL:

14
XII. Timetable and Calendar of
Events
MAY:

15