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BST – 720 : CONSULTANCY CHALLENGE

University

Cardiff University

Subject

Management

Module Code

BST - 720
CONSULTANCY CHALLENGE

PROPOSED PROJECT

 

1.         Project Title
 

Repair Café Corporate Sponsorship Packages

2.         Main areas of work

E.g. Marketing & Strategy, HR, Finance, Logistics & Ops Management, International Management, Quality …

Marketing & Strategy
3.      Reasons for the project

(Summarise the broader issue that led to the need for the project to be undertaken)

The set-up costs for each repair café are £500. The volunteer-led nature of repair cafes means that, once they are established, they are very inexpensive to run. Some incur monthly venue hire costs and pay out volunteer travel expenses – but these costs are minimal and can be taken from donations that are received at their repair café events. It is the one-off set-up cost of £500 that is the barrier to getting a repair café started in the first place.

Repair Café Wales currently relies on funding from Welsh Government, via various channels. As the organisation continues to grow, there is the need to diversify into other income streams, which is the reason for this project.

4.         Identify and describe the project issues involved

(Please make this as detailed as possible)

We want corporates to give us their money – your challenge is to work out how we can achieve that! It would be great if a corporate donated £500 to support one repair café but

£5k for 10 repair cafes would be even better!

We need bronze (£500), silver (£2,500) and gold (£5,000) corporate packages. Which package should we pitch to which corporate? We don’t want to alienate them by asking for too much… but we don’t want to ‘under-ask’ and miss out on larger donations.

What’s in it for them? A repair café taking place in a community building doesn’t represent a huge advertising opportunity; how else can we give them something back?

What else do these corporates get up to? We don’t want to get involved with businesses who do things that are terrible for the environment and then try to offset them by giving us cash. It’s important that their support for RCW – and our values – is authentic.

How will you present the packages to them? Broken toasters and community halls are not exactly sexy! How will you sell repair cafes to the corporates so that they want to get involved?

Corporates often have gatekeepers who fend off requests from charities. How will we get past the gatekeepers? How do we know who to contact within each corporate? When is the best time of year to contact them? And do we email them, or phone them, or try to get a face to face meeting with them, in person or via Zoom?

5.         Project objectives

·         Create bronze, silver and gold corporate sponsorship packages for the following amounts: £500, £2,500 and £5,000. Consider what each package will contain, what is in it for the corporate and how to present the information in an engaging way.

·         Identify 100 Welsh/Wales-based corporates that it would be appropriate for RCW to approach, indicating which of the three packages we should target for each. Be mindful of the corporates’ environmental credentials and of greenwashing.

·         Considering organisational CSR policies, identify the best person to contact within the respective corporates and the best time to do so.

6.         Expected nature of the work
This project involves:

 

·         Gaining knowledge: understanding what a repair café is and what £500 will fund

·         Research

·         Strategic planning

·         Making judgement calls

·         Creativity

·         Marketing

·         Presenting findings clearly

7.         Please confirm accessibility of data and staff availability (where required)
We will provide all of the information that we think the students will need and will do our best to source any additional information they subsequently need.

A member of staff will be available to meet with the students at the start of the project, and to answer questions throughout.

8.         Work site location

(If the student will work from your own premises-please identify their primary base)

This project will be remote. You are very welcome to visit a repair café to experience it for yourself.
9.         Skills required

(Identify the skills that you require from the student)

·         A curiosity about repair cafes

·         Research

·         Strategic planning

·         The ability to gather evidence and make judgement calls based upon it

·         Creativity

·         Marketing

·         Communication

 

Executive Summary

 

Repair Café Wales, despite its transformative vision, grapples with a significant issue: a lack of diversified and stable funding. The lion’s share of its financial inflow comes from government grants, rendering it vulnerable to policy shifts and budgetary changes. These monetary constraints hinder its ability to proliferate Repair Cafes, despite the minimal running costs post-establishment. Recognizing these challenges, this report champions the cause of corporate sponsorships, viewing businesses not merely as benefactors but as potential partners in the sustainability journey.

At the heart of this proposed solution are three meticulously designed sponsorship packages:

Go Vocal For Local (Bronze): Aimed at funding the creation of a single Repair Café.

The Sustainability Partner (Silver): Designed to support the establishment of five Repair Cafés.

The Sustainability Champion (Gold): A comprehensive package that brings ten Repair Cafés to life.

 

These packages offer a tiered approach, catering to businesses of varying financial capacities. But more importantly, they are structured not just around monetary exchange but a bouquet of benefits for the sponsors. These range from brand visibility across RCW’s platforms and events, to bespoke workshops that allow businesses to showcase their commitment to sustainability. By intertwining monetary contributions with tangible perks, RCW offers a value proposition that is both attractive and meaningful to potential sponsors.

An exemplar of this model’s potential is evident in  the  Gold  Sponsorship Package. Targeted at prominent entities like Cardiff University and Cardiff Metropolitan University, this package doesn’t just solicit funds. It proposes an intricate weave of community integration, shared objectives, and opportunities for both institutions to fortify their sustainability credentials. Through events, workshops, and collaborative programs, both universities can immerse themselves deeper into the sustainability narrative, benefiting their student community and reinforcing their commitment to a greener future.

Introduction

 

Sustainable partnerships that transcend traditional sponsorships

 

 

Repair Café Wales (RCW) is more than just an organization; it embodies a mission. At the very core of its existence is a profound commitment to sustainability, waste reduction, and the promotion of community spirit. However, its commendable vision faces a tangible hurdle that could hinder its outreach and eventual impact: the challenge of funding. In a world where the sustainability conversation is increasingly resonant, entities like RCW need to find robust financial avenues that allow them to continue their commendable work. Typically, non-profit organizations lean heavily on grants and sporadic donations. Still, the inconsistency of such revenue streams can potentially jeopardize their operations, especially when these funds start to dwindle or become erratic.

In the case of RCW, the dependency on grants, especially from the Welsh government, has become a clear financial bottleneck. Moreover, the initial set-up cost of £500 for a Repair Café is a formidable barrier, despite the minimal costs post-setup, thanks to the volunteer-led  model.  This  report seeks to address this financial conundrum, exploring the vast, untapped realm of corporate sponsorships. In doing so, t aim to sketch out a mutually beneficial framework where businesses don’t just donate but collaborate, fostering a relationship rooted in shared values and objectives.

Problem Identification

 

The main problem for Repair Café Wales is the lack of funding they are currently receiving as they are largely dependent on grants from the Welsh government. The problem can be divided into smaller challenges as part of the funding problem. The barrier for RCW is the £500 set up cost for a Repair Café but this is the only barrier as once they are set up, they are inexpensive to run due to the volunteer-led nature of these Repair Café’s. So, we have been asked by RCW to identify ways of diversifying income streams which presents itself with a number of intricate challenges.

Figure 1 : Identification of Problems

RCW wants to obtain corporate support from a range of businesses to help fund their Repair Cafes but this can often be difficult for charities for a range of reasons. Businesses do not want to just ‘give away’ their money to something they do not support. Thus this limits the number of businesses that would be appropriate and worthwhile for RCW to approach thus not wasting time and incurring extra costs that RCW does not need to be spending.

This also applies the other way around as for RCW their values of waste reduction, community cohesion and skill sharing are extremely important in maintaining their image and it would not be appropriate for RCW to  be receiving money from companies that do not share the same values. All this really limits the companies that would be suitable for RCW to approach for funding thus must try to avoid incurring costs, such as time spent, by doing appropriate research to find the appropriate businesses.

 

 

Another problem that rears its head which is known as the ‘gatekeepers’ that businesses have to fend off these requests from charities. So now the problem to tackle is how do RCW get through to these companies with the approach not just being put in a junk email folder or never receiving a call back to further discuss the proposal. This leads to the next problem how does RCW present its proposal to these companies to avoid just being ignored, once again incurring costs and a waste of employees time.

 

 

These problems if not tackled correctly could lead to RCW struggling to obtain the funding that they seek which would see them not increasing their reach and setting up more Repair Cafe’s this is why the approach to this has to be done in a certain way.

 

Approach – Tailored Corporate Sponsorships

 

 

 

 

After identifying the challenges faced by Repair Café Wales (RCW), the next step is to strategize on how to engage potential corporate sponsors. The key is to assure these sponsors that their contributions will not only be acknowledged but will also offer them tangible value in return. Businesses generally seek a worthwhile engagement when they invest, especially in charitable causes. They wish to align with causes that resonate with their values and want to see tangible benefits from their contributions

 

In light of this, RCW has conceptualized a tiered sponsorship system that’s designed to cater to a variety of business sizes and preferences. This innovative strategy involves three distinct sponsorship packages: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Each package is structured to provide sponsors with clear, quantifiable benefits in return for their support.