Initial PR Plan

Comm 481

- PROBLEM STATEMENT -

About 75 percent of SURVIVORS’ budget comes from federal grants. Although the organization has enough funding to operate effectively now, the lack of a significant, more stable source of funding has limited what they can plan to do in the future. Without a significant increase in individual donations and corporate sponsors, SURVIVORS will be dependent on government funding and may have to cut back on the number of torture survivors it can care for.

- SITUATION ANALYSIS -

INTERNAL FACTORS:

MISSION

Survivors of Torture, International is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to caring for survivors of politically-motivated torture and their families who live in San Diego County. Since 1997, “SURVIVORS” has helped more than 650 torture survivors from more than 55 countries to recover from their traumas. Their mission is to be a healing resource for survivors of torture and their families, to raise awareness among the general public, to educate the professional communities about torture, and to be an instrument to end torture. SURVIVORS fulfills its mission by teaming with partners that provide medical, dental, psychiatric, psychological, legal and social services to torture victims at a drastically reduced cost.

BUDGET

90 percent of SURVIVORS’ overall budget is strictly set aside for client services and roughly 75 percent of the operating budget comes from federal grants.

EXTERNAL FACTORS:

ARTICLES

North County Times: An article published on July 30, 2005, titled “One Survivor’s Story” detailed the story of a Kenyan activist who was taken by police and tortured into making a false confession. The article went on to tell how SURVIVORS aided in her healing once she came to San Diego.
San Diego Union Tribune: An article published on January 13, 2003, in the San Diego Union Tribune revealed several mental and physical effects of torture from a doctor’s perspective. The article then provided information about SURVIVORS and how it helps torture victims living in San Diego heal from such pain.

- GOAL STATEMENT -

To increase the funding from individual donors by 30% in order to reduce the dependence on federal funding

- AUDIENCE -

1. Individual Donors

These are the top 100 philanthropists in San Diego County
2. Corporate Donors

These are the top 25 actively philanthropic corporations in San Diego County

- OBJECTIVES -

Donors: Individuals

1. To increase the number of individual donors from 316 (in 2005) to 500 by the end of 2007

Message: SURVIVORS helps victims of torture in a dramatic way and needs your help in order to serve more people

Media: Print

Donors: Corporations

2. To increase the amount of corporate funding by 100% by the end of 2007

Message: SURVIVORS serves an essential role in San Diego and wants you to be a part of it