Marketing & Pricing Strategy for an Edmonton Non-Profit

Challenge

Family Futures, a non-profit organisation, was facing financial constraints that hampered its early intervention mission for kids. Heavily reliant on provincial and city grants that came with restrictions, the organisation sought an alternative source of income by exploring the option of charging for its overcapacity programmes. They also aimed to hire and fairly compensate talent within the community to enhance their programmes.

Recognising that a portion of their client base had disposable income, they decided to explore transitioning to a hybrid social enterprise model. Shari, the Executive Director, reached out to Net Impact, University of Alberta, for consulting assistance.

My Role

As a member of the Net Impact Volunteer Consultant team, I was tasked with evaluating the feasibility of this transition, prioritising key areas, and developing an MVP launch plan that included marketing and pricing strategies. Beyond my primary role in marketing and business strategy, I co-led the team, managing the project’s overall direction.

My Action

Co-leading with Harman, I directed the team in developing an approach and decision matrix to prioritise existing and prospective programmes. I played a crucial role in pricing strategy, creating a before-after grid marketing persona, conducting competitor benchmarking, and designing a launch funnel strategy. We considered factors such as seasonality, discount models, and student schedules to ensure a comprehensive plan based on revenue modelling.

Results

We presented our MVP launch plan to Shari and the Board of Directors. The Q&A session extended an hour beyond schedule, highlighting the board’s engagement and satisfaction. Our proposed model was adaptable to multiple programmes, igniting the board’s excitement. Together with Shari, we successfully convinced the board to proceed, emphasising long-term strategic outcomes and risk mitigation.