Communities Foundation

8/3/2019 Communities Foundation

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Communities Foundation

Charitable Gift CardsConsumer Behavior Report

By Haris FazlaniProfessor Julie Haworth

Consumer Behavior MW 10:30AM



Executive Summary

In this project for Consumer Behavior, the objective is to find out whether apotential product will be popular among the general public or not. The product inquestion is a gift card specifically for charitable donations. The gift card will be

created and distributed by Communities Foundation of Texas and will be applicableto numerous different types of charities. If the initial card is successful, there may bemore specialized cards for specific charities. For example, we ma y have a teacher’sorganization card with graphics of an apple and chalkboard imprinted on it.

Research was done in as professional a manner as possible, with a generalsurvey first and then a focus group with people that I knew. I specifically attemptedto target a variety of different age groups and demographics within my circle of friends and acquaintances. Regardless of this, I can’t say that I have a tight grasp onhow the general public would respond to the product. My research reflects a smallsample size and it’s impossible to know whether my results are statisticallysignificant until research is done on a larger scale, or perhaps until I compare my

results with those of my classmates.Nevertheless, the research has been done and I do think it provides —on asmall scale —the response that a charitable gift card from CFT might receive. Frommy results, the response is neither overly positive nor negative, but rather apathetic.Those who are interested in giving to charities have their proven methods of doingso, and these days we can even donate online and donate on behalf of other people.Recognizing this, I went ahead and devised a few alternative options forCommunities Foundation of Texas to explore.



Background

I though it would be interesting to take simple surveys from people that Iknow who were old enough to make their own purchasing and gift-buying decisions.I also thought it would be a good idea to incorporate the aspect of age into my initial

survey, to see if there was any correlation between a certain age group and awillingness to buy. I also created a column for reasons to their answer or anyadditional notes, which were optional to give.

To retain anonymity and to insure the integrity of my research, I assured myparticipants that their names would not be released. However, given that these wereface-to-face interview style surveys, the fact that the participants were giving ananswer directly to me might have had an effect on responses. I estimate this to be avery small rate of error because I have close relationships with all the people that Itested, and I believe they can be trusted to give their honest opinions.

My second research method was a very short focus group that I held on

Saturday, July 16th

2011. I had four participants and I was able to ask them a fewquestions that I have collected data on. Once again, they remain anonymous andtherefore individual answers cannot be traced back to individual people, but theyare different than those who participated in the initial survey.

In this environment, I was able to get a little bit more in-depth answers andreasons as to why the product would or would not be something they would buy.The answers that I received and data that I collected was remarkably similar to theinitial survey.



Analysis

First Survey (Conducted 7/13/11)

Age Interested? Why or why not?/Notes

17 Yes Only if you were able to donate to a charity of your choice.17 Yes None Given18 Yes Likes the creativity and convenience58 No None Given46 No None Given

22 NoYou can already donate in someone's name to most majorcharities and they give you a certificate.

22 Yes Gift cards are convenient23 Yes None Given21 No None Given

22 No None Given21 No Seems like it would be forcing someone to give to a charity21 No None Given21 No None Given22 Yes None Given

Focus Group (Conducted 7/16/11) (See Appendix for More)

1. How often do you buy gift cards as gifts for occasions such as birthdays,father’s/mother’s days, Christmas?

Never Not Often Somewhat Often

Very Often

Person A XPerson B XPerson C XPerson D X

2. How often do the people close to you (i.e. friends, family) give to charity?

Never Not Often Somewhat Often

Very Often


3. How likely do you think these people close to you would be to use a gift card forcharitable purposes?



Never Not Likely Somewhat Likely

Very Likely

Person A XPerson B XPerson C X

Person D X

4. If we produced a gift card that was strictly for letting people give to a charity of their choice, how interested would you be in purchasing it?

Not Remotely Not Interested

Somewhat Interested

VeryInterested


After conducting my research I was able to come away with a fewconclusions. Regardless of whether a person has family or friends who are avidgivers, a charitable gift card just doesn’t seem to be what they are interested in. It seems as if people are see ing the negative side (i.e. that they are “LIMITED” to usinga gift card for charity) rather than the positive side (i.e. that they can give the gift of giving to a “good -hearted” person).



Recommendation

After researching and analyzing my results, I have found overwhelmingevidence that charitable gift cards would, in fact, not be a great success. Most peopleI have spoken with have said that it is just as simple to donate in another person’s

name. Furthermore, a person runs the risk of disappointing a friend with acharitable gift card, because not everyone is interested in giving to charity in largeamounts. Conversely, you can almost never disappoint with cash or universal gift cards.

Even with people who both buy gift cards and are passionate about charitiesare not overwhelmingly interested in this particular product. This is the most surprising part. It just seems like we are trying to address a need that doesn’t necessarily exist.

My sincere recommendation is to capitalize on channels of charity that already exist, and exploit the recent technology boom. I think having an iPhone appthat allows a person to give to charity, on behalf of themselves or others would be

amazing.

Community Foundation of Texas already has a well-sorted online donation

system, but mobile applications is where everyone is heading to do their normal,everyday tasks right now. It is imperative to have a mobile app to making givingeasier.

I also think that social media should be incorporated. Perhaps a personwould be able to tweet at CFT with a certain hashtag or keyword, and it wouldautomatically draft from their donation account to a certain charity, whenever theysee fit. Social media is an integral platform to reaching out to consumers, and it isonly growing.



Appendix

Demographics of the Focus Group

Person Description

Person A An upper-middle class male engineer inhis mid 40s. Family man, two childrenand large extended family in the area.

Person B Teenage girl, high school student, onlychild.

Person C Young male attending medical school,two siblings. High expenses because of

school and housing.Person D Young male working at entry-level job,

no college education. Low expenses, lowincome.

No additional information.

Documents

Communities Foundation