Non-Profit Marketing: A Case Study of American Red Cross Organization

This case study analyzes the marketing mix, target audience, SWOT analysis, and brand strategy of American Red Cross organization. The organization provides humanitarian services like blood donation, health and safety services, disaster services, and international services. The two target audiences analyzed are victims of emergency health situations and natural disasters. The value proposition of the organization for these target audiences is discussed. The organization has a strong competitive position and a powerful brand strategy.

Running head: NON-PROFIT MARKETING
Case Study- The American Red Cross Organization
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Executive Summary
In this case-study, the non-profit organization which is chosen for analysis is the American Red
Cross organization. The organization serves victims of emergency, disasters, provides
educational services and serves the military families of the United States of America and across
the globe. Annotated bibliography of the sources used in the case study is provided. In this case
study the two target audience of the non-profit organization is analyzed with the help of Venn-
diagram. The 4Ps of marketing are analyzed and the branding and communicational strategy of
the American Red Cross organization is discussed. It has been found in the report that the
organization has a strong competitive position which was analyzed with help of SWOT analysis
and creates a strong value proposition for its target audience.

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Contents
1. Introduction of the non-profit organization.................................................................................3
The Mission Statement of the non-profit organization................................................................3
1. An annotated bibliography of five sources used to find information about the organization.....3
2. Analysis of the marketing mix of the organization.....................................................................6
The marketing mix is the product, price, place and promotional activities of the American Red
Cross organization........................................................................................................................6
Discussion of two target audience of the non-profit organization...............................................7
Venn-Diagram to compare the similar/non-similar characteristics and attributes of the target
audiences......................................................................................................................................8
3. Environmental scan.....................................................................................................................9
Identification of the target audience closely aligned to the mission of the organization.............9
3.1 Value-proposition of the non-profit towards selected target audience......................................9
3.2 Competitive position of the organization (SWOT analysis)................................................10
3.3 The Brand Strategy of the organization...............................................................................11
3.4 Communication strategy of the organization (current and future strategy).........................11
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................13
Reference Lists..............................................................................................................................14

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1. Introduction of the non-profit organization
The organization chosen for this case study is the American Red Cross Organization. The
organization is headquartered in the Washington D.C. and is founded by Clara Barton. The
organization provides several humanitarian services to the society. The blood services like blood
donation program, health and safety services like training people on First-Aid, disaster services
like rescuing people from floods, earthquakes, super-storms, international services like
contribution on the improvement of global health, service delivered to the military of the United
States are some of the noteworthy services delivered by the American Red Cross organization.
The organization is a principal of the movement of the International Red Cross and is run by
volunteers (The American Red cross, 2017).
The Mission Statement of the non-profit organization
The American Red Cross organization is committed to the mission of providing relief to
people afflicted with emergency situations and helping people to manage disasters in an effective
way(The American Red cross, 2017).
1. An annotated bibliography of five sources used to find information about the
organization
a) Schreiber, M. D., Yin, R., Omaish, M., & Broderick, J. E. (2014). Snapshot from superstorm
Sandy: American Red Cross mental health risk surveillance in lower New York state. Annals of
emergency medicine, 64(1), 59-65.

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In this article the authors Schreiber et al. 2014, discuss about the role played by the
American Red Cross organization in the surveillance process of the mental health risk of the
residents of the lower New York state in after the super-storm Sandy afflicted the residents of the
state. The survivors of disasters suffer from both physical and psychological damage. The
authors discuss the significant role played by the non-profit organization, the American Red
Cross on collection of data about mental health risk including anxiety, post-traumatic stress
disorder and depression of the residents of 8 states of New York.
The article is chosen to collect information about the case study because this article
provides detail about how the volunteers of the American Red Cross organization worked
diligently with victims of the hurricane Sandy at the operational sites which includes the
community outreach and mobile feeding centers, shelters and emergency-aid stations.
b)The American Red cross. (2017). redcross.org. Retrieved 30 November 2017, from
http://www.redcross.org/images/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m55540601_FA-CPR-AED-
Part-Manual.pdf
In this source, the role played by the American Red Cross to train thousands of people in
cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first aid is discussed. This article has information
about the participant manual which is an integral part of the First AID/ AED/CPR program of the
American Red Cross. The article discusses the process by which the non-profit organization, the
American Red Cross abides by the emergency practiced of the United States.
This article is used to collect information about the case study because it has important
information about the role played by the American Red Cross organization to support and train
people who are affected by emergency situations like heart attack, sudden illness and stroke.

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c) Liu, B. F., Jin, Y., Briones, R., & Kuch, B. (2012). Managing turbulence in the blogosphere:
Evaluating the blog-mediated crisis communication model with the American Red
Cross. Journal of Public Relations Research, 24(4), 353-370.
The authors of the article Liu et al., 2012 have interviewed 40 communication
professionals of the American Red Cross organization. The article provides important insights
about the on-line and off-line communication process of the American Red Cross organization
before, during and after a crisis.
The article is used in this case study because the article discusses about the crisis
communication strategy of a non-profit organization.
d)Irwin, J., 2013. Making the World Safe: The American Red Cross and a Nation's Humanitarian
Awakening. Oxford University Press.
This book is used to find information about the case study because in this book the author
Irwin (2013) discusses about the humanitarian role played by the American Red Cross
organization. The information available in this book provides powerful insights about the
disaster relief program and emergency assistance program organized by the American Red Cross
organization in the United States are discussed. The book also provides information about the
services delivered by the American Red Cross Organization to the armed forces of the United
States.

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e) Elliott, J., & Sullivan, L. (2015). How the Red Cross raised half a billion dollars for Haiti and
built six homes. ProPublica, June, 3.
In this source, the authors Elliott & Sullivan, (2015) discusses about the instrumental role
played by the American Red Cross organization in 2011 to raise funds and build homes in the
poor area of , Port-au-Prince, the capital city of Haiti which was affected by earthquake a year
before. This article is used as a source of information in this case study because this article
throws light on the humanitarian role of the American Red Cross to raise millions of dollars for a
poor nation Haiti. However, the article highlights the issue that the American Red Cross
organization relied of foreigners who could not speak French for the disaster relief program of
Haiti which acted as a barrier in the relief programme.
2. Analysis of the marketing mix of the organization
The marketing mix is the product, price, place and promotional activities of the American
Red Cross organization.
Products- The humanitarian services of the American Red Cross Organization are the
products of the organization. These services can be categorized in four categories. These
categories are courses and certifications provided by the non-profit organizations to lifeguards,
health care providers, Babysitters and caregivers, swimmers who require lifesaving skills to deal
with emergency situations related to health. The American Red Cross organization provides
services to the families of military during emergency and situation of deployment. The
organization also organizes services for blood donation. The organization focuses to arrange
safe shelter, food and water to respond to the victims of state and national disasters. The Red
Cross organization also provides services at an international level to ensure children have

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received vaccines and to help neighboring nations to manage emergency situations like drought,
earthquake and health-epidemics (Irwin, 2013).
Price- The American Red Cross organization operates on donations from public and
raises fund-raising campaigns to support the charitable actions. For instance, the organization
organized a campaign called “Give Something That Means Something.” In this campaign the
organization did not ask people to donate money directly, instead the organization was focusing
on symbolizing the money donated in the form of shelter, vaccination and blanket. Another
example is the non-profit organization donated nearly half-a-billion dollar to provide relief to
Haiti which was affected by earthquake (Elliott & Sullivan, 2015).
Place- The American Red Cross organization not only provides humanitarian services in
the United States of America but also provides these services to people and community members
across the globe. The non-profit organization is known for providing services in Russia during a
civil war in the year 1918; the organization provided disaster relief services during hurricanes
Katrina, Rita and Wilma in the United States and donated funds for the collapse of a bridge in
Minneapolis. These are some of the examples of the places where the American Red Cross
organization provided service. An instance where the Red Cross organization provided services
in international projects is the initiative for measles and the program to combat malaria in
Africa(The American Red cross, 2017).
Promotion-The American Red Cross organization organizes many promotional
campaigns to create awareness about the organization. For instance, the non-profit organization
launches ad-campaign which narrates the story of real- life people who received humanitarian
services from the organization. The organization releases public service advertisements (PSAs)

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in print ads and televisions. The organization focuses on story-telling as the prime marketing tool
to target audiences in this promotional ad campaigns. The organization also conducts campaigns
and educational and training services which create awareness about the organization among
students of schools and colleges (Liu et al., 2012).
Discussion of two target audience of the non-profit organization
The two target audiences of the American Red Cross organization are the people afflicted
with disasters and people who are victims of emergency situation who require First-Aid services
(The American Red cross, 2017).
Venn-Diagram to compare the similar/non-similar characteristics and attributes of the
target audiences
Both the services
are delivered
across the globe
The services are
conducted by
volunteers and
require funding
The victims of the
emergency services are
affected by health
related problems
The services provided
by the Red Cross are in
the form of blood
donation campaign and
First-Aid training
The victims of
disaster relief
program are
affected by natural
disasters like storms
The services
granted by the Red
Cross are in the
form of shelter,
food and water.
The victims of health
emergency
The victims of natural
disaster
Figure 1: Venn diagram to compare the two set of target
audience of the American Red Cross

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3. Environmental scan
Identification of the target audience closely aligned to the mission of the organization
The two target audience who are closely related to the mission of the American Red
Cross Organization and chosen for environmental scan are i) The victims of the emergency
health-care situation ii) The victims of natural disasters like flood, earthquakes, storms.
3.1 Value-proposition of the non-profit towards selected target audience
The value proposition is the tangible and non-tangible value created by an organization to
address the requirements of its target market segment. It is an essential component of the promise
of delivery (Armstrong et al., 2015).The Red Cross organization creates value for the target
audience who are victim of emergency health situation by providing services of blood donation
and training of First-Aid to people like health care providers and caregivers. The organization
provides supply of blood to the regional suppliers and hospitals of the United States of America.
The organization provides important blood services like nucleic acid testing, test for HIV and
Hepatitis C, tissue services and plasma services. The organization provides educational and
training services to train laypersons, health care providers and caregivers about first-aid, baby-
sitting, life-guarding services. Thus the value proposition of the American Red Cross
organization for the target group affected by emergency situation related to health is noteworthy.
The organization creates value for the victims of disaster release by providing them shelter,
serving them clean water and hot food (Elliott & Sullivan, 2015). The non- profit organization
also provides psychological support and mental health services to the victims of natural disasters.

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The Red Cross organization creates value for this target audience by providing them rescue
operations, ambulance and medical services (Schreiber et al.,
2014).
3.2 Competitive position of the organization (SWOT analysis)
The American Red Cross Organization is included in the
National Response Plan of the government and has adopted the
charter of the government thus enabling the non-profit
organization to hold a strong competitive position. For instance,
the organization received $ 2.7 billion donation during hurricane
Katrina which is a large amount in comparison with other non-
profit organizations.
The strength and weakness are internal to the
organization and the opportunities and threats are external factors
(Keller and Kotler, 2016).
3.3 The Brand Strategy of the organization
TABLE 1: SWOT
ANALYIS OF
AMERICAN RED
CROSS
ORGANIZTAION
Strengths
Weakness
Opportunity
Threats

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The organization uses brand mantra statements like “In times of crisis, trust the American
Red Cross to support our communities.” The organization uses social media, traditional media,
guerrilla marketing and internet marketing to create awareness about its brand. The organization
ensures that public connects with the brand name of the organization. The American Red Cross
organization ensures to create a positive brand image and enhance Customer Perceived Value
(CPV) by ensuring that the brand works with people and for people (Bresler and Lubbe,
2014).The organization has adopted a tailor-made strategy to create brand awareness among
millennial(Liu et al., 2012). .
3.4 Communication strategy of the organization (current and future strategy)
Current Strategy
The American Red Cross organization uses an integrated marketing communication
strategy (IMC). The organization uses innovative communication strategy in promotional
campaigns which make the campaigns award-winning and generates a phenomenal Return on
Investment (ROI). The non-profit organization features powerful real-life stories as a
communication strategy for its ad-campaigns (Liu et al., 2012).
Social Media
The non-profit organization focuses on a personalized and tailor-made communication
strategy to target a specific group of audience in social media, for instance, The American
organization wanted to raise $ 50 million from young professionals residing in urban areas. For
this purpose, the American Red Cross organization adopted a digital communication strategy.
The organization is active on social media sites like YouTube and Twitter to and connects with
audiences by adopting an effective communication strategy which strikes an emotional chord

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with the audience. The organization has its own website and apps like Red Cross Swim App to
communicate with the audience (Briones et al., 2011).
Traditional media
The American Red Cross Organization also uses traditional media like Televisions and
radio, print-media like newspapers and magazines to raise awareness about its charitable actions
like the blood donation camps, disaster relief camps. The public service announcements (PSA) s
is published by the non-profit organization in traditional media (Hollensen, 2015).
Future Communication strategy
The American Red Cross organization will tend to rely more on digital mode of
communication as its future communication strategy because the future generation will be more
active on social media. The organization will make use of innovation in digital communication
strategy in future to create tailor-made campaigns for target audience.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that the American Red Cross organization is a non-profit
organization which has a strong competitive position in the United States of America. The
organization has a large network of volunteers and supporters who provide funds for the
charitable activities of the organization. The target audience of the American Red Cross
organization is categorized into two major segments in this case study-the victims of the
emergency health related crisis and victims of natural disasters like the earthquakes and floods. It
can be concluded that the American Red Cross organization adopts tailor-made promotional

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campaigns and Integrated Marketing Communication Strategy (IMC) to create a powerful brand
image and strengthen its competitive position.
1. How non-profit organizations might use snap-chat
The non-profit organizations can use snap-chat to connect with Millennial, Gen Xers. The
video and image messaging app is extremely popular and non-profit organizations can use this
app to create awareness about its brand.
2. Volunteering opportunity near me that interests me
The volunteering opportunity that exists near me is volunteering to educate health
workers about First Aid training.
3. A technology that works best for me (social media or traditional direct mail).
The technology that works best for me is the social media because it is more convenient and
helps me to connect with a large number of audiences across the globe.

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Reference Lists
Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M. and Brennan, R., (2015). Marketing: an introduction.
Pearson Education.
Bresler, M. and Lubbe, I., (2014). Marketing management.
Briones, R. L., Kuch, B., Liu, B. F., & Jin, Y. (2011). Keeping up with the digital age: How the
American Red Cross uses social media to build relationships. Public relations
review, 37(1), 37-43.
Elliott, J., & Sullivan, L. (2015). How the Red Cross raised half a billion dollars for Haiti and
built six homes. ProPublica, June, 3.
Hollensen, S., 2015. Marketing management: A relationship approach. Pearson Education.
Irwin, J., 2013. Making the World Safe: The American Red Cross and a Nation's Humanitarian
Awakening. Oxford University Press.
Keller, K.L. and Kotler, P., 2016. Marketing management. Pearson.
Liu, B. F., Jin, Y., Briones, R., & Kuch, B. (2012). Managing turbulence in the blogosphere:
Evaluating the blog-mediated crisis communication model with the American Red
Cross. Journal of Public Relations Research, 24(4), 353-370.
Schreiber, M. D., Yin, R., Omaish, M., & Broderick, J. E. (2014). Snapshot from superstorm
Sandy: American Red Cross mental health risk surveillance in lower New York
state. Annals of emergency medicine, 64(1), 59-65.

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The American Red cross. (2017). redcross.org. Retrieved 30 November 2017, from
http://www.redcross.org/images/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m55540601_FA-CPR-
AED-Part-Manual.pdf