2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In Mali one in three women experiences violence, with rates reaching as high as 70 percent in some regions, according to the police report. Gender-based violence ranges from beating, domestic abuse and acid burnings to dowry deaths (Andersson et al., 2008). Never again is, a Malian nonprofit organization dedicated to stopping domestic violence and improving the lives of women and children suffering from this phenomena.
At never again, our daily purpose is to strengthen families and make the world a better place. Our goal is to do more than just provide a solution for domestic violence. We work to help families overcome the obstacles that drove them to very complicated situations. We assist women to be independent; we focus on prevention, in order to provide avoid any situation that can cause serious issues leading to domestic violence (Umubyeyi et al., 2016).
Through the combined efforts of our dedicated board of trustees, skilled and experienced professional staff, and generous donors and volunteers, we are able to provide services to the women or families that are most vulnerable in the city (Heise et al., 2002). Our efforts touch the lives of thousands of individuals preventing those at-risk from becoming victims of women abused or child neglected, providing intervention services when necessary, and breaking the cycle of challenges that often cause serious family problems. Through our in-home, community, school-based, prevention, and safe and supportive housing programs, we provide the foundation for a child, an individual or a family to develop and follow their own best path to a successful future.
3 ORGANIZATIONAL INFORMATION
A Mission statement
Never again has the goal to provide legal and social services to victims of domestic violence, to prevent it from happening by promoting awareness and education within our city and other regions of Mali and creating independence for women in needs. Never again is the first nonprofit organization in Mali dedicated to the cause of domestic violence and sexual abuse. The organization has a purpose that goes beyond making profit. It is a charitable organization dedicated to making the live of victims of violence better and does not make any profit. Therefore never again should be a tax exempted organization.
4 STATEMENT OF NEED
While domestic abuse strikes couples of all races, religions, social economic status in Mali, risk factors for men or women becoming victims or abusers include poverty, lack of a high school education, witnessing family violence as a child, and attitudes of male domination and substance abuse.
RESEARCH
Interviews with a random sample of women and informal conversations with adults in relationship reveal that the concept of domestic violence is not fully understood. Many women believe that because of their culture they must stay in their marriage even when their husband beat them (Heise et al., 2002). The dilemma presents a culture challenge because victims of domestic violence often do not actively try to find a solution to their situations, sometimes victims do not know where to go if they ever leave their husbands, as there is not an organization nor a local enforcement that takes care of this issue.
Informal and formal research shows that many women are unaware of domestic violence because they truly believe violence made by their husband or family in law is something normal part of marriage. In addition, there is not an official communication platform presence that raises awareness for domestic violence. If victims cannot receive the information about the domestic violence and the consequences, they give up and endure the situation. This notion poses a problem of awareness.
Never again is the right organization to focus public relation efforts. We see this as an excellent opportunity to increase awareness about domestic violence and participation in various events and programs. Through our SWOT analysis we were able to determine three main objectives in which NEVER again should focus.
Strengths
- Strong identity
- Social media presence
- Strong local partnerships
- Invested volunteer base
- Direct access with young audience
Weakness
- Traditionalism
- Location
- Lack of funding
- Lack of volunteers
- Limited proactive outreach
- Lack of staff
Opportunities
- Social media communication
- Donations
- Face to face communication
- Build partnerships
Threats
- Political changes
- Funding cuts
- Infrastructure
- Lack of staffing
- Image with victims
- Staff retention
AUDIENCE
NEVER AGAIN main target audiences are Women, children, adults in relationships, men, students from local schools.
5 Programs and Services
Raising Awareness for Domestic & Sexual Violence.
Through prevention, intervention and education, NEVER AGAIN provides hope and services to children and families working to better their lives. Similar to most nonprofit organizations, NEVER AGAIN main issue focuses on raising awareness and building interest about a particular event or cause. The Raising awareness program primarily focuses on raising awareness about sexual and domestic violence across several area in Bamako city (Izumi, 2007). To accomplish this goal, we will create several campaigns to assist in its efforts including a Red day; which consist in asking people to wear color red in a particular day. The campaign our team will focus the plan on. A month-long campaign focused on preventing sexual violence, Red Day takes place in April, the Sexual Violence Awareness month. NEVER AGAIN looks to schools and local Businesses to play a key role in the prevention of sexual violence by participating in Red Day (Bott et al., 2005). Participants play a part in the campaign by donating to the Red Day Campaign and wearing a color Red on each Friday in April as a visible protest. Our plan will attempt to raise awareness for the Red Day campaign, and as an extension, the prevention of sexual and domestic violence.
Opportunity | Partner with schools within Bamako city
Each of the schools districts in Bamako contains at least one elementary school and one high school, most with several each. The Red Day Campaign uses its own website located on the Never Again website. The site contains the current outreach letters for schools and businesses that we will improve and use to gain partnerships.
Through our situation analysis of Never again and its raising awareness program, we identified three areas to focus our attention. Our team sees opportunity in these areas for Never again. The foundation for these objectives will be implemented by Never Again and we seek to expand on its efforts. This will allow our organization to push these opportunities to the fullest potential. The objectives include:
Objective 1.0
Increase participation in “Red Day” events among college and high school students by 25 percent by April 2017.
Objective 2.0
Develop an education program for both the schools and communities the raise awareness program serves by May 2017.
Objective 3.0
Increase number of volunteers in the Raise awareness program by 30 percent by May 2017.
Objective 1.0
Increase participation in “Red Day” events among college and high school students by 25 percent by April 2017.
Strategy 1.1
Never again will persuade school districts to form a partnership with it for Red Day by
presenting the benefits and ease of involvement.
Tactic 1.1.1
Form a list of key communicators; superintendents, members of the principal’s offices and faculty from the schools in the area
Tactic 1.1.2
Write a backgrounder for Red Day to send to key communicators
Tactic 1.1.3
Write a letter of introduction and intent highlighting the never again and the intention to make a presentation pitching the idea of partnership and involvement for Red Day
Tactic 1.1.4
Prepare a PowerPoint presentation highlighting potential ways for involvement
Tactic 1.1.5
Write a speech for a Never again employee to pitch to the key communicators the need for involvement.
6 STAFF AND VOLUNTEER STRUCTURE
Never again will promote a campaign throughout the city to ask students to volunteer. 80% of the staff will be recruitment of professionals.
7 Organizational culture
Never again has been dedicated to being a force for positive change in our country, in our communities, and in our world. Our important work will be done thanks to the generous support of our funders, partners, and donors. The need for services is ever growing and support from the community will help us to provide services for victims of domestic violence. Working together, we can provide hope to children, build strong families, and encourage healthy communities.
8 Accountability and performance
Like Every nonprofit organization, NEVER AGAIN will measure its progress in fulfilling its mission, its success in mobilizing its resources, and its staff’s effectiveness on the job. For instance the NEVER AGAIN organization will measure its effectiveness by metrics such as dollars raised, membership growth, victims served, and overhead costs.
9 Sustainability
Sustainability in the nonprofit context includes the concepts of financial sustainability, as well as leadership succession planning, adaptability, and strategic planning (Bott et al., 2005). In order for the NEVER AGAIN to be sustainable, our leaders will try to know how much it costs to deliver our programs and services, so that we can raise enough money to cover those costs. Additionally, managing financial viability in an evolving funding landscape, establishing collaborative partnerships, demonstrating value and accountability to funders and supporters, and maximizing the contribution of leadership within the community will help the NEVER AGAIN organization to be sustainable.
10 FUTRURE PLANNING
The threats that NEVER AGAIN could face in the future is the Political changes, the Funding cuts, the infrastructure, the lack of staffing, and the image with victims and staff retention.
References
Andersson, N., Cockcroft, A., & Shea, B. (2008). Gender-based violence and HIV: relevance for HIV prevention in hyperendemic countries of southern Africa. Aids, 22, S73-S86.
Bott, S., Morrison, A., & Ellsberg, M. (2005). Preventing and responding to gender-based violence in middle and low-income countries: a global review and analysis (Vol. 3618). World Bank Publications.
Heise, L., Ellsberg, M., & Gottmoeller, M. (2002). A global overview of gender-based violence. International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics, 78, S5-S14.
Izumi, K. (2007). Gender-based violence and property grabbing in Africa: a denial of women’s liberty and security. Gender & Development, 15(1), 11-23.
Umubyeyi, A., Persson, M., Mogren, I., & Krantz, G. (2016). Gender Inequality Prevents Abused Women from Seeking Care Despite Protection Given in Gender-Based Violence Legislation: A Qualitative Study from Rwanda. Plos ONE, 11(5), 1-13. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0154540