MEMORANDUM

To: David Williams, President of Make-A-Wish

From: Sarah Marquart

Date: May 9, 2013

Subject: Make-A-Wish Formal Report for Your Review

The following is a formal report regarding our proposal for reducing the cost of a wish in order

to benefit more children and, as a result, reject fewer applications. In this report you will find

information regarding the feasibility of making this project a reality within the next year.

Most of the information compiled in this report was researched thoroughly by members of the

Make-A-Wish team through the company website, collaboration with Delta Airlines, pediatric

websites, and a professional SWOT analysis of our company. The report’s main focus is the

process of reducing the cost of a wish by acquiring more airline mile donations in order to help

more children through wishes or through financial assistance.

Make-A-Wish’s image can be improved with the implementation of this project. Eighteen

percent of children who apply to our organization are rejected. Often, this leads to bad press.

With just a few fiscal adjustments, this will not be an issue. In addition, our goal of helping

children will endure. We are sure that you have concerns about the fiscal implications of this

proposal. The main points of the report touch on what we imagine are many of your concerns:

Discussion of how donations will be managed

The process of acquiring airline mile donations

The feasibility of this plan based on up-to-date analysis of our funds

The timeline for the project

The staffing implications of our proposal

Many companies have shown interest in our proposal. In total, the plan would only cost our

company five hundred extra dollars per year when it is first implemented. This could be done

in the span of one year with minimal staff adjustments. Our final recommendations about the

project can be located on page thirteen.

We would like to thank you taking the time to read and consider our proposal to improve the

quality of life for all children with life-threatening medical conditions. We look forward to your

feedback on this ongoing project.

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Make-a-Wish Sarah Marquart

May 14, 2013

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Abstract

Make-A-Wish is the nation’s largest wish-granting organization. Since 1980, the Make-A-Wish

Foundation has given hope, strength, and joy to children with life-threatening medical

conditions. Beginning with one boy’s wish in 1980 to become a police officer, we have

continued to enrich the lives of children by working with families, doctors, donors, sponsors, and

entire communities. Today, we have evolved into an organization that grants a child’s wish in the

United States every forty minutes.

Make-A-Wish is very successful at our contribution to society; changing the lives of children

with life-threatening medical conditions changes communities. However, there is always room

for improvement. We would convince higher management to allow us to make our company

even better. When more and more children began to apply to the foundation as it grew in

popularity, that meant that more children were being rejected. This did not fit with our mission or

our goals. Therefore, we looked to change.

Change began with an idea: We would start off by reducing the cost of the wishes. Having less

money going toward each wish would allow more children to be helped and less being fully

denied. We also created a way to have more fulfilling wishes, just at lower costs. Travel costs

and lodging the families seem to be a huge part of the wish expense. There are many other ways

to fulfill our duties of making sure all costs are being taken care of.

These types of adjustments have great benefits toward the Make-A-Wish company. There are

more incentives toward our sponsors as well so we are not the only ones reaping the benefits.

Our financial analyst has created a cost and timeframe for all of these modifications. Another

huge part that we would like to add to our program is for the children who do not get their wish

fulfilled. They will get some sort of financial aid toward medical bills or to give the child some

sort of “wish.” This will enhance our mission statement of “enchrich[ing] the human experience”

by allowing us to help every child that comes to us. Their happiness is our goal and we plan to

continue and better our company for that reason.

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Table of Contents

Abstract…………..…..3

List of Figures……..…5

List of Tables………...6

Executive Summary….7

Introduction Text……..8

Conclusion……….…12

Recommendations..…13

Works Cited………...14

Bibliography……..…15

Appendixes…………16

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List of Figures

Figure 1. Expenses Before Miles Donated

Figure 2. Expenses After Miles Donated

Lodging 38%

Airfare 36%

Rental Car 16%

Miscellaneous 10%

Expenses Before Miles Donated

Lodging 54%

Airfare 29%

Rental Car 9%

Miscellaneous 8%

Expenses After Miles Donated

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List of Tables

Table 1. Criteria for Receiving a Wish

Is the child

between the

ages of 2 ½ and

18 at the time of

referral?

Does the child

have a life

threatening

medical

condition?

Has the child’s

physician

determined that

the child is

medically

eligible?

Has the child

received a wish

from another

wish-granting

organization?

Eligible?

Yes Yes Yes No Yes

No No No Yes No

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Executive Summary Make-A-Wish is the nation’s largest wish-granting organization. Since 1980, the Make-A-Wish

Foundation has given hope, strength and joy to children with life-threatening medical conditions.

Beginning with one boy’s wish in 1980 to become a police officer, we have continued to enrich

the lives of children by working with families, doctors, donors, sponsors, and entire

communities. Today, we have evolved into an organization that grants a child’s wish in the U.S.

every forty minutes.

This report examines the feasibility of lowering the average wish cost granted to a child through

the Make-A-Wish foundation from $7,500 to $7,000 or $6,900. This lower wish cost would

provide children whose application are rejected with a small amount of money to help pay for

their hospital bills or other expenses. The purpose of this report is to provide Make-A-Wish

affiliates with the information necessary for assessing the effectiveness of implementing this

plan.

Children within our budget who meet the criteria for a wish—those with life-threatening medical

illnesses between the ages of 2 and 18—are not the only ones who need our help. Each year

(inset number) of children are rejected from Make-A-Wish simply due to the fact that we do not

have enough donates to assist them.

Donations to these children would be monitored through traceable pre-paid VISA cards in order

to be certain that the funds are being spent properly.

Wish cost can be reduced if the cost of airfare, lodging, and rental cars are all virtually

eliminated. This can be done through partnership with large companies who rely on employee

travel year round. Companies will be encouraged to donate their frequent flyer miles on a large

scale as opposed to our current system. These miles could be used to purchase airline tickets, rent

cars, or secure lodging for families rather than the company paying with direct monetary

donations.

The effectiveness of implementing this proposal on a monetary basis is evidenced by the fact that

it would only cost our company $500 to send extra mailers to 10,000 of these large companies. It

is also evidenced by a poll of companies through our website that stated that over 87% would be

willing to be a part of this program. An incentive would even be offered to companies in the

form of discounts through other companies that partner with Make-A-Wish.

Based on these conclusions, recommendations for this project are (1) spend less than $400 to

send mailers out to these companies are supported in order to (2) cut down the cost of wishes so

that we can assist more children. In addition, this is recommended in order to improve our

company’s image; turning away children is not what we stand for.

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Introduction Text

This report proposes lowering the average wish cost

granted to a child through the Make-A-Wish

foundation from $7,500 to $7,000 or $6,900 in order to

be able to assist more children and lower our rate of

application rejection. The funds subtracted from the

wish would be allocated to children whose applications

are rejected, but still meet our criteria. These funds

could be used to help pay medical expenses, or give

the child a mini-wish. What is Make-A-Wish?

Make-A-Wish’s mission statement is “We grant

wishes of children with life threatening medical

conditions to enrich the human experience with

hope, strength, and joy.” Make-A-Wish is a nonprofit

organization. We grant wishes of children between the

ages of 2-18 who have life threatening diseases. Our

charity organization all began in 1980 when the wish

of Chris Grecius was granted to become a police

officer. Ever since then we have over 25,000

volunteers along with reaching out to 250,000 children

each year. Our volunteers serve as granters, special

events assistants, and fundraisers. The Make-A-Wish

Foundation reflects the life-changing impact we make

on children, families, referral sources, donors, sponsors

and entire communities. These children are the past,

present and future of Make-A-Wish to share same

experience from the power of the wish.

Our Strengths as a Company

We have proudly granted over 10,000 wishes during

our 25 year history. In addition, our financial

statements are available for anyone to read on our

website (note sidebar). As a company, we offer

multiple ways to give back to our company including:

donate cash, donate goods or services, donate stock,

donate your time, etc. Our Foundation is supported

Financial Success 2012

(All percentages are percent of total

expense/revenue)

National Office

Functional Expenses:

Program Services 79%

Fundraising 12%

Management & General 9%

Sources of Revenue:

Individual Contributions: 59%

Corporate Alliances: 31%

Other Income and Revenue: 10%

Combined National and Office Chapters

Functional Expenses:

Program Services 75%

Fundraising 15%

Management & General 10%

Sources of Revenue:

Contributions 81%

Special Events 14%

Other Income & Revenue 5%

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through local donations from individuals, corporations, small businesses, civic organizations,

churches, schools, social and service clubs, fund-raising events, memorial contributions,

foundations, and pay-roll deduction programs as well as our own special events.

Weaknesses We Plan to Overcome

It is difficult to manage the huge team of volunteers. This requires proper delegation of duties

and very clear expectations. It is also difficult to grant each wish at our typical cost due to the

rising costs of airfare and lodging. Because we raise funds through donations, we rely on the

generosity of others. In hard economic times, this can be challenging.

Opportunities for Make-A-Wish

Our foundation has the opportunity to grow. With the help of more donations, our reach, offices,

and assistance would increase. Individuals continue to give including celebrities, companies who

offer their goods and services, etc. We have the opportunity to help their reputation and image.

Threats We Are Aware Of

Fraud is our biggest issue. Spam e-mails and letters often appear in inboxes and on door steps.

Unfortunately, we cannot control this. However, we fight it as well as we can by telling

recipients how to deal with fraud on our website. Another threat we face is parents who are

unhappy that their child has been rejected by our organization for some reason. We try to speak

with each parent individually in order to make sure they are satisfied with our answer.

Proposal for Lowering Wish Cost

Our company is well-received by the public. However children within our budget who meet the

criteria for a wish (note table)—those with life-threatening medical illnesses between the ages of

2 and 18—are not the only ones who need help. Each year 18% of children are rejected (see

sidebar on page 10) because we do not have the funds. In order to uphold the image of Make-A-

Wish as a company who makes dreams come true, we propose reducing the cost of a wish.

Table 1. Criteria for Receiving a Wish

Is the child

between the

ages of 2 ½ and

18 at the time

of referral?

Does the child

have a life

threatening

medical

condition?

Has the child’s

physician

determined

that the child is

medically

eligible?

Has the child

received a wish

from another

wish-granting

organization?

Eligible?

Yes Yes Yes No Yes

No No No Yes No

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How Will Donations Be Managed?

If we reduce the cost of wishes, donations can be made to

children whose applications have been rejected. The donations

would be sent to the families in the form of a prepaid VISA

card. It is important to be sure that these cards are used

ethically and for either medical expenses or something that the

child desires. Therefore, we will make the family aware that the

purchases on the card are traceable. Through an online banking

system, our staff would be able to track purchases made to be

sure that the card is being spent correctly.

How Will Cost Be Reduced?

It is possible to reduce the cost of a wish in terms of airfare,

lodging, and rental cars. Reducing these costs is possible

through partnerships with large companies who rely on

employee travel year round. Companies will be encouraged to

donate large amounts of their frequent flyer miles. Though we

have a current system in place where miles can be donated, it is

done on a small scale. These donated miles could be used to

purchase airline tickets, rent cars, or secure lodging for families

rather than Make-A-Wish paying with direct monetary

donations.

Airline Mile Donations

Delta Airlines has created a way to directly donate any unused

or unwanted air mileage to Make-A-Wish. There is a 1,000

miles minimum to donate to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Donating these miles is not tax deductible though Delta

Airlines however. Once the transaction has been completed, it

cannot be reversed. These miles will be put to good use so

there is no threat against fraud. Frequent flyers can help make a

child’s wish come true by donating their unused flyer miles to

financially help the wish. A chart below will show the

advantages donated miles can make to financially helping the

wish come true.

How Many

Children are

Being Ignored?

Children Ignored

Because of Medical

Conditions

The definition of the

seriousness the disease is

not up to our national

organization to

determine. Some

organizations require a

doctor’s statement of

“terminal” rather than

just “life threatening.”

This is typically a non-

issue. If one location is

not willing to accept a

child another

organization may be.

However, the physician’s

word holds the power.

Children Ignored

Because of Funding

18% of children who

apply to the Make-A-

Wish foundation are not

able to be assisted

because our foundation

does not have the ability

to fund their wish to the

standard of the wishes of

other children we have

assisted.

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Figure 1. Expenses Before Miles Donated

Figure 2. Expenses After Miles Donated

As shown in the above figures, there is valid proof that donating flyer miles can greatly increase

child’s financial aid towards their wish. The Delta Airlines have agreed to meet with us to come

up with a contract to have any unused flyer miles donated to Make-A-Wish. They will contact

the owners of the miles and inform them of their unused miles and unless they are used within

that next month, they will be donated.

Do We Have the Funds?

Let’s take a look:

Combined National and International Revenues: $251,491,089

After subtracting our expenses: $173,591,443

This plan would raise the amount of funds allocated to public information a mere $500 in order

to send out 10,000 letters to companies, This $500 dollar increase is well within our means and

budget considering our end of the year net assets.

Lodging 38%

Airfare 36%

Rental Car 16%

Misc. 10%

Expenses Before Miles Donated

Lodging 54% Airfare

29%

Rental Car 9%

Misc. 8%

Expenses After Miles Donated

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Conclusion

The effectiveness of implementing this proposal on a monetary basis is evidenced by the fact that

it would only cost our company $500 to send extra mailers to 10,000 of these large companies. It

is also evidenced by a poll of companies through our website that stated that over 87% would be

willing to be a part of this program. An incentive would even be offered to companies in the

form of discounts through other companies that partner with Make-A-Wish.

Companies

The companies that we would target include:

GA Braun

Tyson

Ford

GM

GE

Johnson and Johnson

Other companies that we would target are ones that we already have relationships with. These

participating companies have already showed interest in our program when polled. Ninety-eight

percent of companies that we already work with are willing to participate. As stated earlier, 87%

of new companies polled would be willing to try the program.

Timeline

If approved, the mailers will be sent out with our typical donation requests at the end of the year

in November. Companies will have until January to respond. Sending out these letters at the end

of the month would mean that companies are being targeted when they have the most unused

miles. By February, we should begin to receive the extra miles. We will begin the program on a

small scale at that point and branch out over the year.

Staffing Implications

Staff will be responsible for stuffing more envelopes which might require new hires or longer

hours. The new company relationships will be managed through the management department.

Finance will manage the new mileage figures and decide how they will be allocated. These

changes should not require new hires at first. However, as we proceed with the program, we will

make changes as necessary.

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Recommendations

Based on these conclusions, recommendations for this project are (1) spend less than $400 to

send mailers out to these companies are supported in order to (2) cut down the cost of wishes so

that we can assist more children. In addition, this is recommended in order to improve our

company’s image; turning away children is not what we stand for.

Step By Step Breakdown

1. Discuss design for mailers with design team

2. Send design to printers and print mailers

3. Using a list of companies to target created by our PR department, mail out letters

4. Receive feedback from companies within two months

5. Create a running total of airline miles we accumulate

6. Use airline miles efficiently on any trips that take a child out-of-state

7. When an application that is received would typically be rejected, have the PR department

contact the family explaining that we can assist them in a smaller way.

8. If the family chooses financial assistance, send them a prepaid VISA card. Members of the

Finance department will be responsible for making sure funds are spent appropriately.

9. If the family chooses a mini-wish for the child, we will contact the local chapter of Make-A-

Wish and discuss how to make that child’s wish come true on a small scale.

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Works Cited No Author. (April 13, 2011) About the Make-A-Wish and List of Wish Organizations. Ped-Onc

Resource Center. April 17, 2013. http://www.ped-onc.org/cfissues/maw.html

No Author. (n.d.) Donate Miles. Delta Airlines. April 17, 2013.

http://www.delta.com/buygftxfer/displayDonateMiles.action

No Author. (n.d.) Make-A-Wish. Make-A-Wish Foundation. April 17, 2013. http://wish.org/

Zachary Hanson. (n.d.) SWOT Analysis. Mogg Osborne PTY LTD. April 12, 2013.

http://www.moggosborne.com.au/files/docs/cpa%20project%20final%20design.pdf

Page | 15

Bibliography Ped-Onc Resource Center, http://www.ped-onc.org/cfissues/maw.html

o Social and community impact of Make-A-Wish

Delta Airlines, http://www.delta.com/buygftxfer/displayDonateMiles.action

o Airline miles information

Make-A-Wish Foundation, http://wish.org/

o Finance reports

o General Information about company

Field Period Knowledge

o Price of mailers

SWOT analysis,

http://www.moggosborne.com.au/files/docs/cpa%20project%20final%20design.p

df

o Information on successes, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats