Turn challenges into opportunities with a marketing plan

Case study: Wimmera Volunteers

About the organisation

Wimmera Volunteers is a volunteer resource centre that works with other organisations to promote and recruit volunteers, creating opportunities and social inclusion. Wimmera Volunteers also offers transport services, including programs for learner drivers and mobility for older residents, promoting social inclusion across a diverse region.

The problem

The organisation was at a crossroads. The Federal Government was proposing significant funding changes, which was making the future of volunteer resource centres uncertain.

In addition, the organisation existed to service the entire Wimmera region but its services were heavily concentrated within the town of Horsham and its slogan of ‘helping communities help themselves’ was seen as patronising despite its good intent.

The opportunity

Rather than care to challenges, Wimmera Volunteers commissioned Syneka Marketing to work with board members, staff, volunteers and other stakeholders to develop a marketing plan that reflected the needs of the organisation.

One new opportunity related to the region’s distance from Melbourne. Many of the organisations serviced by Wimmera Volunteers indicated that they wanted professional development but were unable to devote the time required for travelling or lacked the resources to deliver their own internal training.

It was important to align the marketing plan with the Government’s national volunteering strategy to ensure that Wimmera Volunteers could demonstrate the ability to implement the priorities outlined by the new strategy.

There was also the need to better connect across the Wimmera and Mallee regions and to foster relationships with the business community.

The marketing plan identified the need to rebrand Wimmera Volunteers to better position the organisation as a regional peak body and to reflect its commitment to a diverse region. It was important to ensure that the organisation’s new name and tagline was functional and retained its commitment to volunteering.

Outcomes

Syneka Marketing successfully rebranded Wimmera Volunteers over six weeks, co-ordinating new style guides, logos, designs, websites and social media. The new brand was successfully unveiled at the organisation’s annual general meeting, resulting in strong attendance from stakeholders and the wider community.

The new name, Volunteering Western Victoria, enable the organisation to develop comprehensive membership packages, including training and mentoring to other organisations. In addition, the organisation is no longer bound by geography and is able to work with a number of councils within the Wimmera and Mallee regions.

The new tagline ‘Empowering Communities, Supporting Volunteers’ reinforces the purpose of Volunteering Western Victoria through a positive and forward-looking statement, reinforcing its role within communities and encouraging volunteering.

Wimmera Volunteers is now positioned to become a regional peak body, complementing its traditional services with new offerings. In addition, the new name enables Volunteering Western Victoria to implement further actions from the marketing plan, including regional offices, workplace volunteering and the development of comprehensive community advocacy and training services.

Many sectors are experiencing uncertainty over government funding and a marketing plan can provide the vision and actions required to turn these challenges into opportunities.