Business Model Analysis Report: Alzheimer's Association

For my business model analysis I would like to explore the Alzheimer’s Association. The Alzheimer’s Association is a non-profit organization which works to provide resources and support to people with Alzheimer’s as well as conduct research to ultimately find a cure for this disease. The organization’s services include connecting individuals with doctors and other resources once a person has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. They hold and attend various events to spread awareness about the disease and preventative measures that can be taken to, hopefully, avoid developing the disease. They also host walks to raise money for the organization. The organization sells merchandise such as clothes, pins, and literature for commercial and individual use. It’s difficult to place non-profits as far as positioning goes in the marketplace since the services and products that they provide vary across the board.  Top NonProfits recently published their “Top 100 Nonprofits on the Web” which is based on how much internet traction nonprofits receive on the web. It takes in measurements such as Facebook likes, Twitter followers, Google pageranks, Charity Navigator’s rating of the organization, and other social media measurements. The Alzheimer’s Association is not currently ranked in those top 100 nonprofits on the web. CharityNavigator is a site that evaluates non-profit organizations based on the organization’s financial statements and their level of transparency. They have many top ten lists published on their site, such as ‘Top 10 Charities Expanding in a Hurry’, ‘Top 10 Charities Worth Watching’, ‘10 of the Best Charities Everyone’s Heard of’ and so on.  The Alzheimer’s Association is not in any of these lists. Fortunately, this also means that it’s not in any of the following lists: ’10 Consistently Low Rated Charities’, ’10 Charities Routinely in the Red’, and ’10 Charities in Deep Financial Trouble.’

I’ve always loved working with non-profit organizations when I believe in the cause they’re fighting for. When I was younger it was more about volunteering, but now I really focus on knowing the organization’s mission. This organization is interesting to me, because I feel a big connection to their cause. Two of my grandparents were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. It runs on both sides of my family, and I’ve seen how it takes a person away from you while they’re still living. As someone who has seen the toll that the disease takes on a person, I wouldn’t want it to happen to anybody else. Since I wasn’t able to do anything to help my grandparents, I want to do everything that I am capable of doing to spread awareness and to raise money for the cause.

I’ve volunteered for two Alzheimer’s Association chapters and have participated in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s. I think that there are certain non-profit organizations that get all of the attention in the public eye, some of which aren’t being 100% truthful with their donors. I would like to study the Alzheimer’s Association business model to evaluate how it can better advertise the cause and grow to a national visibility level like some of these other organizations. In my opinion, there is a lot of room for potential growth to spread awareness which could raise donations and ultimately increase the amount of research that can be conducted.

The three primary customer segments that are targeted by non-profits are individual donors, corporate donors, and the people that are benefiting from the services and research that the organization provides. Individual and corporate donors need to be convinced that their money is being used wisely by the organization. The organization needs to have a certain level of transparency to ensure that people trust it enough to donate. Individual repeat donors are mostly going to consist of individuals who have personal connections with the cause. These persons will want to see progress within the organization to give them a reason to continue to donate. One-time donors will include people who repeat donors contact to help with their fundraising efforts. Both of these groups should be targeted differently, but I don’t think that one-time donors are necessarily primary customers. Corporate donors will build relationships with organizations that share the same values. I think that for corporate sponsors it’s more about building their corporate social responsibility level rather than seeing any developments in the organization. The third segment, the individuals benefiting from the organization, need to see results based on the fundraising efforts of the organization. They need to see continuous updates on the resources provided based on new research results. In summary, the organization needs to attract different types of donors and deliver the news and resources that individuals who are dealing with the disease are looking for.

There are many amazing non-profit organizations that are overlooked by individuals because they don’t have a heart-wrenching campaign or a large platform to “spread awareness” of the organization. I think that the Alzheimer’s Association is one of those organizations. By evaluating the organization’s business model I can analyze ways that it can be improved to better deliver its message to a larger audience.