Country: United States

Organization: The O Foundation

3) Strategy Summary:
Through our foundation we have established a YOUTH SPORTS FUND. We invite youth throughout our city to apply for small grants that cover fee's for organized sports. With this particular endowment we are accomplishing major goals. What we have found, is that the active members that are in the foundation can use the "funds" to participate in our boxing and martial arts programs that we have established through American Self Defense. Obviously, they find our programming much more appealing. Conversely they refer their friends and family members who then pay memberships anywhere between $45 to $150.00 dollars per month. We are having great success. We feel the originality lies in our approach to community service and our implements.

4) How the Strategy Works:
We make our strategy work by delegating the responsibilities among our members.

STEP 1 We interface with the as "family members" not as associates or company partners.

STEP 2 Was to to acquire a market for our product which was teaching martial arts. Our market was youth between 8 to 14 years of age. We determined this is the best group to market afterschool programming due to increasing cutbacks among schools here in California.

The second was to establish a low cost marketing plan. Here is where we put our non-profit status to use. We identified local publications that would run ad's for free advertising our " FREE TUITION" program". We found good success in church bulletins. We then prepare materials to be distributed through our school district and obtained official endorsements of the program.

STEP 3 Was to continue the marketing by developing sales directors among our own board of directors and our members. We now were showing people no How to Sell our program, but to "sample" our program. We taught our members to distribute literature about our free classess, to invite their friends and family to train free, and let the class and the cirriculumsell itself. We just wanted the opportunity to "show it off"!

Step 4 Developing a community arm, or as I compassionately call it "Developing Hunger." Here is where we really felt the most applicable. We began teaching free seminars and training on everything we could think of. Self Defense, Nutrition, Eating Plans , Strenghth training. Then we would find locales that would allow us to teach the seminar for free and distribute and promote our materials. We found that places like teh YMCA and community centers were more than willing. Our next big group were youth groups in churches that absolutely loved what we did and enveloped our philsophies. This only begged the question: "Where can I get more?" They were hungry !

STEP 5 Now the real work began. Planning succession. We wanted to nake sure that our efforts did not fizzle out since we were in so many places at so many times. Currently, we are looking for a head quarters facility. At this juncture, we would not be able to service our program advisors, our members and our community.

5) Key Strategy Elements:

i. Mobilizing Citizen Support:
Very important. We needed a following that believed in our ideas and would promote activism among our membership ranks.

ii. Generating Financial and Nonfinancial Resources:
Membership is a huge factor. Its what drives our revenue base. Now we have shown people that the same amount of money that they "dump" into a traditional gym can now be allocated us with better benefits and results beneficial not only to our members but our community as well.

iii. Establishing Relationships with Strategic Partnerships:
Not as important yet. We don't feel that we want to find ourselves dependent on the budgets of other companies. We would like to become self-sufficient right out the gate.

iv. Engaging and Managing Volunteers:
Not as important yet.

v. Developing Information and Spreading the Message:
Huge! Most of our inexpensive publication was directing people to our web and interacting with athletic groups. This was so "cheap" !

6) Increasing Self-sufficiency and Social Impact:
It adds value to our members by including them in our overall business plan. They are learning that they can not just walk away. We invest so much time and effort. However, what they do not know is if they do leave, they retain the knowledge. So they may not be involved in the program but they can still refer other people they come in contact with. Ultimately, they become lifetime resources for our group. In addition, being able to save on traditional "PAPER CAMPAIGNS" such as flyers and posters, by using the internet and its 400 million users, allows us to bank money that otherwise would have been used for such resource.

8) Organization Mission and Vision:
To assist traditionally disadvantaged youth who do not participate in organized sports due to financial constraints. Assisting us on our assault on combating youth obesity, which is quickly becoming an epidemic here at home.

Looking Forward to the Next Three Years:
We feel that are strategy will be core and non-reflective of other revenue streams and resources. We feel that our foundation will be so strong, that all we would like to accomplish is building upon that foundation.

Contact Information:
Lupe  Ortiz
Executive Director
The O Foundation
1001 South Main Street # D 202, MILPITAS, CA 9503
United States
Tel: 408-509-2308
Fax: 408-942-0325
Email: Lupster28@aol.com
Website: www.americanself-defense.com