Business Plan for Fiscal Year 2012
Hooligans for Peace:
Hibberd Kline
Kambiz Aminishakib
Ryan Beech
Vania Damanso
2/14/2012
One Island, two peoples, one sport, one goal.
Women’s Soccer for Peace (WSP)
Background
Cyprus, the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, has a total population of 1,120,489; of whom 77% are Greek Cypriots, 18% are Turkish Cypriots, and 5% are Christian minorities. Within Cyprus, each community maintains its own culture linked to the cultures of Greece or Turkey. There is little cultural interchange between the two ethnic groups, which live separate lives almost entirely disconnected from one another. Due to ethnic tensions, Turkey invaded and occupied the northern part of the island in 1974. Presently, the island is divided into four main parts:
1- The administrative area under the Republic of Cyprus.
2- The administrative area under the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
3- The United Nations administered buffer zone, known as the “Green Line,” separating the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Cyprus.
4- The British Sovereign Base Area of Akroti and Dhekelia, acquired by the United Kingdom under the treaty of establishment of the Republic.
Under the terms of the treaty of Lausanne in 1923, Cyprus became a British colony and in 1960, achieved its independence from the UK. In 1963, violence broke out between the ethnic Greek and Turkish communities. A year later, a UN peacekeeping force was deployed to relieve tensions. However, fighting continued and Cyprus became a divided country as Turkish Cypriots were pushed into small enclaves interspersed throughout the island. Tensions between the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots climaxed in 1974 after a Greek-government sponsored attempt to unite the island under Greek Cypriot control sparked a Turkish invasion of the northern part of the island. Since then, efforts by United Nations to politically reunify the country have failed. In 2004, after increased international pressure on Turkey, Cyprus was allowed to join the European Union. However, EU laws are not currently in effect in northern Cyprus. Since Cyprus joined the EU, political tensions between Cyprus and Turkey had subsided substantially.
Due to Cyprus’s history of ethnic strife, it is unlikely that true progress towards a lasting peace could be possible without the involvement of the citizens of both ethnic communities in the process of peace building. The promotion of cultural interactions between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots is a crucial first step in in eliminating the historical hatred by fostering understanding, dialogue and a sense of shared community.
Mission statement
WSP is a non-governmental and non-profit organization, which is based in the United States. WSP will promote the peace building process by emphasizing cultural exchange, dialogue, and interactions between Turkish Cypriots and Greece Cypriots. In furtherance of these goals, WSP will provide financial, managerial, and executive necessities for three-day soccer camps to be held in Cyprus triennially. WSP will encourage participation in the soccer camps from both Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot women age 18+. In addition to soccer instruction, drills and matches, the three day programs shall include workshops, seminars, health screening, and other activities designed to attract participants and facilitate positive exchange between the two ethnic groups.
Vision statement
WSP will work to facilitate heightened cultural understanding between different ethnic groups through social interaction. WSP will encourage women to play their crucial role in the process of peace building. In 2012, WSP plans to implement its pilot program on Cyprus and attract support for future expansion to include programs in other conflict zones.
Objectives, Goals, and Activities
Women’s Soccer for Peace has the objective of creating a model for fostering peace through citizen exchange as well as promoting women’s empowerment through solidarity, education and athletics. WSP’s central goal is to achieve scale while maintaining efficient organization operations and an effective program.
Objective 1: Garner widespread participation in the program from both communities
Goals/Activities:
A. Create realistic timeline for program creation and expansion
B. Formalize system to start program in a particular region in Cyprus
1. Understand year 1-3 goals
i. Due diligence (year 0)
ii. Local programs, relationship building (year 0-1)
iii. Execute country/regional wide plan based on extensive use of existing infrastructure (year 2-3)
C. Develop reporting systems to ensure we are on target
D. Continue with existing efforts and ongoing programs and support
Objective 2: Ensure program remains effective
Goals/Activities:
A. Assess outcomes of groups participating in the program
1. Work with evaluation group to:
i. Develop system for tracking outcomes
ii. Develop survey/outcomes to be tracked
B. Understand how we can train and support groups more effectively
1. Conduct interviews/surveys to obtain feedback on existing operations and act on suggestions
2. Improve materials
C. Understand how to expand/replicate the WSP program
1. What must remain the same?
2. Identify the conditions for groups to use the WSP program
i. Do these differ for different types of groups?
Objective 3: Ensure organization is sustainable
Goals/Activities:
A. Build infrastructure to:
1. Manage and account for funding
2. Run the program efficiently and effectively
B. Clarify boards role and responsibilities
C. Structure board to fit WSP’s current and future needs
1. Identify board’s strengths and weaknesses
2. Identify potential board members to address weaknesses
D. Create system for collaboration with larger organizations/ governments
1. Create team to explore process, advantages and disadvantages
2. Create process to make rapid decisions about collaborations
Objective 4: Expand WSP to other territories/countries facing ethnic or religious tensions
Goals/Activities:
A. Identify full-time person to direct all aspects of this program
B. Raise seed money to fund initial costs of program
C. Develop strategy/time-line for:
1. Corporate Sponsors
2. WSP Ambassadors
3. Community recruiting
4. Curriculum development
Funding:
WSP shall apply for grants from a variety of sources including; the United Nations, the European Union, and third-party nations (excluding Greece and Turkey). WSP shall also apply for sponsorships from organizations such as; FIFA, Adidas, Nike and Coca-Cola. An ideal sponsorship would provide financing, donated equipment, and would secure the participation of professional soccer players in order to boost publicity. Additional donations from private donors shall primarily be handled via WSP’s website using PayPal. However, WSP shall accept donations by mail at its Cyprus office and its Syracuse post-office box. WSP shall minimize expenditures by holding activities at universities and public facilities such as community centers. WSP shall request the use of such facilities free of charge.
Budget:
Day-to day operating costs shall include program participants’ transportation, room and board and potentially the use of event venues. In order to boost participation, the program shall be entirely free of charge to participants.
Annual Administration Costs:Personnel / $240,000
Communications / $1,500
Publicity / $24,000
Rent/Maintenance Cyprus office / $12,000
Miscellaneous Start-up Costs / $8,000
Total Admin Costs: / $285,500
Triennial Program Costs[1]:
Room and Board / $60,000[2]
Transportation / $1,100
Event Costs / $10,000
Total Cost per Program:[3] / $71,100
Total Estimated Annual Program Costs: / $213,300
Total Estimated Annual Expenditures: / $498,800
Operations and Marketing:
WSP’s number one goal in its day-to-day operations is to deliver optimum benefits while maintaining a small and efficient structure with low operation costs. To this end, WSP will rely on its decentralized structure, its highly motivated personnel and its strong marketing team.
WSP’s decentralized structure will allow it to minimize costs. To this end, WSP will not have a conventional home office. WSP’s management and marketing team will work from home, eliminating the need for a central office in the United States. Domestic US communications will be carried out via cell-phone, email, Skype or other cheap electronic means of communications. Company mail shall be delivered to a post office box in Syracuse, New York. Communications between U.S.-based personnel and Cyprus-based personnel shall be carried out largely via email and Skype. Company travel expenses shall be kept to a minimum. WSP will maintain a minimal office in Cyprus, which will consist initially of a front desk, a small, multipurpose room with a table and a storage room for soccer equipment. WSP will undertake the requisite research to ensure that its Cyprus office is adequate to ensure safety, thrift and efficiency.
WSP will rely heavily on passionate, unpaid interns and volunteers. WSP will offer internships in Cyprus to both graduate and undergraduate students and will offer a limited number of internships to graduate students in the U.S. WSP’s Cyprus operations will be coordinated by a handful of local staff and volunteers with the assistance of unpaid interns who may be drawn from both Cyprus and foreign countries. WSP’s paid staff in Cyprus will be proficient in English, Turkish and Greek. At a minimum, all WSP personnel based in Cyprus will be proficient in Greek and Turkish in order to facilitate smooth day-to-day operations and to help ensure the optimum potential for citizen exchange. U.S.-based interns will assist in marketing and will provide technical assistance. In order to minimize expenditures, WSP will rely on the donated expertise and resources of other organizations to the greatest extent practical.
WSP’s marketing team will initially consist of one employee located in Cyprus and two employees located in Syracuse. The Syracuse-based marketing staff shall devote their efforts largely to seeing that WSP’s financial goals and obligations are met. The Cyprus-based marketing employee shall focus on publicizing WSP’s message in Cyprus as well as attracting volunteers and program participants. Marketing staff in both the U.S. and Cyprus shall be assisted by unpaid interns and volunteers as needed.
Concluding Statement:
WSP seeks to ease ethnic tensions between the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots, foster inter-group communication and contact, and involve women in the on-going peace-building and conflict resolution process. WSP is highly dedicated to ensuring that its programs and projects follow the principles of integrity and financial transparency.
[1] Calculated for 200 participants
[2] $300 per participant
[3] Actual expenses will vary depending upon such factors as sponsors and donations.