INGO 50000 Webster University, Leiden Orion Garo Dt.

11/08/11

Care USA Case Study

(problems faced and decisions/actions to be taken) Background CARE USA is one of the 12 CARE humanitarian, relief and development, non-governmental organizations that operate around the world and make up CARE International. (Other organizations include CARE Australia, Germany, Japan, France, etc.) CARE is an acronym that initially (when the CARE was founded in 1945 following the 2nd World War) stood for Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe. This pretty much implies the organizations mission; that of providing relief, assistance and poverty alleviation means for communities in the wartorn European countries. In 1993 the organization changed its name to become the Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere. The name was changed to better reflect the global nature of the organization, and the repositioning of its mission and goals in the face of a worldwide need to effectively tackle poverty and gender inequality. Since 2006, the CARE USA president is Helene Gayle (picture above); she replaced Peter Bell by becoming the first woman and the first Afro-American to lead the organization. A series of structural changes were crucial for the organizations ensuing purpose when she first took the presidency, and this was no easy task to handle. Problems faced The organizations traditional view regarding poverty was the absence of necessary goods and services for a healthy life food, water, health care, etc. Later on this view expanded to include the absence of assets and opportunities as well land to produce food, access to markets, etc. Overtime it was recognized that the real sources of exclusion and social injustice were the absence of food and the lack of access to basic education. The challenge for the organization was to face these issues

accordingly and to provide assistance to communities through a new approach for poverty alleviation the rights-based approach, which was adopted in 2000. In line with this approach: [1] poverty did not come naturally, and was rooted in political and economic decisions, [2] structural and societal causes ought to be identified to tackle poverty and marginalization, [3] relations between those who exert and those who do not ought to be addressed, [4] a means of strengthening peoples capacities to claim and exercise their rights was needed, [5] the duties of authorities to the service receivers needed to be clarified. The rights-based approach became a tool to address all these issues. Other problems included the concern that the majority of the organizations revenue growth came from the direct support of the US Government. Also, that unaided awareness for CARE in the US stood at an extremely low 2%, one of the lowest awareness percentages with regard to humanitarian organizations operating in the States. In addition, as soon as Gayle took the organizations presidency in 2006, her view was to revise the original plan of not putting too much emphasis on organizations new campaign launch I am Powerful, since this could send a message that CARE focuses only on women and girls, when in fact the organizations aim is to help communities as a whole to overcome poverty and social injustice. Decisions and actions taken The re-branding and repositioning process started when Peter Bell was president. The brainstorming procedure involved high management structures, a marketing services firm, and partners of the organization. The final conclusion, after evaluating several potential alternatives, was to shift the organizations focus explicitly on mothers/women. The rationale behind this decision was that even in past projects women and girls had been a major drive of CAREs humanitarian work, but had not really been viewed as an emblem of CAREs identity. Such an emblem was exactly

the organizations missing link compared to partner institutions in the humanitarian field. Furthermore, global statistics showed a strong connection between living conditions and social status of women and poverty in general. As Helene Gayle has put it in her own words more often than not, the face of poverty is a woman. Three of the most compelling indicators of this connection between poverty and women are: [1] out of 1.4 billion people living on just over 1$ a day, 70% are women and girls, [2] women do 2/3 of the worlds work, but earn only 1/10 of the income, and [3] women produce of the worlds food but own only 1% of its land. (Gayle, 2008) A platform to deliver the message of the organizations repositioning was needed, and I am Powerful was launched in 2006. The marketing plan developed upon this platform required first and foremost to build CAREs awareness and move constituents towards engagement with CARE. It also required focusing on measurement and learning, stretching invested dollars through earned media, partnerships and negotiation, collaborating with celebrities, etc. When Helen Gayle took over CAREs presidency she strived to also develop a new strategic plan for the organization; a plan which was focused on long term sustainability rather than short term service delivery. The areas which the plan capitalized on were: [1] women and girls, [2] long-term commitment to communities, [3] programming distinctiveness, [4] enhanced advocacy, [5] measurement and impact, [6] innovation, and [7] partnership. In order for its programs to have maximum sustainable impact on poverty and injustice, CARE designed them based on the theory of change, which in turn capitalized on three major elements: [1] developing human capability and providing economic opportunity, [2] focusing on marginalized women and girls, and [3] addressing social injustice and inequality. The strategic plan included also the notion of signature programs vanguard programs which were designed to provide solutions to problems over a clearly defined period of time. CAREs signature programs are called: [1] Power Within, [2] Mothers Matter, and [3] Access Africa.

The efficacy of CAREs decisions and actions Based on the achievements and accomplishments that were noticed after the organizations re-branding and restructuring took place, we can conclude that CAREs transformation resulted very successful. The most important thing that the organization gained after its repositioning was its own identity, which was practically missing in the past. By focusing its poverty tackling efforts on women and girls around the less developed world, CARE USA gained nationwide recognition: its unaided awareness quadrupled to over 8% (from an initial 2%) in only 15 months since the start of repositioning in 2006; its revenue went up to $8.84 million, exceeding the organizations objective by 600%. These figures are indicators of a very successful repositioning and re-branding strategy, chosen very wisely and attentively, which was able to deliver risen brand awareness and increased financial support in a time of economic hardship in the United States.

Works Cited Gayle, H. (2008, September 18). Unlocking the Power of Women: CARE. (CARE USA, Interviewer) Retrieved from: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLf7khxZEaM>.