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Sports inspire: a crowd-funding community for sports philanthropy
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Sports inspire: a crowd-funding community for sports philanthropy
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Content
SPORTS INSPIRE:
A CROWD-FUNDING COMMUNITY FOR SPORTS PHILANTHROPY
By
Paige Alexandria Battcher
__________________________________________________________________________________________
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
SPECIALIZED JOURNALISM
May 2013
Copyright 2013 Paige Alexandria Battcher
Table of Contents
ABSTRACT! 2
LINES OF INQUIRY! 4
Why do I think Sports Inspire is a good idea?! 4
What’s the elevator pitch?! 5
What’s good about niche social networks?! 5
Whom have I talked to and do they think it’s a good idea?! 6
BUSINESS PLAN! 9
Business Description! 9
Industry Overview! 10
Competitive Analysis! 12
Marketing Strategy! 13
Operations! 14
Financial Plan! 16
WEBSITE! 18
............................................................................................. Interviews! 20
....................................................................... Outstanding Questions! 28
......................................................................................... Bibliography! 29
1
ABSTRACT
Each year thousands of everyday people conquer athletic feats for causes bigger than themselves. This
paper examines a business concept called Sports Inspire, exploring the ability to motivate and harness
this audience, become a profitable business, and successfully utilize the tools of social networking. Sports
Inspire is a journalistic endeavor that harnesses video storytelling to promote philanthropy.
This paper is divided into three parts. Part one develops and addresses lines of inquiry. Essentially, it ex-
plores the theoretical ideas behind Sports Inspire.
Part two is a business plan for Sports Inspire.
Part three discusses screenshots of the prototype website for SportsInspire.org.
2
LINES OF INQUIRY
Evaluating the business concept
3
LINES OF INQUIRY
Why do I think Sports Inspire is a good idea?
In March of 2009 I heard the news. I was coming home from Thailand after my year teaching English
there as a Fulbright scholar. My younger sister needed her fourth open-heart surgery. My sister, Grace,
eight years my junior, was randomly born with a severe heart defect. She’s the bravest person I know.
She was 17 at the time, and I remember sitting with her at the table at home. I asked her what she thought
if I did the IronMan triathlon in her honor. I suggested that together we could raise money and awareness
for heart defects.
I went out with friends that night. When I got home, my parents told me in private that Grace had been
crying because she thought it was brave of me to consider this feat. She knew, after all, that the race was
dangerous. IronMan triathlons are the longest competitive tri circuit in the country. Competitors have
been known to have heart attacks, kidney failure or heat exhaustion during the 140-mile course.
I knew I must do it. Imagine for a moment, missing days of highschool, because you need a surgery to
keep your heart pumping blood throughout your body. The surgery lasts 27 hours. Doctors cut an inci-
sion down the length of her chest, then, put her body on a bypass machine. At which point they remove
her aortic artery –the main artery in your body which carries blood to every inch of you, expect for your
lungs, which are fed by the pulmonary artery. Then, they graft on a donor artery, patched up her tricus-
pid valve, and sewed her back together.
What’s it like to flirt so closely with death as a teenager? Only my sister could say. But, instead she fo-
cuses on the positives in life. Just so you know, she’s doing amazing lately. She’s a freshman at Savannah
College of Art and Design, studying fashion.
Nine months after her surgery, and many miles of training later, I completed my first IronMan triathlon. I
finished the 140-mile swim-bike-run in 14.5 hours. Grace and I raised over $15,000 to fund research
grants for heart defect repair, administered by the Children’s Heart Foundation.
It was a family and community affair. My brother, Sam, designed our Team Grace t-shirts and helped us
with the logo for our self-coined IronHeart Campaign. Grace and I found six local entrepreneurs to spon-
sor our effort. We organized a benefit concert with some local musicians and the help of a friendly chef.
And, we raised money from anyone who would listen to our story. We didn’t have a website. But, we
joined a program called Janus Charity Challenge (JCC) –where the top Louisville IronMan fundraisers
gained award money for the charity of their choice. We used the JCC online platform to make a profile
page and solicit online donations. Half way through the campaign, we filmed and edited a short video
which tripled the rate of donations we received.
Sports Inspire! Lines of Inquiry
4
We learned a few things: 1) that all the fundraising tools in the world are nothing without a community to
surround you, 2) that our video was a big help in our efforts, and, 3) that anyone with the right passion
can achieve what we did. I’m forever grateful for all the help we received, and for my sister inspiring me
to inspire others one mile at a time.
What’s the elevator pitch?
Sports Inspire is an online social network for everyday athletes who raise money for charity. It is video-
centric. Think Kickstarter meets Team in Training, which is an organization that provides coaches to ath-
letes who run marathons, when they raise money for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Sports Inspire believes athletes have a quality choice in a non-profit that they’re passionate about --one
which encourages them to inspire others. And, we’ll also expand the number of sports included in this
market: from marathon, to climbing Mount Kenya, to traversing the U.S. on bike, to becoming an Olym-
pian.
The market for sports philanthropy is about $50 million annually. Sports Inspire hopes to capture 10% of
the market, or $5 million. Sports Inspire only makes money if charities make money. That’s a charitable
relationship. The revenue stream is three-fold: 1) administrative fees on donations, 2) digital ads for sport-
ing events and international tourism, and 3) Corporate Social Responsibility funds.
So, what inspires you? What social cause encourages you to train hours every week to accomplish an ath-
letic challenge? If you can answer these questions, then Sports Inspire is a community for you.
What’s good about niche social networks?
Sports Inspire caters to a niche audience. The goal is to serve an engaged audience as opposed to a wide-
spread, thinly loyal audience. The Columbia Journalism Review has a great report called “The Story So
Far” (report.pdf) that evaluates the future of media.
1
The authors interviewed dozens of website execu-
tives to find that in many cases, chasing large audiences rather than deeply engaged audiences, leads to
lower advertising revenues.
The Columbia review goes on to describe the success of niche branding achieved by Gawker. Websites in
Gawker’s network including Gizmodo (for gadget lovers), Deadspin (for sports fans), and Jalopnik (for
car buffs), are already seeing success by touting a metric it calls “branded traffic.” Branded traffic is de-
Sports Inspire! Lines of Inquiry
5
1
Grueksin, Bill, Ava Seave, and Lucas Graves. The Story So Far: What We Know About the Business of Digital Journalism.
Columbia Journalism Review, Tow Center for Digital Journalism. Accessed online:
http://cjrarchive.org/img/posts/report/The_Story_So_Far.pdf
fined by people who bookmark the company’s site or arrive at them by searching specifically for the site
name --by typing “Deadspin” into a search engine for example.
2
Nowadays, digital advertisements are everywhere. With so many digital ads divided among millions of
websites, advertisers can demand lower prices. To counteract this trend, the more niche-oriented sites
benefit from “branding” advertising on the web --that is ads designed to draw positive attention to a
company’s name and image, rather than trigger a direct response to an offer for a product or service. In
other words, Sports Inspire will solicit advertisers who seek to benefit from their company’s association
with our brand name. Branding advertising is powerful.
Outside of revenue possibilities, scholars say niches are the future of media. In Chris Anderson’s book,
“The Long Tail,” he describes how digital media shifts the economics of retail. The supply and demand
curves of yesterday look nothing like the “long tail” charts of today. Essentially, the long tail stretches out
across all niche products. The data shows that even the most obscure of offerings (which are too expen-
sive for brick and mortar shops to stock), are picked up by niche communities. Thus, the demand for al-
most anything on the web, where niche communities aggregate themselves, and shelf space is virtually
free. Anderson says in his book, “We are turning from a mass market back into a niche nation, defined
now not by our geography but by our interests.”
3
Whom have I talked to and do they think it’s a good idea?
I’ve interviewed two athletes who race for charity, the CEO of the biggest competitor website, called
Crowdrise, and the charitable operations chair of the LA Marathon. I will use what I’ve learned from
these people in my quest to develop Sports Inspire. See “Interviews” at the end of this document for our
complete conversations. A few things stuck-out thematically in these interviews:
1. Sports Inspire is a relevant idea. It unites athletes so they don’t have to commission their own web-
sites. Most profile services out there today are not great. Tracey Schuster with LA Marathon said that
the newest and better looking sites (like Crowdrise) sell themselves directly to the event and their
participants quite easily. Thus, Sports Inspire must create a strong community which incentivizes ath-
letes to join rather than fundraise from their own websites. Finally it must be reliable and look good
enough to draw in the events themselves.
2. Video is important. Robert Wolfe, CEO of Crowdrise, said it is very important but they can’t seem to
find ways to harness and it’s a top priority for them. Both athletes I interviewed, Andy Holder and
Sports Inspire! Lines of Inquiry
6
2
Grueksin, Bill, Ava Seave, and Lucas Graves. The Story So Far: What We Know About the Business of Digital Journalism.
Columbia Journalism Review, Tow Center for Digital Journalism. Chapter 2, accessed online:
http://www.cjr.org/the_business_of_digital_journalism/chapter_two_traffic_patterns.php
3
Anderson, Chris. The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More. 2006.
E.J. Scott, said they used videos that friends made for them to drive donations. But, in both cases they
had help creating that video. Therefore, Sports Inspire will need to provide better tools than its com-
petitors in helping athletes create quality video content.
3. Even the greatest platform on the market means nothing if you can’t sustain your endeavors. Andy
Holder, a ten year veteran in running marathons and Ironman triathlons for Diabetes awareness, said
that at a certain point, you just burn out. So, while Sports Inspire caters to campaigns that include
intense endurance events, it’s important to also foster smaller athletic achievements.
Sports Inspire! Lines of Inquiry
7
BUSINESS PLAN
8
BUSINESS PLAN
Business Description
OBJECTIVE
Sports Inspire.org offers athletes a platform to fundraise for the charity of their choice.
The basic concept is modeled after the Janus Charity Challenge (JCC). Until recently the JCC gave Iron-
man Triathlon competitors online profiles, from which to fundraise for self-chosen charities. These pro-
files are hosted by the company Kintera, which is owned by Blackbaud. Their profiles allow only for text
and two photos, plus they’re aesthetically outdated and most are without social media plugins.
SportsInspire.org’s customizable profiles will be modern, sleek and differentiated in three ways:
1. high-quality short video as a key instrument for fundraising
2. Facebook and social networking tools that encourage participation
3. opportunities to engage with larger corporations and events
GOALS
The primary goal is to inspire people to make athletic and philanthropic achievements in tandem. Many
people are doing so already, as this is a $50 million industry. We will give them better tools, including:
video production assistance, fundraising email templates, and in-person coaching. Our second goal is to
build a recognizable brand, especially within the marathon and triathlon markets. Our third goal is to
expand the field of sports philanthropy to a wide-range of sports.
SERVICES
The Sports Inspire social network will offer athletes:
! CHOICE. An athlete can raise money for any 501(c)(3) charity he or she choose in order to connect
their race efforts to a cause that’s meaningful to them. They also have the freedom to compete in any ath-
letic event.
! COMMUNITY. There are no fundraising minimums. So anyone is welcome to join. Every fund-
raising effort is valued, no matter how large or how small, as each dollar makes a difference to those in
need. Sports Inspire will foster a community that motivates its participants to keep on keeping on.
! REWARDS. Athletes are competitive. We’ll offer a challenge to athletes by providing prize money
to the charities of the top fundraisers. Our partners will advertise with us through tangible services
meant to inspire (gyms/memberships, events/registration, sports wear/coupons).
Sports Inspire! Business Plan
9
! BEYOND. You don’t have to worry about starting from scratch after each event. Profiles will re-
main and can be easily updated to show achievements and fundraising milestones over time: a philan-
thropic narrative for life.
REVENUE
Sports Inspire is a social enterprise. The beauty of its revenue stream is this: We don’t make money unless
charities benefit. The primary revenue stream is a 5-10% administrative fees, which comes from process-
ing online donations. Other sources of revenue include: digital ad sales (sportswear, sporting events, etc.),
corporate social responsibility funds, and partnerships with sporting event organizers and brands.
Industry Overview
Croudsourcing.org is the primary industry analyst website. It commissioned the largest survey of crowd-
funding platforms (CFPs) to date; including comprehensive responses from 135 CFPs. Their findings in-
dicate substantial growth of the industry, as well as opportunities and threats.
4
The number of CFPs
grows between 30-60% each year, with the largest increase estimated in 2012, when the number of CFPs
rose from 452 to 536.
Geographically, North America & Europe are the market leaders, raising over $1.5 billion and contribut-
ing to over one million campaigns in 2011. North America hosted approximately 532,000 campaigns and
Europe hosted approximately 654,000 campaigns. There is also significant growth in South America &
Australia/New Zealand markets. However, growth in Asia & African markets is slow.
Globally, CFPs produced an estimated $2.8 billion in revenue in 2012. This figure is 91% higher than a
year prior, up from $1.4 billion.
There are four kinds of crowdfunding models: 1) equity-base, 2) lending-based, 3) reward-based, and 4)
donation-based.
According to Crowdsourcing.org’s report, reward-based is the largest crowfunding category, while
equity-based is the fastest growing. The growth in numbers of CFPs between 2010 and 2011 in these cate-
gories is as follows: donation-based 41%, reward-based 79%, lending-based 50%, and equity-based 114%.
Sports Inspire! Business Plan
10
4
Crowdfunding Industry Report: Market Trends, Composition and Crowdfunding Platforms. Accessed online:
http://www.crowdsourcing.org/document/crowdfunding-industry-report-abridged-version-market-trends-composition-and-crowdf
unding-platforms/14277
Equity-based and Lending-based
Equity-based models are exemplified through sties like “Shark Tank.” Donations on these websites are
funded in return for equity, or loan repayment with interest, in a company or project. Equity-based and
lending-based models are most effective for digital goods such as: applications or computer games, films,
music, or literature. More than 80% of the campaigns in this category raise above $25,000.
Why are equity-based CFPs the fastest growing category? Many point to the JOBS Act. In April 2012,
President Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, known as the JOBS Act. It encourages
equity-based crowdfuning, by allowing the SEC to outline rules for internet donations by non-accredited
investors. However, the SEC has yet to issue these rules, and some believe they may be too cumbersome
to support sustainable growth in this category; meaning, some sites will be unable to hurdle the legal
framework.
Donation-based and Reward-based
Reward-based models are exemplified through sites like Kickstarter. Donations are funded for incentives
and rewards. Donation-based models exemplified through sites like Indiegogo, where donations are sim-
ply donations. Reward-based and donation-based models are most effective for campaigns that appeal to
funders’ personal beliefs and passions perform best (e.g., environment, community, faith, charity). On
average, these campaigns generate less than $5,000.
Most crowdfunding campaigns in this category last an average of 10 weeks and take up to three weeks to
raise a quarter of total funds. According to the Crowdsourcing.org report: “The majority of donation-
based campaigns, 63%, use PayPal as a payment method.” And also, “In contrast to popular belief that
the first 25% of funds take longer to raise than the last 25%, our data shows it takes 2.84 weeks on aver-
age, across all categories, to raise the first 25% of the funding goal and 3.18 weeks on average to raise
the last 25% of the funding goal.”
5
What this means for Sports Inspire
The industry is growing and crowded, so Sports Inspire must create a high-quality, reliable platform that
stands out from the rest. Sports Inspire falls under both the donation-based and reward-based models. In
order to compete in the industry, our site must differentiate from our competitors. To do so, Sports In-
spire will cater to a niche of people who put their sweat on the line for charity. We cater to a sports niche.
Finally, given the size of average campaigns in this category, we must attract a large number of athletes
and partners. And, for those campaigns, we must develop tools that emphasize a ten week campaign,
within which the first and last three weeks are highly important.
Sports Inspire! Business Plan
11
5
Crowdfuning Industry Report: Market Trends, Composition and Crowdfunding Platforms. Accessed as a review by
Brickstarter.org: http://brickstarter.org/a-timely-global-survey-of-crowdfunding-platforms/
Competitive Analysis
The leading peer-to-peer competitor is Kintera, but they play a very behind-the-scenes role in the market.
CrowdRise is perhaps the most eminent competitor and is diversified in multiple niches, including celeb-
rity, art, sports, and environment. Kickstarter is certainly the most recognizable of competitors, but Kick-
starter manages fundraising campaigns that fail (almost one out of every two). They have cut-off dates
and minimum goals for fundraising. Sports Inspire will not. Any campaign total is worthy. Team in
Training is the leading competitor in terms of building physical community. They provide training and
coaching to athletes who raise a minimum amount for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Sports In-
spire will train athletes while they raise money for the charity of their choice, with no minimums in place.
Instead, Sports Inspire will create incentives for fundraising milestones (i.e. at $4,000 raised, Sports In-
spire will provide you with a nutritionist appointment or a private trainer for an hour).
Below is a finer look at each competitor.
Crowdrise.com
This is the most closely-linked concept to Sports Inspire. It has partnered with the Network for Good and
Amazon Payments to help event organizers and individuals solicit donations for charity. Network for
Good is a 501(c)(3) which, in legal terms, is treated as the “donor advisor fund.” Network for Good col-
lects the donations and passes them on to the the appropriate charities, minus any transaction fees.
6
Amazon Payments is a system used in place of Network for Good in instances where the charity insists.
The processing fees on average are just under 5% which is shared between CrowdRise and Network for
Good. In some cases they charge a monthly fee to establish a charity profile. Prices vary and are complex.
Janus Charity Challenge
Since 2001, the program has helped raise more than $53 million for hundreds of charities, each one hand-
picked by athletes. Janus is a finance company. They facilitate the Janus Charity Challenge as part of their
Corporate Social Responsibility. Their charity challenge was most typically associated with IronMan tri-
athlons until recently, when the IronMan Foundation took over this function. Currently, the JCC is limited
only to athletes participating in the following events: Life Time Minneapolis Triathlon, Life Time Chicago
Triathlon, Herbalife Lost Angeles Traithlon and Toyota US Open in Dallas, TX.
7
Sports Inspire! Business Plan
12
6
http://www.crowdrise.com/about/terms
7
http://www.januscharitychallenge.com
Kickstarter.com
Kickstarter profiles are known for their interactive rewards-based model. In three years (from April 2008
to April 2011), visitors to Kickstarter's site pledged $53 million for 20,371 projects. Of that, 7,496 projects
were successfully funded, collecting $40 million. Kickstarter takes a 5% cut off the money raised, which
means its revenue to date is just $2 million.
8
Kintera, Inc. (Blackbaud)
Kintera was acquired by Blackbaud for $46 million in 2008. Collaboratively, this company provides soft-
ware and services to help nonprofit organizations manage their fundraising activities. Kintera generates
revenue by taking a percentage of each donation and by charging monthly maintenance fees for operating
web sites. The principal products offered by the company are the "Friends Asking Friends" fundraising
program and "Kintera Sphere," a web-based service providing nonprofit organizations with the tools to
put together a complete marketing infrastructure. Kintera serves more than 15,000 accounts in the non-
profit, government, and corporate sectors. Kintera is based in San Deigo, with 473 employees.
9
Team in Training
This company supports athletes training for pre-determined marathons and triathlons across the country.
Provides coaching, group training, and fundraising support to its participants. Participants have a fund-
raising minimum which must be met before race day, or they agree to personally donate the remaining
balance. All fundraising efforts benefit The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Marketing Strategy
Our audience is wide-ranging and can be understood in the following four quadrants:
1. Athletes (target professional and amateur athletes): Who are our athletes? They’re anyone and every-
one. These athletes will be competing and looking for sponsors as well as an opportunity to make a dif-
ference through their chosen sport.
! How will we reach them? Social media channels (primarily direct email marketing and Facebook
outreach), partnerships (leveraging charities and sports brand networks), features and advertis-
ing in relevant publications (SI, running magazines, health and fitness magazines). By setting up
booths at sporting events we can reach a wide variety of athletes that are already very committed
to their sport (some who already fundraise, some who have been thinking about it and others
who are open to the idea but have never really done anything about it)
2. Citizens (target upper middle class people with money to donate): These people will be the athlete’s
friends and families. The idea is, our athletes will be so motivated and driven to make an impact through
Sports Inspire! Business Plan
13
8
http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-04-28/tech/30065679_1_kickstarter-funding-projects#ixzz2IZy1VB6Q
9
http://www.answers.com/topic/kintera-inc#ixzz29PMpu6bq
their training and competition and this enthusiasm will become contagious. They will tap their network
for donations. In doing so interested people will visit their profile and donate (maybe some of those peo-
ple will be so moved by the cause that they will join our pool of athletes themselves).
! How will we reach them? Social media channels (ours as well as our athletes’ social media) as !
! well as features and advertising in relevant publications, and face-to-face marketing.
3. Charities (partners and potential advertisers): in order for our cause to be truly impactful we must
form strong and long lasting relationships with large and medium sized charities. These partnerships will
solidify our credibility as well as drive some revenue by advertising on our home page.
! How will we reach them? Conferences, individual pitches, social media channels.
4. Sports retailers and sportswear brands (secondary audience, partners and potential advertisers): If
we get a big name sportswear partner (Nike, Adidas, ASICS) this would further our credibility and drive
revenue through advertising on our network as well as theirs.
! How will we reach them? Conferences, individual pitches, social media channels.
Operations
Sports Inspire is a nimble operation. The management team is small, and the Board of Directors are all
volunteers. The following functions are the primary day-to-day operations of the business. They are di-
vided into three areas: media production, building clientele, and generating other revenue.
MEDIA PRODUCTION
In the first few years after launch, Sports Inspire will function as a media production entity: meaning, we
will bring our equipment, film, and edit, short videos for our clients (athletes). We’ll do so at first, free of
charge. Then Sports Inspire will develop tutorial videos to help our community understand the compo-
nents of a good video (i.e. should show images of you in training, shouldn’t be more than 3 minutes, etc.).
At which point, we will monitor user-generated video and make improvements where necessary. We
may, in the long-run use our production arm to generate addition revenues. All talent and equipment for
producing videos exists in-house already.
Why is this so important? Video is a key component of a good fundraising campaign. In terms of crowd-
funding, people are 50% more likely to donate to a campaign on Kickstarter if the profile contains a video.
Video is also important to advertisers. When Public Broadcasting System’s (PBS) executives were finally
able to key in on who their most engaged users were, through analytics, they chose video as the tool to
Sports Inspire! Business Plan
14
further engage that audience. That translated into revenue. Ads embedded in video sold for three times
as much as other ads on the site; $30 per thousand viewers for video ads.
10
BUILDING CLIENTELE
Since the bulk of our audience is in the marathon and triathlon arenas (for now), we plan to do a lot of
personal outreach at the expos leading up to these races. This will be essential to growing our audience in
the very beginning --along with direct pitches to the events themselves.
Website development & services
A quality website is essential. Our online community is the starting point for our off-line community, so it
must be comprehensive and welcoming. It’s essential that it seamlessly integrates with Facebook (and
Twitter, etc.). Each fundraising campaign should allow for Facebook comments, which would be simulta-
neously loaded on people’s “newsfeeds.” Plus, we envision Facebook newsfeeds as saying something
like: “Amy supported Andy’s Marathon for Diabetes on SportsInspire,” with a link for you to figure out
how to do the same.
Once you’re on the site, here are the key services we offer:
Start a Fundraiser: An easy, self-guided process for you to start your own fundraiser.
Join a Team: If you’re not inclined to do it alone, we allow you to join someone else’s cause.
Sponsor an Athlete: A video-based gallery where you can find and support what others are doing.
Find an Event: Partnership with Active.com to embed their calendar, and athlete rewards in return
Buy Some Swag: E-commerce partnerships with sportswear brands, and Sports Inspire gear.
Member Training Calendar: Access for the top fundraisers to find training meet-ups with coaches.
About/Contact/Customer Service: Easily accessible information for those who need more help.
Coaching and training
We encourage local underemployed certified trainers to contract with us. They help support our most
promising campaigns by supporting athletes reach their goals. We will maintain a community database of
available coaches and trainers for hire. And, as a reward to the top fundraising campaigns, we’ll provide
them coaches for free (up to a certain level of engagement).
GENERATING OTHER REVENUE
At Sports Inspire, because the bulk of revenue comes from a processing fee on donations, our primary
concern is with building a strong community. So, while sales are important, digital ads are not our pri-
mary concern. What’s more important to revenue is partnerships. There are two types of potential part-
Sports Inspire! Business Plan
15
10
Columbia Journalism Review: The future of media is here. Chapter Two: Traffic Patterns. Bill Grueskin, Ava Seave,
and Lucas Graves. http://www.cjr.org/the_business_of_digital_journalism/chapter_two_traffic_patterns.php
nerships which we will pursue. First, we will identify corporations which have access Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) funds to spend. We’ll approach them about getting their employees involved. Their
employees get healthy doing any sport for any cause. It’s a win-win for a large company to have health-
ier, happier employees, and to give their CSR funds to a broad range of social causes. They will be asked
to also host a competition --because athletes are competitive. Essentially, the top fundraising campaigns
of their employees will win bonus donations from the company. Finally, we will pursue sponsorships
with sports brands, to run different packaged campaigns, news articles, competitions with their unique
followers. For example, Nike might choose to sponsor. They could host a Nike+ challenge for the thou-
sands of people who use Nike+ to record their runs. Isn’t it time their community engaged more with the
world in philanthropic ways?
Event planning
Events are a lucrative source of income, if done right. Our events will range from music concerts (where
door entrance and a percentage of drink sales goes to the featured campaigns of that event), to sports
events, to trade-shows. Event planning will be a function of the business that is developed after our
audience is amassed.
Financial Plan
The market for sports philanthropy is about $50 million annually. Sports Inspire hopes to capture 10% of
the market, or $5 million. As for the revenue stream, Sports Inspire only makes money if charities make
money. That’s a charitable relationship. The revenue stream is three-fold: 1) administrative fees on dona-
tions, 2) digital ads for sporting events and international tourism, and 3) Corporate Social Responsibility
funds.
Administrative fees
On average most competitors process 5-10% of donations as administrative fees for their companies. This
will be Sports Inspire’s largest source of revenue. It is driven both by the quantity of members and the
quality of their fundraising efforts.
Digital advertisements
Digital ad space will be sold once the site is fully operational. Advertisers will be targeted from the fol-
lowing industries: sports wear, sports equipment, sporting events, and international tourism.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds
CSR funds are set aside by large corporations for philanthropy. Sports Inspire will encourage large cor-
porations to use CSR funds on our site. In return we will host competitions for their employees to train
for a sporting event while raising money for the charity of their choice.
Sports Inspire! Business Plan
16
Home
About
WEBSITE
Design ideas and prototype screenshots for www.SportsInspire.org
Sports Inspire! Website
17
WEBSITE
Sample Profile Page
Community News
Sports Inspire! Website
18
Competitors Websites Used For Inspiration
CrowdRise.com homepage: slider at
top, campaigns highlighted beneath
by category.
Kickstarter.com homepage: featured
campaign front and center, bigger focus on
video, highlighted campaigns beneath by loca-
tion (picks up on your city of residence).
Hulu.com homepage, slider demands attention,
beneath highlights shows that are your historic
go-to’s and shows featured videos in rows.
Ideal Profile Page
Sports Inspire! Website
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Initial sketch of sample profile page. Personally sketched
on Dec. 12, 2012. You can see that video is the focal point of
the profile. Below a short video (3-5 minutes) is the text
narrative of initiative. Below that are “3 Ways to Pledge,”
which are incentivized goodies (i.e. campaign t-shirt, etc.)
that certain level donations will receive.
The sidebar includes a donations meter (money raised vs.
goal). Beneath that is a list of milestones, races, and events
completed by the athlete. Further down is the interactive
sidebar section where benefactor charities collaborate with
video and text.
The bottom right sidebar element is a Facebook social
plugin. Another interesting plug-in would be for training
updates (i.e. Nike+ training logs).
Interviews
Interview with Andy Holder
via phone, February 12, 2013
Andy Holder is the founder of the IronAndy Foundation. He is a competitive triathlete, a husband and
father of two. Andy was diagnosed with Type I diabetes at age 36; a disease that is normally diagnosed in
children. His body produces no insulin. Through sports and speaking engagements, Andy fundraises.
The Iron Andy Foundation underwrites scholarships, for kids living with diabetes so they can attend
summer camps throughout the country.
Did you ever use Kintera profiles to fundraise?
I did my first IronMan in Lake Placid in 2006 and I used them. That’s really how this all started. I found
the Janus Charity Challenge and that was really the starting point. I think I raised a little less than $20,000
for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. I haven’t looked at the JCC since 2006, but I do remember it
being a little static. I would think that if you have the means to do your own website, it’s much more
beneficial.
So you started your own website?
Yes, but I didn’t pay for my initial website. I was sponsored by Good Neighbor Pharmacy, so they man-
aged a rudimentary one for the first six years. Then the IronAndy Foundation website came a few years
later (www.ironandy.org).
How did you get a sponsorship?
In the beginning, I decided to quit my job and really pursue this. So, I cold-called Good Neighbor Phar-
macy and talked to their marketing folks. They had just finished a campaign around the fact that the
awareness should be more geared toward later on-set diabetes in adults –so, they took to my story. I
talked to the right guy who gave me the six years of IronAndy. I don’t have a lot of how-to’s. I didn’t cre-
ate a business plan. It really all just came about through luck and chance.
Sports Inspire! Website
20
How successful has your Foundation website been for fundraising?
If you are a fundraiser non-profit online, you technically have to register with all states, to receive dona-
tions from those states. So, initially when I’d get donations from different states, I’d rush to figure out the
non-profit registration on the back-end to keep things legal.
I just hooked up with Network for Good. They provide a fundraising platform and constant-contact-type
donor newsletter system. Network for Good is registered as a non-profit in all fifty states, so the
IronAndy Foundation doesn’t have to be. So, I’m only incorporated in Pennsylvania. Network for Good
charges a monthly fee and 2% transactional fee. When someone pays a donation, it goes to Network for
Good, and once a month that gets passed on to me.
How long do you think it’s sustainable (training and fundraising)?
I think my training has wound down for a couple of reasons. First of all: age. I’m 44. I’ve done 8 full
IronMans and thirty triathlons in the last several years. For six years, I was the national spokesperson for
GNP . I was getting paid to do it, so the training was sustainable. It was my income. Towards the tail end,
it was getting old. It’s more of a personal thing now. But, I found it’s a lot harder to find time to train,
when you’re not getting paid for it. Just as I inspired you, my brother-in-law has been inspired by me, so
he wants me to train with him and do more races. So, I’m continually dragged back in.
Would IronAndy benefit from exposure on Sports Inspire?
Anybody that wants to promote what I’m doing on my website, that’s awesome. Everyone’s fighting for
the same dollars, so as long as it’s a collegial and non-competitive atmosphere, it would be a benefit.
Do you think Sports Inspire would help people like you that are just starting?
If I was just starting out now and you happened to call me, I’d think that this was a great idea. I built
what I’ve done over the last eight years using sports as a way to inspire, so the name is perfect, and as a
big-picture type of guy I really like the idea.
Sports Inspire! Website
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Interview with E.J. Scott
via Facebook, February 15, 2013
The basics: What's your story in brief? What charity did you raise money for? What events did you
complete?
I have a degenerative hereditary eye disease called choroideremia. CHM attacks the peripheral vision and
slowly erodes it over time until total blindness. My brother and 2 nephews also have the disease. My
mother, aunt and sister are carriers. It mostly affects the males. My grandfather went totally blind in his
40's.
I was diagnosed in 2003 and have been raising money for the Choroideremia Research Foundation since
then. I started by producing comedy benefit shows at local LA Improv theaters. I would try to build up
and up and try to raise more and more. Not just money but awareness as well.
In 2007 my brother in law rode his bicycle across the country for the foundation. I went with him and did
NOT ride a bike but documented the trip. It took 5 weeks and we raised $40,000. In 2009 I lost 70lbs in 8
months and was sponsored by friends, family and strangers and raised $14,000. From there, I decided to
start training for a marathon. I spent 9 months training for the Chicago marathon. I ran two half mara-
thons leading up to the marathon. All blindfolded --because sunlight will cause me to go blind faster, plus
I’m especially sunlight-sensitive.
After completing the Chicago marathon I decided to do 12 marathons in 12 states in 2012. And I com-
pleted that in December.
How did you collect donations for your cause? Did you use online profiles or your own website? Or a
mix of both?
I started collecting donations by doing fundraisers like comedy shows. That’s where it started about 10
years ago. Sending friends and family emails and asking for donations. Then MySpace was pretty big so
I started taking advantage of that and set up a Choroideremia Page where i started finding other CHMers
and they were finding me. My own website is pretty new --been around since summer. Now, I take ad-
Sports Inspire! Website
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vantage of Facebook and Twitter and I am trying to figure out these other online popular sites that I don’t
much about.
Luckily my girlfriend is on television and has a following, but the majority of her following mostly just
care about the show she is on. There are a handful of her fans that have been fantastic.
It’s all about word of mouth. When I get a list of donations from the foundation that have been connected
to my website there are more and more strangers names. My friends and family have given multiple
times and there’s only so much they can give.
I’ve tried getting publicity to get my name and cause to more strangers that aren’t looking on Facebook or
Twitter.
If you used online profiles through a third party, which site was it? What was your experience like
with the profiles themselves? Did you use any other third party services to collect online donations?
So Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, my own website, Blogspot, eBay (missionFish/GivingFund), PayPal,
Crowdrise. The last bunch of sites all take a fee or percentage, so thousands of dollars end up not going to
the cause, which sucks. I wish if it were for a charity they would make really cheap fees or percentages.
In terms of your story; did you find video to be more or less compelling than text? What would you say
are the elements of your story that were most important to tell?
I find that video is good because if more people are like me they’d rather not read. Takes too long. So I’ve
used both. Video is more likely to go viral. And more people will see it. I think talking about kids or ani-
mals really gets peoples attention. There are a lot of competing causes out there. I have nephews that have
the same disease, that seems to be a big heartstring plucker, but my sister wont let me use them too much.
A lot of people think blindness is cured. There’s just a lack of education and understanding. There are
people that have what i have and haven’t raised a cent for the cause. I try to push that, that we are re-
sponsible for educating people and getting funds for research. Nobody’s going to just hand it to me for
sitting on my ass. We have to earn it.
Sports Inspire! Website
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Interview with Tracey Schuster with LA Marathon
via phone, February 22, 2013
Tracey Schuster is the charity coordinator for the LA Marathon.
In 2011, Kintera or rather Blackbaud, ran the transactional part of athlete’s donation pages. In 2012, LA
Marathon donation pages moved to Crowdrise. What was the motive for the move?
I was not here before 2012. We don’t ever see any of the fundraising dollars in house. We used Active.com
before. In 2013, they’ve shifted back to the model of letting the charity choose which platform to use.
Crowdrise approached us and presented to us their platform. We liked it, so some of the donations flow
through that service.
Do you have a financial interest in using Crowdrise?
Is it a partnership revenue share? No. LA Marathon takes no money from donations. We facilitate and
encourage our participants to raise money only for the experience.
How do you separate donations that occur on your website vs. the website of the charity vs. Crow-
drise?
We work closely with Crowdrise to get reports. Other donations occur on the charities’ websites, and we
don’t have access to that information.
Are you guys keeping track of the amount of donations coming in?
It’s very tricky to.
How are the official charities chosen?
Because Crowdrise is such an open platform, the number and types of charities are expanding. On our
website for the LA Marathon we have three categories of official charities: Participating, Featured, and
Premiere. Any 501(c)(3) can apply. Questions range from goals, to budget for the year, to their back-
ground. Charities that have a track record with us typically stay on. Applications go out in May 2013 for
the 2014 Marathon. Typically it doesn’t take too long to make the decision.
What are the differences between Participating, Featured, and Premiere official charities?
We have a tiered program. The higher they’re ranked, the more perks they receive. There is a commitment
for each level. A number of registrations they intend to register for the Marathon. It ranges, but the top
organizations commit to 75 registrants.
What’s the benefit to LA Marathon?
Sports Inspire! Website
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We want to be able to help our community. Local outreach is important. It’s more about helping the
community.
How many competitors choose to fundraise?
2,000 out of 25,000.
What’s the most inspiring campaign you’ve been a part of, or worked with?
When I took the program over, we had about 60 charities that were committed out of about 70 charities.
Since I took over the program, I’ve met so many amazing people. We’ve grown it to 85 charities. The ones
I most appreciate are the unique charities. The Clean Water efforts. Team World Vision. Free Wheelchair
Mission: they create wheelchairs out of discarded outdoor furniture which improves people’s quality of
life.
Sports Inspire! Website
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Interview with Robert Wolfe with Crowdrise
via phone, March 7, 2013
Robert Wolfe is one of the founders and the CEO of Crowdrise. His first company was an online retail
platform called Moostaw. He sold this company for enough cash to start something new. He and his
brother wanted to do something great for the world. So, Crowdrise began two and a half years ago. But
how did Edward Norton –who’s credited as one of the founders –get involved? I’ve been friends with
Shauna Robertson (produced “Anchorman,” “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” and a slew of other movies
with Judd Apitow). Her boyfriend at the time was Edward Norton (early 2009). She was at a point in her
life trying to decide whether to keep making films or to do charity work for the rest of her career. It was
serendipitous. So, Shauna and Edward allowed us to use their fundraiser for Maasai Conservation as a
startup campaign for Crowdrise. I even ran the NY Marathon with him.
How does Crowdrise grow its clientele? Does it take a lot of leg-work or is the community building
itself at this point?
It is mostly the later. We have a sales team. But, one of the fortunate parts of being on a friend-to-friend
platform is that people spread the word to their friends. Most increases in clients come when people are
finding out about it organically. We also work with some really big companies and big events. Something
like the NY Marathon are bringing in thousands of participants.
What happens after an event? Those profiles are still alive. For example, I can still see the old 2012 LA
Marathon pages. But, Crowdrise encourages people to build new profiles the next year, right?
Your profile lives forever; that’s one of the differentiators between us and Kickstarter, let’s say. We don’t
just want to be a tool. We think that especially young people want to have this philanthropic profile. My
mom, for example, would do the race and be done with it, and completely content with that. Our target
demographic is people who want to be in college: those who are enrolling, those who are enrolled, and
those who graduated but want to be back. These young people want a permanent philanthropic narra-
tive.
Is this how it works? Do any clients roll their profile pages from year to year, and why?
Not quite like that. If someone runs the NY Marathon the first year and then wants to do another event,
they’ll create a new fundraising page. Their profile lives on. And, they can hid or show all campaigns un-
der their profiles. They are nestled under an event, but you can also access them by searching for the per-
son.
Has there been a high demand, would you say, to embed video?
Sports Inspire! Website
26
Video is amazing and I love Kickstarter for that reason. We send people there all day long when we think
their project might work better there. I actually think we need to do a better job at embracing video. We
struggle with quality, though. Because a bad video takes away from fundraising just as much as a good
video boosts fundraising. The charities right now are the ones creating these videos. Some are five min-
utes long and boring. Almost always an individual will make a better video –even on their IPhone –than
a charity. The stories are more personal. We’re trying to figure out better ways to manage this.
Because, Kintera doesn’t use video and their profiles are quite plain…
Kintera doesn't use video, but we differentiate Crowdrise from Kintera in other ways as well. Kintera
profiles are just really only a tool. But, Crowdrise is more vibrant. We try to create a fun experience. And,
don’t take ourselves too seriously.
Crowdrise takes 4.95% transaction fee. Is that split with Amazon payments and/or Network For Good,
or do they take another percent or two off the top?
We include the credit card fees in our fees. The fee actually ranges from 4.95% to 7.5% depending on what
credit card service the charity chooses AND which payment platform the charity chooses to use: Amazon
Payments or Network for Good. At most, 7.5% of a donation comes off the top. Then, it’s split between
Crowdrise, the credit company, and one of the payment platforms.
Would you say the bulk of revenue coming into Crowdrise is sports related?
Our single biggest campaigns are our large marathon events, but I can’t say for sure, that if combined
those account for the bulk of revenue. I simply can’t say.
In what way does Crowdrise interact with the charities? With the individual athletes?
99% of Crowdrise clients are do-it-yourselfers. Then, there is the NY Marathon and Huffington Post of the
world, and those people we talk to. We try to have Zappos-like customer service.
Because I am working on my masters thesis in journalism, I care about stories. What is the most inspi-
rational story you’ve worked with?
Sophia Bush, actress from One Tree Hill and other shows, is a great story. She’s done a bunch of different
campaigns on Crowdrise. Check it out: www.crowdrise.com/sophiabush.
Sports Inspire! Website
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Outstanding Questions
Some of the outstanding questions I have are because my skill set does not include advanced web design
and software programming. Most of the challenges can be understood by the following list of questions.
• What kind of security features are needed for customizable profiles?
• How can people upload their own videos? Are those videos best self-hosted or hosted via YouTube
or Vimeo?
11
• Which Facebook social plugins are best suited for Sports Inspire? Are they easy to monitor on pro-
files?
12
• What are the best options for financial transactions and payment platforms?
• What will the management of databases look like for SportsInspire, charities receiving funds, and
athletes keeping track of program? Will they be exportable to Microsoft Excel? Charities will need
this in order to send tax-deduction letters to donors.
• What will the upload system look like --where athletes will upload tax ID forms to verify non-profit
status of their charity (to meet all IRS requirements)?
• How will the interface for charities function? This feature allows transparency and a two-way
street: with charities and athletes both participating in the campaign.
• How do I design databases that help us monitor, in real-time, how much money is coming through
the pipeline, which athletes and charity it is associated with, and analytics on our audience?
• Legally, should Sports Inspire be a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit or a limited liability corporation?
Sports Inspire! Website
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11
See gravity forms:
http://themeforest.net/item/videozoom-wordpress-video-theme/full_screen_preview/2999824
12
http://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins/
Bibliography
Anderson, Chris. The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More. New York: Hyperion, 2006.
Answers. "Kintera, Inc. Profile." Answers.com. http://www.answers.com/topic/kintera-inc#ixzz29PMpu6bq (ac-
cessed 2013).
Boyer, Brian. "A timely global survey of crowdfunding platforms." Brickstarter.com. May 11, 2012.
http://brickstarter.org/a-timely-global-survey-of-crowdfunding-platforms/ (accessed 2013).
CroudSourcing.org. "Crowdfunding Industry Report: Market Trends, Composition and Crowdfunding Platforms."
2012.
http://www.crowdsourcing.org/document/crowdfunding-industry-report-abridged-version-market-trends-compos
ition-and-crowdfunding-platforms/14277 (accessed 2013).
CrowdRise. www.crowdrise.com (accessed 2013).
Grueksin, Bill, Ava Seave, and Lucas Graves. "The Story So Far: What We Know About the Business of Digital Jour-
nalism." Columbia Journalism Review. 2012. http://cjrarchive.org/img/posts/report/The_Story_So_Far.pdf (ac-
cessed 2013).
Holder, Andy, interview by Paige Battcher. Phone Interview (February 12, 2013).
Hulu. www.hulu.com (accessed 2013).
Janus Charity Challenge. www.januscharitychallenge.com (accessed 2013).
Kickstarter. www.kickstarter.com (accessed 2013).
Schuster, Tracey, interview by Paige Battcher. Via phone (February 22, 2013).
Scott, E.J., interview by Paige Battcher. Via Facebook (February 15, 2013).
Team in Training: Together we Train to Beat Cancer. www.teamintraining.org (accessed 2013).
Wolfe, Robert, interview by Paige Battcher. Via phone (March 7, 2013).
Yarow, Jay. "Kickstarter Reveals Its Revenues." Business Insider. April 28, 2011.
http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-04-28/tech/30065679_1_kickstarter-funding-projects#ixzz2IZy1VB6Q (ac-
cessed 2013).
Sports Inspire! Website
29
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Trafficked: life on the margins
Asset Metadata
Creator
Battcher, Paige Alexandria
(author)
Core Title
Sports inspire: a crowd-funding community for sports philanthropy
School
Annenberg School for Communication
Degree
Master of Arts
Degree Program
Specialized Journalism
Publication Date
04/29/2013
Defense Date
04/24/2013
Publisher
University of Southern California
(original),
University of Southern California. Libraries
(digital)
Tag
Charity,crowdfunding,journalism,OAI-PMH Harvest,online media,Small business,Sports,Video
Language
English
Contributor
Electronically uploaded by the author
(provenance)
Advisor
Kahn, Gabriel (
committee chair
), Hernandez, Robert (
committee member
), Schweitzer, Lisa (
committee member
)
Creator Email
battcher@usc.edu,paigebattcher@gmail.com
Permanent Link (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c3-246740
Unique identifier
UC11287861
Identifier
etd-BattcherPa-1617.pdf (filename),usctheses-c3-246740 (legacy record id)
Legacy Identifier
etd-BattcherPa-1617.pdf
Dmrecord
246740
Document Type
Thesis
Rights
Battcher, Paige Alexandria
Type
texts
Source
University of Southern California
(contributing entity),
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
(collection)
Access Conditions
The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...
Repository Name
University of Southern California Digital Library
Repository Location
USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA
Tags
crowdfunding
journalism
online media