Some of the key issues we have identified include:
1. Brand Awareness & Weak Social Media Presence: Because Cancer Services provides services that are specific to cancer patients and their families, their scope and reachable clients are significantly limited. In addition, while their strong community presence is certainly a plus, not many people outside the Greenville, North Carolina area know that Cancer Services exists. There is certainly opportunity for growth and expansion beyond the confines of Greenville.​ However, it would be difficult to expand their reach with the current state of their social media. Although they post somewhat regularly, the posts do very little to actually engage their audience. On that note, Cancer is a sensitive subject and it can be difficult to navigate the wording of posts and asking for donations online without seeming insensitive.
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2. Lack of Consistent Funding: A major issue for Cancer Services is the lack of consistent funding. It is our understanding that, while Cancer Services does host fundraisers throughout the year, their primary source of funding is through donations. Because they have established such a strong community presence in Greenville, and have very little reach beyond the area, it has significantly limited potential donors in terms of businesses. In addition to this, when donating online, the website is seemingly cluttered and difficult to navigate. This, along with the current process of donating (website - to - PayPal), may result in individuals not feeling comfortable and secure enough to make their donation online.
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3. Donor/Client Engagement: Correlating closely with their lack of a consistent funding source, Cancer Services is also lacking in donor and/or client engagement. They currently have an established donor tier system which outlines recognition given to corporate sponsors based on the amount they give, the lowest amount being $500. However, to the best of our knowledge, it seems that Cancer Services is doing little to nothing to recognize individual donors, who are separate from corporate entities and may not be able to make a $500 donation all at once. Recognizing donors in some way may encourage more consistent giving.
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4. Competition/Competitive Marketing: Another big issue for Cancer Services is the vast amount of competition they are facing, as there are approximately 1.5 million non-profit organizations in the United States alone. They are competing with every non-profit organization, not just those who are cancer-related, for peoples time, attention, and ultimately, their donations. Cancer Services has struggled to differentiate themselves from these other organizations, especially bigger non-profits like the American Cancer Society who have a much larger social media presence and brand awareness.
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5. COVID-19 Pandemic: More recently, the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic has severely limited Cancer Services' ability to host fundraises, support groups, and other services they previously provided in-person. With everything moving online, the pandemic has basically eliminated the strong community aspect of the services they are providing. It's possible that it has also distracted donors, especially corporate sponsors, who may decline to donate because they are dealing with their own pandemic related issues or they may choose instead to donate to more pressing causes, likely relating to the pandemic.
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