Target Audiences

There are so many questions that I could ask Mark. We would be talking for hours. This is where I have to be careful because I need to keep them relevant and specific. The experienced background that Mark comes from is incredible. He has achieved so much and this is very inspirational. Before gathering a set of questions, I did some research in to Mark’s history so I don’t ask him questions that I should know the answer to and to make sure I can collect as much qualitative information as possible.

Before I start anything, I need to ask myself a question first; what is it that I want to know? This is very important because it keeps me focused and gives me a direction for what I will be asking.

I have only been allocated a half hour slot today for a quick catch up on the Fringe Festival; so I won’t be able to direct any questions towards Mark. They will all be concentrated towards the festival. I have a list of aims that I would like to have accomplished by the end of the meeting though, which will help me move forward in the planning and involvement of Fringe. The questions that will help develop my module will be mentioned and another date will be arranged to have a lengthier chat. Everything I would like to know will be emailed to Mark before our interview, so he has an idea on what I would like to know and can prepare if he requires. This makes the interview flow a lot better and allows me to pull out only the relevant information. We will be able to have more of a conversation, rather than a question and answer session.

Today’s aims:

-       How can tutorials with Mark benefit me

-       What I am aiming to achieve from this module

-       Discussion related to target audience

-       Date confirmation for another meeting

After the tutorial -  

As usual, I have left a meeting feeling overwhelmed with the sheer amount of work I have to do and a bit worried about the lack of time I have to do it all in. No matter how much I seem to sit down and work, nothing of use is being produced.

All of my aims were completed, so a successful meeting nonetheless. My next arranged tutorial is Monday 30^th April. I have agreed to send an email with all my questions in to Mark so he can have a look through, and we can use them as our base of the next tutorial.

As target audiences are a topic I haven’t got much of an idea about, I thought it would be a good idea to bring it up in discussion in order to help me define whom I should be directing my energy at.

Who are the charities target audience? There is always more than one audience, which is targeted through a charity. Each audience is enticed into different aspects of the organisation through a variety of different ways. I need to have a think about which audience is most relevant to me. Looking at Childreach International, I have found 3 targets; potential donators, communities the charity are involved with and the volunteers/challenge takers.

Potential donators and volunteers/challenge takers are target audiences based in Europe, closer to home. Whereas the communities involved with the charity are the more distant target. They are the ones that benefit, rather than support. For this module, the communities aren’t the audience I will be focusing on because they are already in place and I will be using them as a tool to attract audiences closer to home. It is potential donators who I will be focusing on. Fundraising for charity through events is my target and the raising awareness of the cause. Therefore, I need to grab the attention of the public and people who are interested in the cause. If I get a selection of people who aren’t contributing financially, but want to get involved, that is great too because they will be participating and helping to raise funds in alternative ways. This is how I initially got involved and signed up to cycle across India. I fundraise independently and add to a target fund, which gets split into two separate funds; money donated to the charity and money to fund the once-in-a-lifetime challenge. By doing it this way, I am able to support the charity and help them make a difference, whilst doing something to develop me as a person physically and mentally, but without the need to donate a large sum of my own money. I believe this is a great strategy to gain supporters and have a steady income of funds. In this case, the money is a by-product of the challenge, the self-fulfillment and enjoyment of completing an activity that you wouldn’t be able to do on an everyday basis. Individuals are much more likely to be a part of your team if you are creating opportunities for them to gain something on a personal level. Unfortunately in today’s world, there aren’t many people who give something for nothing. But then again, if you were presented with the chance to cycle across India, Climb Everest, and Walk the Great Wall of China, why would you pass up the chance!?

http://www.childreach.org.uk/get-involved/challenge-events

In conclusion to this meeting I have now defined who my target audience are: the public who want to attend events and activities for pleasure with fundraising as a by-product, and donators who want to be made aware of the cause at hand and contribute financially in to supporting the charity's development in successfully helping and achieving their objectives. As I want to ultimately put on an event, which will include a series of exhibitions and activities, i will be covering both target audiences because the pleasure and enjoyment seekers will attend for the activities and the financial donators will be more interested in the messages and power flowing from the exhibitions.