Research map - Design Project A

The brief I’m exploring is “Giving and getting” and I chose to kick off my research by looking into a specific animal charity in Great Britain – The Blue Cross. I researched the organization via it’s corporate website and other online sources – taking note of its resources and evident communications methods.

I then organized these notes into a research map that would help me better digest them and uncover further questions. The map I created is organized into who, what, where and why sections. As in:

• What can be donated? What are the resources the organization needs from the public in order to function?
• Who donates or could donate? Who should be targeted?
• Why do people donate? What are the motivations?
• Why don’t people donate? What are the barriers?
• Where can people donate? What are the touchpoints between organization and public where resources are donated?

I drew lines between the list of resources and the possible motivations and barriers associated with each one. For example, those without the proper living environment would not be inclined to adopt an animal while those with spare time (i.e. students or retired persons) might be inclined to volunteer.

Around the map, I noted various methods by which the organization could reach the public with information. Those noted in red were ones I wasn’t sure existed or I thought might need improving. I also included a small key at the bottom of the map and the key goals of the brief to refer back to.

I placed notes throughout the map to identify missing information that is specific to the organization (in orange) and further research that needed to be done on my own (in pink). I came up with the following questions:

Individual research questions:

• What typically motivates people to give?
• What typically motivates people to give to animals?
• The role companion animals play in society. Why do people love their pets?
• Do other animal charities require different resources?
• Have other animal charities attempted to overcome barriers listed? Were they successful?

Questions for organization:

• What demographic gives most and who gives least?
• How are various demographics targeted differently?
• Has any formal research been done by Blue Cross (i.e. focus groups, case studies) to uncover target audiences or barriers to giving?
• Media relations: what outlets are typically targeted (i.e. print, TV, radio, online)?Have timely barriers occurred due to recent economic changes? How have they impacted the organization and how have you changed your communications strategy to accommodate?
• What current partnership relationships exist and are they being exploited to their fullest potential?
• What outreach method works best in encouraging giving and which doesn’t work at all or needs to be reworked?
• Is paid advertising an outreach method or can you obtain donated space or work with partners/sponsors on joint campaigns?