COMM 642: Strategic Communication Management DIRECTIONS: Financial oversight is an important part of management. Whether you are on the agency or client side of the business you will be managing...

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COMM 642: Strategic Communication Management DIRECTIONS: Financial oversight is an important part of management. Whether you are on the agency or client side of the business you will be managing budgets, reviewing estimates and approving bills to be paid. For this assignment you will be tasked with developing an estimate for a PR project on behalf of a prospective client. This assignment will require you to estimate hours, labor costs and direct costs (out-of-pocket) and decide how to structure the estimate for the client. Remember, it is one thing to develop an estimate based on costs and another to do so in a way that earns a profit for your agency. Your task: 1) To develop an estimate for a client. In order to successfully complete this assignment, you will need to determine what it will cost the agency to develop and implement each of the deliverables requested by the client while ensuring that the project is profitable 2) Remember, you will need to make a recommendation on which deliverables you can deliver within the client’s budget. You will NOT be able to implement all of the elements requested by the client. Consequently, you will have to make strategic recommendations about how to help the client achieve their goals. Be sure to take into consideration who on your team will work on each element. You will need to balance experience and expertise (higher billable rate) with the client’s available budget. Don’t forget that you want to provide the best work for your client, but that you also need to make a profit. Assume that the following staff are available to work on this project. · Sr. Account Executive · Jr Account Executive · Creative Director · Designer · Intern When you submit your assignment, you should include: · An excel spreadsheet that shows the cost of each element and how you arrived at the cost. · A written estimate to be presented to the client with a brief explanation of your recommendation for how to approach the work and a justification of the compensation method you are using for your estimate. · How will you advise this client? Could you recommend fewer tactics or phase the work? · Will you bill the client a flat rate? …by the hour? · Will you use a retainer? …a hybrid approach? You will be evaluated on your ability to demonstrate an understanding of how agencies develop estimates and bill client CLIENT PROJECT: A local, non-profit group with a mission to deliver meals to housebound seniors, veterans, and those with physical handicaps, has recently experienced a decline in donations and volunteers. At first, they thought this was just a temporary dip, but the decline has lasted 6 months and things are not getting any better. As a result, they have had to cut back on the number of individuals served. Last month, the organization received a generous, one-time anonymous donation of $150,000. The non-profit’s executive director would like to allocate a portion of this money to the development of a recruitment and fundraising campaign. Your firm has been hired to develop and implement the campaign with the goal of recruiting 50 new volunteers and securing 10 new corporate partnerships that will provide donations on an ongoing basis. On top of that, the organization is looking to raise an additional $100,000 in individual donations. The non-profit doesn’t have a lot of experience with Marketing & PR and they are not really sure how they should best use their budget. During the initial meeting with the executive director, she mentioned that, as part of the campaign, they would like to develop the following resources: · Social media outreach plan · Video to show at outreach events and to feature on the website · A new brochure for fundraising and recruiting · Banner or table top display to use at community events · Media outreach plan to raise the profile of the organization · Press Materials The organization has indicated that they only have $25,000 allocated for PR efforts. Price out how you would bill each of the campaign resources above estimating both labor and direct(out-of-pocket) expenses and make a recommendation for what the non-profit can realistically afford. Be sure to itemize the out-of-pocket expenses separately from your time costs. Remember: your goal is to make a fair profit; not just break even.