The Society of Moral Responsibility
BUSINESS PLAN:
Mission (business description):
It is present in both my school and elsewhere, that there is not much regard towards good and moral behavior. No one is asking him or herself “what do I really stand for?” Aside from all the convincing of television shows, movies, and advertising that encourage drug use, premarital sex, and different forms of discrimination, people (especially students such as myself) rarely have any other viewpoints to look at. We can take too much for granted; believing in the morals presented to us by commercial businesses, celebrities, and even our own peers. I have had the unfortunate opportunity to witness most of my friends succumb to this negative outside influence. Even those that are or can be rather conscious of their actions either finally buckle under peer pressure, or are converted into believing that it’s okay to do things like smoke weed in the backyard, or have random sex in the back of a car.
However, as I became more aware of these kinds of things myself, I realized that there still do remain certain groups of people out there that have retained high moral characteristics. They do not degrade or condemn, but avoid negative influences. I have found that one of the biggest, most effective reasons that people stay clean is because they are involved in such activities or programs that give them a reason to retain their high moral standards. These can be such things as a close knit family, an active religion, sports, band, theater, or even a solid group of friends that don’t need to incorporate negative attributes into their lifestyle. By making a society or club where people can go to and be proud of the morals they believe in, we give them a reason to stay away from negative influences. We give them confidence in their own principles by exposing them to others that have the same types of values. We create a place of refuge for those who often stand alone in their principles; those we need to reach the most; those that live in a world of harmful, debilitating ideals.
If anything, we need to at least make people aware that a higher quality of morals still exist. We need people to ask themselves “what do I believe in?” In doing this, people have reasons for their actions, and more confidence in themselves. They are less likely to give into peer pressure, and are better at making their own decisions. Not everybody believes in the same principles as The Society of Moral Responsibility, but for those who do, we’re here to help.
The Society of Moral Responsibility is a newly created organization that is not affiliated with any certain religion, school district, or other organization. We are a service organization.
It is not the organization’s intention to preach, but to create an organization of individuals with similar values who might therefore enjoy the social and interpersonal possibilities of membership.
The intentions of The Society is to create a community of people who all believe a short, basic, yet powerful creed.(The ideals of the organization)
Ideals
1. It is dangerous, irresponsible, and morally wrong to take any drugs illegally (including marijuana, alcohol, tobacco, and steroids.)
2. It is morally wrong and degrading to the individual and his or her partner to engage in premarital sex.
3. It is ethically, socially, and morally wrong to exclude, degrade, or criticize someone due only to his or her sex, race, religion, or sexual preference.
To be a member, one must agree to all the ideals listed above, and take it upon themselves not to engage in premarital sex, substance abuse, or any form of discrimination.
Objectives:
1. To provide an opportunity to connect with others who share strong moral principles.
2. To create a sense of community and give those that are confused or lonely a sense of belonging and confidence towards their high moral standards.
3. To encourage moral behavior in our society by making people aware of and question their own moral principles. Particularly among the youth. We want people to learn more about themselves and have confidence in who they are as individuals by asking themselves questions that they’ve never really considered.
In order to achieve this, we will need to establish ourselves as a non-profit organization.
We will also need the certain licenses required to start such an organization. (Whichever they may be.)
When our organization grows and we attain more members, we can then expand outward and outward to regions outside of the Metroplex, our starting place.
Target Market:
To be a member, one must agree to all three ideals of the organization, and take it upon themselves not to engage in premarital sex, substance abuse, or any form of discrimination. Members must also be at least 14 years of age.
There are no other requirements that members need to fulfill besides adhering to the ideals of the organization. No service hours, meetings, or grade point averages are necessary.
Members will be able to apply online, by mail, or at presentations held in schools, hospitals, churches, or other activities where a Society member is present to give out application documents. Applications are validated through the honor system. Members will receive rings as well as official membership cards that expire in one year. After one year, when membership expires, members can renew their membership and will be given a new, up-to-date membership card. Membership and membership cards are free. Membership rings, bracelets, and stickers can be purchased online.
Primarily, this organization is targeting students in high school and college. However, there is no restriction for people over the age of 14. This way, everybody can participate. Fathers and sons, mothers and daughters; even grandparents can join. It is important that members are provided access to both peer as well as adult role models.
However, there will certainly be activities held and places reserved for only certain age groups as well as those open to all ages.
It does not matter what your past is before applying to the organization. It does not matter where you came from. Anyone may apply to the organization as long as he or she agrees to the organization’s ideals. This includes pre-marital sex.
Services and Functions:
Members will be able to communicate with other members on a website. The website will have open chat rooms about different subject matters both relevant and irrelevant to the ideals of the organization. This can be a cool place for members to hang out, talk to a bunch of people, and join in different activities such as chat room debates, book reviews, and online celebrity guest appearances. There will also be a monthly online newsletter where people can submit articles, or read columns written by celebrity authors. Articles will be edited before publication on website.
We need to know how to create an effective online journal.
There will also be social gatherings throughout the year. Preferably there will be one in the winter and one in the summer. Arcades, restaurants, or gymnasiums can be reserved.
There will be two types of social gatherings. Gatherings in the winter will be for members
of all ages, while different social gatherings in the summer will be held for certain ages. In these social gatherings, one must be a member to be admitted. However, one may also apply for membership upon entrance if not a member already, and therefore be admitted to the social gathering.
The website will have certain places that are for students, adults, or seniors only, as well as a section open to all ages that will be given the most importance. The students only section will be given the second most importance, and the adults only section will be given the third most importance. The online newsletter will be open to all ages.
Plans and Advertising:
In order to have The Society run in full swing, we need three things:
1. Website
2. Members
3. Money
WEBSITE:
We need to either learn how to make a website, or get in contact with someone who can. We have completely organized my website and know how we want it to be structured, but we cannot build it. If any outside ideas are suggested towards the structure of the website, it will deeply be considered. We need to know how to register for my own website and domain.
MEMBERS:
We need to advertise our organization with fliers. They’re cheap and easy to distribute. We also are going to need to hold presentations in schools, religious establishments, and other organizations. To gain interest in schools, we need to advertise popular students that have the same ideals as the organization, are willing to be members, and are also willing to let The Society advertise them in our fliers to help boost participation and applications.
To gain interest in other areas, we can advertise on the radio or online. However, this takes a lot of money, and would have to be down the road. We could advertise celebrities and other big names that are for our organization. CEO’s of major companies, famous actors and actresses, sports figures, even politicians can join the organization and be advertised to promote others. This will be easy to do because The Society does not require participation aside of complying with the small yet powerful ideals of the organization itself.
With extra money, we can sponsor scholarships and other events. We could sponsor a 5-mile run for example.
We need to learn how to sponsor events, contact celebrities for our advertising campaigns, and learn how to do an advertising campaign.
MONEY:
The Society has no money right now (besides possible small amounts offered by the CEO’s mom and dad.)
In order to gain money, we need to go to religious establishments, companies that would offer us financial support or services, and members themselves who could give us donations. We need to give people a copy of this business plan and ask them is they’d be willing to be members as well as support our efforts with financial aid and/or services.
We will need money and/or services for the following:
*Creating and maintaining the website and newsletter
*Sponsoring events, commercials, and/or social gatherings
*Establishing ourselves as a non-profit organization
*Buying the equipment necessary to maintain our organization
*Learning what kind of equipment is necessary to maintain our organization
*Learning how to properly disperse funds
*Anything else that I have not mentioned or am aware of
Organizational Structure:
CEO: The CEO is the final authority. He is also the most responsible for the successes and failures of the organization. However, knowing he doesn’t have all the answers, needs to carefully take into consideration everything that is offered him. He is in charge of holding meetings and deciding who is necessary for his Advisory Team. He is also responsible for letting the Advisory Team and Assistant CEO know what the state of the organization is in, as well as needing to know exactly how the organization is advancing by maintaining close contact with his advisory team and Assistant CEO through e-mail, by phone, or at scheduled personal meetings. Before anything is published or presented to the public, both the CEO and Assistant CEO need to see it unless the Assistant CEO gives his approval of the CEO’s decision, in which only the CEO needs to be present.
If the CEO and Assistant CEO come to a disagreement and the Advisory Team is not biased, the CEO will make the final decision. If the concerning Advisory Team members as well as the Assistant CEO come to an agreement conflicting the CEO, a meeting will be held in which the CEO will then make the final decision after deeply considering all sides of an argument. The CEO can put the Assistant CEO in charge of something which, if given consent, the Assistant CEO can make decisions for without consulting the CEO.
Assistant CEO: The Assistant CEO has the second most authority. The Assistant CEO cannot make decisions without informing the CEO and vice versa, ensuring that the two top positions remain completely informed. The Assistant CEO can, however, allow the CEO to make decisions about specific material without the Assistant CEO’s consent. The Assistant CEO is to provide another side of input and help the CEO decide how to manage the organization. The only real difference is the level of authority.
Web Master: The Web Master is in charge of building the website to the instructions of the CEO. The Web Master can provide valuable input for the CEO and Assistant CEO, but after careful consideration, the opinions of the CEO must come first. The Web Master is able to use his artistic license for things that are not specifically mentioned. However, the Web Master cannot change any programs or attributes contrary to the given instructions without the CEO and Assistant CEO’s consent.
Editor: The Editor is in charge of managing the monthly online newsletter. The Editor must talk to other writers and ask for articles about the ideals of the organization, about things that are relevant to promoting character and leadership, and editing articles sent in by members to make sure that the newsletter doesn’t consist of any controversial subject matter that might be taken the wrong way or that goes against the ideals of the company.
There needs to be at least 10 to 30 articles that are from members and other writers or celebrity members as well. One does not need to be a member to write an article, but that may change later. The final copy of the draft needs to be seen by the CEO and Assistant CEO before it is published.
Advertiser: The Advertiser is in charge of designing and creating fliers, radio commercials, and sponsoring events and scholarships. The Advertiser is also in charge of putting things on the radio: all the legal transactions that come with advertising. The Advertiser needs to go by the directions of the CEO and needs to have the CEO and Assistant CEO’s approval before dispersing the advertising to the places and stations reserved.
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