Research+Timeline

CARE Canada has indicated that their present donor base is comprised of individuals over the age of 65, who identify with the “CARE Package” – an international staple of their time. With the decline of this group looming in CARE Canada’s future, our research aims to assist in indentifying a younger replacement audience, and the individual factors that motivate this unique new donor base. Our partner organization has stressed women aged 34-55 as their ideal target, and while we appreciate their interest in this group, our plan is to slightly broaden the scope of our research. Knowledge, attitudes and beliefs regarding gender equality from women aged 34 – 55 are what CARE Canada believes to be the most critical in achieving its donor expansion objectives. Therefore, in cooperation with our partner organization these women will be our primary research target. These women have a personal or household income that financially supports donating to charitable organization(s). These women are the most-likely group to have a preexisting connection to gender inequality issues, and are also the most-likely group to be both willing and capable of supporting a credible cause. In order to provide an in-depth look at this target, we will attempt to segment it into two sub-groups; women 34-44 and women 45-55. It is our belief that this will allow us to determine any generational differences that may occur between the younger and older members of this audience and provide a more in-depth understanding as to how CARE Canada can benefit from a focus on this target. While women will be the primary target of our research, we have identified a secondary group that our partner organization has expressed some interest in; men aged 34-55. It is CARE Canada’s overall goal to make a connection with an audience and inform them of how far we still need to go in order to promote gender equality therefore, we have included an unlikely demographic to provide depth to our research. There is no support for the notion that only women will be interested in funding CARE Canada’s work, so 20 percent of our personal interviews will be allocated for this secondary target. The 99th anniversary of International Women’s Day falls on March 8th, 2010 and will serve as the basis for our timeline. Our field research dates will occur during the two weeks prior to the event between February 22nd and March 7th and the two weeks following the event from March 9th – 23rd. These dates were chosen based on specific requests made by our partner organization CARE Canada, who hope that our research will serve a dual purpose; to provide significant, usable data that could potentially expand their donor base and aid in the creation of a successful campaign, as well as to heighten awareness of International Women’s Day throughout Ottawa. We anticipate that conducting interviews both prior to and after International Women’s Day will garner valuable information, and may even indicate change(s) in attitude that may assist in gauging the effectiveness of CARE Canada’s current campaign. The four week research period will allow us to conduct our projected number of 100 interviews – 50 prior, and 50 post – while also providing a great deal of flexibility in the event of any delays not under our personal control. Our target demographic has an income that allows them to donate to charitable cause(s). Therefore, it is necessary that we locate these women and employ them as research participants. We have selected three specific areas within the city where our target demographic are most likely to reside; the Glebe, the downtown Ottawa core, and Rockcliffe Park. As a staple, we have chosen local coffee venues (e.g. Starbucks, Second Cup and Bridgehead) as an arena for personal interviews. The laid-back atmosphere will allow us to approach and connect with potential participants in an environment in which they feel comfortable and open to share information for our projected 5 – 8 minute time frame. The coffee-house approach also compliments our research timeline, as Ottawa winter weather is highly volatile and would not serve as a suitable forum for our conversational approach. While our partner organization has asked if we would present flyers to interview participants advertising the “Half the Sky” film event they are organizing for March 4th, we have decided against pursuing this course of action, fearing that it may affect the integrity and accuracy of our research given the close proximity of interview participants in a coffee-shop environment.
 * RESEARCH TIMELINE**
 * WHO**
 * WHEN**
 * WHERE**