SOFTWARE PROPOSAL

For Pandasaurus Games

Jen Suttorp
6/4/19
 Buy Software Proposal

In 1995, the world of board game design changed forever with the release of the

international best-seller, The Settlers of Catan. This European game introduced players from all

over the world to the concept of designer board games and put small game companies on the

global map. While this would be a cause for celebration for companies trying to break into this

market, it has caused technological challenges for those not prepared for it. Pandasaurus

Games is one of those companies.

With the exponential global growth of the board game industry over the past two

decades, Pandasaurus Games needs the capabilities of running their business from anywhere

on the planet. Individuals and small teams are sent out to tend to business dealings at trade

shows, conventions, and distributors across the United States and Europe. Currently,

employees are sharing information via phone and email which can often lead to delays as they

try to track down the person who has the information they need. To expedite this process,

Pandasaurus Games should consider using a cloud-based Project Management software service

to put all the pertinent information right at their employees’ fingertips, regardless if they’re

standing in a manufacturing plant in China or demonstrating games in New York City. With the

right application, sales teams can access production schedules, distributor accounts, and

inventory levels with the click of a mouse or the tap of an app. This information can help speed

up the game manufacturing, distribution, and sales processes.

There are many cloud-based solutions to choose from. The first one is Workamajig.

Workamajig is designed for those working within creative industries. It’s a full package that
keeps all information in one place and allows all teams to collaborate on a single platform. It is

web-based and customizable. It also works on any device, so teams can access the same

information on their phone as they can if they were in their office. It is also one of the only

services that brings the accounting and financial teams into the mix, which makes for easy

access to account receivable information. It has a monthly cost per user, which eliminates the

need to worry about software licenses and hardware upgrades.

The second option that could be considered is service called Freedcamp. Freedcamp is a

free online project management tool that offers the purchase of additional widgets which allow

for additional customization. The base version focuses on multiple teams by offering a shared

workspace, file section, communication log, and project task list. It also offers app-based

utilities, which provide convenient access to information in the field. With sales fluctuations

due to productions delays and market instability, having low cost or free options might make

financial sense.

The final project management service that could be considered in Teamwork Projects.

This is another cloud-based service that offers many beneficial services. Not only do they offer

project management services, they also offer chat software and document management, sales

CRM, and logistics services. It offers a customizable workflow that works on multiple platforms

– phone, tablets, and computers – and provides solutions for a companies billing, collaboration,

and reporting needs. The logistics functions would allow sales teams to give distributors real

time information on game production and delivery schedules.

 These are just three of the options that can be explored should Pandasaurus Games

make the decision to make their system into one that is ready to truly tackle global business.

By moving to cloud-based software services, teams can have access to the same information

regardless of where they are, anywhere on earth, thus reducing delays and enhancing team

performance. In a niche market, companies need every advantage they can get.
References
Creative Manager, Inc. (2019). Retrieved from Workamajig: https://www.workamajig.com/

Freedcamp, Inc. (2019). Retrieved from Freedcamp: https://freedcamp.com/

Teamwork.com, Ltd. (2019). Retrieved from Teamwork Projects: https://www.teamwork.com/

April 3, 2019

Jamie Thomas
Professor
Ferris State University
Grand Rapids, MI 49503

Dear Jamie Thomas:

Enclosed is my proposal detailing the fundraising challenges faced by the Extra Life Grand
Rapids guild. This report details past activities and group goals that contributed to the
stagnation, as well as my recommendations to help revitalize fundraising efforts, as well as
provide a boost to guild morale.

My experience, research, and interviews have shown that current guild practices are outdated,
and available resources, including volunteer manpower, aren’t being used effectively.
Volunteers are put into public fundraising events with inconsistent knowledge of the
organization’s mission and the individual guild’s goals. This has led to the spread of
misinformation and frustration and has negatively impacted event fundraising.

Both Children’s Miracle Network and Spectrum Health Foundation have current, best practice
tools that can be utilized to maximize volunteer efforts. My recommendations embrace and
expand these, while being simple to implement. It’s my recommendation that by restructuring
the existing volunteer program to include a training orientation that includes information on
the group goals and basic fundraising mechanics while at the same time targeting the
individual’s personal interests, that the guild will develop a larger core of quality volunteers
that are dedicated to helping the group meet its goals.

Thank you for taking the time to read this recommendation report. Please reach out to me
with any questions or concerns.

Jen Suttorp

Encl: Proposal
Fundraising Revitalization Proposal for
Extra Life Grand Rapids Guild

Prepared by

Jen Suttorp
President
Extra Life Grand Rapids

Prepared for

Jamie Thomas
Professor
Ferris State University

May 3, 2019
 Table of Contents
List of Figures .............................................................................................................................................. 8
Abstract ...................................................................................................................................................... 9

Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 10
Problem .................................................................................................................................................... 10
Significance of Problem ............................................................................................................................ 11
Financial Review ....................................................................................................................................... 11
Future Fundraising Goals .......................................................................................................................... 13
Current Guild Processes ............................................................................................................................ 14
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................ 15
Recommendations .................................................................................................................................... 15

References ................................................................................................................................................ 17
 List of Figures

Figure 1 Extra Life Fundraising Totals ....................................................................................................... 11

Figure 2 Extra Life 2018 Infographic ......................................................................................................... 12
Figure 3 Funds Raised $31,000 to $51,000 ............................................................................................... 13
Figure 4 Extra Life Guilds $100k - $200k ................................................................................................... 14
Figure 5 How Money is Spent ................................................................................................................... 15
 Abstract
Extra Life is a charity program promoted by the Children’s Miracle Network that heavily relies
on volunteers to do necessary fundraising within their local communities. This report provides
details of the current volunteer utilization processes for the Extra Life Grand Rapids guild, and
how it has led to low morale, high turnover, and reduced fundraising. There are hundreds of
local organizations vying for fundraising dollars, and many of these successful organizations
have structured programs guiding those raising money. Implementing a similar process can help
reduce volunteer dissatisfaction and help them become more engaged and goal oriented.
 Introduction
It all started with a girl named Victoria Enmon from Orange, Texas. Victoria, or Tori as
her friends and family called her, was a positive and charming gymnast who brought joy to
those around her. And then she passed out. Her parents had taken her to Texas Children’s
hospital, their local Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) hospital, in Houston for a checkup. The
news was devastating. Tori had leukemia.
She was in and out of the facility for treatment, and she went into remission and
relapsed multiple times. In 2017, after her second relapse, Jeromy Adams, the CMN liaison to
the hospital stopped in her hospital room during one of her long stays and asked her if she liked
to play video games. Like many teens, she said that she did, and Jeromy left with a mission to
get her some game systems. He reached out to several online communities that he was a part
of, including a gaming group called Sarcastic Gamer. The response was incredible. Tori
received so many game donations that she had trouble finding other kids to take them all.
Jeromy was ecstatic that the gamer community stepped up to help a sick kid as quickly as they
did. (Children's Miracle Network, 2013)
Sadly, Tori lost her battle with cancer in January 2008. Jeromy wanted to remember
Tori and the positivity she brought to all those she met, so in September of that year, he held a
24hr gaming marathon fundraiser, called Extra Life, in her honor. More than 1200 gamers
attended, and they raised over $100,000. Jeromy repeated the event the next year and
brought an even larger crowd and higher fundraising numbers. He was on to something.
In 2010, Children’s Miracle Network expanded Jeromy’s event and made Extra Life a
nation-wide charity event. Each year gamers sign up, pledge to play games for 24hrs, and raise
money for their local CMN children’s hospital. Each year, the event has grown in participation
with more than 50,000 gamers signing up in 2018. (Dawson, 2013)
With the growth of the program on a national level, individual hospital guilds are facing
challenges with growing their programs at the local level. Individuals can watch and donate to
participants streaming their game play online, but when asked if they would like to participate
themselves, they’re not sure they fit the demographic of those that are playing. The national
website does a decent job of sharing basic information but cannot offer answers to questions
on the localized experience.

Problem
Current practices, or lack thereof, have caused fundraising efforts to become stagnant.
New recruits frequently fail to raise any money, nor do they participate in public gaming events.
 Significance of Problem
As the cost of raising money increases, it is important to get a comparable return on
those investment dollars. If fundraising targets aren’t met, the charity organization needs to
reevaluate current practices and resource allocation. The stagnant fundraising efforts and
returns threaten the services of the hospital and future events of the Grand Rapids guild.

Financial Review
The Extra Life Grand Rapids guild was formed in 2013 and held a one-day video game
tournament. Gamers were charged $50 - 100 to play and compete for various prizes. One
hundred ninety-three individuals participated and raised more than $19,000. This equated to
an average donation of $100.33 per participant, which met what Extra Life/ Children’s Miracle
Network set as an average fundraising target per person recruited. All monies raised went to
the local CMN affiliated hospital, which is Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital.
As year passed, the efforts of Extra Life saw both increases and decreases in the areas of
total fundraising dollars collected, participants, and average donation per person. Since Extra
Life became active in Grand Rapids, efforts have failed to meet the targeted average of $100
raised per participant. In 2015, an additional 95 gamers participated, yet raised more than
$2,000 less than the year prior. The reverse occurred between 2015 and 2016 when 33 less
individuals signed up, but an additional $4,103 was raised. (Larson, 2019)

Figure 1 Extra Life Fundraising Totals

 Since inception, guilds have been responsible for recruiting additional gamers to sign up
and raise money for the charity. In 2018, Children’s Miracle Network expanded their guilds’
focus to include community and fundraising. This opened doors for struggling guilds to focus
on areas other than recruiting. This led to a fundraising increase for the Grand Rapids guild.
While they had 31 fewer participants, they raised an additional $7,394 over the previous year,
and allowed them to break $40,000 for the first time. (Larson, 2019) While this may seem like
a significant achievement, $5500 of that total came from corporate donations, not from
participant fundraising. When adjusted for these additional funds, the guild participants raised
less than $40,000.
This is concerning because the guild average has been stuck in the $35,000 - $37,000
range. Community building and fundraising efforts didn’t create a large boost to the individual
fundraising efforts, except for a small handful of individuals. Six members of the Grand Rapids
guild team earned more than $1000 each which offset many of those who didn’t fundraise at
all.
The Spectrum Health Foundation, which supports the Grand Rapids guild, has set lofty
goals for future years, and the current increase in fundraising will not meet the targets set for
the 2020 and 2021 fundraising years. We must identify ways to increase fundraising efforts or
we will fall short of our targets. (Spectrum Health, 2019)

Figure 2 Extra Life 2018 Infographic

 When we compare the local total, with the corporate donations, to national numbers,
there is an additional cause for concern. Overall, Extra Life participants raised 21% more than
they did in 2017, for a total of $13.48 million. While we had a 19.5% increase with the business
donations, we only saw a 5% increase without them.
We also must look at comparable guilds to see what their average fundraising was for
their participants. Two other Michigan hospitals fell into the $31,000 to $51,000 range, and
that was Beaumont hospital in Detroit and Sparrow hospital in Lansing.

Figure 3 Funds Raised $31,000 to $51,000

Lansing participants raised over $46,000 with only 150 participants, which is a stark
contrast to the 318 signed up for Grand Rapids. Detroit does have a guild, but it is run by one
individual, and which they had fewer participants than the Grand Rapids guild, they raised more
money per person on average. This leads one to believe that there are processes in Grand
Rapids that may need changing.

Future Fundraising Goals

As shown in table 1 above, the Spectrum Health Foundation has set lofty goals for the
2020 and 2021 fundraising years. If the guild’s fundraising holds steady from it’s 2018 total,
there will have to be a 33% increase to meet the 2020 goal, and a 66% increase to hit the 2021
mark. This numbers will not be met with the guild’s current practices. To hit the $100,000
mark in 2021, we need large increases in both participants and average funds raised. The
number of average participants increases by almost 400 people, and average funds raised per
person increases from $190 to $238.

Figure 4 Extra Life Guilds $100k - $200k

Current Guild Processes

When individuals sign up to participate, Extra Life creates a personal fundraising page
for them and they have access to the official community forums. From there, they are welcome
to join their local guilds’ Facebook page. (Anducci, 2019) (Children's Miracle Network, 2019)
Other than that, there aren’t any other immediate resources available to players. While
participants have access to community forums where they can ask questions and search for
answers, there is little that offers current, immediate information. Forums sections dedicated
to localized areas have often gone unused by participants, new and old.
This has caused issues for some individuals after registering. At Grand Rapids ComicCon
2018, several past Extra Life gamers were surveyed about why they no longer participated in
fundraising. The most common reasons for the lack of participation were:

• Being overwhelmed and not knowing where to start

• Not being able to raise enough money to hit desired incentive tiers
• Not being comfortable continuously asking family and friends for money
• Not sure what the money is being spent on
• Not having people to play with
Figure 5 How Money is Spent

Local guilds can offer some support, but that often consists of participants being directed to
resources on the guild website. This can end up being a cyclical task that leads to frustration.

Conclusion
After a thorough review of the past guild performance, I believe changes would be
beneficial to the performance and morale of the Extra Life Grand Rapids guild. If we can take
steps to decrease, or even eliminate, initial participant frustration and confusion, guild
leadership can help direct their fundraising efforts and maintain a higher level of morale. This
will give them more opportunities to educate participants about Extra Life’s mission and
policies, in addition to getting them engaged and excited about reaching local fundraising goals.
Should implemented processes be successful, there are opportunities to share process
information with other struggling guilds.

Recommendations
Based on personal observations, documented practices (Children's Miracle Network,
2019), and guidance from the guild’s hospital liaison (Larson, 2019), I recommend the guild
implement the follow processes:

• Create a YouTube training video that shows interested individuals how to register to
participate, and how to create a new team or join an existing one. This would be the
first of many “how to” participants could easily reference for information.
• Send each new participant a link to the national Extra Life instruction manual, answer
questions, and review key pieces of information.
• Create short videos and hold community events on how to set up online streaming
services, like TwitchTV and YouTube. Invite well know local streamer to give tips and
help inspire participants to do their best.
• Hold game nights to build community and allow people to meet other participants.
Encourage them to support each other’s efforts.
• Share opportunities to raise funds other than asking family and friends for cash
donations.
• How to best use social media to generate support for one’s fundraising efforts.
• How to play games for long periods of time in a healthy way. Serious health problems
can occur when stationary for long periods of time.
• Share miracle child stories to help keep participants invested in our fundraising mission.
• Educate individuals on what the money we raise goes toward, and why it’s important
we continue to fundraise.
• Share basics of Extra Life platinum incentive program, and rewards for hitting
fundraising milestones.
• Create a guide to fundraising best practices and provide a copy when individuals
register.
• Basics on how to create an elevator pitch that can be used when approaching potential
donors. Participants want to get potential donors interested in their cause in less than
30 seconds.
 References
Anducci, L. (2019, April 9). Senior Manager. (J. Suttorp, Interviewer)

Children's Miracle Network. (2013, September 20). Victoria Enmon's Story . Retrieved March 26, 2019,
from https://youtu.be/rHSZ_82wiJg

Children's Miracle Network. (2019, April 2). Retrieved from Extra Life: https://www.extra-life.org/

Children's Miracle Network. (2019, April 2). About Us. Retrieved from Children's Miracle Network:
https://childrensmiraclenetworkhospitals.org/about-us/

Children's Miracle Network. (2019, April 3). Best Practices. Retrieved from Extra Life:
https://community.extra-life.org/articles.html/extra-life-news/best-practices

Children's Miracle Network. (2019, April 12). DeVos Children's Hospital. Retrieved from Children's
Miracle Network: https://devoschildrens.childrensmiraclenetworkhospitals.org/

Children's Miracle Network. (2019, April 13). Extra Life Explained. Retrieved from Extra Life:
https://community.extra-life.org/articles.html/extra-life-news/best-practices/extra-life-
explained-r1246/

Dawson, C. (2013, October 28). Gaming for Charity. (CNN) Retrieved April 5, 2019, from CNN:
https://www.cnn.com/2013/10/25/tech/gaming-gadgets/gaming-for-charity/index.html

Ellen, J. (2019, April 7). Community. Retrieved from Extra Life: https://community.extra-
life.org/forums/topic/6305-why-i-extra-lifeit-started-with-a-little-girl-in-orange-tx/

Larson, A. (2019, April 12). Foundation Specialist, Sr. (J. Suttorp, Interviewer)

Spectrum Health. (2019, March 29). Extra Life. Retrieved from Spectrum Health:
https://www.spectrumhealth.org/foundation/helen-devos-childrens-hospital/extra-life

Volunteer Hub. (2019, April 14). Fundraising Quotes. Retrieved from Volunteer Hub:
https://www.volunteerhub.com/blog/fundraising-quotes/