Essay Sample on Beyond Blue

Introduction

Beyond Blue is charity based in Australia which offers information and support to persons to enable them to attain their best possible mental health, regardless of their age, sex or ethnicity. Besides, this charity also raises mindfulness of dejection, fretfulness, and suicide avoidance, and helps to reduce stigma facing people with mental disability (Hickie, p.40). Beyond Blue counselors engage persons experiencing psychological distress in counseling sessions to revive them to healthy mental state. The work of these counselors traverses a variety of settings, including schools, hospitals, online community, aged care, and workplaces. Studies indicate that about three million people in Australia are currently suffering from anxiety and depression related disorders. Also, about nine people commit suicide in the country every day. Beyond Blue aims to reduce these numbers significantly by imparting people with the knowledge and skills necessary to protect their mental health. Furthermore, this charity attempts to eliminate hindrances that prevent people from expressing their opinions and seeking help.

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Needs Statement

The problem of mental health is prevalent in Australia with about one in five people suffering from psychological disorders. Studies show that approximately 49% of Australia citizens are likely to experience a mental illness at some point during their lifetime. According to Harman and Heath (p.300), this problem accounts for about 25% of disability cases in the country. The most prevalent mental health concerns in Australia include depression and anxiety. Research shows that the prevalence of the latter is on the rise. Besides, Australia spends over $28 billion each year to support persons with psychological ailments (p.310). Over three-quarters of this expenditure is catered by the government while the remaining expense is funded by non-governmental organizations, insurance firms, caregivers, and philanthropists among others.

Goals and Objectives

Goals

The goals of the fundraising campaign include to: a) raise five thousand dollars to support the Beyond Blue campaign, and b) create public awareness so that a high number of individuals can recognize and respect the mandate of Beyond Blue, which is to reduce the mental health stigma that is prevalent in the population.

Objectives

The primary objective which will contribute to realizing the goals of the project proposal is to brainstorm ideas for fundraising campaigns that will rally 2000 individuals to participate in events and raise five thousand dollars. Another key objective is to identify the initiatives within Beyond Blue that will benefit from the fundraising money after the fundraising events. Besides, this proposal aims to find out from the Beyond Blue field campaigners the possible areas in which the team can utilize to contribute to the goals of the organization.

Fundraising Campaign Design

Method

Teamwork is understandably the supporting framework in the entire fundraising campaign. The methodology in the campaign will thus involve the first step of assigning different roles to different members of the team who will also operate in groups (Marcussen, 2006 p.18). While the team dynamics suggest that the team members work towards a common goal, the team will still segregate duties so that each member or groups of individuals play different roles that all contribute to the overall outcomes and expectations of the team (Scarnati, 2001, p.7). The final consideration is that all the members of the team will work towards brainstorming and implementing the ideas that will contribute to the objectives of the team.

As indicated in the section for goals and objectives, the team will be working towards supporting the initiatives that the Beyond Blue Charity organization has put forth towards supporting the individuals who are facing mental health issues that include anxiety and depression. Therefore, all the processes and procedures within the team will lead to the outcome of supporting the Beyond Blue charity outfit. The support will be structural, in the way of supporting their processes and campaigns of creating anti-stigma public awareness campaigns. A different mode of support will be financial. Beyond Blue is a charity organization that relies on the input of different benefactors. The team will, therefore, make every attempt to fill in the role of a benefactor within the organization through financial support. From the background information, it is evident that a large percentage of the population is stigmatizing the victims of mental health through the belief that the individuals suffering from mental health are just putting on pretenses. Therefore, the team will work with the goals that the organization has outlined in reaching the population that is unaware of mental health issues and the plight of the victims of mental health.

Strategies

The first goal of the team is to raise five thousand dollars that will go through the Beyond Blue charity that provides support for mental health victims and their families. The difficulty in this goal is the skeptical nature of the public when it comes to campaigns that require their monetary contribution. The team will overcome the difficulty through the goal requires a strategy to convince the members of the population to part with their money for a financial contribution that will support the intuitive. Therefore, the strategy will first involve measures that take the team to the crowds who have access to large amounts of money. The ideal target crowds include individuals with a constant source of income, in addition to philanthropic celebrities who are looking to work with different strategies in the state. Once the team identifies the ideal benefactors to the campaign, it will utilize methods that speak to each of the benefactors. An illustration is the use of one-on-one campaigns in which the team members will approach strategic members of the population and explain the benefits of contributing to the campaign (Scarnati, 2001, p.7). Additionally, the team has the option of writing funding proposals to the publicity teams for different charity loving celebrities and explaining the benefits of the celebrity taking part in the initiatives.

A separate goal for the team is to create an awareness of mental health issues so that an increasing number of individuals in public can support the victims of mental health issues along with their families. The team will employ a similar strategy of using celebrities and critical persons in the society who understand mental health issues. The critical note individuals will be requested to make an address during a public event in which they will share their information with the public on mental health. A separate strategy towards the goal of creating awareness involves the use of banners and fliers. The team will go through the crowds to distribute the informational material while at the same time explaining the campaign to the public.

Implementation

The implementation section of the project will require the input of different team members who will work together towards the goals and objectives of the group (Tekleab, Quigley, & Tesluk, p.180). While working towards the initiatives of the campaign, the team recognizes that different individuals within the team have different capabilities (Scarnati, 2001, p.10). Therefore, while the unifying component for all the team members is their desire to provide support for sufferers of mental health issues that include anxiety and depression, the members of the team have varying capabilities. Some individuals in the team are competent in the art of mobilizing the crowds, while other individuals are well suited for administrative functions that include planning and implementation.

The team will, therefore, assign roles to the different individuals within the team according to their capabilities and individual gifting. Therefore, the individual who has an affinity towards mobilizing crowds will take on the role of public campaigns using different avenues of interacting with the members of the public and spreading the awareness. In the process of spreading the awareness, the individuals will also encourage the public to contribute towards the initiative. On the other hand, the team members who are savvy in the management components that include planning and implementation will take on the background roles of the campaign. The roles include the administrative functions of selecting an avenue for the campaign and working out the details of reaching and influencing the crowds. Additional contribution from the group of individuals will be accounting functions in which they will determine the targets of the team, in addition to the proximity of the team in realizing its objectives. Ultimately, all the members of the team will make their unique contributions to the common goals and objectives that the team shares in its fundraising campaign for mental health awareness (Tasa, Taggar, & Seijts, 2007, p.20).

Results

The successful implementation of the strategies in the proposal will lead to team to the desired results. The results which are in line with the goals of the team include the first goal of raising $5000 that will go towards supporting the functions of the Beyond Blue charity organization. The organization works with families and victims of mental health, in addition to creating awareness in public on the effects of mental health so that the public can support the victims. Therefore, the first result in the project includes the realization of the goal in which the team will raise the $5000 towards the charity. Different members of the team will all play their unique roles towards the specific outcomes of the project. The field team which interacts with the public will convince the members of the public to provide a monetary contribution to the campaign.

On the other hand, the planning and accounting team will work towards strategies and measures for success in the team. The accounting team will also provide financial goals for the team, along with tracking the spending of the team. The second result that the team is expecting is to see an increase in the awareness levels that the public has towards issues that concern mental health. The team will realize the results through the public campaign initiative in which the team members will explain mental health and its impact on individuals and their families. The legal requirements while working on creative awareness include the need to obtain permits from the local authorities when the team desires to address large gatherings in public spaces that include parks and recreational centers.

Self-Reflection

The process of researching into Beyond Blue charity organization form mental health created an awareness that has contributed to my entire view of the project in addition to my desires to see the goals of the project coming to fruition. It became apparent from the research and analysis of different documents and information that |Beyond Blue is a worthy cause. The troubling component in the research is that the project is not receiving sufficient support from the public despite the clear indication that its initiatives are essential to the public.

Therefore, the desire for the team members to work on a campaign towards supporting the activities of the organization became a useful goal that aligned with the personal belief system of providing support to individuals in need through any means possible. Learning about the project also created awareness that the public is skeptical when it comes to matters of mental health. The opinion that many individuals hold is that mental health is not a possibilit...