ContentsA brief Introduction of the Organization & How it Works...................................2

Akhuwat & Process Perspective of Services Marketing: (People Processing, Possession Processing, Mental Stimulus Processing or Information Processing?):................................................................3

7 P’s of Services & Akhuwat Foundation.............................................................4

The Three Stage Model of Service Consumption................................................7Pre-Purchase Stage:...........................................................................................................................7

Service Encounter Stage:...................................................................................................................8

Post Encounter Stage:........................................................................................................................9

The Flower of Service..........................................................................................9Facilitating Supplementary Services of AKHUWAT (Non Profitable Organization):...........................9

Enhancing Supplementary Services of AKHUWAT:..........................................................................11

Distribution of Services.....................................................................................13What is Distributed? :......................................................................................................................14

How is it Distributed? :....................................................................................................................15

The Marketing Communications Mix for Akhuwat foundation.........................16Current Position:..............................................................................................................................17

Recommendations:..........................................................................................................................18

A Final Word on Akhuwat’s Marketing Communication Mix & How to Better Utilize it:.................22

The Process (Service Process)............................................................................22

Final Word.........................................................................................................26

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A brief Introduction of the Organization & How it Works

The idea of Akhuwat Foundation was unearthed for the very first time during a dinner

time conversation between friends from civil services. Akhuwat started with group

lending and today it has progressed onto individual lending while the main customer

of this being the household units. Akhuwat is actually a unique microfinance system

that works on interest free basis and the funds received back are recycled.  Loans

are provided to under-banked borrowers for a number of reasons including up

gradation of residential facilities, marriages, education and at times, to pay back

loan-sharks. However throughout this, Akhuwat's has always mainly emphasized on

enterprise or business loans. The reason for this emphasis is a belief that such loans

have a huge effect on the society's socioeconomic development; working as a tool

these loans empower poverty-ridden households to move up the socio-economic

ladder and to improve their living standards. These enterprise or business loans

currently cover more than 90 % of Akhuwat Foundation's current outstanding

portfolio. 

While the organisation depends mainly on volunteers to run day to day activities, an

ideal social enterprise like Akhuwat employs a healthy and balanced mixture of both

volunteerism and reparation. The top and the middle management staff is more or

less entirely composed of volunteers whereas only the junior staff - who come from

the same communities as most of the borrowers - are paid market compensations.

Akhuwat differs from a classic MFI on nearly every account, but the biggest

difference is in its philosophies. While any other microfinance institute is built

principally as a 'business' that 'sells', Akhuwat’s philosophy hinges on answering the

obtrusive illogicality that exists within the microfinance framework, where the truly

marginalised in the society - and in effect those who actually deserve financial

access the most - are ostracised and restricted by the unbearably high interest rates

that accompanies these loans. 

While a regular MFI encourages their clients to climb up the loan ladder to borrow in

turn larger sums, Akhuwat attempts to help its borrowers become better off so that

they could graduate on to regular banks as soon as they have outgrown Akhuwat's

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scale of lending, thus Akhuwat's job is to process clients and in due course pass

them on to conventional banking thus overlooking the benefit of holding them for

their own recurring profits. 

In the last 10 years, Akhuwat Foundation has managed to open 169 branches in 116

cities and small towns (mainly low income localities), with ever increasing focus on

the smaller towns and cities of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhuwa and Sindh. The total

amount of struggling households that have been helped back to their feet during this

time is more than 0.3 million, while the total amount of credit expenditure as of today

stands at around PKR 4.5 billion. The Akhuwat Foundation's outstanding loan

portfolio is approximately PKR 1.5 billion while the recovery rate is at an exceptional

99.8 percent.

The organisation's organic, 'back to the basics' approach towards management

allows it to have the lowest operational cost in the sector. Office furniture is kept to a

bare least and all top-management activities are carried out while seated on the

floor. Additionally the Akhuwat foundation's operations are increasingly becoming

self-sufficient, with the MDP (Member donor programme) currently financing more

than 60 percent of all operating costs. 

Akhuwat Foundation’s mission is

“To alleviate poverty by empowering socially and economically marginalized families

through interest free microfinance and by harnessing entrepreneurial potential,

capacity building and social guidance.”

Akhuwat & Process Perspective of Services Marketing: (People Processing, Possession Processing, Mental Stimulus Processing or Information Processing?):

When we talk about services we often encounter situation where we are to define

and address the question that what is being processed in this whole scenario. In any

services offering people, physical objects, and data can be processed and the nature

of the processing can be tangible or intangible. In people processing oriented

services people often sought out services that are directed at themselves and thus

they are required to enter the service process themselves in order to receive the

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required services. In possession processing the customers are interested in

processing of their possessions and thus transformation of these possessions into

desired forms. In case of mental stimulus processing services are normally directed

at people’s minds thus enhancing their understanding and their knowledge. Finally

information processing just like mental stimulus processing enables a person to

make better decisions based on the information provided by the requested services.

It is due to this similarity between mental stimulus processing and information

processing that they are often combined and are termed as information based

processing.

When we consider Akhuwat Foundation and when we talk about the type of

processing that takes place in this situation we might face conflicting viewpoints as

some might term it as people processing while others might have totally a different

perspective in this regard. As per our understanding the microfinance and loan

services offered by Akhuwat Foundation are mainly people processing as they are

aimed at helping low income households and help these low income households in

transforming their lives and thus changing their economic position. However a thin

line cannot be drawn in case of the services offered by Akhuwat Foundation as at

some stages information based processing is usually also involved. Typically when

the loan process starts a people processing is initiated and subsequently other

processing also gets initiated with the continuation of the process. However as

mentioned earlier that the aim of Akhuwat’s services is to enhance the living

standards of low income generating members of the community and thus to

transform their lives so that they are better able to work independently and to

improve their earning. It is due to this mantra of Akhuwat Foundation that we are of

the view that the services offered by Akhuwat Foundation mainly cover the people

processing aspect as mentioned in the process perspective of services.

7 P’s of Services & Akhuwat Foundation

In case of services we extend our traditional 4P’s of marketing mix to add 3 more P’s

and thus we term it as 7P’s of services marketing. These are product, price, place,

promotion, process, physical environment and people. A brief introduction of the 7

P’s of services offered by Akhuwat Foundation is provided below:

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1. Product: Akhuwat provides loan services to households at zero percent

interest rate. It is evidently the only microfinance institute that is successfully

working as a non-profit organization. The microfinance products offered by

Akhuwat Foundation comprise of family enterprise loan, liberation loan,

education loan, health loan, emergency loan, housing loan and marriage loan.

In addition to these loan services Akhuwat also works in various other projects

but considering the main focus of Akhuwat on enterprise and business loans

we will focus our attention to this specific loan services throughout this project.

However it is appropriate to mention here that most of the loan services

provided by Akhuwat follow the same process and procedures with very few

adjustments. The family enterprise or business loans are sanctioned for

establishing or expanding a business that can help low income households in

ensuring and securing a sustainable livelihood. These loans normally range

from Rs. 10,000 to 30,000.

2. Place & Time: Akhuwat Foundation has presence in almost 207 cities and

towns of Pakistan with almost 302 branches. These setups are established in

localities with low income households that might be in need of loans offered

by Akhuwat Foundation. The organization mostly uses the mosques or

churches for carrying out its activities with the motive of using these religious

establishments for social improvement. Introductory sessions are organized to

create awareness about the services offered by Akhuwat Foundation and

once an individual shows interest in borrowing money from Akhuwat, it

normally takes 3 months before a decision is reached regarding sanctioning of

requested loans.

3. Price: The major attractiveness of the loan services offered by Akhuwat

Foundation is that it offers loans to low income households at zero percent

interest rate and that too without any requirement of collateral. The only

amount that is charged from an applicant is of Rs. 100 that is charged as the

application fee from the applicant. No other amount is to be paid by the

applicant against his loan or his application for loan.

4. Promotion: Akhuwat mainly relies on positive word of mouth promotion made

by its previous borrowers. It organizes various introductory sessions in

mosques or churches of different low income localities and creates awareness

regarding the loan services offered by the organization. In these sessions

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mainly previous borrowers are invited to share their experiences with the local

community. For donations Akhuwat relies mainly on its presence over the

internet and also organizes various events to stay connected with its regular

donors.

5. Process: The loan disbursement process is initiated with the submission of

an application by the prospective borrower. Once an application is received, it

is evaluated and a decision is reached with an approval or rejection of the

request. The details of the complete process have been presented in the last

part of the report. The whole process involves an active participation of the

applicant or the borrower and he is required to remain in continuous touch

with the organization.

6. Physical Environment: As also mentioned earlier that Akhuwat mainly uses

local area mosques or churches for carrying out its activities and this means

that the physical surrounding of the service area is kept simple. Even the

offices of Akhuwat are quite simple and those who visit Akhuwat Offices have

to sit on the floor along with the organization’s representatives. The purpose

of keeping the ambience simple is to keep any unnecessary costs at a

minimum level.

7. People: The staff that is mainly involved in directly dealing with the

prospective borrowers is mainly from the same locality. This is done to ensure

that the individual that visits Akhuwat’s office for loan purposes feels at ease

and is able to interact openly with the person in order to remove an doubts

that he might have regarding the loan services offered by Akhuwat. On the

other hand, the main office staff and the top management of Akhuwat is well

reputed and is respected by all and thus adds to the fairness of the whole

system.

Now we will cover various aspects of the loan services offered by Akhuwat

Foundation while focusing only on the major content that we have studied in

services marketing course and is applicable on the loan services offered by

Akhuwat Foundation.

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The Three Stage Model of Service Consumption

Pre-Purchase Stage:

Need Awareness: The need in people for getting micro loans from

organizations arises due to the suffering people face because of different

circumstances, such as poor living conditions, inability to fulfill basic

necessities and also due to non-availability of resources needed to run a

business even at smaller levels so they could keep their lives going. In this

case need for Akhuwat’s services arises due to financial constraints and

resource limitations faced by low income households. The provision of

Interest-Free loan and that too without any collateral required from Akhuwat is

the reason why low income households seem more interested in availing

Akhuwat’s services because people hesitate in taking loans from the

companies and banks who charge interests on their loans. This hesitation

also arises due to the non Shariah compliance of these loans because they

are based on interest which is prohibited in Islam as well as because of the

high interest rates and other hidden terms and conditions which people think

might create serious problems for them in future.

Information Search: After the arousal of this need in people, they look for the

solutions that can satisfy their need and then they search for the organizations

which provide loans (micro as well as macro loans). Other alternatives will

also come into loan seeker’s mind such as borrowing money from their friends

and family or from some person on some interest rate. These alternatives are

then evaluated before a final choice is made.

Evaluating Alternatives: This service covers experience attributes as it does

not have any tangible characteristics, so the attributes cannot be evaluated

before experiencing it such as the reliability of the service and ease of getting

the loan from the company.

When evaluating such loan service it often includes the perceived risk for the

borrower in case if he is taking the loan on some rate of interest from some

organization or from number of alternatives such as the over and above

amount (interest) on the principal amount and also the risk that the person

might face difficulty in returning the loan at the specified interest rate and

might have its collateral on stake. At this stage it is easy for the person to go

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out and select the organization which is giving loan without any interest and is

Shariah compliant and Akhuwat is the organization which fulfills these aspects

as it includes very minimal risk as there is as such no collateral on stake and

the lender demands zero interest on the loan so the person makes a

purchase decision of the service.

Service Encounter Stage:

Purchase Decision: Akhuwat generally fulfils all the aspects of person’s perceived

or desired service by providing interest free loans and that too on easy long term

instalments without the requirement of pledging any collateral from the person who is

willing to take loan from Akhuwat. So the person makes a final purchase decision of

getting a loan from Akhuwat as it is without any doubt the best solution to his

financial needs (especially for low-income households).

After the purchase decision or finalizing the alternative from which to get this service,

the person now gets in contact with the service provider and in this case the person

goes to its respective area branch of Akhuwat in order to apply for the loan (service).

The person gets in direct interaction with the employee of the service provider and

the person is required to fill the application form which is basically designed to gather

the important information. The application for loan is then further processed through

different channels such as background check of the applicant etc. in order to find out

whether the applicant is eligible to receive the loan or not. The whole process from

applying for the loan to the payment of loan to the eligible applicant involves many

steps by the company and involves a longer time frame.

High Contact Service: The service which Akhuwat is providing is a high contact

service because the customer exposure to the service provider involves a longer

time frame and steps and takes on a physical and tangible nature as the customer

visits the Akhuwat office in order to apply for the loan and gets in direct interaction

with the employee and tells the employee his/her reason of applying for loan and

when the Akhuwat gives the loan after going through a process they give that loan to

the borrower in a loan disbursement ceremony and when the borrower submits his

instalment of loan , he again has to visit the office in order to submit the instalment.

Further Akhuwat is thoroughly involved in ensuring due usage of the funds being

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disbursed as loan to the individual thus making this whole scenario a process where

the service provider and the service receiver are in close contact with each other.

Post Encounter Stage:

People after using the service or after encountering with the service make some sort

of judgment about the service based on their experiences with the service and these

experiences can be unsatisfactory or delightful. According to the above scenario this

whole process of people taking the loans from Akhuwat without any interest and

without putting anything on stake as a collateral and then repaying the loan on easy

monthly instalments brings satisfaction to many borrowers and is often considered to

be of more good than their expectations. Apart from the loan, the organization

(Akhuwat) makes a long lasting bond with their borrowers by giving them

consultation and inviting them to different community events. The high satisfaction

level of the borrower proves out to be a beneficial factor in the improvement of their

financial condition. The borrower by himself does the word of mouth marketing by

sharing with others about the positive experiences he had with the service which

ultimately brings more people to come forward and use the service.

The Flower of Service

Facilitating Supplementary Services of AKHUWAT (Non Profitable Organization):

Information:

Akhuwat basically provides interest-free micro loans which is their core service. If we

talk about information as a facilitating supplementary service it includes various

information that is provided by Akhuwat such as direction to its different locations,

area branches and the offices to which people can go and get the application forms

for micro loans and other important information needed to adopt for the process of

applying for loans or key lending methodologies such as:

Program Introduction: (brief introduction of what the program is all about

Individual’s Selection: (how one individual is selected , the eligibility or

selection criteria for the micro loan).

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Preparation of Business Plans.

Credit Appraisal: (how the credit check is done of the person who would apply

for the loan).

Guarantors of Loans.

Credit Disbursement/Capacity Building.

Recovery/Follow up: (and how to repay the loan in installments).

This information is provided on Akhuwat’s website as well as people can get this

information by meeting the employees working in the Akhuwat’s area branches.

The information or assistance on how to start a small business which the borrower

has planned to do is also given, which is counted as a facilitating supplementary

service of AKHUWAT in addition to its core service or product.

Order-taking:

Akhuwat has designed an application form which requires prospective applicants to

go through an application process designed to gather relevant information and to

screen out those who do not meet the criteria for receiving loans because of the bad

credit record etc. These forms are available in each of the area branches in different

locations of different cities for the purpose to take orders of people who are willing to

apply for the micro loans and those applications are then further processed through

different channels in order to finalize the applicant’s eligibility to receive the loans.

The filled applications with documents are recorded manually in the registers as well

as in the computers for the sake of company record.

Billing:

Akhuwat have no billing charges for their service because of its non-profit existence

and the intentions of working for the alleviation of poverty instead of earning profits.

Akhuwat only charges a minimal fee of Rs. 100 for its application form or to bear the

expenses of application process. They make a manual hand written receipt for this

application fee.

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Payment:

The payment process in terms of the application for services is very fast because the

fee Akhuwat charges for their application form is very minimal i.e. Rs100 and

applicants do not find any difficulty to pay this fee, so they pay the application fee on

the spot without any delay. On the other hand in terms of the organization the

payment procedure or the disbursement of loans is always done in sacred places

like Mosques and Churches which instils a sense of more liability on the borrower to

repay the loan. This is possibly one of the reasons that the company has 99.8%

recovery rate. The borrowers repay the loans in instalments like if the person has

taken loan of amount Rs10,000, his loan will be divided into 12 instalments (one

year) and he will then have to submit the monthly instalment accordingly to their

respective Akhuwat area branch or to the organization account in any Habib bank

limited branch.

Enhancing Supplementary Services of AKHUWAT:

Consultation:

It involves detailed comprehensive information to the applicant’s queries and the

people who are willing to apply for the loan rather than a brief short response or

printed information to the customer query that anticipates their needs. It usually

involves a two way communication between the Akhuwat representative (employee)

and the applicant and in Akhuwat this is widely done. A walk-in person who is

wishing to apply for a loan shares his business idea or plan with Akhuwat employee

and the employee then helps him to modify his idea or helps him in other possible

manner, gives him consultation regarding his business idea and how to implement

his idea effectively and make it more constructive. In this aspect even after the

borrowers of Akhuwat start their own businesses, the organization gives them

technical consulting in terms of vocational training sessions which helps the

borrowers in their skill development.

The organization adopts a principle which is based on not making the people

dependent, the organization wants the people who borrow from them to stand on

their own feet and one day become donors themselves for others in need. So for this

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they are guiding people and are supporting people and thus instil a value to help

others after their own needs are fulfilled.

Hospitality:

In Akhuwat hospitality is not considered to be as a great enhancing supplementary

service to its core service in routine because it is a non-profit organization and

mostly run on donations, so they hardly spend any thing on hospitality. The area

offices (branches) are very simple. Akhuwat has built their offices either inside the

mosques or just outside the mosques to maintain the simplicity and to save

themselves from the high operational costs, they do not have any chairs in the

offices, both the employees and the people (borrowers and applicants ) have to sit

on the floor and they do not offer any kind of beverages apart from water and try to

focus on their core service which is to provide interest free micro loans to the needy

and deserving people. Even the people are not bothered of the hospitality factor,

they are just concerned about getting a loan from the organizations which is the only

thing of great importance for them.

Apart from this, most of the times whenever AKHUWAT has its loan disbursement

ceremony, they treat their borrowers and their families and friends with great

hospitality as sometimes the loan disbursement ceremony is arranged with a big

carnival for the borrower’s children and also lunch boxes are distributed to the

borrowers after the loan disbursement ceremony to create a sense of brotherhood

and to let the borrowers know that the organization is not just focused to give loans

but also to share happiness and sense of affiliation among the community. The

organization also provides pick and drop service to the borrowers for the event.

Exceptions:

Akhuwat helps its eligible applicants to find other people who are also wishing to

apply for a loan because the organization gives loan to groups (forming of 4

applicants) instead to a single applicant because they then become guarantors of

each other so if an applicant finds it difficulty in finding more people to form a group,

the organization helps the individual in resolving this matter. Another exception to the

main service is that they also arrange vocational training sessions for the skill

12

development of the borrowers and also help the borrowers in starting their business

by giving suggestions or telling them different ways through which they can do their

business effectively as the organization focuses on the alleviation of poverty by

empowering the people. Apart from this, most of the times whenever AKHUWAT has

its loan disbursement ceremony, they treat their borrowers and their families and

friends with great hospitality and give them a very warm welcome as sometimes the

loan disbursement ceremony is arranged with a big carnival for the borrower’s

children and also lunch boxes are distributed to the borrowers after the loan

disbursement ceremony to create a sense of brotherhood among the community and

to let the borrowers know that the organization is not just focused to give loans but

also to share happiness and sense of affiliation among the community. The

organization also provides pick and drop service to the borrowers for the event.

The organization takes the complaints of the borrowers seriously and works on

resolving the issues of the borrowers so that they do not have to face the problems

in future.

Distribution of Services

Distribution mechanism plays an important role in deciding the success or failure of

any market offering. When it comes to distribution of a service offering this becomes

even more crucial and the possibilities of failure increase if the distribution is not

maintained at an appropriate level. Akhuwat Foundation has a wide network of 302

branches in 207 cities and towns of Pakistan. It uses its local offices and mosques or

churches for introducing its offerings to the low income households. The whole

process is of high contact in nature where representative of Akhuwat Foundation and

the borrower remains in continuous contact with each other for ensuring the

successful achievement of the purpose for which the loan was sanctioned. The

simplicity of the system and the whole process makes it so easy to understand for

any layman but despite this the success of Akhuwat speaks for itself.

Though there is not much to share about the distribution system of the services

offered by Akhuwat due to it’s over simplicity however we will present an overview

13

here. (Details overlap with the other information that has been provided in this report

therefore has not been mentioned to avoid repetition).

What is Distributed? :

1. Information and Promotion Flow: Akhuwat Foundation organizes various

introductory sessions in low income localities where the audience is

introduced with the services being offered by the organization. These

sessions normally take place in mosques or churches after prayers and

normally the previous borrowers of Akhuwat loans are invited to share their

experiences with the local community. Apart from this when an interested

borrower visits Akhuwat’s facility he is provided complete guidance about the

available loan and the application process. Also he is provided complete

assistance in preparing a viable plan and an effective application for the loan.

Similarly information flow also takes place once the loan has been disbursed

in order to ensure that the borrower is better able to reap maximum benefit

out of the loan that he has received. This information is either in the form of

skill enhancement training or in the form of personal counseling.

From donor’s perspective information flow takes place when the prospective

owners are provided audit and performance reports, borrower profiles and

details, activity reports etc. mostly through the organizations availability over

the internet or through the events exclusively organized for donors. This all

adds to the credibility of the organization and thus the success of Akhuwat

suggests that this also enables a continuous flow of donations from all over

the world.

2. Negotiation Flow: When it comes to negotiating the application, the

representatives from Akhuwat provide necessary advisory and counseling

services to the prospective borrower while preparing a viable business plan.

The sole purpose of negotiations in this case is not to get maximum benefit

from the provision of services but what Akhuwat attempts to achieve is the

maximum benefit for the prospective borrower so that he can utilize the

sanctioned funds in best possible manner.

3. Product Flow: The product i.e. the loan approved by Akhuwat Foundation

after necessary evaluation and assessment is disbursed in a special event

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where around 100-150 borrowers are given their requested loans. This

ceremony takes place in the presence of local community members and takes

place in Akhuwat’s Office or in a mosque or church. It is the point at which the

actual flow of the product takes place.

How is it Distributed? :

Akhuwat with its nationwide presence ensures the distribution of loans to those who

are in need of it. Throughout the process both the applicant and the representatives

from Akhuwat remain in close contact with each and interact on number of

occasions. The whole service offering takes place in such a way that at one moment

the organization (service provider) goes to the customer (borrower) and on the other

instance the customer goes to the organization for the needed assistance. The

process in terms of nature of interaction between the borrower and Akhuwat

Foundation can be seen below:

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The Marketing Communications Mix for Akhuwat foundation

The communication mix is a term used for the combination of promotion tools.

Marketers try to find the right balance between all the different ways of marketing

communication. The marketing budget has a huge impact on this marketing mix.

NGO’s without budget have a totally different mix than multinationals with millions to

spend on promotion. The right mix will also depend on the target and the strategy of

an organization.

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Step 1 Akhuwat goes to customer (prosepective) for awareness of the services provided by the organization.

Step 2 Customer goes to Akhuwat for more information and application submission.

Step 3 Customer goes to Akhuwat(though in actual both customer and organization go to a community gathering) for loan disbursement in a special event.

Step 4 Customer goes to Akhuwat for capacity and skills building training.

Step 5 Akhuwat representative visits the customer for monitoring the performance.

Step 6 Customer goes to Akhuwat's office (or interacts remotely through bank branch) for submission of monthly instalments.

Current Position:

Means of Advertisements for Akhuwat Foundation are the marketing strategies

focusing on sending message to reach out to the sponsors for their generous

donations and at the same time identifying and attracting potential beneficiaries

through media and public gatherings. Over all, Akhuwat Foundation has managed to

ensure its presence on every media occasionally but their activity level is pretty

much dull. There can be seen very less frequent talks about them in print and

electronic media. They have their account on social mediums like Facebook,

Instagram etc. but they are not actively managed which can be due to multiple

theoretical reasons like no specially dedicated teams to handle every media or

negating the importance of it in this time. Their corporate website seems like giving

every bit of information about them and their offerings as well as their activities in

public forums and annual gatherings but it is also not actively updated as even the

newsletters are shown to be published every month but were published till June on

their website for this year. They hold internal events including workshops, seminars,

conferences, Public/Donor Events and Beneficiaries training events to train them for

their future prospects in this field but none of them can be seen without accessing

their website thus clearly depicting lack of publicizing and advertising themselves.

The need is to focus on the areas where a greater concentration is required as being

involved in a business though non-profit, they need to market themselves.

The current tools of marketing being utilized by Akhuwat Foundation are:

Print & Electronic Media.

Business Magazines.

Newsletters.

Social Media.

Facebook.

Twitter.

LinkedIn.

Instagram.

Corporate Website.

akhuwat.org.pk.

Public Forums.

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Educational Institutions.

Workshops, seminars, conferences.

Public/Donor Events.

Beneficiaries training events.

Annual Gatherings.

Information sessions by CEO.

Occasional appearance of Public representatives.

Special Events (for Donors)

Word of Mouth.

Letters and memos of communication to donors and sponsors.

Recommendations:

Online and media strategies to market the programs, activities and campaigns.

Above the Line Advertising or Below the Line? : o There are a number of approaches to promotion that are open to

organizations. Above-the-line promotions use mass media methods.

This type of promotion focuses on advertising to a large audience. It

includes print, online media, television and cinema advertising. Making

a message memorable to a large audience is not always easy. It is

difficult to tailor a promotion to a specific group of consumers through

above-the-line promotions. This is because it is viewed by a mass

audience with different tastes and needs. Above-the-line promotion is

also very expensive but effective.

Below-the-line methods are very specific, memorable activities focused

on targeted groups of consumers. They are under the control of the

organisation. Akhuwat Foundation can use these techniques to target

clearly defined consumer groups rather than a mass audience like its

above-the-line activity. The purpose of these activities has been to

develop the brand by creating awareness and building a brand profile.

Below-the-line methods include:

Sponsorship

Sales promotions

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Public relations

Personal selling

Direct marketing.

Though Akhuwat Foundation is engaged in developing strong PR as its

main functions heavily rely on this source but again they have to keep

on improvising it by bringing in new people for this purpose who can

further engage in an indirect selling as a noble cause.

Sponsorship and Social Media:

Sponsorships have helped the organizations to raise their profile amongst key target

markets. Sponsorship involves positioning and matching brands together. It develops

a relationship that is both comfortable and positive for both businesses.

Traditional press releases work alongside newer forms of marketing. For example,

Akhuwat Foundation can use digital and social media as an integral part of its below-

the-line activity. This helps to create relationships with customers online. These

channels include blogs and social networking sites (such as Facebook) where they

are already present. Akhuwat Foundation also has its own YouTube channel along

with presence on Instagram and Twitter but their activity level is dull which needs to

be focused on to emphasize its brand presence amongst target consumers. This can

enable them to develop eCRM, allowing Akhuwat Foundation to collect data from

customers and use it in a variety of ways for interaction. It also helps to create the

basis for viral marketing. This is when messages are so widely received that they are

passed on either electronically or by word of mouth to other customers.

Akhuwat Foundation can also support a variety of environmental issues, shown

through below-the-line promotions. For example, Akhuwat can work in partnerships

with independent environmental charities that aim to create social cohesion by

inspiring people to plant and love trees. Environmental issues are high on public

agenda. Partnerships like these are an important way for Akhuwat Foundation to

demonstrate its commitment to supporting public concerns.

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P rint and Broadcast Media :

Utilizing this media effectively can bring in a good value for Akhuwat Foundation.

They are currently having their newsletters printed but they are not seen on this

media as frequent as they should be because of its reach, this media highly ensures

the foundation to make itself known, as still; after all these years, it is not having that

reach that it requires. Running ads on local and national news channels is an option

to be considered with keenness. Working together, Akhuwat Foundation and

journalists can create stronger international reporting. Mainstream media and NGOs

have long had a symbiotic relationship, with the media using NGO experts for news

tips, quotes, and access. Now, with many foreign bureaus of major news outlets

shuttered, and the simultaneous growth of more media savvy NGOs, the agencies

are doing even more: researching and pitching stories, sharing contacts, developing

content and providing logistics, guidance, analysis, opinion and, in some cases,

funding. Put simply, without the help of these groups, many foreign news stories

would not be told at all. It is a natural evolution of an already strong relationship.

However, a slight, but fundamental, shift is underway in which NGOs are taking on

more and more functions of news media in their capacity to gather and manage

foreign news. While they certainly don't have the mission or means to provide daily

news coverage or replace that function for the media, they can and are helping to

address the foreign news gap. This cross-pollination seems more logical in the field,

as the number of people bearing witness to foreign stories shrinks.

The Importance of the Media to the Work of NGOs:

Mass media are channels, such as newspapers, magazines, radio or television, used

to communicate information to large groups of people. By regularly conveying

information to important audiences, from the general public to government and

international decision makers, the media plays a large role in shaping public debate.

The media are among the most important allies to the NGO community. Establishing

good relationships with journalists is an integral part of any effective media outreach

campaign. Some ways in which the media can be of importance to Akhuwat

Foundation includes writing articles that:

Create an environment of political pressure.

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Convey general information, serving as a public education tool.

Counter popular misconceptions.

Comment on an issue, providing an alternative viewpoint.

Celebrity endorsement:

Not just for their name value, research the A and B lists, and find someone who is

passionate about Akhuwat’s cause, and use them to promote their work. Finding a

champion and use their talents to raise both Akhuwat Foundation’s profile and theirs.

As the ‘Celebrity Endorsement and support for charities’ survey shows it is not

enough to put a ‘face’ to a charity’s cause in order to get funds. A celebrity’s

popularity changes quickly and today’s ‘in’ celebrity might quickly become liability.

That is why when deciding to use a celebrity for a campaign it is essential to select

the person carefully. So a careful and a humble choice is necessary. NGO has

greater responsibility towards the society and purely relies on building a reputable

and credible image. They need to portray themselves as an organization with

substance. Their actions need to be communicated in a way that people do not fall

for the glitz but understand the true impact of their work and actions. Hence the PR

officers working for Akhuwat should be very careful in finding the right fit for their

brand image.

Events & Fairs:

Getting actively involved in national and international events is the need of the hour

to get more recognition. Fairs remain an effective offline advertising tool. Thousands

of different fairs exist, all with a different subject or cause. Fairs about cars, windsurf

equipment, food, marketing, etc. Even for NGO’s like Akhuwat Foundation, there are

special fairs. For NGO’s looking for volunteers in different countries and cities other

sorts of fairs exist. Even if no one is interested, these fairs are a good way to talk to

interesting people and maybe collaboration can arise. Educational institutes often

organize fairs for students too especially for future choices about studies or students’

careers. Akhuwat Foundation can try to get a spot on these kind of fairs thus

exploring possibilities of getting new donors, volunteers or borrowers. Also Akhuwat

must organize special donor events that can be used to ensure a continuous stream

of donations from the current and new donors.

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A Final Word on Akhuwat’s Marketing Communication Mix & How to Better Utilize it:

Non-profit organizations like Akhuwat Foundation need to focus on building their

brands in order to market their vision, credibility, value, and impact of their work. In

marketing their brand, they should also be accountable to their donors and other

relevant stakeholders. In addition, they should develop a culture of transforming,

monitoring and evaluating their data into case studies and other materials that could

be of interest to the donor market. These materials will also help them to build

credibility for their causes. Lastly, they should develop interactive websites to enable

their staff to interact with donors/potential donors, volunteers and other interested

stakeholders. Considering Akhuwat’s well known and widely admired success we

are of the view that the organization needs to pay more attention towards integrated

marketing communications and to come up with a right mix of marketing

opportunities. Though a non-profit organization like Akhuwat has very few options

left for marketing due to financial constraints but again the true art lies in getting

maximum reach with minimum investment. The purpose of sharing all the above

possible mediums was to explore the current approach adopted by the Akhuwat

Foundation and to present possibilities of exploring few other mediums as well. The

best way for Akhuwat is to become more vibrant in terms of marketing itself and its

programs by getting more involved with those who have the potential to give more

coverage to Akhuwat’s work. We are of the view that Akhuwat must try to attract

maximum public attention by collaborating with various organizations in such a way

that Akhuwat gets marketed without investing a lot in this regard. This is the best

approach through which Akhuwat can expand its operations and can grow its current

success.

The Process (Service Process)

Akhuwat Foundation adopts a simple and easy to understand process for allocation

and disbursement of loans. In fact the whole process is so easy that it has been

admired by leading economists for its ability to survive and prosper despite being a

simple business model. The process of loan sanction starts with the reliance on

previous borrowers for marketing of the services provided by Akhuwat Foundation.

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The individual loans process (focus of our project) is promoted through awareness

and promotional campaigns in low income localities and market places while relying

mainly on the previous borrowers of loans. During such marketing and introductory

sessions the program is introduced and the concept is shared in mosques or

churches benefitting from the gathering that originally gathered for prayers. This

adaptation not only reduces the operational costs for Akhuwat but also opens the

doors of places of religious significance but also attaches the mantra of faith and

worship with the socio-economic development of the community. The loan process in

real terms starts when the interested person visits the office of Akhuwat Foundation

with the purpose of acquiring further information. At this stage the Unit Manager or

the Loan Officer (representative of the service provider i.e. Akhuwat Foundation)

comes in direct contact with the prospective borrower and provides all necessary

information and guidance regarding the application process and the loan details.

After this, the phase of application submission comes where again the Loan Officer

provides assistance to the applicant in filling the details asked in the application form.

Once this process is complete the officer carries out the initial scrutiny of the

application to check whether the applicant is eligible for a loan or not based on

his/her income and social capital.

Once the application is submitted and initial scrutiny is performed, the next phase

covers the preparation of business plan. In this phase the business idea of the

applicant is assessed to see that whether it is a viable plan and whether it will be

able to generate enough income to make revenues in addition to the household

expenses of the individual. This is done to make sure that the individual is in a

position to repay the loan easily. An interview with the family is also a part of this

phase and in this interview the involvement of the family and their support for the

proposed business is assessed.

After this, comes the phase of final assessment and decision making against the

application that has been forwarded by the local loan officer. This phase starts with

the evaluation of the application by the Branch Manager who assesses the technical

aspect of the submitted application and then forwards it to the credit committee

(includes loan officer, branch manager and the area/regional manager). In case the

decision is made in favour of the applicant the process of loan disbursement is

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initiated. This whole process of application processing and decision making takes

almost 3 weeks before a final decision is made. Next, the borrower is asked to

provide two guarantors who verify the credentials of the applicant and also accept

the responsibility of looking after the borrower. These guarantors also give

assurance that they will ensure timely payment of the loan instalments.

After this a special event is arranged (usually at a branch office/mosque or church)

where the loan is disbursed in an official ceremony in the presence of guarantors

and local community members. After this Akhuwat remains in touch with the

borrower and arranges various sessions for capacity and skill building of the

borrowers so that they are better able to carry on their work more efficiently and

effectively.

Akhuwat Foundation also adopts a proper mechanism for ensuring due payment of

the instalments of the loan. In this regard, the loan officer or the unit manager visits

the borrower on regular basis to monitor his performance and to make sure that the

payments are made within the specified time. It is due to this very reason that the

recovery rate of Akhuwat is presently at 99.7%.

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Process Flow Diagram (Summarized Version)

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Program Introduction (Market through

Awareness Campaign)

Loans are marketed through the use of awareness campaigns mainly performed in poor localities and poor localities. This process is mainly done with the involvement of previous borrowers. Further local mosques and churches are also used to introduce the program.

Individual Selection & Submission of

Application

The loan process is initiated when an individual interested in availing loan visits the office for submission of application for financial assistance. The loan officer provides necessary guidance and also performs initial scrutiny of the applicant and checks his eligibility.

Preparation of Financial/Business Plan &

Evaluation of Applicant

The business plan of the applicant is reviewed and necessary assistance is also provided for preparation of a viable plan. The viability of the plan in terms of its ability to cover the expenses is checked. Also the applicant's family is interviewd at this stage.

Further Assessment by Credit Committee &

Decision Making

After initial assessment by the loan officer the application is forwarded for assessment by branch manager and credit committee. After careful assessment a decision regarding the application is made and the loan disbursement process starts (if approved).

Nomination of Guarantors

After approval the borrower is required to provide two guarantors on his behalf who vouch for the individual's credentials and accept responsibility of monitoring the borrower.

Funds Disbursement and Capacity Building

After the prorequisites are fulfilled, loan is disbursed to the applicant in an event. The organization also organizes capacity and skill building and social guidance activities/events for the borrowers with a motive of enabling them to carry on their work more effeciently and effectively.

Recovery & Follow Up

After disbursement the loan officer monitors the progress of the borrower and ensures timely payment of the instalments. Further necessary assistance is provided whenever requested.

Final Word

Akhuwat Foundation is possibly the best microfinance institute that operates in any

part of the world and that too as a non-profit organization. The success of Akhuwat

lies in its simple business model that has been designed keeping in view the needs

and requirements of the local community. Considering the services aspect of the

Akhuwat Foundation we can say that the organization has been able to maintain an

appropriate level of the ambience for its offerings while providing the loan services to

the prospective borrowers in easily acceptable terms. It is due this simplicity that the

organization has been able to keep its costs at a minimal level. However we are of

the view that by working on its marketing communication and integrating the

available marketing mediums in an appropriate manner will allow the organization to

touch news heights of success in days to come.

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