NOVEMBER 2017

BUSINESS
PROPOSAL

JUSTIN LYMAN
Presented to
Loveland Living Planet Aquarium
Table of Contents
The
Problem...............................................................................................................................1

Relevance....................................................................................................................................2

Our Approach......................................................................................................................3-4

Solution....................................................................................................................................5-6

Conclusion..................................................................................................................................7

Works Cited...............................................................................................................................8
THE PROBLEM
Since our opening in 1999,
Loveland Living Planet Aquarium
has welcomed millions of guests
from Utah and around the world
to explore, discover, and learn
about Earths diverse ecosystems.
In this world of constantly
changing ideas on our impact on
the environment, Loveland Living
Planet Aquarium believes there is
a way to reduce our sometimes
damaging footprint in this world
of natural wonders. Many of the
animals within the aquarium
come from various rescue projects
across the world. The other
animals have come from other
aquariums or zoos. No matter their
origin, Loveland Living Planet
Aquarium seeks to give these
animals a better life; free from the
destruction often brought upon
their natural habitats. Loveland
Living Planet Aquarium wants to
teach all people, young and old,
about Earth's various ecosystems.
We wish to accomplish this goal
through the construction of a new
Science Learning Campus.
Efforts have been made to raise
funds for this campus, which is
scheduled to begin
construction in Fall 2018. This
facility will cost $21 million to
construct (not including the
cost of new employees and
extra energy required to power
the campus). The elephant in
the room is obviously money.
There are a lot of potential
opportunities for fundraising
and reaching out to media for
more publicity, but it would
seem that neither has been
done well enough. When the
announcement came in July of
this year, media coverage was
anything but lacking. Local
news organizations such as
Fox13News, KSL, and even the
Salt Lake Tribune covered the
announcement by means of
television, online articles, and
printed newspapers. Since then,
coverage has been dismal.
Although $1 million was
generously granted by the
Loveland Foundation for the
construction, there is still much
to be done.
1
RELEVANCE
The Science Learning Campus
snoilliM ni tsoC
has the potential to help
children develop a strong
interest in natural sciences
and protecting our earth. They
may be from a neighborhood
next door, or from a foreign
country. Nevertheless, the
importance of this campus
cannot be emphasized
enough. If we are to truly go
forward with this facility and
convince others of its impacts
for good, our outreach must
change.
As mentioned earlier, Loveland
Living Planet Aquarium has
already secured a generous $1
million donation for the
development of this Science
Learning Campus, but it's far
from the $21 million needed (as
shown in Figure 1). In order to
go forward with construction
and opening this facility
anytime soon, we must
increase our presence in media.
25
20
15
10
5
0
Available Funds Needed Funds
Figure 1
Our media presence has been
minimal at best. Only a few
mentions have been made in
local news of this new facility
and even more worrying,
there's been a lack of social
media presence. Granted,
social media users aren't
primarily using these outlets
to locate the nearest non-
profit organization to donate
to, but well-placed
advertisements within social
media with appeals to
emotions (potential for
children to succeed) and logic
(benefits of tax write-offs)
could significantly increase
donations for the Science
Learning Campus.
2
OUR APPROACH
Loveland Living Planet
Aquarium has wasted no time
in finding solutions for this
money problem and have
already begun beginning to
reach out to the community for
donations. An individual web
page has been developed that
describes the goals of this
facility, its various amenities,
and the impact it can have on
a student for years to come.
This pathos appeal is as follows,
"Millions of visitors have walked
the galleries including
hundreds of volunteers, As mentioned earlier, Loveland
thousands of Aquarium Living Planet Aquarium has
members, and tens of been featured in a few local
thousands of students. Behind news stories about the
the large numbers are Science Learning Campus
individuals; one child desiring which have helped to increase
to travel, one child motivated our presence in the media. I
to care about animals, one personally believe these
child encouraged to teach, one methods have had success,
generation moved to make the but there is still room for
world a better place for all." improvement.
(Sheridan, 2017).

3
OUR APPROACH
The world is getting younger. It's becoming more innovative
and driven by the use of various means of technology. It was
once said that "real business is done on paper," but I'm afraid
that may no longer be the case. According to Wallace (October,
2017), 51% of Americans prefer to do business online.
Furthermore, "96% of Americans with internet access have
made an online purchase in their life, 80% in the past month
alone." With this ever-increasing trend, what are we to do? I
believe that just like the animals which come from their natural
habitats or other aquariums, Loveland Living Planet Aquarium
must also adapt to a changing world.

4
SOLUTION
This process begins with
greater social media outreach.
The various platforms:
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,
and even Snapchat, offer many
opportunities for reaching a
broader audience. According
to Greenwood (2017), Facebook
remains the most used social
media platform among 78% of
internet users (68% of all
Americans). Furthermore, the
largest demographic
represented in this category is
women (83%).
Facebook offers a seemingly
endless array of advertising
options, with everything from
links to a donation page to a
video. I believe that in our case,
utilizing both video and article
advertisements would be
beneficial. A 30-second-1
minute video, as well as an
article, that details the Science
Learning Campus' purpose,
goals, etc. would suffice in
creating various appeals to
ethos, pathos, and logos.
According to The Philanthropy
Roundtable (n.d.), older
Christian, Republican women
(55+)--who are also married--
are more likely to donate to
charity than any other
demographic group. This may
seem hard to target, but
Facebook makes targeting a
certain audience easier. Since
anyone with Facebook profile
has to have their birthdate and
gender listed, it would be
relatively easy to reach out to
these women. In terms of
political ideology and religion,
mostly everyone will list their
political ideology or religion,
but it's less certain since it is
not a requirement for signing
up for Facebook. I believe this
first part of the solution is
feasible and well within our
reach based on Facebook's
ease of advertising and
reaching out to a very specific
audience.
5
SOLUTION
Second, our donation website
must be revised.It is less than
well-formatted in terms of
visual design and it also lacks
the detailed information about
the science learning campus
that was given in the press
release. I propose immediate
revisions to the website which
include: realignment of text at
the top of the page to create a
more professional image and
hyperlinks on the different
portions of the page that could
definitely benefit from more
information. Furthermore, the
large section of text at the top
that reads "YOU CAN HELP
CREATE THE SCIENCE
LEARNING CENTER" blocks the
introduction that follows.
Obviously, this is most likely
due to an honest formatting
mistake. Nevertheless, our
organization will appear more
credible once this is resolved.
This solution is easy to carry
out because websites are not
difficult to revise.
Finally, there should be more
outreach from Loveland Living
Planet Aquarium to local
media outlets. Local media
such as Fox13News covered the
announcement of the science
learning campus in July, but
due to some lack of outreach
or a miscommunication, there
has been no media coverage
on the donation website for
the campus. I recommend that
Loveland Living Planet
Aquarium should immediately
begin working with media to
broadcast this website and
other donation efforts in the
coming months. I myself have
contacted Fox13News and KSL
for my own purposes and both
outlets respond within
reasonable time and were
considerate of my petitions. If
they could help and listen a
high-school student, they
could most certainly help one
of the world's finest aquariums
in our note-worthy endeavor.
6
CONCLUSION
xLoveland Living Planet The time to act is now. Today,
Aquarium's Science Learning we can guarantee that kids'
Center has unfathomable dreams are secure for
potential. With that said, tomorrow. We all want the
something must change. We've same thing. We want a safe
made progress due to various and wholesome learning
donations, including the $1 environment for them. This
million portion from the will all be found in the Science
Loveland Foundation. We've Learning Center. With my plan,
made appearances in quite a I promise that their dreams
few news articles, videos, and will become reality. Increased
social media posts. Now, we social media marketing,
are at a crossroads. Loveland presence in local media, and a
Living Planet Aquarium can reformatted website will help
adapt to the changing world to do just that. I hope you will
and implement the changes, strongly consider my proposal.
or find some other way to raise
the funds. This change may be
uncomfortable, but it will be
worth it. A wise man once said,
"There is no comfort in a
growth zone and there is no
growth in a comfort zone." I
believe this plan is our
opportunity to grow and
ensure that the Science
Learning Center is completed
and here for decades to come.

7
WORKS CITED
Greenwood, S., Perrin, A., & Duggan, M. (2016, November 11). Social
Media Update 2016. Retrieved November 10, 2017, from
http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/11/11/social-media-
update-2016/
Lawrence, Danica . Loveland Living Planet Aquarium marks major
major milestone, prepares for expansion. fox13now.Com,
24 July 2017, fox13now.com/2017/07/23/loveland-living-
planet-aquarium-marks-major-milestone-prepares-for-
expansion/.
Ralston, Caroline. Loveland Living Planet Aquarium Announces
Science Learning Campus Expansion. 7 July 2017,
chrome-
extension://bpmcpldpdmajfigpchkicefoigmkfalc/views/a
pp.html
Sheridan, H. (2017). Help Us Build Our Science Learning
Campus. Retrieved October 18, 2017, from
https://thelivingplanet.com/sciencecenter/
Statistics on U.S. Generosity | The Almanac of American
Philanthropy | The Philanthropy Roundtable. (n.d.).
Retrieved November 10, 2017, from
http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/almanac/statisti
cs/
Wallace, T. (2017, October 25). Ecommerce Trends in 2017: 135
Statistics About Online Selling.
Retrieved November 08, 2017, from
https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/ecommerce-
trends/#cmtoc_anchor_id_0