Samenvatting

Stichting SPOTS is a non-profit organization based in the Netherlands with a mission to save the wild felines (big cats) in Africa, especially the leopard, lion, and cheetah. The wild felines are threatened with extinction due to human reasons such as trophy hunting. The numbers of these animals have dropped immensely over the past decades to the extent that there are only 20,000 lions left in the wild, making them highly vulnerable. The severity of the problem of the endangerment of these wild felines and the fast-declining numbers makes Stichting SPOTS want to work even harder because something needs to change.
 
As tour operators that are operating in Africa are depending on the survival of the Big Five, the client argues that it is almost an obligation for these tour operators to contribute to the protection of the Big Five. Therefore, Stichting SPOTS would like to set up a Big Five compensation fund with the support of Dutch tour operators that operate in Africa. Therefore, the management question is: How can Stichting SPOTS set up a Big Five compensation fund in collaboration with a selection of tour operators?
 
In order to determine what the best way is for Stichting SPOTS to set up and implement the Big Five compensation fund, research has been conducted based on the following topics. First, the critical success factors for a wildlife compensation fund have been determined in order to understand which areas have to go right for the fund to be successful. These critical success factors are the guidelines for the fund. Furthermore, the motivations for the tour operators to participate in sustainability projects and the possible requirements that they have in order for them to participate in the Big Five compensation fund have been studied to design the fund in a way that is attractive to these tour operators. Continuing, different techniques to convince the tour operators to collaborate in the fund have been analyzed. And finally, in order to set goals and measure the successes of the fund, a KPI study has been conducted.
 
The research questions used in this study are:
-        What are the critical success factors for a wildlife compensation fund?
-        What are the levels of willingness, motivations and requirements of the tour operators to participate in the Big Five compensation fund?
-        Which strategies can be applied to convince the selected tour operators to participate in the Big Five compensation fund?
-        What are Key Performance Indicators for a wildlife compensation fund?
 
The research has been conducted by means of a literature review, interviews, a survey and content analysis. Some highlights of the research are:
-        Fundraising is an exchange of values; it cannot be expected anymore that individuals and company donate money without wanting anything in return.
-        Education might be more important than money in the fight against wildlife endangerment.
 
Based on the research results an advice has been formulated in two phases. The first phase is to establish the Big Five compensation fund without the tour operators and put the focus on education as education is the strategic approach to saving and protecting the wild Big Five. After the first phase is implemented and the educational part of the fund is creating success, phase two can be implemented. Phase two is about incorporating the tour operators into the fund. In this compensation fund, tourists that are booking with the tour operators have the possibility to donate to the fund and with this compensate for the negative impacts that h