Voluntary is nice because one does not have to contribute, but it is also bad because a lot of people will not contribute. This makes the captain that was elected to collect contributions look bad, and causes feelings of hostility between the store owners. These same store owners then become disenchanted with the Company for creating this program and feelings of unease start to develop. Problems between the Company and the franchisees, and problems between owners of different stores can all result from this. 3. There are several things that could be done in the future to improve this situation. One of the easiest things to do is change the voluntary contribution program to a mandatory one. This would take effect with the renewal of the franchisee's contract and would contain a clause stating how much the franchisee must pay to the Company each month for advertising....

This would upset some people, but would be more clear-cut than the current program. If the program is going to stay voluntary, there should be a better way of collecting the money each month. Having one franchisee that is elected captain and forcing him or her to call all of the others and ask them where the money is just breeds feelings of contempt and hostility, which can be very bad for business. The Company should work much more closely with these 'team captains' so that they know there will be help if they need it or if someone who agreed to the voluntary contribution is not cooperating. Other than those two things, there is little that can be done to improve the program. The idea of using a percentage is a good one, and the advertising itself is good, so it is only the participation from the franchisees and the lack of help from the Company that are really at issue here.