The Marketing Activities of UK Charities

ABSTRACT

With well over 176,000 charities operating in the United Kingdom and with changing political, social and economic pressures, the demand for increased funding has become paramount. In order to compete more effectively for funds many have adopted a marketing perspective, focusing on understanding those donors who provide them with the most income.

The use of certain marketing techniques in UK charities is now widespread and most have favourable attitudes towards marketing, feeling that it is an essential part of their organisations' activities. These attitudes, however, are often based on a rudimentary understanding of the term ‘marketing’. Most charities now advertise and use direct mail but, despite the work of many authors over the last twenty-five years regarding the relevance of marketing to nonprofit organisations, most charities still equate marketing solely with advertising and selling. The dependence upon these techniques poses the question as to whether charities in the UK have truly adopted the marketing concept, or whether marketing is still equated with a narrow range of the more visible communication techniques.