The international volunteering market: market segments and competitive relations

• The number of nonprofit and social agencies relying on the help of volunteers has grown enormously in recent decades. This has lead to increased competition between these organisations for the limited resources available, and the growing adoption of what have traditionally been considered ‘commercial’ business techniques such as marketing. There have been calls for greater and more sophisticated use of ‘tried and tested’ marketing concepts such as competition, segmentation and positioning to help volunteering organisations manage this pressure effectively. This study shines the spotlight on individuals who volunteer for multiple types of organisations in an effort to determine which organisations are competing for the same volunteers. More specifically:
• Factor analyses are computed and four segments of volunteers are identified: ‘altruists’, ‘leisure volunteers’, ‘political volunteers’ and ‘church volunteers’;
• Positioning maps are constructed to illustrate the proximity of each organisation type in relation to key competitors; and
• Detailed profiles are provided for each segment to provide insight into the nature of the groupings.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Motivations and forms of corporate giving behaviour: insights from Australia

• Although corporate support for many nonprofit organisations (NPOs) represents only a relatively small component of their overall income its importance is growing. As a consequence, the need to understand corporate giving behaviour in a way that supports the development of strategically targeted and successful marketing campaigns is of growing importance to marketing managers in many NPOs around the globe.
• This paper presents the findings of a study into the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of corporate giving behaviour in Australia. In the seven case studies examined, there was no strong evidence that Australian corporations give for other than strategic profit maximisation or political reasons. In contrast to the literature, altruistic and managerial utility did not emerge as strong motivational factors.
• This study also found that corporations are likely to have a number of corporate giving programmes each with its own underlying motivation and strategic purpose which network together to form a hierarchy of corporate giving programmes.
• The paper concludes by discussing the implications of this research for NPO managers attempting to increase their level of corporate support.

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Segmenting nonprofit stakeholders to enable successful relationship marketing: a review

• When establishing relationships with stakeholders, nonprofit organizations must define appropriate target groups to allocate resources purposively. This paper explicates that link by reviewing the literature on nonprofit stakeholder segmentation and by discussing whether stakeholder segmentation is perceived as a prerequisite of successful relationship marketing by nonprofit researchers.
• We develop two conceptual dimensions of nonprofit stakeholder segmentation: the stakeholders segmented and the segmentation criteria used. A systematic database and journal search yielded 53 papers, categorized according to these two dimensions. The studies are described briefly, and the relevance of the relationship marketing concept is examined and discussed. Several research gaps emerge from this review, leading to propositions for further research.

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rethinking arts marketing in a changing cultural policy context

This paper investigates recent changes in British cultural policy and their implications for arts marketing. It first points out the decisive role of the policy in shaping the environment of the nonprofit arts and argues that arts marketing developed as an organisational strategy within the context of marketisation policy since the 1980s. This is followed by an analysis of the current cultural policy, where ‘social impacts’ of the arts are highly emphasised and state intervention intensifies. Through a case study, it is demonstrated that nonprofit arts organisations are adapting to the new environment by rapidly expanding programmes for educational and social purposes while implicitly resisting top‐down political pressure. The paper raises the question of whether the arts marketing framework can reflect the new reality of arts management. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Relationships among levels of government support,marketing activities,and financial health of nonprofit performing arts organizations

• This exploratory study researches and analyzes the empirical effects of financial levels of government support and marketing practices on the financial health of nonprofit performing arts organizations. Declining government subsidies and increasing competition from non-traditional sources have presented these organizations with unique opportunities and challenges that call for a market-centered, as well as an art-centered approach. Financial health is critical for the long-term success of a nonprofit performing arts organization. Few empirical studies have examined the interrelationships between these key variables. This study analyzes a sample of 63 American professional symphony orchestras employing 20 years of data. The correlations among financial levels of government support and marketing activities were positive and significant, the correlations among levels of government support and financial health were negative and significant, and the correlations between levels of marketing activity and financial health were negative and varied in significance. Causal analyses were less conclusive, but significant causal relationships were found for large symphony orchestras, indicating that segmentation research may be warranted. Implications and opportunities for future research are presented which have potential application for government agencies, academic researchers, and arts organization managers, boards of directors, and donors.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Artists' attitudes to marketing: a cross-cultural perspective

• Although the music industry is dominated by a few global players, the vast majority of musical performances are by nonprofit organisations, self-employed musicians or small and medium enterprises (SMEs). But, while a great deal has been written about the marketing of music—distribution, branding, audience development, etc.—comparatively little is known about the attitudes of musicians themselves to marketing, despite the fact their role as both product and producer is so central to the musical experience.
• The research sets out to gain an understanding of this neglected topic by undertaking a cross-cultural analysis of musicians from two different cultures: it compares the attitudes of artists in a mature, post-industrial economy (UK) with those in a post-communist, emerging democracy (Poland). The research finds that society, culture and the economic environment appear to shape attitudes far less than art itself. Across both cultures the research discovers at best an ambivalence towards marketing, and at worst a general antipathy towards the whole notion of art-as-business.
• The implications of these findings, if replicated across other countries, other musical genres and across the arts as a whole, could be worrying. Historically, the arts have been dominated by nonprofit organisations funded at least in part by public and private subsidies, funds which are being substantially eroded in both mature economies and in developing nations. The challenge for nonprofits and SMEs in the arts, then, is about achieving some sort of engagement with business and marketing, without losing their artistic integrity in the process.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Health nonprofits online: the use of frames and stewardship strategies to increase stakeholder involvement

• This study examines connections between the conceptual frameworks of compassion fatigue (burnout toward social issues) and related stewardship strategies that are used as a form of best practices to address the issue of compassion fatigue. A content analysis of 117 health nonprofit websites (457 web pages) investigates how nonprofit health organization websites are framing their communication to various stakeholders and how the strategies of stewardship are employed online. Findings indicate that although health nonprofits are using positive frames and multiple stewardship strategies, more could be done by nonprofit marketing practitioners to facilitate positive, long-term relationships with stakeholders in an environment of increased communication and compassion fatigue.

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The extent of excessive or insufficient fundraising among US arts organizations and the effect of organizational efficiency on donations to US arts organizations

• We estimate, for each nonprofit organization (NPO) in a sample of 606 US arts NPOs, whether the NPO's level of fundraising is ‘excessive,’ ‘insufficient,’ or neither, relative to the level that maximizes net donations. We find that the effect of a 1% increase in fundraising on net donations varies widely across the arts NPOs in our sample—from an increase in net donations of 8.91% of gross donations to a decrease of 3.82% of gross donations. Of the 100 NPOs in our sample with the highest donations, the estimated effect of a 1% increase in fundraising on net donations varies more narrowly—from an increase in net donations of 0.27% of gross donations to a decrease of 0.32% of gross donations. Of these 100 NPOs, we estimate that only 3 engaged in ‘excessive’ fundraising, but 83 engaged in ‘insufficient’ fundraising, and 14 did not engage in ‘excessive’ or ‘insufficient’ fundraising.We also provide evidence that reported organizational efficiency does not affect donations to arts NPOs. This finding may be useful to managers and directors of US arts NPOs who believe that organizational efficiency does impact donations and who, therefore, incorporate the effect on efficiency in their decisions to allocate resources across fundraising, administration, and program objectives.

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Finding an academic home for fundraising: a multidisciplinary study of scholars' perspectives

• The high‐demand, high‐paying field of fundraising does not have an academic home in higher education, which hampers fundraising research and education. Recent advances in fundraising education and research can be attributed to four different disciplines: public relations, marketing, nonprofit management, and higher education administration. This disjointed approach has impeded the empirical study of fundraising, the development of theory in the field, and the education of future fundraisers. The purpose of this study is to begin the process to scientifically identify an appropriate academic home for fundraising that benefits fundraising practice, advances scholarship, and strengthens America's nonprofit sector. In‐depth interviews were conducted with 15 scholars from multiple disciplines who had published articles on fundraising in the three major nonprofit management and philanthropy journals. Findings show that there is no consensus among scholars about whether fundraising belongs in public relations, marketing, or nonprofit management. Although this study found no consensus among fundraising scholars about the appropriate academic home for fundraising, it does identify areas of agreement and disagreement on pertinent topics and provides a benchmark to guide further discussions about locating fundraising within an academic discipline.

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

CSR and service quality in nonprofit organizations: the case of a performing arts association

• The relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and marketing performance has been widely investigated recently, but mostly in relation to for-profit companies. This paper highlights the importance of this topic for nonprofit organizations (NPOs). Focusing on an Italian NPO operating in the performing arts and entertainment industry, two empirical studies (a quantitative survey and a qualitative exploratory enquiry) prove the strategic relevance of CSR in nonprofit contexts. The results demonstrate that CSR can be considered an additional dimension of the customer perception of service quality in NPOs and reveal that customer perception of the social responsibility of the studied NPO is strongly linked to its institutional mission and to the modalities through which it pursues that mission.

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Naivety and relationship marketing in nonprofit organisations

The widespread adoption of the language and concepts of marketing as a series of exchanges with customers continues to present problems to nonprofit organisations. Measured against marketing orthodoxy their approach to marketing might appear naive, but it is often effective. This paper discusses five differences between ‘orthodox’ and ‘naive’ marketing (nature of the exchange, focus of the encounter, attitude to technology, attitude to product and plans for the customer) to explore the nature of naive marketing. The role and importance of product or service in nonprofits is emphasised as a crucial difference. Finally, the emerging discipline of relationship marketing is argued to be a framework which vindicates many of the positions of naive marketers and to offer a valuable source of theory for nonprofit marketing.     

Positively negative: the impact of negativity upon the political consumer

• For years there has been an ongoing debate as to the role and impact that ‘marketing’ has had on politics. Yet, it is the case that many of the concepts associated with the field of marketing have real relevance and have, in fact, been employed within the field of political campaigning for many decades. This is an empirical paper that focuses upon the concept of political brands and the impact that current trends in campaign strategy, and in particular the growth and continued use of negative campaigning, have upon them. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach, the implications associated with such activity are examined and, in particular, its effect upon the consumer/brand relationship.
• Within the consideration of the results, it becomes clear that political brands' use of negative campaigning is somewhat shortsighted; offering short‐term gains but at the cost of long‐term damage not only to their brand image but also to the wider democratic system as it stands. In a search for political ‘brands’ that more effectively meet their needs, there appears a tendency for political consumers to now look outside of the conventional political sector. The emergent concept of the ‘negative brand’ is explored together with the implications for political consumers, political brands and the wider field of conventional party politics.

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The role of credibility in shaping attitudes toward nonprofit websites

• The study examines the factors that impact the perceptions of consumers when visiting a nonprofit website. Measures of online communications effectiveness in the for‐profit environment are applied to the nonprofit world.
• Consumer reactions to two major nonprofit websites provide insight into the relationship between website credibility and attitude toward the site.
• The study points to the importance of several credibility measures (particularly those related to site design) that are significantly related to attitude toward the site.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Using creativity to achieve an entrepreneurial future for arts marketing

• The marketing concept fails to explain marketing behaviour of small firms. Similar comments are now being made of large firms. This gap between theory and practice is even more significant in non-profit and arts organisations where sector specific philosophies often determine how marketing is embraced, with its underlying notions of the customer and profitability. Many of these organisations must overcome severe resource constraints by thinking creatively. This paper investigates the relationship between art, marketing, entrepreneurship and creativity in order to reach a clearer understanding of how creativity can assist both the arts organisation and those involved in researching the sector. There have been increasing calls within the academic marketing community to instil a creative philosophy within the research process. This call has not resulted in much research on the phenomenon within marketing, and certainly not from a nonprofit perspective. This paper discusses creativity as a concept drawing on a diverse range of literatures outside the management discipline. The link between creativity, marketing, entrepreneurship and art is analysed. Justification of the incorporation of creativity in the research process is presented for practitioners and theorists in marketing and the arts, so that they can learn from each others' disciplines. Implications for future research are presented, where creativity is viewed as the centre of a non-linear, free thinking understanding of artistic truth.

Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Excessive,optimal, and insufficient fundraising among the Nonprofit Times 100

• Using a six-factor model of donations, we estimate the effect on net donations; i.e., donations less fundraising expenditures, of a one percent marginal increase in fundraising expenditures, for each sample nonprofit organization (NPO) from the Nonprofit Times 100 from 2000 to 2002. No prior study of U.S. NPOs estimates the effect of fundraising expense on net donations. We then use these estimates and what we argue is the correct benchmark, the ratio of fundraising expense to donations, to provide evidence, for each NPO, on whether the NPO's level of fundraising is ‘excessive,’ ‘optimal,’ or ‘insufficient,’ relative to the level that maximizes net donations. All prior studies using log-log models use what we suggest is an incorrect benchmark for evaluating NPO fundraising behavior.
• The estimated effect of a 1% increase in fundraising on net donations varies widely across NPOs in our sample—from an increase in net donations of 0.18% of gross donations to a decrease of 0.66% of gross donations. Of the 76 Nonprofit Times 100 NPOs with usable data in 2002, we estimate that 24 engaged in ‘excessive’ fundraising, 18 engaged in ‘insufficient’ fundraising, and 34 did not engage in ‘excessive’ or ‘insufficient’ fundraising; i.e., we could not reject the null hypothesis of ‘optimal’ levels of fundraising.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An intellectual capital perspective of competitive advantage in nonprofit organisations

• Very little systematic research has focused on applying the concept of intellectual capital (IC) within the nonprofit context; particularly in the highly competitive nonprofit environment. Based on a review of the existing literature, this paper firstly contributes to filling this gap by building an argument that IC can be utilised as a competitive tool in nonprofit organisations (NPOs). Secondly, an IC conceptual framework is proposed that explicitly links the attainment of competitive advantage with positive outcomes for NPOs. Finally, the paper discusses how the IC conceptual framework can be effectively utilised to foster competitive advantage in the nonprofit sector.

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Marketing micro-finance to women: integrating global with local

• Since the 2005 ‘International Year of Microfinance’, how well are micro-finance interventions (MFIs) working? MFIs are often seen as a panacea for poverty reduction, particularly among women and through enterprise development. Yet MFIs in Africa have often failed, and may even cause more harm than good. In East Africa for example, MFIs continue to advocate that one size (credit only) fits all strategy. Such a generic remedy is by definition relatively (i) harmonized but not necessarily (ii) aligned with the full diversity of preferences and norms at a local grassroots level. To improve any marketing ‘fit’ between MFIs and local market contexts in East Africa, interventions can become more pluralistic, blending global with local solutions. Based on a review of research with economically poor women in East Africa, a blend of ‘credit only’ and communal-based systems like ‘rotating savings’ and ‘credit associations’, is suggested. Diversified delivery systems like this are antithetical to (i) harmonisation, but would improve the degree of (ii) alignment between MFIs and the adaptively pluralistic belief systems already in place. Hence a key to making MFIs more sustainable, and thereby reducing poverty more effectively, is to respect their global–local interface, or ‘glocality’.

Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

What some recent research tells us about planned giving (legacy marketing) in North America

• The transformation of fundraising from an ‘emerging profession’ to a ‘true profession’ is contingent on the continual development of a formal body of knowledge based on theory and research. To further that goal, this paper, written from a Canadian perspective, reviews current and recent research studies in both Canada and the USA, focusing specifically on the areas of legacy marketing and bequest gifts.
• The aim of this paper is two-fold: first, to bring forward ‘established knowledge’ in this relatively new and burgeoning area of fundraising; and second, to draw attention to areas where there is a knowledge gap, thereby laying the groundwork for further research and progress in this area.

Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Creative marketing strategies in small museums: up close and innovative

• Museums are seeing decreasing resources along with increasing competition (such as the entertainment industry's recent foray into the education arena) for their market share (TiLE, Oct 2002). The prevalent perception that nonprofit institutions as a sector are mismanaged also requires museums to become more businesslike in their management and their marketing (Kotler & Kotler, 1998 ; Andreasen & Kotler, 2002 ; Salamon, 2003 ). Although larger museums have more access to human and economic capital, this article demonstrates how the flexibility and agility of smaller institutions positions them well to leverage their resources with creativity and innovation. To give credibility to the museum examples, the discussion recounts how the American wine industry rose in prominence both at home and abroad by sidestepping traditional marketing research methods, using instead an approach that was more like art.

Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

‘We're still the same people’: developing a mass media campaign to raise awareness and challenge the stigma of dementia

• A popular awareness‐ and fund‐raising vehicle for charities and non‐profit organisations is the annual ‘Day’ or ‘Week’ campaign. Such campaigns can be challenging because they often involve multiple, potentially competing objectives, not least the requirement to balance the needs of the general public with the those who already have, or are caring for someone with, a particular condition. This paper reports on formative research conducted in Scotland to inform the development of an awareness‐raising campaign on the issue of dementia, which had two key aims: to raise awareness of the condition among the general public, and to reduce the stigma associated with it. Social marketing consumer research was conducted with three key groups—the general public, carers and people with dementia‐to explore their beliefs and perceptions about dementia and their information needs. The research highlights the importance of providing realistic and credible images of people with dementia to the general public and the importance of avoiding instilling fear of the condition. Guidance for future awareness‐raising activity in this area is provided.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.