Back Good work only a part of the story
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NON-PROFIT MARKETING Walter Wymer Jr Patricia Knowles Roger Gomes Publisher: Sage |
Even after the death of a child, Ty Hafan continues to support families `for as long as this support is required,' through bereavement counselling. Among the many facilities offered in the hospice is a `multisensory room': "to stimulate the children's senses through the use of fibre optics, mirrors, water tubes, disco glitter globe, lights, vibrating bean bags, Step on Simon game, sound and projections."
Charges must be high, you may wonder. But no; Ty Hafan is `completely free,' though the hospice's costs are over £2 million every year. Ty Hafan recruits volunteers, and gathers loose change through collection boxes (£50,000 last year). It currently offers for sale a £2 wristband with the message `Live the Moment.' The Web site has the message of its patron, the Prince of Wales, who declares Ty Hafan as `a place of great happiness.'
Well, doing good work is only one part of the story. The other equally critical part is to raise money to sustain the activities. Which explains why Ty Hafan is the `opening vignette' in Non-Profit Marketing by Walter Wymer Jr, Patricia Knowles, and Roger Gomes, from Sage (www.sagepublications.com) .
The authors define non-profit marketing as "the use of marketing tactics to further the goals and objectives of non-profit organisations (NPOs)." In a broader sense, however, "non-profit marketing is a management orientation that helps the NPO expand its horizon beyond its internal operations and programmes to also encompass the external world that affects the organisation."
Non-profit is one of the three sectors in a civil society, the other two being the government and business. The book cites the findings of www.independentsector.org in this regard. "The relative size of each sector will vary from country to country. It is also possible to have hybrid organisations resulting from inter-sectoral collaborations."
The authors emphasise that a strong non-profit sector is `one of the hallmarks of a free, vibrant society,' because it activates citizen participation. "Voluntarism has long been an integral part of the Indian society, dating back to 1,500 BC when it was mentioned in the Rig Vedas," writes Siddhartha Sen of Morgan State University, US on www.jhu.edu in a dated paper titled Defining the Non-Profit Sector: India.
NPOs are popular not only in the developing world but in the affluent countries. For instance, the US had 1.8 million non-profits in 2002. `Giving USA Foundation' estimates that in 2003, non-profits gave $241 billion to charitable causes. "The Independent Sector (2004) estimates that Americans donated $266 billion of volunteer service."
Why is it necessary for non-profit organisations (NPOs) to have a marketing orientation? Because, when such an orientation is present, various operational units and programmes of the NPO work in a coordinated fashion to do the following: "(a) further the organisation's mission; (b) achieve the organisation's goals; and (c) communicate a consistent and focussed message."
Three current issues in non-profit marketing that the book lists are: branding, social marketing, and use of the Internet. With brand awareness, there is "a larger pool of potential donors." Social marketing, which is about using marketing tactics for influencing social change, can find hurdles in the form of corporate marketing, especially of products such as cigarettes and alcohol. "A professionally designed Web site reflects the professionalism of the non-profit."
The eminently readable book raises issues for NPO managers, provides questions for discussion, and offers ideas for role-playing. There are also `team exercises' such as this one, with which the book concludes: "Create four teams. Each team represents a management team for a non-profit organisation whose mission is reducing teenage suicide. Each team should develop a plan for attracting a corporate supporter ... "
D. Murali
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