Business-nonprofit partnerships as a driver of internal marketing in nonprofit organizations. Consequences for nonprofit performance and moderators

Abstract

Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) confront competitive pressures derived from complex economic and societal challenges. Their capacity to fulfil their mission increasingly depends on developing successful alliances with key external and internal stakeholders, including cooperative interorganizational relationships. In this context, the aim of this research is to analyze: (1) to which extent business-nonprofit partnerships (BNPPs) foster the development of an internal marketing approach by NPOs; (2) the impact of this approach to human resource management on nonprofit performance; and (3) the possible moderating effect of the funding strategy of the nonprofit. This empirical research, based on a survey to a representative sample of Spanish NPOs, shows that cooperative relationships between nonprofit and business organizations are closely associated with a process of knowledge transfer, resulting in improved nonprofit performance; although these positive effects depend on the capacity of NPOs to generate income from commercial sources.