Nonprofit Marketing: Does Strategic Planning Help?

Abstract

This article generally discusses the role of marketing strategies in promoting the nonprofit civil society sector in its efforts to reach and engage the audiences. Many non-profit organizations consider the use of tactical marketing strategy as useful and essential. The success of the non-profit sector is related to the wider environment in which it operates, such as the political, economic, socio-cultural and technological. Therefore, a carefully designed marketing strategy can help the non-profit sector properly address the needs of the different target groups. The purpose of this paper is to explore ways in which marketing ideas and strategies are created and implemented in the non-profit civil society organizations and the tools used to achieve its mission. Part of this process is to determine how management in nonprofits views marketing, as well as the challenges and opportunities associated with marketing efforts. In-depth interviews were conducted with leading representatives of civil society organizations working in the field of media and journalism, and the results were processed with the Atlas.ti software. Analysis of secondary data, including findings from past research, documents, and different publications, is also used to elaborate the research problem.The article notes that although there is an understanding in civil society organizations of the importance of strategic communication in marketing, it is not implemented enough due to lack of human resources and finances. The article discusses in detail the consequences of these findings.