Marketing as a Tool for Non-Profit Organizations.

Essay by apsavvasUniversity, Bachelor'sB+, December 2009

download word file, 24 pages 0.0

"Community Engagement is the process of building relationships with community members who will work side-by-side as an ongoing partner, building an army of supports for your mission, with the end goal of making the community a better place to live." (www.help4nonprofits.com, 2009)IntroductionNon-profit organizations have thousands volunteers who provide free business counseling and no or low-cost workshops. In order to be effective, competitive and sustainable, non-profits must not only be caring and creative, they must run their operations as businesses. In our democratic society, non-profit organizations have to fulfill several important responsibilities, from providing public benefit and serving the underprivileged to advancing education and science and reducing the burden of government. Also, non-profit organizations must focus on public good rather than private gain in accomplishing their goals. Non-profits have proven to be effective instruments for addressing social needs outside of government. However, to perform effectively, they must be free to take risks, try new approaches and invest in solutions.

This means developing the strategies and skills to build the capacities to serve their communities, to become self-sufficient and to compete for resources needed to achieve their missions.

In addition, without financial self-sufficiency, non-profit organizations cannot decide their direction or concentrate on their mission. Instead, they remain subject to the demands of finding their funding sources. As a result, today, financial self-sufficiency is nothing less than a critical requirement for non-profit organizations and, together with strategic planning and marketing, is their highest priority. To safeguard continuing resources free from constraints imposed from the outside, non-profits must pursue a long-term planning process and use business tools to assist them.

Typical StructureAbstractOver the last twenty five years, a variety of organizations that traditionally have not relied on marketing technology have turned to marketing as a way of enhancing their economic viability. Premier among these...