Nonprofit Marketing and Fundraising: A Research Overview

118 Pages·2018·0.958 MB·English

by  Roger Bennett

Nonprofit Marketing and
Fundraising
Nonprofit sectors account for a small but significant share of most
major economies globally, and the marketing and fundraising activities
of organisations operating in this sector are of increasing interest to
researchers around the world. Although nonprofit marketing covers
many activities not directly concerned with fundraising, the acquisition
of funds is the primary objective of most nonprofit marketing work.
Nonprofit Marketing and Fundraising provides a concise introduction to
the latest research in the nonprofit marketing and fundraising field, reviews
current controversies, outlines the major theories and models of fundraising,
and presents suggestions for future research. The text guides the reader
through myriad research undertaken on nonprofit marketing and fundraising,
summarises important findings and key thinking on fundraising strategies and
processes, offers conceptual insights into emerging themes and emphasises
recent advancements in digital fundraising.
Chapters within the book cover, inter alia:
• criticisms of nonprofit fundraising and the research literature that has
responded to attacks;
• issues connected with the questions ‘why people donate’ and ‘what
characteristics describe the “giving type”?’
• ‘theories of giving’ and of donor retention, including foundational
research relating to nonprofit relationship marketing;
• charity advertising (including criticisms of its use) and the branding of
nonprofit organisations.
This shortform book provides a useful overview for advanced students and
scholars moving into the field.
Dr Roger Bennett is Professor of Marketing at Kingston Business School.
His main research interests lie in the fields of nonprofit marketing and
advertising. Roger is the author of many books and numerous journal
articles in the fields of business management and marketing.
State of the Art in Business Research
Edited by Professor Geoffrey Wood
Recent advances in theory, methods and applied knowledge (alongside
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As a collection, these books provide a library of theoretical and concep-
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Print ISSN: 2575-4815; Online ISSN: 2575-4807
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Mark Dodgson
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Andrew Hoffman and Susse Georg
Nonprofit Marketing and Fundraising
A Research Overview
Roger Bennett
Nonprofit Marketing and
Fundraising
A Research Overview
Roger Bennett
First published 2019
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
© 2019 Roger Bennett
The right of Roger Bennett to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
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Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British
Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Bennett, Roger, 1948 April 9– author.
Title: Non-profit marketing and fundraising : a research overview /
Roger Bennett.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2019. |
Series: State of the art in business research, ISSN 2575-4815 |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018021994 | ISBN 9781138483378 (hardback) |
ISBN 9781351055109 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Nonprofit organizations—Marketing. |
Fundraising.
Classification: LCC HF5415 .B429325 2019 |
DDC 658.15/224—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018021994
ISBN: 978-1-138-48337-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-351-05510-9 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
Preface vi
1 Introduction 1
2 Frameworks and foundations 21
3 Fundraising in theory and practice 51
4 Fundraising today and tomorrow 72
5 Conclusion, reflections and opportunities
for future research 93
Index 106
Preface
Although national accounting conventions differ, studies have shown that
the nonprofit sector contributes between 2% and 5% to the gross domestic
products of most Western nations.1 Indeed, in many countries the nonprofit
sector is worth more financially than a nation’s entire construction industry
or its banking sector; sometimes more even than the two combined.2 Often,
moreover, a country’s nonprofit sector constitutes the main foundation of
the nation’s civil society providing benefits and assistance that no national
government will be able to ignore. Nonprofit organisations (e.g., charities
registered with state authorities, community associations, fundraising arts
and cultural bodies, public service co-operatives, educational institutions,
voluntary welfare associations) face issues that are multi-faceted and com-
plex. The ways in which nonprofits deal with these issues are important for
the societies in which nonprofits operate, given that the activities of non-
profit organisations (i) impact heavily on social well-being, (ii) strengthen
civil society, (iii) improve the lives of those in need and, collectively,
(iv) have numerous implications for public policy.
A minority of nonprofit organisations are financed entirely by govern-
ments, by corporations or by philanthropic foundations and hence do not
need to solicit funds. Likewise, some nonprofits are fortunate enough to
have been endowed with initial levels of resources sufficient to enable them
to finance all their activities; both immediately and in the longer term. How-
ever, the overwhelming majority of nonprofits need to raise funds. Dona-
tions are obtained from individuals, from businesses, from foundations or
philanthropic institutions, and possibly from various levels of government
agencies. The effective procurement of donations from these sources using
the latest fundraising methods, practices and techniques, is essential for all
fundraising organisations, and for most is an existential necessity. It follows
that extensive, robust and intellectually rigorous research into the nonprofit
sector, and especially into nonprofit marketing and fundraising, is both soci-
etally necessary and academically worthwhile.
Preface vii
Nonprofit Management and Fundraising: A Research Overview provides
a concise introduction to the latest research in the nonprofit marketing and
fundraising field. It details the foundational studies in the area, reviews cur-
rent controversies, outlines the main theories and models of fundraising,
and presents suggestions for future research. The text guides the reader
through myriad nonprofit marketing and fundraising research, summarises
important findings and key thinking on fundraising strategies and processes,
and offers conceptual insights into emerging themes highlighting the stud-
ies that have the greatest contemporary importance. Thus, the book pro-
vides an invaluable introduction to the literature on nonprofit marketing and
fundraising and a convenient reference for students, for beginning research-
ers and for more experienced academics and practitioners with interests in
the nonprofit marketing domain.
Roger Bennett is a Professor of Marketing at Kingston University. He is
the author of many books and numerous journal articles on various aspects
of marketing and business management.
Notes
1 C asey, J. (2016) “Comparing Nonprofit Sectors Around the World”, International
Journal of Nonprofit Education and Leadership 6 (3), 187–223.
2 World Bank. (2017) Civil Society, Washington: World Bank.

1 Introduction
Any nonprofit organisation that is not wholly financed by government
grants, by philanthropic foundations, by a business or by its founders must
engage in fundraising. Academically, the fundraising function lies within
the wider domain of nonprofit marketing, which is a subject that covers a
diverse range of issues and tasks and includes activities not immediately and
directly concerned with fundraising. Examples of wider nonprofit marketing
topics not indubitably related to fundraising include image and reputation
management, public relations, attraction of volunteers and the measurement
of levels of satisfaction of an organisation’s beneficiaries. Normally, how-
ever, the acquisition of funds is the main and final objective of all forms
of nonprofit marketing work. Hence, this book is predominantly about
research that relates to fundraising and fundraising methods, and excludes,
for example, matters pertaining to volunteer recruitment, public sector mar-
keting, political marketing, social marketing, nonprofit involvement in civil
society and nonprofit governance. (Each of these subjects merits a book in
its own right.) The text acknowledges the seminal literature upon which
later studies have been constructed but, in the main, the book concentrates
on key recent investigations, on the latest research into management orien-
tations associated with fundraising, on current debates surrounding theories
and models of fundraising, on fresh approaches and ideas, and on evolving
research themes.
Chapter 1 introduces the reader to the overall landscape of nonprofit mar-
keting and fundraising; beginning with an outline of criticisms of the prac-
tice (which have been vociferous) and a summary of the research literature
that has responded to attacks. Elemental criticisms of nonprofit marketing
and fundraising have been that it wastes money, is unethical, employs dubi-
ous fundraising methods (notably ‘chugging’ [slang for ‘charity mugging’,
i.e., the use of paid external agencies to obtain bank standing-order dona-
tions from passers-by in street locations]), and is under-regulated. Research
relating to each of these matters is examined ahead; together with research
concerning the alleged ‘commercialisation’ of the nonprofit sector and the