|
  |
|
|
Marketing | Personal thoughts
Marketing - why?
Marketing is usually associated with business, i.e. a profit-making organisation. However, it can be applied to almost any organisation.. a charity, a voluntary body, even an army! In a way, marketing, first and foremost is related to the purpose of the business or organisation. Peter Drucker, a well-known personality in the world of marketing said that there is one purpose to business, that of creating customers. This has also been applied to non-profit organisations such as charities. Indeed, for those of us who work for charities, marketing is just as important as it is for any business. Many of the bigger charities, several of which are multinational in scope and have hundreds if not thousands of employees, have bigger marketing budgets than many larger companies. So, returning to my question... why marketing? Well, its purpose is to create customers. Whether they are customers who will buy our product(s) or they are recipients of our services, we need to market our organisation to them. Marketing - what is it?
Now we know we need it, what is it? According to the Chartered Institute of Marketing in the UK, its "the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably". However, for me this is not a definition that meets every need. It doesn't explain what it is in any concrete form that the average person can easily visualise. Plenty of others over the years have added their own thoughts to this question. Here is my humble contribution with regard to the non-profit sector. Marketing is about identifying who your stakeholders are, their needs and meeting their needs. In the setting of a the non-profit organisation this would include management (Trustees and staff), Governance parties (regulatory bodies such as the Charity Commissioners), donors and beneficiaries. It will also include the general public in the widest sense. In light of this, marketing should be based upon a set of values. Its not just about 'profit' or being the biggest or most efficient organisation. For me, its about being the best at what you do and doing it for the right reason. For instance, charities can get sucked into keeping the cash cw alive and not doing what is important. Its a temptation to chase the money and avoid doing what we should be doing in case we lose funding. Sadly, too many funding sources also fail to see this and change their funding priorities without thinking of why and how this will stop good work continuing in an effort to get new work off the ground. Where is the sense in killing something that was doing a good job and starting something else that may not really be needed?
|
Contributor's Note
For almost twenty years i have been involved in marketing in one form or another, including fund raising and promotion for major charities. Note: I am British and use original English spellings and not American!
|
|
Governance Hub
| Charity Commission
| Good Governance Lens
| Chartered Institute of Marketing
| Wikipedia on Marketing
PLEASE VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S WEBSITE
House of Innocence
Tips, help & advice for novice pc users
house-of-innocence.blogspot.com
|
|
No reactions yet.
Please login or sign up to rate this intel.
Please login or sign up to add a comment.
The copyright for this content entitled "Marketing | Personal thoughts" has been specified by the contributor as:
All Rights Reserved
This content may not be copied, distributed or adapted by anyone under any circumstances.
|
 |
May, 2012
2008
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2009
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2010
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2011
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2012
January, February, March, April, May
|
|
Not a member yet?
Qondio is a powerful network for making it online. If you have a website to
promote, we can help.
Sign up and get in on the action.
|
|
Welcome to Qondio! Discover the awesome power this network can deliver by going to our About page. Or you could skip straight to the Sign Up form.
|
|
