Marketing Management for Nonprofit Organizations

While this book provides a solid grounding in the basics, I found that I still needed supplemental materials in order to provide students will the full picture of nonprofit marketing, specifically readings and case studies about social marketing, on which this book is rather light. An good companion volume is Marketing the Public Sector, by Seymour Fine, which is (sadly) out of print, but worth tracking down. The conscientious instructor will need to do some customized updating of the Fine book, since by now it is quite old and much has changed. Nevertheless, it is a useful resource, for which I have not been able to find an adequate replacement.

One asset of the Sargeant book is its price, which is considerably less than the standard text used in nonprofit marketing courses -- Alan Andreason's Marketing in Nonprofit Organizations. In good conscience, I just can't require my students to puchase a text that costs $120., especially since many of them are working for modest salaries in charitable organizations. On the whole, the Sargeant book is one of the best I've found for providing a sound overview of nonprofit marketing concepts at a reasonable price.


GOOD TEXT FOR STUDENTS   January 25, 2003
Bhaskar Majee (New York)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

In the words of the author in the Preface, "this text was written primarily for use by undergraduate and postgraduate students, taking nonprofit marketing as an optional part of their studies". This textbook was developed as a bridge between the theory in the classroom and practicality in the real world. The text is divided into three parts: part one explains the concepts of marketing and the frameworks that are relevant to nonprofits organizations in all fields; part two explains how to develop a marketing orientation; and part three demonstrates how marketing applications can be applied to specific fields such as fundraising, the arts, educational institutions and healthcare fields. Numerous case studies illustrate marketing concepts. Each chapter begins with an objective and ends with a summary, discussion questions and extensive references.

This book was intended primarily for higher education students. However, it is an excellent primer for professionals, who might be novitiates of marketing concepts, but who are seeking to incorporate marketing principles into their organizations' strategic plans. The first section presents a broad overview of the nonprofit sector as well as defining marketing and how marketing concepts can benefit the nonprofit sector. Sargeant stresses the need for nonprofits to shift their view of marketing from circumstances based management strategy to marketing as a philosophy incorporated into the management structure. Achieving a customer focus, both internal (staff) and external (customers, donors, governing bodies, etc.) is also emphasized. These marketing concepts support the fundamentals of the planning process outlined by Stueart and Moran.

Part three, Specific Applications to fundraising, arts, education, healthcare or social marketing is most beneficial to a novice. In this section, Sargeant walks the newcomers through the steps necessary to achieve an effective marketing strategy for their specific type of nonprofit organization.

I feel this book is an excellent recommendation for the professional seeking to develop an in-house marketing philosophy or to have an understanding of the marketing process before hiring an outside marketing professional.