Keywords

Non-Profit Organisation, Marketing Strategy, Society, Creating Awareness, Objectives, Funds

Introduction

The first ever sample survey of the size of the non-profit centre in India, places the number of such organisation at 1.2 million, presently its standing with the figure of 2 million, these group predominantly involves as many as 19.2 million, many of whom work on voluntary basis, these organisations are engaged in a wide spectrum of activities from Economic, legal, sociocultural, scientific and environmental domains engaged and working on sectors like health, education, sanitization, loan schemes for poor, destitutes, old people ,orphanage , employment to the weaker section, nutrition etc. to address the needs of the marginal section of the society and also make them aware of their rights and regulation for a respectable living in the society.

According to the Society for Participatory Research in Asia, Non-profit organisation as an entity meets five entities simantanously: it has an institutional identity; it is separate from the government; is non-profit distributing; self-governing and has been set up voluntarily.

The number of NPO’s has seen a tremendous growth in the recent years in India owing to various factors for its need in the society and in turn has increased the demand of using appropriate and effective marketing strategies for its reach to the needy ones Gwin (2000). The subject marketing also has gained importance and its practice and principles has becomes significant due to the fact that it tactics and actions helps an organisation achieving their objectives Katz (2005).

NPO’s marketing is the recent practice and trends which is not been seen in the last twenty, thirty years owing to the fact that this area was never considered as the sector where marketing strategies needs to be incorporated Wenham et al. (2003). Even though Government is running many programs, schemes to help Non-profit organisation but the significant drawback in developing country is the “multilayer” or hierarchical approach, which results in delay in decision making on important aspects and also decreases their efficiency in implementing different programs, these situations has resulted in developing ample opportunities for non-profit organisations in socio economic development. Jha (1999)

Different Marketing practices are adopted but still more research is required in this sector, which is not explored in India as it is in western countries, where they have reached a certain level of progress and maturity and are playing a significant role in larger issues like curbing smoking ,awareness on life threating diseases ,benefits of eating balanced diet etc. Indian non-profit organisation are still preoccupied with the issues of poverty, education, mid-day meals, female foeticide, and availability of clean water etc.

The most crucial success factor lying with non-profit organisations are the participatory methods, functioning and their capacity and ability to reach out to the marginal, weaker and underprivileged sections of the community, connecting with each community, understanding their requirements and finding appropriate solutions along with the attributes like transparency and accountability are the most powerful instruments in the course of social and economic development.

Research Objectives

1. To critically understand, analyse the various social marketing strategies and tools adopted by the Non-profit organisations for reaching out to the marginal section of the society.

2. To assess the impact and effectiveness of the adopted social marketing strategies in order to create awareness in the society

3. To identify and determine the role of volunteers in raising the funds for the non-profit organisations.

4. To suggest changes and recommendations in the study.

Social Marketing Strategies for Non Profit Organisation

Social marketing strategies are those tactical approaches aimed at maintaining behavioural changes for the benefit of all the sections of the society ,it is created and designed to accept the social ideas and includes to a great extent significant aspects and components like Planning, communication,distribution,research etc

Content Marketing to Increase Website Traffic

Non-Profit organisation should focus and concentrate on integrated marketing communication whose core aim is communication at all levels ,here the blend of tools has to be blogs,videos,podcast on the related issue concerning non-profit sectors ,content is the soul ,it needs to attract and stimulate the audience and convey the intended message ,different means like storytelling, question answer sessions ,Perspective on any issue ,starting a petition, featuring the hero contest can be adopted, which in turn can help in receiving more attention from the search engines and helps in achieving the objective of non-profit organisation.

Effective Utilisation of Social Media

Social media is connecting, exchanging thoughts, ideas that focuses and emphasised into community based input, interaction and collaboration for getting and attracting the attention of target customers. Facebook, Twitter are some prominent examples of social media. There are different ways in which non-profit organisation can promote their ideas, thoughts for getting the acceptance of the society. The prominent ones are creating and developing pages in various platforms like Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn etc. for grabbing the interest of the audience, second is posting on regular intervals followed by suitable videos supporting the content, at last but which is also an effective way to connect with your audience is Boost post.

Free Advertising up to $10,000 Per Month Using Google ad Grants

A well-known USA company Google known for its advanced technology and software worldwide also supports non-profit organisations in various countries with its innovative online ad program by providing an assistance of $10,000 to the NPO’s, this helps in reaching vast new audience in much quicker and faster time and considers as a web traffic multiplier. This marketing strategy is one of the most significant one in reaching to the target audience as compared to search engine optimization.

Persuasion for Volunteers

Volunteers sometimes are considered as the backbone of non-profit organisation, owing to different reasons, like they act as peer-to-peer fundraisers, image builder and brand ambassador for the organisation. They act as allies for the achievement of the goals; they might not develop the content for the cause but can spread the word through their social media platforms.

Fundraising Campaign

One of the successful marketing strategies for NPO are fundraising campaigns .where the contributors are those people who believes and trust the cause for which you are working ,money is being raised from different stakeholders like coworkers,family,friends etc. People are connected through email communications. Facebook in recent years has played a key role in raising funds.

Collaborating With Events

In the present time, the philosophy says, “What is visible sells easily”. In this strategy, the organisation is supposed to make their presence viable amongst people. In western countries ,NPO’s associate themselves with the popular events like Coca Cola music events ,Theatre play shows ,where the number of people are expected more and it’s easy to reach them .

Literature Review

This study was conducted by taking into consideration, available literature on the subject to understand the nuances of various aspects of marketing strategies associated with non-profit organisation. The significance of Non-profit organisation cant not be ignored since ages ,earlier it was in small scale ,which is now conducted in the wider way using ,effective and efficient marketing tools and techniques ,they also leaves a great impact within their communities socially. Helmig (2014). A recent paradigm shift in the marketing practices of NPO’s has brought enormous opportunities for this sector. (Clarke and mount, 2000). There are three prominent target segments for the NPO’’S categorised as Clients/Customers, volunteers and NPO Donors Helmig (2004), these market behave differently to Product, price, place and promotional strategies and needs a tailor based or cause oriented approach for the maximisation of the results. Andreasen et al. (2008). The term social marketing consist of social science and commercial marketing, where the techniques and strategies of marketing are used to raise the standard of living of marginal and weaker section of the society Srivastava (2020). There are predominantly two types, one is Micro level or downstream social marketing and the other is Macro level or upstream social marketing. Flaherty et al. (2020). Upstream marketing primarily deals with individual at firms level where as downstream emphasises on social issues like poverty, education etc. Hoek & Jones (2011).

Non Profit Orgnaistaion Clients/Customers

There are different types of NPO’S like empowering, supportive, charitable, National and International organisations. Like other profit oriented companies whose target income and profits derived from their targeted customers, the scenario is opposite in Non-profit organisation and for their sustenance they need donors, volunteers and an exceptional social marketing strategies. Community, contributors and Society for whom they are working are their customers who accelerate the growth of NPO’s. Walter (2006).

There are three Categories of Non-Profit Supporters

1. Impact to mission :- Supporters play a significant role in the success of NPO’s,they needs to be
motivated and communicated ,how their contribution accelerate or aids in achieving the objectives of
the organiation,it not motivates them also helps them in understanding their importance for the
organisation.

2. Personalized Engagement: - Supporters can make use of the digital platform at personal level for spreading the message of the Non-profit organisation. They can also make use of personal communication for reaching out to the people and it helps in generating the required funds.

3. Transparency on future: - Transparency is the key element in non-profit organisation success as it brings trust, confidence amongst the supporters also and gives a clear roadmap for the future.

Non Profit Organisation Volunteers

Volunteers are the lifeblood of any non-profit organisation, they needs to be properly motivated, pursued with a positive work environment, which also helps them in personal development and growth . Before thinking of getting volunteers for the job, organisation needs to answer certain questions like.

a) Organisational requirements

b) Communication medium

c) Motivational factors for volunteers

d) Training required during interaction with the people.

The next task is using appropriate and effective mediums in reaching to large number of audience; some of the prominent mediums could be leaflets or brochures distribution, targeting appropriate regional and local media etc.

Non Government Organisation Donors

Donors are those people, organisations which helps the Non-profit organisation in achieving their mission, marketing strategy pertaining or in special reference with social marketing should aim towards them, social marketing strategies should be used for reaching to the masses.

Some of the Popular Methods are as Follows

Collection of Funds

In the present times, funds are collected by Non-profit organisation using advanced technology as more people are tuned to it, online fund transfer are very popular now a days where people from all sections of the society across globe contributes for the cause ,social marketing has opened doors for this noble work.

Competition Participation

Non-profit organisation can be part of online competitions ,organised by different corporates and institutions where winner can have a huge sum as donation ,this exercise also give exposure to non-profit organisation and act as training session for them .Several parameters are ascertained during the competition and it also help the organisation to assess their own performance.

Access of Websites with Phone

Approximately 58% of the present people prefer to use mobile or search the website on phone because of the user-friendly nature of mobile phones, most of the non-profit organisations have their own websites but not mobile friendly. More number of people can be targeted for donation if mobile friendly websites are available to access anytime in any part of the world.

Elements of Social Marketing

Social marketing is a strategy or the approach aims at communicating the audience the intended message aimed for the benefit of the society as a whole, it’s a sustainable way of influencing individual behaviour through digital platforms Figure 1.

Figure 1 Srivastava, D. P. (2020). Social Marketing of Non-Government Organization. International Conference on Marketing, Technology & Society

Social marketing strategy follows strategic and operational approach and it includes in social marketing context, information is shared using considerable platforms where people interact with each other and learn (Kaplan and Haenlein 2010).

Social marketing have seen paradigm shift in the marketplace. Firstly, it connects with the world through various platforms and social networking sites Facebook, micro blogging sites Twitter, content communities YouTube in order to build interest (Kaplan and Haenlein 2010) Figure 2.

Figure 2 Gwin, C. (2000). The Perscpective of Non Profit Organsiations on Casue Related Marketing . American Marketing Association Conference Proceedings , 348-349.

Research Gap

Research in this area is not new, but in most of the studies, organisation is making all arrangements to aware public but lacks the knowledge on using effective digital platforms and also unable to understand which amongst all is the best and most suitable digital tool for connecting with a large number of people or masses, absence of required integrated marketing communication tools pertaining to social media can also be observed, this study has tried to focus on the above mentioned area. Important aspects like segmentation, targeting, demographic, geographic, socio cultural needs to be emphasised while framing marketing strategy of non-profit organization Paul Banies (2020).

Research Methodology

The study has included both the methods of data collection, primary as well as secondary. Interview method was primarily adopted in order to collect data from the respondents, 15 Non government organisation were taken into consideration from the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, different criteria were selected on the selection of the Non-government organisation depending on a)-Working for the children welfare and social emotional learning b)- Creating awareness in the society regarding female foeticide and education c)- Providing free food to destitute .NPO’s were asked specific questions on goal or societal aim of the NPO, events and activities organised, how they connect with local people, tools they used to interact and communicate their message, which social media platform suits them best and how often they use it, challenges they face and how they overcome it , Marketing strategies used by the NPO ,Funding awareness campaign for generating required funds etc. Different thesis and dissertations of both Indian and foreign universities, websites of NGOs, NGO federations and organizations were consulted , Different Government published reports, internet sources, text and reference books, journals were used while collecting secondary data, ,Discussions were also held with experts in areas relevant to the study.

Implication of The Study

This study will help those non-profit organisation who wants to serve all sections of the society , but due to lack of digital and social media platform and awareness ,unable to communicate and spread message of their noble work and also not able to generate enough funds for the same cause. There is a strong need to change the mind-set and attitude of the audience towards these non-profit organisations and involvement of the society is the need of the hour. Appropriate social marketing tools and technique is one of the powerful tool, which this study has highlighted and emphasised to help the non-profit organisations Jethwaney (2020).

Statistical Techniques Implemented

Statistical techniques were used in the analysis of the data collected; following methods were incorporated while collecting the data Kochhar (2018).

1. Cronbach’s Alpha test

2. Descriptive Analysis

3. Reliability Test

4. Regression Test

5. ANOVA

Measure of Realibility Test

Different factors were grouped into four components, this test was conducted to measure the reliability test of the factors, and the values are more than 0.7 Table 1-13.

Regression Analysis

Regression

Findings of the Study

Amongst the selected samples of Non-profit organisation (n=15), the following findings and observations were being made, the oldest Non-profit organisation was established in the year 1944. The yearly budget ranges from minimum of Rs.1.5 Lakh, out of the selected non-profit organisation approximately 14% Non-profit organisation uses community base rehabilitation model ,around 35% refers to Institution base rehabilitation model and the remaining percentage of the Non-profit organisation refer 51% uses both the models in reaching to the maximum number of the people across all the sections of the society .,out of the selected sample it is ascertained that 69% of the non-profit organisation are not using properly the funds provided by the Government and only 31% are using allocated the funds rendered by the Government, there are approximately 34% of the NPO’S are able to reach the Government for the funds and able to take the advantage of the programs run Central and State Government, 15% of the NPO in India are able to get funds from the international agencies Virender Kumar (2014). The study reveals that out of the selected sample, 5-6 non-profit organisation make effective and appropriate use of integrated marketing communication in context with Digital and social media tools to communicate with the targeted audience, 51% of the NPO’S uses Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter to reach out to the public for making them aware about their cause and could generate funds , 16% uses Blogging, Google free advertising , as an additional social media marketing tool to reach out to their targeted people ,33% uses volunteers encouraging schemes and programme for promoting their cause and using volunteers service for the spread of message Freitas-da-Costa et al. (2011).

Suggestion/Recommendation of the Study

Most of the Non-profit organisation,49% ignores the power of social media marketing strategies and continue using traditional ways of marketing and promotional, today in this digital and techno driven world, connecting people through social and digital tools, which is the need of the hour ,most importantly Facebook, LinkedIn ,Twitter are connected with masses and a small word becomes viral in no time and can help the NPO’s in accomplishment of their objectives. 67% still are not recognising the volunteer role, which is significant as word of mouth publicity, and as they use their own social media tools, NPO message can be effectively communicated to a large number of people without much investment. Volunteers not only promotes the idea, cause and raises the fund for the NPO, but also renders their service from legal to administrative work related to the organisation, therefore it is suggested as part of the recommendation to encourage and motivate volunteers through different recognition programs .Social media marketing is the need of the hour and needs to be used often on regular intervals in communication ,all the available platforms should be used effectively and efficiently .Blogging and good content writing also plays a significant role in reaching to the masses and serve the purpose of non-profit organization Scarlett Epstein (1999).

Scope for Future Research

1. Social media marketing is the only aspect considered for the study, other researcher can study other
marketing strategies in reference with Non-profit organisation

2. This study is undertaken in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, future researchers can explore
the remaining south, north, east and west part of India.

3. This study was conducted in the urban and semi urban areas of the twin city, further researchers can
explore the rural areas.

Highlights of The Study

1. The study focuses on the marketing strategies pertaining to the non-profit sector.

2. The study concentrates on the impact of marketing strategies for the non-profit organisation success

3. The study is conducted by using effective research methodology, data is being collected using primary and secondary information

4. Interview and observation methods are predominantly used

5. The data is being analysed using the SPSS software

6. The study is conducted in the twin cities of Hyderabad, Telangana, India.

Conclusion

In the conclusion, the evident fact is that social marketing strategies are the need of the hour and if implemented and executed effectively, it can bring a great change in the working of the non-profit organisation and at the end of day, helps in attainment of organisational objectives. Most of the Non-profit organisation lacks adequate Government support and funding from other agencies, they are not able to communicate their message and reach to the larger section of the society, due to non-usage of effective digital platforms and tools. Funds are an important aspect in planning social marketing campaigns .Volunteers role is also crucial and most significant in reaching out to the targeted audience, organisation must motivate their volunteers through social recognition program and schemes. Lack of social campaigns decreases the pace of NPO and act as a barrier in their way of progress. Social marketing strategies and techniques as discussed in the study can help the NPO’s for their survival as well as communicating with all the stakeholders.

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Received: 09-Jul-2022, Manuscript No. AMSJ-22-12314; Editor assigned: 12-Jul-2022, PreQC No. AMSJ-22-12314(PQ); Reviewed: 16- Aug-2022, QC No. AMSJ-22-12314; Revised: 27-Aug-2022, Manuscript No. AMSJ-22-12314(R); Published: 15-Sep-2022