Entrepreneurial Marketing : A Descriptive Study of Swedish Charitable Organizations

Abstract: This Sweden-based thesis provides insights into the way in which charitable organizations can use entrepreneurial marketing (EM). This has been made possible with a descriptive, qualitative study with structured interviews with 7 representatives from charitable organizations with diverse causes. The benefits of this particular marketing form have been accounted for at length within research in relation to for-profit firms. Realizing the need for better insight into social enterprises, the charity sector provided a point from which to further nuance this discipline. All interviewees regard their organizations as being market and entrepreneurially oriented. Three studied aspects (external factors, 7 EM tenets and cultural orientation of EM) have produced results accounting for how EM is actually being used by participating organizations today. What has been found is that the EM, market and entrepreneurial orientation intentions of participating organizations are higher than actual behavior. What is more is that interviewees’ environments are relatively stable, reducing the immediate urgency of EM activities. Nevertheless, what has been most important is that results indicate that the use of current events, strategic partnerships, market research, shared value emphasis, communication effectiveness, media exploitation, innovative campaigns that creates values for sponsors as well as having viral effect and constant communication through updates of the social achievements to donors are current ways in which these organizations market their respective causes entrepreneurially. What has also been uncovered is that these organizations are more inclined to being risk averse than risk taking in their marketing practices. In addition, the EM tenet resource leveraging comes in the form of utilizing other organizations, firms, people, popular figures, typified by collaboration and mutual exchange in which value is created for both parties. The findings are transferable to other charity sector contexts and are based on the EM efforts of participating charities who all possess the 90-konto accreditation from Svensk Insamlingskontroll (The Swedish Fundraising Control).