Book Review: Nonprofit Marketing: Marketing Management for Charitable and Nongovernmental Organizations, by Walter Wymer, Patricia A. Knowles, and Roger Gomes. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2006. 384 pp., $79.95

Abstract

addition to the available textbooks on this topic. The book takes an international perspective that acknowledges the global environment in which many of today's nonprofits operate. However, this perspective may be a bit too broad and superficial relative to issues and practices in the United States for most American users. In addition, some of the marketing terminology used by the authors differs from typical American textbooks and may create confusion when combined with other texts.Fortunately, the authors provide a helpful glossary at the end of each chapter, which is useful across the board because business vocabulary is a frequent stumbling block for nonprofit professionals. Each chapter also includes a review section and Internet exercises to help drive home important concepts. Every chapter opens with a vignette or example and ends with an appropriate case, combined with recommended assignments, which can save a lot of preparation time for teachers and expense for students who might otherwise be required to purchase a companion text.The authors are to be congratulated for devoting nearly half the text to strategic marketing theory and its application to the nonprofit environment rather than starting with the usual array of promotional tactics (brochures, publicity, special events, direct mail) with which nonprofits have a tendency to become preoccupied. They write, Planning can be undertaken without an integrated marketing foundation, but the results are often disappointing. Imagine a very slick promotional campaign that appeals to its creators but falls flat in the marketplace or an offer that is not appropriate for or does not appeal to its intended target public. Many people view the output of promotional campaigns without understanding the psychological, behavioral and other theoretical and professional skills that went into their creation, and they come to believe that they need to learn only about promotional techniques, not about underlying theory. (p. 109)