Not-for-profit

Not-for-profit organisations are required to show public benefit - we take action and raise money in pursuit of our charitable objects and mission. This means that we are accountable to a number of different stakeholder groups for the impact that we have and for our effectiveness and efficiency in achieving that impact. ActionAid’s primary accountability is to “rights holders” - people living in poverty, injustice and discrimination.

There are some essential differences between private and not-for-profit organisations. Although the situation is changing in relation to private businesses, not-for-profits are subject to much greater public scrutiny than the private sector.

As Professor Adrian Sargeant describes in his very excellent book, just as the origins of marketing can be traced back to the earliest forms of trade, non-profit marketing goes back in time.  14th century monks at a Cistercian monastery in Austria wrote a marketing and fundraising handbook that even included 22 model letters explaining how to apply the approach.