The market orientation of Australian nonprofit SMEs

This exploratory study examines the market orientation of a sample of small to medium (SME) sized nonprofit firms in Australia. The study was undertaken in response to a perceived need for a better understanding of how smaller third sector firms, especially micro nonprofits, are embracing the marketing concept, which ultimately sees the firm begin the marketing process from the perspective of the customer. A review of extant literature indicates that while the theory and concept of market orientation had been extensively investigated in for–profits environments; limited empirical work involving small to medium nonprofit firms (with a particular focus on those firms deemed to be ‘micro’ in their size) had been undertaken within the field. To gain an initial understanding of this important marketing–related theme, 140 nonprofit managers in Australia were surveyed as part of a wider nonprofit investigation. Three components incorporating market orientation attributes were identified. These components revolved around ‘Financial/Fundraising’, ‘Compare & Adopt’, and an operational ‘Marketing Function’.