Course

Non-profit Marketing

Faculty
Commerce & Business Administration
Department
Marketing
Course code
MARK 3313
Credits
3.00
Semester length
15 Weeks
Max class size
35
Method(s) of instruction
Lecture
Seminar
Online
Hybrid
Typically offered
To be determined

Overview

Course description
This course introduces students to the challenges of marketing in the non-profit sector, defined as those organizations that seek to serve the public good without the motivation of profit. Students will learn the role and application of marketing to promote social change and to achieve social goals for non-profit organizations. Topics specific to the non-profit environment will include social and cause related marketing, fundraising, volunteer management and recruitment. Students will gain practice in applying marketing in a diverse range of non-profit environments including charities, social programs and ideas, health, education, the arts, as well as goods and services.
Course content
  1. Introduction to marketing in the non-profit sector – developments and challenges
  2. Strategic marketing planning for non-profits: value proposition, branding, segmentation, targeting, positioning, competitive advantage, volunteering, business collaborations, and fundraising
  3. Special events marketing
  4. Marketing mix strategies for non-profits
  5. Social enterprise marketing
  6. Cause-related marketing
  7. Resource development, management of costs and budgets, and adapting to changes in the regulatory environment
  8. Organizational efforts and strategy implementation in non-profit environments
  9. Evaluation, monitoring, and control for marketing initiatives
Learning activities

Instruction methods used will be lectures, seminar/discussions, case analyses as well as student presentations. This may be supplemented by appropriate videos, guest speakers and classroom activities. Some portions of this course may be available online.

Means of assessment

Evaluation will be carried out in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy.

Mid Term Exam  20-25%
Final Exam  20-25%
   
Cases  10-20%
Term Project   25-40%
Participation  5-10%
 Total 100%

Students must achieve at least 50% on the combined non-group components in order to obtain credit for the course, with the 50% calculated on a weighted average basis.

Students must complete all projects, assignments and write all examinations in order to be eligible for a passing grade in the course.

Students may conduct research as part of their coursework in this class. Instructors for the course are responsible for ensuring that student research projects comply with College policies on ethical conduct for research involving humans, which can require obtaining Informed Consent from participants and getting the approval of the Douglas College Research Ethics Board prior to conducting the research.

 

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the successful student should be able to:

  1. Explain the scale, scope, and significance of the non-profit sector
  2. Illustrate the uniqueness of marketing in the non-profit environment
  3. Describe relevant stakeholders for diverse non-profit environments
  4. Summarize the principles of segmentation, targeting, positioning, and competitive advantage for non-profits
  5. Analyze the funding and regulatory environment for non-profit organizations in Canada
  6. Explain the role of volunteers and volunteer management in non-profits
  7. Appraise the role of governance and, where applicable, boards for various non-profits
  8. Interpret the concept of the value proposition and branding in the non-profit environment
  9. Examine the role of the private sector, partnerships, alliances and community to the non-profit sector
  10. Distinguish the role of the customer in the non-profit environment from a for-profit organization
  11. Develop the marketing process as it relates to the non-profit sector including: performing a situational analysis, developing the marketing mix, managing costs, developing objectives, and metrics for gauging success in marketing
Textbook materials

Nonprofit Marketing: Marketing Management for Charitable and Nongovernmental Organizations, Walter Wymer Jr., Patricia Knowles & Roger Gomes, Sage publication latest edition, and/or other textbook(s) and/or other material(s) approved by the department.

Requisites

Prerequisites

MARK 1120

Corequisites

No corequisite courses.

Equivalencies

No equivalent courses.

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

(Current)

Course Transfers to Other Institutions

Below are current transfer agreements from Douglas College to other institutions for the current course guidelines only. For a full list of transfer details and archived courses, please see the BC Transfer Guide.

Institution Transfer details for MARK 3313
Camosun College (CAMO) CAMO MARK 3XX (3)
Capilano University (CAPU) CAPU BMKT 2XX (3)
Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) KPU MRKT 2XXX (3)
Langara College (LANG) LANG MARK 2XXX (3)
Simon Fraser University (SFU) SFU BUS 2XX (3)
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) TRU MKTG 3XXX (3)
University of British Columbia - Vancouver (UBCV) UBCV COMM_V 3rd (3)
University of Northern BC (UNBC) UNBC COMM 2XX (3)
University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) UFV BUS 2XX (3)
University of Victoria (UVIC) UVIC COM 2XX (1.5)
Vancouver Island University (VIU) VIU MARK 470 (3)

Course Offerings

Fall 2025

CRN Days Instructor Status
Maximum seats
35
Currently enrolled
22
Remaining seats:
13
On waitlist
0
Building
Anvil Office Tower
Room
626
Times:
Start Time
9:00
-
End Time
11:50