# Strategic Positioning in Voluntary and Charitable Organizations

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/books/strategic-positioning-in-voluntary-and-charitable-organizations/
- Published: 2015-04-27T09:33:00+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**Rekindling the critical analysis of the adoption of generic commercial (for-profit)
management approaches in the non-profit context, _Strategic Positioning in Voluntary
and Charitable Organizations _reveals that charities are positioning themselves 
in their evolving external environment in distinctive ways that are not adequately
explained by existing positioning theories.**

Based on original research that examines, for the first time, the usefulness of 
contemporary theoretical perspectives and interpretations of strategic positioning
derived from the existing literature in explaining the positioning activities of
charitable organisations within the wider voluntary and non-profit sector.

Using a three-stage approach, which involves an exploratory survey and multiple 
case studies, this book provides:

• evidence showing the extent of strategic positioning, the components of a positioning
strategy and the process of developing a positioning strategy in charitable organizations
that are involved in the provision of public services,

• analysis of the key factors that influence the choice of a positioning strategy
in the charitable context, and the depiction of these factors in an original integrating
model, and

• an exploration into the extent to which existing strategy/marketing literature
on positioning is applicable in the charitable context.

By challenging the adoption of current perspectives on strategic positioning derived
from commercial strategy and marketing management literatures into the non-profit
and non-market contexts, the author develops a theoretical framework that accounts
for the uniqueness of positioning strategy in the non-profit sector.

This uniqueness is attributed to the difference in positioning goals, the process
of developing a positioning strategy, and the influencing factors on the choice 
of a positioning strategy in charities compared to commercial organisations.

The implications of the findings provide useful lessons for managers of voluntary
and charitable organisations in planning and developing their positioning activities,
and for other stakeholders, such as policy makers, funders, donors and industry 
bodies.

Published in **Routledge Studies in the Management of Voluntary and Non-Profit Organizations**.

With illustrations.

## About Celine Chew

**Celine Chew BBA, MBA, FLMI (distinction), PhD** is a Chartered Marketer, a Fellow
of the UK Higher Education Academy, a Fellow of the Life Management Institute (LOMA),
an Associate of the Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability
and Society (BRASS) in Cardiff University, a founding member of the International
Research Society for Public Management (IRSPM) and a Book Review Editor of Public
Management Review.