This thesis explores the attributes of nonprofit marketing, discusses external communication
as represented by three campaign case studies, and analyzes the nature of messages that the
selected fundraising campaigns communicate in the Slovak market.
This qualitative research study is both analytical and comparative. A design of case studies is
employed to address the problem formulation. The research is focused on a case of external
marketing communication in the Slovak nonprofit environment. Thus, two domestic and one
international nonprofit organization create a basis for a comparative study as the specific cases
of the Slovak NPOs’ campaigns are analyzed both individually (each case) and across the
cases.
Dealing with the topic of external communication, a discourse analysis approach is applied to
examine the visual elements of the campaigns. Analysis focuses on the ways the objects are
depicted, and also takes elements of language into consideration. Thus, the thesis deals with
both graphic and textual parts of the NPO’s external communications and contributes to
comprehensive findings.
The theory chapter merges key theories (both traditional and nonprofit approaches) on
principles of marketing activities characteristic for a nonprofit environment, and discusses
elements of various communication processes. Furthermore, the theories on creating a
communications campaign with a focus on message design are expanded with principles and
elements of psychology present in the campaigns. The combination of several theories and
methods helps to dig deeper into the aspects of nonprofit external communication.