Aplication of Marketing Tools in Nonprofit Sector in Albania

Nonprofit sector or third sector exists to meet those needs in society that are not met by the business sector and the public sector. The purpose of this paper is to identify the application of marketing tools by non-profit organizations operating in Albania in reaching the target audience. The hypothesis that I have raised in this paper is "There is no connection between marketing and reaching the target audience." The objectives of the research are: - Providing information on the history of the development of nonprofit organizations. - Identify the importance of using marketing tools by nonprofit organizations. - Identify the level of the use of marketing mix by NPOs operating in Albania in reaching the target audience. - Research methodology consists of using secondary and primary data. Primary data are provided through two methodological research instruments: questionnaires and in-depth interviews. The questionnaire was designed to identify the importance and the level of use of marketing tools by nonprofit organizations to reach their target audience (donors, beneficiaries, volunteers). In-depth interviews were aimed at providing more detailed information on the results of research and their interpretation. In-depth interviews were conducted after processing the questionnaire in order to argument findings by nonprofit organizations themselves. The research limitations of the study are: - Research is directed towards NPOs that under the law of NPOs are registered as associations, foundations and centers. Not included in the study, religious groups, political parties, media, or other stakeholders who are part of civil society or recognized as non-profit organizations, but are registered by a special law. - Limitations on providing quantitative data for the sector. Currently, there isn’t a database on the number of NPOs that are active or inactive. Formally information can be found in the Commercial Register of the Tirana District Court and in the Tax Directory. - The study is based only on the number of NPOs that are active, according to various publications there is a difference between the registered number of NPOs and active number of NPOs. - The research involves only non-profit organizations which are Albanians. Foreign non-profit organizations that operate in Albania, has not been the object of study.