Marketing-driven philanthropy: The case of PlayPumps

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to investigate, through a comparative historical analysis, the impact of a shift to a marketing-driven (business-oriented) philanthropic funding structure on NGOs, international businesses that fund charities, and the recipients of the funding for a water pump system in southern Africa. Design/methodology/approach -The study deconstructs and dissects the introduction and acceptance of the PlayPumps water pump system by generating four historical funding-structure models that typified the philanthropic funding at the time. Each time period is critically examined to investigate how changes toward marketing-driven philanthropy affected the viability of the project. Findings -The key finding is that by shifting to a marketing-driven (business-oriented) philanthropic funding structure, NGOs risk fundamentally disconnecting the funders and the recipients of the funding. Serious concerns arise regarding the role of businesses in driving the overcommercialisation of marketing-driven philanthropy. Research limitations/implications -The funding-structure models highlight some of the hidden costs of marketing-driven philanthropic funding, but do not show what funding structure would be most efficient in better connecting international businesses and consumers with the charities they are supporting. Originality/value -This analysis examines the underexplored intersection of business, marketing, consumerism and philanthropy.