Mission statement to mission fulfilment

This chapter explores the evolving role of marketing, particularly digital marketing, in helping non-profit arts organisations (NPAOs) fulfil their mission in a post-COVID-19 context. The pandemic profoundly disrupted cultural and creative arts sectors, exposing traditional audience engagement and funding models to vulnerabilities. Amid lockdowns and financial constraints, many NPAOs were forced to innovate, adopting digital strategies to maintain public visibility and artistic relevance. The central question addressed in the chapter is: What role does digital marketing play in ensuring NPAOs fulfil their artistic mission while maintaining integrity? Drawing on both normative and empirical literature, the chapter examines how marketing contributes to mission fulfilment across four dimensions: defining the mission, understanding customer value, delivering effective marketing messages, and aligning marketing strategies with artistic integrity. The concept of ‘mission fulfilment’ is presented as a dynamic balance between fiscal responsibility and artistic accomplishment, underpinned by a clearly articulated mission, strong leadership, community linkage, and resource sustainability. A core argument of the chapter is that marketing should not be an external or commercial appendage but must be mission-centric, reflecting and reinforcing the organisation’s purpose. In this model, customer value is not created independently but co-created with the arts consumer through meaningful experiences. Digital marketing is shown to be essential in optimising this exchange, provided it supports, rather than undermines, the organisation’s core values. The chapter challenges the traditional marketing notion as driven solely by revenue or customer numbers. Instead, it promotes a co-creative model of value where audience participation completes the artistic process. It also warns against reducing NPAOs to mere entertainment providers, advocating for marketing strategies that enhance, rather than dilute, their cultural mission. The chapter concludes with a conceptual model linking artistic mission, digital marketing, value exchange, and mission fulfilment. This study argues that successful NPAOs integrate digital marketing as a strategic tool for fulfilling artistic and community objectives. They survive and thrive by building loyal audiences, sustaining artistic heritage, and ensuring long-term organisational resilience in a rapidly shifting cultural landscape.