Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing, 27:117–134, 2015 Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1049-5142 print/1540-6997 online DOI: 10.1080/10495142.2014.965078 The Conceptualization of Nonprofit Marketing Orientation: A Critical Reflection and Contributions Toward Closing the Practice–Theory Gap WALTER WYMER University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada SILKE BOENIGK and MAREIKE MÖHLMANN University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany In this article three generations of research addressing the market- ing construct in nonprofit organizations are critically analyzed: (a) market orientation in nonprofit organizations, (b) societal orientation, and (c) research contributions aiming to close the existing practice–theory gap on this topic. A qualitative study among 24 nonprofit marketers is conducted in Canada and Germany to develop a construct labeled nonprofit marketing ori- entation. It includes the dimensions of brand orientation, support- ers’ orientation, commercial orientation, and service orientation. Furthermore, the authors describe the nomological net of nonprofit marketing orientation to present interconstruct relationships and to inform future research. KEYWORDS nonprofit marketing, marketing orientation, brand strength, nonprofit brand orientation INTRODUCTION There is arguably no more central concept in the marketing discipline than the marketing concept. However, there is no accepted opinion in nonprofit marketing research on how to define and conceptualize the dimensions of Address correspondence to Walter Wymer, Professor of Marketing, Faculty of Management, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB T1K 3M4, Canada. E-mail: walter. wymer@uleth.ca 117