The Social Network?: Nonprofit Constituent Engagement Through Social Media

Social media has become an important part of public relations for nonprofit organizations. Social media has the potential to engage stakeholders and constituents of nonprofit organizations. However, little scholarly attention has been focused on how users react to social media posts by nonprofit organizations. To enhance understanding of how organizational social media activity affects users’ engagement, this study examines Facebook and Twitter utilization and user response of nonprofit advocacy groups. The analysis reveals that users respond differently to stimuli across platforms.     

Building relationships through dialogic communication: organizations,stakeholders, and computer-mediated communication

Online media are integral to daily life, and while many organizations use them to reach broad audiences, others still appear to be uncomfortable with online media because they do not understand how to maximize their potential to interact effectively with stakeholders. Numerous organizations use online media for one-way communication to disseminate information, despite the affordances of the media platforms for two-way, dialogic communication. This article draws on two dominant interpersonal theories of computer-mediated communication—social information processing theory and the hyperpersonal model—to propose dialogic strategies that organizations can use to improve their online communication with their stakeholders. We illustrate the application of these principles through three stages of relationship building: initiating/experimenting, intensifying, and integrating/bonding. The article integrates the applications within an overall dialogic communication strategy, and provides organizations and practitioners with a model with which they can engage stakeholders with dialogic methods via social media.     

Exploring the effects of for‐profit and nonprofit size congruency: An exchange perspective on cause‐related marketing

Prior research on cause‐related marketing (CM) shows that congruencies between for‐profit and nonprofit organizational missions and target markets affect consumers' perceptions of the partnership fit, and their subsequent response to CM promotions. The current work explores how congruencies between for‐profit and nonprofit sizes influence consumers' perceptions of the partnership fit, and subsequently, their attitudes toward CM efforts. Study 1 shows that consumers perceive a low degree of organizational partnership fit between a small for‐profit and large nonprofit (relative to other partnership configurations). Study 2 shows the nature of donated resources can affect organizational partnership fit perceptions, such that donations of needed goods (vs. money) can improve consumers' perceptions of partnership fit between a small for‐profit and large nonprofit. Study 3 shows that organizational cause congruency and organizational size both independently contribute to perceptions of organizational partnership fit.     

自媒体环境下的社会组织公益传播现状分析

自媒体的发展为社会组织运用网络新技术进行公益传播带来了新的变革。目前,国内关于社会组织运用自媒体进行公益传播现状的研究很少。本文通过对成都市101家社会组织的运用自媒体即微博、博客、微信及机构网站主页进行公益传播现状进行分析,探讨社会组织如何运用新媒体进行公益传播来提高社会组织透明度,提升社会组织的公信力。     

Why Nonprofits Are Easier to Endorse on Social Media: The Roles of Warmth and Brand Symbolism

Brands often seek endorsements by consumers on social media (e.g., likes on Facebook). But is this marketing strategy feasible for all brands? To answer this question, this research investigates in seven studies the processes that underlie consumers' intention to endorse brands on social media. We suggest that consumers aim to signal their identity by endorsing brands online. Based on the Brands as Intentional Agents Framework and related research in (social) cognition and consumer behavior, we argue that consumers on social media primarily want to emphasize their warmth rather than their competence. Experimental studies 1, 2, and 3 distinguish between nonprofit and for-profit brands and show that brand warmth (and not competence) mediates the effect of brand type (nonprofit vs. for-profit) on consumers' intentions to endorse brands and branded content on social media. Experiment 4 demonstrates that this process is moderated by brand symbolism (moderated mediation). A high level of brand symbolism increases the positive effect of warmth on consumers' intention to endorse brands online, but only for for-profit brands. The fifth experiment shows that these effects are conditional upon the public vs. private distinction in consumer behavior: consumers prefer to publicly affiliate with nonprofit (vs. for-profit) brands but with regard to private affiliations, there is no difference between both types of brands. In experiment 6, the causal role of warmth (vs. competence) is further examined. Finally, we demonstrate that perceptions of brands' warmth and not competence reduce the efforts that brands need to make to achieve consumers' endorsements on their real brand pages on Facebook.     

Dissecting Word-of-Mouth's Effectiveness and How to Use It as a Proconsumer Tool

Companies are increasingly relying on alternative promotional activities, such as word-of-mouth communication (WOM), to reach their target markets. From a consumer protection perspective this may be troubling, as consumers may not always be aware of what is commercially motivated WOM and what is not. Based on a synthesis of the literature, this article develops the first practitioner-friendly model, which explains WOM's effectiveness as an information source for consumers and why it is a powerful tool for nonprofit organizations and government agencies. Then nine recommendations are developed to help nonprofit organizations and government agencies use WOM more effectively as a proconsumer tool. This is the first article to conceptualize proconsumer WOM rather than naturally occurring WOM or commercial WOM and to specifically focus on WOM to protect and educate consumers. The study paves the way to an untapped research area; that of proconsumer WOM by nonprofit organizations and government agencies.     

Current and Desired Employee Communication Patterns in Sub-Saharan Africa: Empirical Evidence on Four Ghanaian Organizations

In this study, the author explores employees' expectations of organizational communication patterns including internal communication behavior in organizations. In-depth interviews of employees and managers were used as data from four Ghanaian organizations. Results show that employees want a change from the current pattern of overcentralized communication system in organizations to a more horizontal interpersonal communication. Findings also show the importance of effective and interpersonal communication as processes that can affect employees' attitude to work. Additionally, results show that aspects of national culture, structures and systems, and management practices influence the pattern of communication in organizations. The results suggest that work organizations would thrive only if both managers and employees work collectively as a team and understand each other through effective communication media institutionalized in the various organizations.     

Market Orientation and Organizational Performance in the Nonprofit Context: Exploring Both Concepts and the Relationship Between Them

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between the concepts market orientation and organizational performance for nonprofit organizations. To understand the nature of this link in the nonprofit context, the authors will discuss and elaborate on the applicability of both concepts to nonprofits. They will develop multidimensional notions of “societal orientation” and “nonprofit organizational performance,” which fit the specific operating environment of nonprofit organizations engaged in the provision of health and social services. The authors also propose a conceptual framework that relates both notions and present the main underlying propositions. They conclude by suggesting items to empirically measure both constructs and venues for future research.     

A Strategic Social Action Framework: Theorizing and analyzing the alignment of social media affordances and organizational social action

Social media is a relatively new and dynamic field dealing with the development and use of social media technologies by individuals and more recently by organizations. Although several frameworks and models have been proposed for studying social media, most provide only limited insights into the complex social activities that are supported by the strategic usage of social media in organizational settings. In this article, we take up this challenge and introduce a Strategic Social Action Framework for analyzing social media technologies and their strategic usage in and by organizations. This framework is based on Habermas’ theory of social action and the idea that social media platforms serve as sets of rules and resources that mediate strategic organizational (inter-)actions involving these platforms. We demonstrate the value of the framework by theoretically delineating the appropriateness of the framework to specific social media tools, as well as by empirically analyzing the strategic use of two publicly available social media platforms—Facebook and Twitter—by three large airlines—Delta, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, and JetBlue. Our findings reveal that when implementing social media in organizational contexts, developers and managers should critically evaluate (a) the need for supporting a rich variety of action types, (b) the possible role of social media support in the specific action situation, and (c) the strategic alignment of social media affordances and specific social action categories. Finally, we discuss theoretical and practical implications as well as directions for future research.     

Avow or Avoid?

Abstract

Sixteen press releases from Enron and 16 releases from WorldCom representing the first three months of each organization's financial crises were gathered from the organization's web sites. The goal of this study was to determine whether the dominant public communication tactic of these companies was to avow or promote frankness, a traditional public relations stance, or to avoid or be evasive, a traditional legal stance. The releases were compared with 47 published accounts of the unfolding financial crises to determine whether the organizational messages remained intact. The findings show no dominant communication strategy in either company. Both professed openness but engaged in blame shifting. The combined message strategy suggests cooperation between legal and public relations counsel. The messages of both organizations were successfully transmitted via the mass media but were tempered by solid reporting. These findings suggest additional evidence that legal and public relations crisis communication strategies are starting to blur.     

Fourth Generation NGOs: Communication Strategies in Social Campaigning and Resource Mobilization

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have moved from small-scale community relief and services to complex advocacy missions at the international level. NGOs that operate in advocacy and social movement are addressed as fourth generation NGOs. Drawing on the literature of communication strategies in the nonprofit sector, the author investigates how fourth generation NGOs formulate and execute their communication strategies to achieve organizational goals. The author reports an in-depth case study of a single NGO. The results identify recurring themes in constructing and negotiating communication strategies in NGO campaigns for social support and resource mobilization. Organizational structures, public perceptions, and strategic approaches are examined to provide theoretical and practical implications related to understanding NGOs’ strategic communications choices.     

We’re all connected: The power of the social media ecosystem

Consumers are adopting increasingly active roles in co-creating marketing content with companies and their respective brands. In turn, companies and organizations are looking to online social marketing programs and campaigns in an effort to reach consumers where they ‘live’ online. However, the challenge facing many companies is that although they recognize the need to be active in social media, they do not truly understand how to do it effectively, what performance indicators they should be measuring, and how they should measure them. Further, as companies develop social media strategies, platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter are too often treated as stand-alone elements rather than part of an integrated system. This article offers a systematic way of understanding and conceptualizing online social media, as an ecosystem of related elements involving both digital and traditional media. We highlight a best-practice case study of an organization's successful efforts to leverage social media in reaching an important audience of young consumers. Then, we conclude with several insights and lessons related to the strategic integration of social media into a firm's marketing communications strategy.     

Media governance and corporate social responsibility of media organizations: an international comparison

Media companies are increasingly becoming aware of the importance of their reputation. In order to legitimate themselves, they are starting to present themselves as ‘good corporate citizens’ by engaging in media governance and corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. The communication of those activities is crucial for the building of reputation. However, to date, no comprehensive studies have been conducted to evaluate the communication of media governance and CSR activities of media organizations. This study aims to fill this gap and examined websites and reports of selected media organizations in Germany, Italy, France, Austria, and Switzerland. Results indicate that public service media organizations communicate proportionally more on media governance than private media organizations, which may be due to the fact that public service media organizations feel more accountable to the public as they have a public service obligation. Concerning the communication of their CSR activities, media organizations focus on society‐oriented measures.     

Improving Fundraising Efficiency in Small and Medium Sized Non-profit Organizations Using Online Solutions

ABSTRACT

Although Switzerland enjoys a mature e-commerce sector and online marketing with widespread use of social media, large Swiss nonprofit organizations (NPOs) still adopt mainly off-line marketing and mass marketing strategies to support their fund-raising efforts. Mass marketing techniques are expensive and require a large financial investment, which Swiss small and medium-sized organizations cannot afford. The high cost of adopting these conventional fund-raising strategies greatly affects small NPOs, who lack funds to run their social and humanitarian projects. If instead NPOs focused on more cost-efficient marketing strategies, they could improve the sustainability of their fund-raising campaigns. Taking an explorative approach, this study first surveys Swiss donors to understand and quantify their behaviors. Second, it conducts qualitative interviews with NPOs to provide insights into their fund-raising strategies. Finally, it concludes with a set of practical suggestions for small and medium-sized NPOs to build specific capabilities to collect online donations more efficiently.     

Identity Brokerage and Nonprofit Community Building

Scholars have increasingly approached organizations as complex systems with indeterminate, shifting boundaries. Boundaries in many nonprofit organizations may be especially fluid, given the heterogeneity of stakeholders and highly multiplexed relational and value characteristics involved in constructing identity. The present study frames nonprofit organizations as complex organizations seeking to build communities of legitimacy. Within these communities they construct their identity through a combination of boundary setting, or perceptions of the organization and in what ways it is distinct from other organizations and communities, and relationship building, through both interpersonal contacts and socially mediated interaction. These dimensions combine to allow organizations to identify and bridge structural holes in the larger network in which they are embedded, through processes of identity brokerage. These mechanisms have significant implications for driving growth and engagement in nonprofit organizations. In support of this theoretical model, the article describes a mixed-methods research study involving a nascent arts organization in a large U.S. city.     

Social Enterprises and the Timing of Conception: Organizational Identity Tension,Management, and Marketing

Nonprofit organizations that engage in social enterprises can have difficulty reconciling the social service and business identities of their organization. In this exploratory qualitative interview study, we examine how social enterprises affect this organizational identity tension and how executive directors of nonprofits manage these multiple identities. Findings suggest that identity tension varied dependent upon the timing of conception of the social enterprise. Nonprofit leaders used different approaches to identity management and identity marketing for social enterprises: after conception and social enterprises: at conception. Initial guidance is provided about how nonprofits engaged in social enterprises can manage identity tension issues.     

Princes and Paupers: Network Ties and Financial Contributions Among Nonprofit Arts Organizations

ABSTRACT

In the United States, nonprofit organizations are the primary vehicle through which wealthy patrons nurture arts and culture. They provide support for theatres, orchestras, operas, and ballet troupes of all sizes, as well as museums, galleries, zoos, and public radio and television stations. The survival of this subsector is dependent on the ability of individuals and foundations to raise and funnel money to the almost 7,000 nonprofit arts and cultural organizations in the United States. Nonprofit arts organizations have historically fared well during periods of financial constraint, in part because they have not depended heavily upon government subsidies. But another explanation for this stable funding picture may be the networks of overlapping board member and interpersonal ties of collegiality and friendship which characterizes the world of nonprofit arts organizations.

We began our research with the idea that network position, particularly as measured by network centrality, is an important resource for nonprofit arts organizations. We hypothesized that the more central an arts organization is in the entire network of for-profit and nonprofit arts organizations in the community, the greater will be the level of support it can generate from local donors. We also hypothesized that the more wealthy a nonprofit arts organization, the more central it is likely to be in the entire network of for-profit and nonprofit organizations.

Using an extensive database of almost 3,000 directors in the Louisville, Kentucky area, and special computer-based network analysis software packages, we were able to calculate the precise centralities of local arts organizations within a network of 149 organizations, corporations, and umbrella funding agencies. In order to determine the local financial support, we collected the 1990 IRS (Internal Revenue Service) Form 990 returns for nineteen of the twenty-five organizations (76%) we identified as active in the Louisville area. After determining organizational centrality, we did a bi-variate analysis between the centrality of an individual arts organization and total organizational wealth. What we found was that centrality is strongly associated with level of contributions and weakly associated with overall wealth. We believe that nonprofit arts organizations can take deliberate steps to maximize this resource by being aware of the other organizational (and social) ties of prospective directors.     

Genre and Postemergency Contexts: The Nexus of Strategic Communications

This article explores why organizations choose to enact public relations discourse genres after an emergency situation —organizational crises, disasters, and issues—has been resolved. In the aftermath of emergency situations, we argue that organizational communicators employ discourse messages according to five governing “commitments,” which corporate officials use to shape postemergency messages the way they do. This essay, then, is not so much a retrospective analysis of what happened in selected emergency situations but, rather, is more a prospective explanation about how to use these five governing commitments when anticipating emergencies that could happen. Organizational learning and organizational renewal are addressed accordingly. In this argument we draw upon literature in linguistics, rhetorical theory, and organization studies. Examples of postemergency situations are used to bridge theory and practice to show how what was done retrospectively can be done prospectively to prepare for communication during postemergency contexts.     

Telling a different story: How nonprofit organizations reveal strategic purpose through storytelling

Responding to a call for research into storytelling within the nonprofit context, the paper contributes to an emerging research conversation about communicating organizational strategy through storytelling. The research analyses one hundred stories across 10 leading organizations to identify how they are being deployed and what that tells us about the underpinning strategy. Through bringing story character, classification, and content together for the first time, the paper presents a holistic perspective on the story construct. It identifies that, when viewed as a whole, the stories told by organizations can be a powerful communication tool for reaching external audiences. However, the research also identifies that their ability to convey strategic purpose through storytelling is moderated by storytelling capability. It finds that organizations with stronger storytelling capability use this craft to differentiate themselves more effectively. It concludes with contributing a new conceptual model for understanding organizational storytelling and a roadmap for practitioners to strengthen storytelling capability.