Message (In)Congruence: Tweeting While Competing for Donations

Nonprofit organizations rely on social media to build relationships with their stakeholders and solicit the resources they need to provide their programs and services. This online activity takes place in an increasingly competitive environment. We draw on the situational theory of publics, stakeholder theory, giving motivation, and gamification to examine this question: When organizations engage in competitive philanthropy, what framing is more effective at generating donations on an online platform? We confirm the relationship between tweeting and donation solicitation and shed light on some specific types of messaging associated with increased donations.This study was conducted while the authors were employed at the Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI. We are thankful for the collaboration with Brackets for Good. We are also thankful for support from our research assistants Emily Peterson and DeeAndria Hampton. This study was partly funded by grants from IUPUI's Sports Innovation Institute and Indiana University's Lilly Family School of Philanthropy

Rendición de cuentas de las ONGs ante los donantes: ¿mejor dicho que hecho?

The growing involvement of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in solving development problems has led to an increase in the number of NGOs around the world and therefore in their visibility and influence. Although concerns about the role and responsibility of NGOs have been raised from more than 20 years, there is still a need to ensure good practices in NGOs and to determine what measures will improve NGOs’ accountability to their stakeholders. Our study aims to contribute to this initiative from the donor accountability approach. To achieve this goal, we conducted a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis to analyze the constraints and needs that donor accountability pose to NGOs. Our findings suggest that donor accountability could interfere with NGOs’ activities, leading them to generate short-term results, focus more on financial results, and feel increased pressure on overhead costs. The most recent literature opens an opportunity, however, to make upward accountability more useful for NGOs. Following this trend, we propose that donor accountability be considered as a dimension to assess NGO quality so that it becomes a powerful marketing tool to attract and retain donors.La creciente participación de las organizaciones no gubernamentales (ONG) en la solución de los problemas de desarrollo ha dado lugar a un aumento del número de ONG en todo el mundo y a una mayor visibilidad e influencia.  Aunque durante más de 20 años se han planteado el papel y la responsabilidad de las ONG, sigue siendo necesario garantizar las buenas prácticas en las ONG y determinar qué medidas mejorarán su rendición de cuentas ante sus partes interesadas. Nuestro estudio tiene como objetivo contribuir a esta iniciativa desde el enfoque de la rendición de cuentas a los donantes.  Para lograr este objetivo, se llevó a cabo una revisión sistemática de la literatura y un análisis bibliométrico para analizar las limitaciones y necesidades que la rendición de cuentas a los donantes plantea a las ONG. Nuestros hallazgos sugieren que la rendición de cuentas de los donantes  interfiere con las actividades de las ONG, lo que las lleva a generar resultados a corto plazo, centrarse más en los resultados financieros y sentir una mayor presión sobre los costos generales. Sin embargo, la  literatura más reciente abre una oportunidad para hacer que la rendición de cuentas ascendente sea  más útil para las ONG.  Siguiendo esta tendencia, proponemos que la rendición de cuentas de los donantes se considere como una dimensión para evaluar  la  calidad de las ONG, de modo que se convierta en una poderosa herramienta de marketing para atraer y retener a los donantes

GESTÃO DA COMUNICAÇÃO NAS ORGANIZAÇÕES: UMA ANÁLISE DA PRODUÇÃO CIENTÍFICA NO PERÍODO DE 2012 A 2021

This article aims to analyze the scientific production on communication management in organizations, within the field of Social Sciences and Business Management. For this, a bibliometric study was carried out, through the selection of scientific works published from 2012 to 2021 in the Scopus database. A textual analysis of the selected articles was also performed using the Iramuteq software. The research revealed that in the last 10 years, especially since 2018, publications in communication management have intensified, with emphasis on the social media segment and the approach from the perspective of strategic communication. This fact helped to indicate that organizations have been moving to adjust to changes in the behavior of their audiences and the evolution of communication technologies, according to the literature in the field. It was also found that most of the studies are empirical and related to private companies, with emphasis on universities and non-governmental organizations. Through the results, a future research agenda on communication management was suggested.  O presente artigo tem o objetivo de analisar a produção científica sobre a gestão da comunicação nas organizações, dentro do campo das Ciências Sociais e Business Management. Para isso, realizou-se um estudo bibliométrico, por meio da seleção de trabalhos científicos publicados de 2012 a 2021 na base de dados Scopus. Também foi feita uma análise textual dos artigos selecionados com a utilização do software Iramuteq. A pesquisa revelou que nos últimos 10 anos, sobremaneira a partir de 2018, as publicações sobre gestão da comunicação têm se intensificado, com destaque para o segmento de mídias sociais e para a abordagem sob a ótica da comunicação estratégica. Tal fato ajudou a indicar que as organizações têm se movimentado no sentido de se ajustar às mudanças de comportamento dos seus públicos e da evolução das tecnologias da comunicação, conforme literatura no campo. Constatou-se ainda que a maior parte dos estudos é empírica e relacionada a empresas privadas, com ênfase às universidades e organizações não governamentais. Por meio dos resultados, foi sugerida uma agenda de pesquisa futura sobre a gestão da comunicação

The Big Bird Gets the Worm? How Size Influences Social Networking by Charitable Organizations

Current evidence suggests that nonprofits’ use of Twitter is not strongly related to organizational size, unlike other technological developments. However, this evidence is primarily based on studies of large nonprofit organizations. This study uses a random sample of charities, stratified by size, to present evidence that organization size is a significant factor in multiple dimensions of social media use: the percentage of charities owning a Twitter handle, activity on the site, and popularity within the charities’ network. Many charities are using Twitter, but larger charities are making more effective use of the platform to connect to other organizations. The very largest charities exhibit an overwhelming popularity effect in the network, whereas small charities are notably less active than their larger counterparts. Besides the substantive findings, we further demonstrate the methodological potential of using exponential random graph modeling to gain a deeper understanding of the characteristics of nonprofits’ social media networks

How and why non-profit organizations use social media in their marketing strategy?: A case study of global non-profit organization: United Nations Children's Fund

The emerged popularity of social media has remarkably transformed the way how non-profit organizations communicate, interact, create and share information with their audience. During past years, the attention and interest of social media have increased among non-profit organizations. The concept of social media is developing and new types of media are continuously appearing at rapid pace. However, we lack research regarding the adoption and usage of social media by non-profit organizations. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to understand how and why non-profit organizations use social media in their marketing strategy. The objective of the thesis is reached through semi-structured interviews with global non-profit organization, United Nations Children’s Fund functioning in Finland and Kosovo. In total, five interviews were conducted with employees. In terms of the research approach, the inductive approach is adopted and presented, and collected data were evaluated through thematic analysis. The thesis depicts that social media has become a very effective tool to improve the marketing performance of non-profit organizations. Additionally, it has resulted that social media plat-forms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter enable non-profit organizations to increase their brand awareness, loyalty, and reputation, share information, reach a wider range of audience, build relationships, reduce communication and marketing costs, promote advocacy work and raise funds. This thesis results that non-profit organizations should consider different social media types as a marketing tool since there have revealed many benefits of using social media

Advocacy on Facebook: A Content Analysis of How Small Los Angeles- Based NPOs Use Social Media to Engage Audiences

This dissertation examined the Facebook activities of seven small nonprofits in Los Angeles to understand their social media use and audience responses. Prior research has distinguished three broader engagement strategies used by Nonprofit Organizations (NPOs), including information provision (awareness-raising), action-related messaging (mobilizing), and community-building efforts (organizing). These strategies can play essential roles in drawing in audiences, but also in moving individual supporters toward greater levels of engagement by increasing donations or becoming more engaged champions for the cause. A qualitative and quantitative analysis of organizational Facebook messages and audience responses was conducted over 3 months. The NPOs included in this study were 20/20 Mom, Citizens for Los Angeles Wildlife, Community Trust Foundation, Invisible People TV, NAMI Glendale, NAMI Westside Los Angeles, and NAMI Urban Los Angeles. Organizational messages were coded for their intended goal (including information, action, and community-building) and contents (i.e., event-related, mission-focused, and advocacy). Audience responses were analyzed to identify the distribution of likes, shares, and comments. Additionally, a random sample of 76 supporter messages posted was qualitatively analyzed to identify their core intent with regard to information-sharing, mobilization, and community-building. The findings revealed that smaller NPOs primarily employed information and action-related messages, with an emphasis on events, while community-related messaging was much less frequent. Information-focused messages aimed to educate the audience and reinforce the NPOs’ perspectives on social issues. The analysis showed a high frequency of incorporating both information and action elements into messaging. Community-building messages were much less frequent, they typically consisted of event announcements and recognition of contributions, and directing audiences to other groups and networks. With regard to audience responses, a combination of information and action-focused organizational messages tended to receive above-average response rates when compared to other types of messaging. A sentiment analysis of audience responses revealed a dominance of expressing positive views, but also a significant presence of negative sentiments. In contrast to organizational messaging, the audience responses featured a primary focus on community-building. By prioritizing community-related messaging and fostering a sense of belonging among their supporters, smaller NPOs can cultivate an active and engaged user community for advocacy purposes

Use of Social Media to Enhance Nonprofit Organizational Decision-Making

As a tool for rapid communication, social media (SM) have the potential to revolutionize the way in which nonprofit organizations and stakeholders communicate. Most nonprofit organizations in the United States use some form of SM to engage with stakeholders, however, there is an underutilization of SM used for board decision-making purposes. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine SM and its potential use for board decision-making in nonprofit organizations. The conceptual framework incorporated stakeholder theory, organizational ambidexterity, and an organizational media-user typology. The research question related to the experience of nonprofit board member use of SM for organizational decision-making and stakeholder engagement. Vagle\u27s postintentional phenomenological research approach guided the study. Data collection involved interviewing a purposeful sample of 25 board members and leaders from 501(c)(3) nonpro�t organizations in Texas. Data analysis included combining coded data into categories and themes to determine underlying commonalities related to SM use and organizational decision-making. The primary finding was that nonprofit boards rarely use data generated from SM for decision-making purposes. Other findings from the study may improve board decision-making theory and practice and reveal how nonprofit organizations may leverage unfiltered, real-time SM feedback to benefit strategic organizational decision-making. The potential contribution to social change is to deepen the understanding of the effects of SM on nonprofit board decision-making so that boards may be more responsive to a broader range of stakeholder social interests

Análisis de las comunicaciones en Twitter de la Universidad de Zaragoza: un modelo empírico.

La utilización de redes sociales como Twitter es fundamental en las comunicaciones institucionales. Analizando una muestra de 53.783 tuits publicados por 55 cuentas vinculadas a la Universidad de Zaragoza, en este estudio se propone y se evalúa un modelo empírico que explica cuáles son los factores que más influyen en la efectividad de los tuits. Los factores analizados abarcan desde el prestigio asociado a la cuenta hasta los atributos tangibles y emocionales presentes en el mensaje. Mediante diferentes herramientas como Python, KNIME, VBA e IBM SPSS, se demuestra que el número de likes y retuits de un tuit determinado depende del número de seguidores de una cuenta, de la temática de la cuenta, de la temática del tuit, de la existencia de elementos audiovisuales, hashtags y menciones, de la legibilidad de la información y del sentimiento que evoca el tuit a través del texto y de sus emojis.<br /

Strategic Intelligence Strategies for Improving Performance in the Nonprofit Sector

Nonprofit leaders face competition, rapid changes, increasing complexity in their operating environments, and diminishing financial support, all of which threaten achievement of their organizational missions. The purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies nonprofit leaders used to develop plans for performance improvement based on strategic intelligence. The research sample was composed of 3 leaders of a nonprofit organization located in the midwestern region of the United States who implemented nonprofit strategic initiatives to improve their organization\u27s performance. The conceptual framework used for this study was Maccoby and Scudder\u27s strategic intelligence conceptual system for leading change. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and a review of public and internal documentation and performance outcomes. Data were manually coded and thematically organized. The results of data analysis showed leadership and organizational philosophy, foresight effectiveness, systems thinking and knowledge centricity, and smart motivation as the key themes. Findings provide evidence that developing and implementing strategic intelligence-based plans can assist nonprofit leaders in improving organizational performance. The implications of this study for positive social change include providing strategies to nonprofit leaders for how to guide their organizations through rapidly changing environments, compete successfully, and sustain delivery of high-impact goods and services to the public and communities that they serve