Richard D. Waters

Engaging Stakeholders Through Twitter: How Nonprofit Organizations Are Getting More Out of 140 Characters or Less

One hundred forty characters seems like too small a space for any meaningful information to be exchanged, but Twitter users have found creative ways to get the most out of each Tweet by using different communication tools. This paper looks into how 73 nonprofit organizations use Twitter to engage stakeholders not only through their tweets, but also through other various communication methods. Specifically, it looks into the organizations’ utilization of tweet frequency, following behavior, hyperlinks, hashtags, public messages, retweets, and multimedia files. After analyzing 4,655 tweets, the study found that the nation’s largest nonprofits are not using Twitter to maximize stakeholder involvement. Instead, they continue to use social media as a one-way communication channel, as less than 20% of their total tweets demonstrate conversations and roughly 16% demonstrate indirect connections to specific users.

Applying relationship management theory to the fundraising process for individual donors

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to measure the relationships non‐profit organisations develop with their annual giving and major gift donors and to compare the differences between the giving levels.Design/methodology/approach – A web‐based survey of individual donors (n=120) to a non‐profit healthcare organisation evaluated their relationships with the organisation using Hon and Grunigs four dimensions of organisation‐public relationships.Findings – To explore the dynamics of the fundraising process, donors were categorised into two different schema. First, donors were classified as either major gift donors or annual giving donors. With this classification, major gift donors were more likely to have stronger feelings of trust, satisfaction, commitment, and control mutuality with the organisation than annual gift donors did. The second classification divided the donors who have made multiple contributions to the organisation and those who had only made one donation at the time of the study. This st...

What Do Stakeholders ‘Like’ on Facebook? Examining Public Reactions to Nonprofit Organizations’ Informational, Promotional, and Community-Building Messages

Although public relations scholarship has often discussed the possibilities of dialogue and engagement using social media, research has not truly explored this dynamic. Instead, research on social media platforms has focused on measuring the content and structure of organizational profiles. This study seeks to enhance the fields discussion about social media engagement by determining what organizational content individual stakeholders prefer on Facebook in terms of liking, commenting, and sharing. A content analysis of 1,000 updates from organizations on the Nonprofit Times 100 list indicates that, based on what they comment on and like, individuals prefer dialogic, as well as certain forms of mobilizational, messages; however, they are more likely to share one-way informational messages with their own networks. These findings are interpreted using practical and theoretical implications for the practice of public relations.

Exploring the Impact of Culture in the Social Media Sphere: A Content Analysis of Nonprofit Organizations’ Use of Facebook

Through a content analysis of 225 nonprofit organizations’ Facebook profiles, the current study examines the impact of cultural orientation when it comes to American, Chinese, and Turkish nonprofit organizations’ behavior and communication patterns in the social media sphere. Specifically, the research explored how organizations disclose information about themselves and those managing their Facebook presence, promoting organizational news and accomplishments, and stakeholder engagement in relation to their context, performance, and collectivist/individualist natures, respectively. The study found mixed support for the impact of traditional cultural expectations indicating that the global connectivity of social media may be contributing to blurred cultural boundaries in favor of a virtual culture that promotes the global community.

The Importance of Understanding Donor Preference and Relationship Cultivation Strategies

Relationship cultivation has been identified as a critical component of fundraising success. Cultivation strategies derived from interpersonal communication theory were identified and evaluated by the donors and fundraising team members from three nonprofit hospitals. Using co‐orientation methodology, statistical analysis reveals that donors and fundraisers agree that the six strategies are beneficial. However, their perceptions that they hold similar views as the other side were not accurate in terms of the magnitude of the ratings. These differences are discussed and suggestions are provided to bring both sides of the nonprofit organization‐donor relationship closer to agreement.

Exploring the Impact of American News Coverage on Crisis Fundraising: Using Media Theory to Explicate a New Model of Fundraising Communication

A common tenet of fundraising centers on the connection between donors and specific programs in their communities, where they can see the impact of their donations. However, crisis fundraising runs counter to this model, as individuals donate to provide relief assistance to others throughout the world. This study analyzes the American publics charitable giving in response to the December 2004 Asian tsunami in relation to American media coverage. Analysis of the fundraising totals collected daily by the Center of Philanthropy at Indiana University and archived transcripts of news broadcasts revealed that media coverage does impact traditional giving directly to nonprofit organizations as well as e-philanthropy through third-party outlets, such as Amazon.com and eBay auctions. Based on these findings, the researchers propose a new mediated-crisis model of fundraising that encourages organizations to be proactive in media relations efforts during crisis situations to present the organizations efforts and stories online and through traditional news media.

Revisiting strategic communication's past to understand the present

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare the communication styles on the web sites of a random sample of the top American corporations and non‐profit organizations. By revisiting the traditional approach to understanding strategic communication, the four models of public relations provide insights into the direction and nature of organizational communication.Design/methodology/approach – A random sample of Fortune 500 (n=180) and Philanthropy 400 (n=170) was conducted. Although public relations research has never measured internet communication using the four models, the researchers created original scales to measure their web performance.Findings – The research reveals that both corporations and non‐profits have strong preferences for using one‐way communication on their web sites. However, both groups moderately incorporated two‐way communication practices as corporations were more likely to use two‐way research practices and non‐profits were more likely to engage in conversations online.Origin...

Can public relations improve the workplace? Measuring the impact of stewardship on the employer-employee relationship

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to use relationship management theory to measure the impact of relationship cultivation on the employer-employee relationship. Specifically, the paper examines how well Kellys (2001) conceptualization of stewardship can impact internal stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach – Through intercept surveys of 421 adults, the paper used existing scales to measure dimensions of the employer-employee relationship and the participants’ perceptions of stewardship in the workplace. Findings – This study found that the four dimensions of stewardship significantly impact feelings of trust, commitment, satisfaction, and balanced power between the employer and the employee. Additionally, increased use of stewardship resulted in increased involvement by employees. Practical implications – The results of the paper offer several specific suggestions employers can do to communicate more effectively with their employees so that they are not only more informed but also feel more posi...

Moving Social Marketing Beyond Personal Change to Social Change: Strategically Using Twitter to Mobilize Supporters into Vocal Advocates

Social marketing scholarship has regularly focused on how organizations can effectively influence changes in awareness and behaviors among its targeted audience. Communication scholarship, however, has repeatedly shown that the most influential form of communication happens between members of the same peer group. As such, it is imperative that organizations learn how to engage audiences and facilitate the discussion about organizational messages between individuals. Social media provide platforms for such conversations as organizational messaging can be shared and discussed by individuals with others in their networks. This research examines what type of messaging on Twitter is most effective for helping move social marketing beyond focusing on personal changes to find out what messages help turn members of the public into vocal advocates for these organizations’ social changes. Through a content analysis of 3,415 Twitter updates from 50 nonprofit organizations, this study identifies specific types of messages that are more likely to get stakeholders retweeting, archiving, and discussing the organizations’ messaging. Through these stakeholder behaviors, social marketing has stronger influence as it transitions from organizational to interpersonal messaging.

The role of stewardship in leadership: Applying the contingency theory of leadership to relationship cultivation practices of public relations practitioners

Purpose – Using the contingency theorys classification of leaders, the purpose of this paper is to examine how the categories of public relations leaders incorporate relationship building tactics into their public relations programming and explore how this categorization of leaders corresponds with existing public relations role theory. Design/methodology/approach – A survey (n=539) of public relations practitioners in the USA was carried out using established scales for the contingency theory of leadership and public relations role theory. Findings – The contingency theory of leadership accurately describes the leadership styles enacted by the industry. An individuals use of stewardship strategies during public relations programming was successfully able to predict leadership orientation. Originality/value – The results strengthen the argument posed the contingency theory of accommodation in public relations that environmental factors have strong implications on industry practices. Ones leadership tra...