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Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Nonprofit Collaboration: An Exploratory Study
Abstract
Although research has examined nonprofit organizations' use of information and communication technologies (ICTs), particularly social media and websites, we know little about how nonprofit organizations use ICTs in the context of interorganizational collaboration. This article reports the results of an exploratory study on how nonprofit organizations use ICTs for collaboration, drawing from a random sample of human services nonprofit organizations in the United States. The results show that email, teleconference, and shared repositories were the preferred ICTs more than case management software and databases. ICTs were used for coordination, information sharing, relational communication, and client management. In addition, ICT use and utilities vary in different types of collaboration. Further, operational capacity, percentage of government funding, overall ICT capacity, and organizational size influenced the patterns of ICT use in nonprofit collaboration. We draw from our findings to suggest implications for the study of nonprofit collaboration and ICT use.
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Interorganizational communication describes the structures, forms, and processes created by the exchange of messages and the co-creation of meaning among organizations and their stakeholders. Research in this area has its roots in the study of organizational interlocks and boundary spanners and, more recently, in the field of communication, especially when conceptualized as networks. Several theories have been used to explain the emergence of interorganizational communication. Traditional theories have focused on economic and sociological explanations. More recent theories have given primacy to communication based mechanisms. Interorganizational communication encompasses four distinct types of relations: affinity, flow, representational, and semantic. Most research to date has focused on affinity interorganizational communication, or the socially constructed relationships between organizations in which communication is implicitly assumed to facilitate the creation of shared meaning and coordination of organizational activities. The prospects for advancing research and theory in interorganizational communication depends upon attending to these types of relations.
This study develops a communicative model of collaboration failure to address one of the key challenges of collaboration theory and practice: the discrepancy between the promise of collaboration and the reality of persistent failure. A theoretical framework is developed based on notions of dialogue, discourse, and coorientation, which informs three key aspects of collaboration: knowledge production, shared identity, and collective agency. This theoretical framework is then combined with analytic themes from an empirical case study of a failed civil society collaboration. Themes of communication practice that constitute collaborative failure are detailed, while also contrasting these with alternative practices that can enable more successful collaboration. Further implications are discussed, specifically in terms of rethinking common collaboration dualisms of structure/process and talk/action.
Employing a bona fide network perspective, this study investigates the network processes and outcomes of organizational collaborative networks before and following Typhoon Haiyan, taking into account the influences of network factors, organizational attributes, and environmental exigencies. The analysis from an online survey with relief organizations and those organizations’ Twitter data showed the consistent influence of past relationships on the formation of subsequent relationships after the disaster. In the on-the-ground network, a few highly active organizations stood out and engaging in multiple modes of communication with resource contacts was seen as an adaptive practice that helped organizations to build resource ties after the typhoon. In the online domain, organizations developed a post-typhoon network by means of becoming directly linked to one another and becoming equally resourceful in building their ties. Additionally, different forms of resilience were observed as outcomes of collaborative networks. Findings of this study present theoretical and practical implications by unveiling the network dynamics of contemporary humanitarian actions.
In this paper, we report on a study that empirically investigates the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) resources and network structure on performance in humanitarian organisations that respond to natural disasters. We combine two theoretical lenses, resource-based view (RBV) and social network, to analyse data collected through multiple sources including web search, surveys and semi-structured interviews among members of the GlobalSympoNet, a community of interest of organisations engaged in humanitarian information management and exchange. Our findings suggest that organisations that possess a greater variety of ICT and greater network centrality experience superior levels organisational performance. Higher levels of network density also enhance the organisational performance of these organisations.
Advances in information technologies (IT) are creating unprecedented opportunities for interorganizational collaboration, particularly in large-scale distributed projects. The use of advanced IT in such projects can foster new forms of social exchange among organizations and change the way organizations view themselves in the context of their relationships. Despite a wealth of research on IT use, social exchange, and organizational identity, little is known about how new IT and the enactment of related IT affordances within interorganizational contexts enable social exchanges and organizational identity orientations. To address this gap, we conduct multiple case studies that describe the changing use of two-dimensional computer-aided design technology and new three-dimensional modeling technologies by a leading metal fabrication company in the architecture, engineering, and construction industry. The case studies demonstrate that changes in the company's IT and the enactment of related IT affordances within variable interorganizational contexts enable new forms of social exchanges. These exchanges, in turn, provide the context for the rearticulation of the company's identity orientation. Based on these insights, we formulate a theoretical model to delineate the relationships between IT use, IT affordances, social exchanges, and identity orientation. We conclude by outlining the implications of our study and suggesting possible avenues for future research.
This research proposes a bona fide network perspective for examining interorganizational collaboration. This perspective emphasizes that (a) network boundaries are fuzzy and membership is dynamic, (b) interorganizational networks are embedded in a complex environment that enables some configurations and constrains others, (c) interorganizational networks are multiplex and different types of relationships are mutually influential, (d) these networks are dynamically restructured over time, and (e) outcomes of networks occur at the individual and whole network levels. An interorganizational collaboration network among gender-based violence NGOs in Zambia is used as an illustrative case. Using a mixed-method design, this research finds substantial differences between donor-driven and grassroots coalitions; in addition, NGOs report a number of obstacles to collaboration and outcomes at individual and network levels.
Nonprofit-Government Contracting and Grants, a study of human service organizations designed to document the extent of nonprofit-government contracting, processes and problems. It also examines the impact of the recession on these organizations and the cutbacks they have made to keep their programs operating. While contracting problems are not new, many are exacerbated by the deep recession that has reduced government budgets and private contributions. Nearly 33,000 human service nonprofits have government contracts and grants, and 9,000 organizations with expenditures over 100,000 were surveyed for this study.
Recent popular and theoretical literature emphasizes the significance of communication technology for collaboration and information sharing across organizational boundaries. We hypothesize that due to the collaborative nature of their work and the way they are organized in work groups, technical employees, as compared with administrative employees, will communicate laterally, and will use the telephone and email for this purpose. We studied technical and administrative employees in seven departments of a large telecommunications firm. From logs of communication over two days, we examined vertical and lateral communication inside and outside the chain of command and department, and the use of telephone, email, and voice mail for this communication. Technical employees did have more lateral communication than administrators did, but all lateral communication (not just that of technical employees) tended to be by telephone. Over 50% of employees' communication was extradepartmental; extradepartmental communication, like lateral communication, tended to be by telephone. When employees used asynchronous technology, technical employees used email whereas administrators, especially those at high levels, used voice. Differential boundary-crossing by technical and administrative employees could be explained in part by the flatter structure of the technical work groups. Our results are consistent with Powell (1990), Barley (1994) and others who have argued that the rise of technical work and the horizontal organization of technical workers increases collaboration and nonhierarchical communication. Organizations can encourage communication flows across organizational boundaries by strengthening horizontal structures (for technical workers, especially) and supporting old and new technology use by all employees.
Based on a quantitative survey of Norwegian business travelers, this study compares their use of face-to-face (FTF) meetings and videoconferences (VCs). The study finds that access and use of VCs are determined mainly by industry and the geographical structure of the enterprise. It also finds that VCs and FTF meetings differ along several dimensions, suggesting that these two modes of communication fulfill slightly different needs. Based on the survey results, the authors propose a framework to understand the emerging role of VCs. This framework would address both relational and task-based dimensions.
Whereas mainstream strategy research tends to focus on atomistic and profit-seeking firms, this study focuses on not-for-profit organizations that participate in a collaboration network. Specifically, the authors extend the resource-based view by investigating how not-for-profit organizations' collaboration outcomes, reflected through a joint consideration of monetary and nonmonetary dimensions, may be affected by their organizational characteristics, partner attributes, and network structures. Their analyses of collaboration data from 52 not-for-profit networked organizations demonstrate the importance of unique resources at individual, dyadic, and network levels that allow these organizations to develop capabilities and competencies.
How are nonprofit organizations utilizing social media to engage in advocacy work? We address this question by investigating the social media use of 188 501(c)(3) advocacy organizations. After briefly examining the types of social media technologies employed, we turn to an in-depth examination of the organizations’ use of Twitter. This in-depth message-level analysis is twofold: a content analysis that examines the prevalence of previously identified communicative and advocacy constructs in nonprofits’ social media messages; and an inductive analysis that explores the unique features and dynamics of social media-based advocacy and identifies new organizational practices and forms of communication heretofore unseen in the literature.
Organizations and the relationships they create are rife with tensions that pull individual participants and whole organizations in opposing directions. When multiple organizations form relationships with one another these tensions may take on new forms and create new challenges for individual and organizational participants. This study utilized a focus-group methodology to explore how participants in collaborative interorganizational relationships (IORs) experience and cope communicatively with tensions. The data suggest that tensions exist across two areas: relationships and structures. We found that tensions in collaboration are common, acknowledged, and that the tensions manifest and are addressed through communication.
Organizational scholarship has increasingly focused its attention to how nonprofit, for-profit, and government agencies develop their unique organizational identity through their strategic communication efforts. As social media continues to become more prominent in communication campaigns due to the high levels of public usage and public involvement with organizations on social media sites, it is important to examine these social media messages as they relate to organizational identity. YouTube videos increasingly are being used by organizations to educate and inform just as much as they are to entertain. Through a content analysis of the most viewed videos on the top 100 official nonprofit YouTube channels, this study found that nonprofit organizations primarily use their YouTube videos to inform and educate viewers about their missions, programs, and services. While the videos also occasionally discuss the organizations' advocacy, volunteering, and fundraising efforts, nonprofit organizations were not living up to their potential in terms of engagement through direct appeals for involvement. Additionally, the organizations were more likely to use outsiders' words and stories to build the videos' narratives rather than using internal stakeholders. The benchmark numbers provided by this study reiterate key rules that are stressed in practitioner-oriented work on video production for branding and identity-building efforts.
The main aims of this study were: (1) to examine how nonprofit organizations utilize their websites as a public relations tool, especially for media relations, donor relations, volunteer relations and their interactive communication features and (2) to ascertain whether nonprofit organizations' revenues are positively correlated with the presence and prominence of their media relations, donor relations, and volunteer-relations efforts online. To accomplish this, a content analysis of 98 websites was conducted from the list of the NPT Top 100. Statistical analysis revealed that there were no significant relationships between revenues and usage of the web by nonprofit organizations for media relations, donor relations and volunteer relations. This study found that although most of the top 100 nonprofit organizations have website content for online media relations, the majority had yet to furnish journalist-friendly web content because clearly labeled online press rooms dedicated to journalists were infrequent. We also found that donors are treated as the most important stakeholders given the frequency of interactive features and prominence of content dedicated on the websites to donors in comparison with journalists and volunteers. Finally, the conceptual and practical implications of the investigation are discussed.
This study examines what drives organizational adoption and use of social
media through a model built around four key factors - strategy, capacity,
governance, and environment. Using Twitter, Facebook, and other data on 100
large US nonprofit organizations, the model is employed to examine the
determinants of three key facets of social media utilization: 1) adoption, 2)
frequency of use, and 3) dialogue. We find that organizational strategies,
capacities, governance features, and external pressures all play a part in
these social media adoption and utilization outcomes. Through its integrated,
multi-disciplinary theoretical perspective, this study thus helps foster
understanding of which types of organizations are able and willing to adopt and
juggle multiple social media accounts, to use those accounts to communicate
more frequently with their external publics, and to build relationships with
those publics through the sending of dialogic messages.
We propose a theory of trust in interorganizational virtual organizations that focuses on how trustworthiness can be communicated and trust built in this environment. The theory highlights three issues that must be dealt with if the potential obstacles to the development of trust in the virtual context are to be overcome. These are communication of trustworthiness facilitated by reliable Information and Communication Technology (ICT), establishment of a common business understanding, and strong business ethics. We propose four specific propositions relating to these issues, and suggest topics to be explored in future research.
Nonprofit organizations are increasingly using Internet-based technologies to address accountability. This article presents a set of conceptual, theoretical, and empirical innovations to help understand this phenomenon. First, this article presents a conceptual framework that delineates two key dimensions of Web-based accountability practices: disclosure and dialogue. It then posits a four-factor explanatory model of online accountability incorporating organizational strategy, capacity, governance, and environment. Last, it tests the model through a content analysis of 117 U.S. community foundation Web sites combined with survey and financial data. The descriptive statistics show that the Web site has been more effectively used to provide financial and performance disclosures than to provide dialogic mechanisms for stakeholder input and interactive engagement. Our multivariate analyses, in turn, highlight capacity- and governance-related variables, especially asset size and board performance, as the most significant factors associated with the adoption of Web-based accountability practices.
Existing research stops short of explaining why nonprofit organizations develop certain forms of collaborations instead of others. In this article, the authors combine resource dependency, institutional, and network theories to examine the factors that influence the likelihood that nonprofit organizations develop formal types of collaborative activities vis-à-vis informal types. Based on the survey data of 95 urban charitable organizations, the study has found that an organization is more likely to increase the degree of formality of its collaborative activities when it is older, has a larger budget size, receives government funding but relies on fewer government funding streams, has more board linkages with other nonprofit organizations, and is not operating in the education and research or social service industry.
The formation of partnerships between firms is becoming an increasingly common way for firms to find and maintain competitive advantage. While the antecedents of partnership formation and the characteristics of the resulting cooperative working relationship have been explored in the literature, an understanding of characteristics associated with partnership success is lacking. Such an understanding is important in reconciling the prescriptions to form partnerships with the reality that a majority of such partnerships do not succeed. We hypothesize that partnership attributes, communication behavior, and conflict resolution techniques are related to indicators of partnership success (satisfaction and sales volume in the relationship). The hypotheses are tested with vertical partnerships between manufacturers and dealers. Results indicate that the primary characteristics of partnership success are: partnership attributes of commitment, coordination, and trust; communication quality and participation; and the conflict resolution technique of joint problem solving. The findings offer insight into how to better manage these relationships to ensure success.
How are nonprofits using information technology to enhance mission-related outcomes and boost organizational performance? The authors examine a large-scale survey of nonprofits’ technology planning, acquisition, and implementation to assess the strategic use of IT in these organizations. They evaluate nonprofits’ strategic technology-use potential by examining IT-related competencies and practices that are critical for the successful strategic employment of technology resources. Several promising developments are found, alongside significant deficits in the strategic utilization of IT, especially in the areas of financial sustainability, strategic communications and relationship building, and collaborations and partnerships. To boost IT’s mission-related impact, nonprofits must enhance their organizational capacities in long-term IT planning, budgeting, staffing, and training; performance measurement; Internet and Web site capabilities; and the vision, support, and involvement of senior management.
In this study, nonprofit organizations (NPOs) in New Zealand were surveyed to explore influences on adoption and use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). We sought to extend existing research by considering “institutional” influences alongside organizational and environmental features and by examining how institutional forces affect optimal use of ICTs. Findings suggest that NPOs adopting and using ICTs tended to be self-perceived leaders or those who scanned the environment and emulated leaders and tended to have organizational decisionmakers with the expertise to enable adoption and use. Furthermore, optimal fit of ICTs tended to be spurred by institutional forces if accompanied by self-perceived leadership and appropriate organizational resources. Implications for practice and theory are explored.
The rapid diffusion of "microblogging" services such as Twitter is ushering
in a new era of possibilities for organizations to communicate with and engage
their core stakeholders and the general public. To enhance understanding of the
communicative functions microblogging serves for organizations, this study
examines the Twitter utilization practices of the 100 largest nonprofit
organizations in the United States. The analysis reveals there are three key
functions of microblogging updates-"information," "community," and "action."
Though the informational use of microblogging is extensive, nonprofit
organizations are better at using Twitter to strategically engage their
stakeholders via dialogic and community-building practices than they have been
with traditional websites. The adoption of social media appears to have
engendered new paradigms of public engagement.
We are investigating how to empower nonprofit community organizations to develop the information technology management practices required to carry out their civic goals. We highlight our methodology of working with nonprofit organizations through three case examples from the field. These examples illustrate that nonprofit organizations are able to and can indeed sustain their IT management practices through various methodological techniques. These techniques—such as scenario development, technology inventory assessment, and volunteer management practices—emphasize the importance of long-term critical planning and design skills. Based on our fieldwork, we enumerate lessons that may be valuable for community stakeholders, designers, researchers, and practitioners.
Nonprofit organizations working with high-risk vulnerable populations such as human trafficking victims often need to engage in a significant level of interorganizational collaboration. Given the importance for nonprofits to be able to work with many different organizations, and given the importance of awareness in initiating and facilitating such collaborations, we conducted a field study to explore existing practices around coordination and awareness across a specific ecosystem of nonprofit organizations. In this paper, we provide an in-depth reflection on interorganizational issues among a cross-section of nonprofits. We identify four aspects of the interorganizational context in which these nonprofits must operate, as well as challenges they may encounter. Our goal is to illuminate first steps towards finding appropriate technological solutions for supporting coordination and awareness between these organizations so they can be more effective in accomplishing their mission.
This paper presents research analyzing the role of computational technology in the domain of nonprofit fundraising. Nonprofits are a cornerstone of many societies and are especially prominent in the United States, where $295 billion, or slightly more than 2% of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (i.e. total national revenue), was directed toward charitable causes in 2006. Nonprofits afford many worthwhile endeavors, including crisis relief, basic services to those in need, public education and the arts, and preservation of the natural environment. In this paper, we identify six roles that computational technology plays in support of nonprofit fundraising and present two models characterizing technology use in this domain: (1) a cycle of technology-assisted fundraising and (2) a model of relationships among stakeholders in technology-assisted fundraising. Finally, we identify challenges and research opportunities for collaborative computing in the unique and exciting nonprofit fundraising domain.
Collaboration between nonprofits and businesses is increasing and becoming more strategically important. Based on 15 case studies, this article presents a cross-sector collaboration framework consisting of four components. First, the collaboration continuum provides a conceptual framework for categorizing different types of partnerships and studying their possible evolution through three principal stages: philanthropic, transactional, and integrative. Second, the collaboration value construct facilitates the analysis of the definition, creation, balance, and renewal of the value generated in different types of alliances. Third, a set of alliance drivers is identified that determines the nature and functioning of the partnerships. Fourth, alliance enablers that contribute to the effective management of the relationship are set forth. The article discusses the dynamics of the alliance marketplace. The research builds on and extends existing interorganizational research theories by providing a distinctive conceptual framework and new empirical understanding of cross-sector alliances. Future research needs are identified.
The increasing popularity of interorganizational collaboration among human services nonprofits has generated significant interest and research from a variety of disciplines. However, the current literature has not sufficiently addressed the factors that shape trust and communication in human services nonprofit partnerships. As such, this study proposes that partner selection shapes trust and communication and, using data on 202 human services nonprofit partnerships in the state of Illinois, examines the relationship between partner selection factors and communication and trust in human services nonprofit partnerships. The results from the hierarchical regression analyses suggest that two partner selection factors, reputation and homophily, are significantly positively related to trust. Regarding the factors that shape communication, the results suggest that prior experience and trust are significantly positively related to communicative effectiveness.
Efforts to build capacity are ubiquitous in the nonprofit sector. However, scholarly and grant maker efforts are hampered by varied definitions of the concept, competing but untested models, and the lack of a reliable and valid measure. We define nonprofit capacity as the processes, practices, and people that the organization has at its disposal that enable it to produce, perform, or deploy resources to achieve its mission. Then using an inductive-confirmatory two-study approach, it introduces and validates the Nonprofit Capacities Instrument, a 49-item reliable measure of 8 dimensions of nonprofit capacity derived from existing measures. The dimensions are (1) financial management, (2) adaptive capacity, (3) strategic planning, (4) external communication, (5) board leadership, (6) operational capacity, (7) mission orientation, and (8) staff management. Intriguingly, this research demonstrates that nonprofit capacity is not a singular or second-order concept. Instead, nonprofit capacities are related to one another in varied ways.
This comprehensive review of prior research reports on the content of 354 English language research articles that address nonprofit collaborative activity within and across the sectors. The goal was a thorough review of the analytic methods, theories, and key findings generated from past empirical study of nonprofit organizational collaboration. We have identified six major themes that emerge through our analysis of the existing literature: 1) diverse and rich data on collaboration; 2) more knowledge on the antecedents and outcomes of collaboration, less on the processes; 3) insufficient attention the similarities and differences between forms (or types) of nonprofit collaboration; 4) organizational theories dominate; 5) research is improving in sophistication but still has far to go; and 6) the need to overcome the problem of survivorship bias. Our findings shed new light on future research and practice.
Nonprofit organizations are an essential part of the social, political, and economic landscape of contemporary society. Social media provide ample opportunities for these organizations to increase their community presence, impact, effectiveness, and efficiency. A qualitative study of 39 nonprofit leaders explored how nonprofits are utilizing the potential of the social media technologies to carry out their programs and services. Thematic analysis revealed that nonprofits are slowly embracing the possibilities offered by the new social interaction technologies. Most nonprofit organizations lag behind and wait to see how other nonprofits incorporate these new communication outlets into their budgets and daily operations. Paralleling Rogers’ diffusion of innovations theory, innovators and early adopters are using social media to revitalize their fundraising and volunteering efforts while the majority lags behind. Chapter Preview
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Introduction
Nonprofit organizations are an essential part of the social, political, and economic landscape of contemporary society. They provide a way for individuals to connect to their communities, effectively participate in the democratic process and ultimately to “make a difference.” Currently, there are more than 1.9 million nonprofits in the United States (IRS, 2006). Though it is difficult to generalize about what nonprofit organizations are or what they do, most of these organizations share similar experiences, for example, raising funds or attracting volunteers.
Despite widespread interests (e.g., healthcare, economic development, religion, political, and social issues), a nonprofit organization can be defined as a voluntary association of a group of individuals bound together to pursue shared missions or goals (Lohmann 1992). In such mission-based organizations members are neither forced to relate nor enticed by the prospect of personal profit or gain, while their operation is facilitated by an endowment of resources. Through their mission-oriented work, nonprofits generate social capital—the attitude and willingness of people to engage in collective activity to address issues on the basis of shared values and beliefs, which in turn reinforce trust, confidence, and commitment of the participants (Hall, 2005).
Although nonprofits vary enormously in scope and scale, ranging from informal grassroots organizations with no assets and employees to multibillion-dollar foundations, they are facing new challenges as technological advances change the way nonprofits carry out their missions. Moreover, external stakeholders increasingly influence nonprofit organizations to adopt new technologies, including social media. The present chapter introduces a qualitative study of 39 nonprofit leaders designed to explore how nonprofits are utilizing the potential of social media to carry out their programs and services. During the study, twelve one-on-one interviews and three focus groups were conducted with nonprofit organization communicators.
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Although a significant amount of research has focused on traditional media choice and use, and even on some "new" media, these studies have either neglected the Internet and World Wide Web or were conducted prior to their recent popularity. This study offers a novel exploration of individuals' use of three Internet functions (information retrieval, information giving, and conversation capabilities) in the context of the use of other communication media. Data from 684 individuals demonstrate that the Internet is a multidimensional technology used in a manner similar to other, more traditional media. Specifically, conversation features of the Internet align with mediated interpersonal technologies (the telephone and electronic mail), whereas the Internet's information-retrieval and information-giving features are used in ways similar to mass media channels (newspapers, television, and books and magazines). In addition, needs fulfilled by these channels cluster in ways consistent with past research, regardless of the technologies employed to meet them.
We propose a theory of trust in interorganizational virtual organizations that focuses on how trustworthiness can be communicated and trust built in this environment. The theory highlights three issues that must be dealt with if the potential obstacles to the development of trust in the virtual context are to be overcome. These are communication of trustworthiness facilitated by reliable Information and Communication Technology (ICT), establishment of a common business understanding, and strong business ethics. We propose four specific propositions relating to these issues, and suggest topics to be explored in future research.
Notwithstanding potential benefits, such as quality of interorganizational relationships and operational and strategic gains, adoption of information technology (IT)-enabled interorganizational business process standards (IBPS) is still limited. Given that these standards are designed for interorganizational business processes, we suggest that adoption of these standards depends not only on the factors pertinent to a focal firm but also on factors that represent synergies between a focal firm and its trading partners. In this paper, building on the technological, organizational, and environmental (TOE) framework and interorganizational theories, we propose a model that postulates that a set of TOE factors will have synergistic effects (i.e., interactions between a focal firm's and its partner's factors) on IBPS adoption. We tested our model in a study of 248 firms (124 dyads) in the high-tech industry implementing RosettaNet-based IBPS and found that three TOE factors (i.e., process compatibility, standards uncertainty, and technology readiness) had synergistic effects and two factors (i.e., expected benefits and relational trust) had direct effects on IBPS adoption. We also found that IBPS adoption led to greater relationship quality (i.e., partnering satisfaction) and operational efficiency (i.e., cycle time). Further, we found that IBPS adoption mediated the effect of TOE factors on partnering satisfaction and cycle time.
Transparency and accountability are two issues that are ubiquitous for nonprofits. Today, the application of these issues has moved from solely traditional mediums to include online technologies. Through content analyses of nonprofit websites and in-depth interviews, this paper seeks to determine if nonprofit leaders see a conceptual connection between transparency and accountability and their online communication mediums. It was found that most still visualize online communication tools as a medium to push information out to stakeholders. In addition, a pattern was found between an executive director’s conceptualization of the purpose of online tools and the organization’s use of its website with regard to the amount of information it provided and the tools it adopted.
Many of the relationship cultivation strategies and the dialogic principles assume symmetrical communication is taking place. However, significant amounts of information are shared in a one-way manner. Although they have fallen out of favor with many academics, the four models of public relations can provide significant insights into how organizations communicate. Using the models as the guiding framework, this brief study examines how nonprofit organizations from the Philanthropy 200 communicate on Twitter. The findings reveal that the organizations are more likely to use one-way models despite the potential for dialogue and community building on the social networking site.
In much of the recent literature on contemporary social movements there is call for a re-conceptualization of the definition and understanding of political struggle given the impact of new emerging information communication technologies (ICTs), and the Internet in particular, on social movement organizing, contentious politics, and the electoral political process. This paper undertakes an analysis of MoveOn within a critical theory framework and argues that electronic social movement organizations, such as MoveOn, are in many ways broadening public opinion and the public sphere. It draws on the work of Habermas and theories of the Internet to illustrate how ICTs can revitalize communicative action in the public sphere and thus enhance participatory democracy.
This research seeks to explain the structure of the interorganizational network of international development organizations, including international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) and intergovernmental organizations (IGOs). The study uses a multitheoretical, multilevel model to examine the endogenous and exogenous influences on the international development organization network. Results indicate that homophily, mutuality, transitivity, and centralization influence the configuration of the international development organizational network. In particular, IGOs tended to collaborate with IGOs; both INGOs and IGOs were likely to seek joint dependencies over asymmetric dependencies; some organizations acted as intermediary coordinators; and organizations were more likely to form collaborations with partners of partners. Implications for executive directors of INGOs and policymakers are drawn from the results.
Collaboration has received strong impetus in recent years. Service providers face greater expectations that they will share human and financial resources with other organizations, conduct joint planning, and devise other ways to break down organization barriers. This article analyzes collaborative practices among nonprofit organizations in rural southern Illinois and the Mississippi Delta. Environmental factors present in rural areas suggest that collaboration may be difficult to accomplish. Clients are scattered over a large geographic area, they are hard to contact because of transportation problems, community financial resources are limited, staff salaries are low, and some rural populations resist service offerings. Despite these difficulties, nonprofits in the two rural regions do engage in significant collaborations, and their leadership shows strong commitment to partnering with other organizations. Certain characteristics of the rural environment actually facilitate collaboration.
To evaluate the current status of communication and fundraising strategies on the Internet, a stratified random sample of the Chronicle of Philanthropy's Philanthropy 400 was content-analyzed in mid-January 2005. Web sites were coded on variables identified in practitioner and scholarly literature on issues of accountability, fundraising practices, and interactive communication strategies. Chi-square analysis found that the top nonprofit organizations included copies of their annual reports, organizational goals, and mission statements, while second-tier organizations were more likely to use a sales approach by using e-commerce technology and terminology to process online donations.
With the knowledge that information and communication technology (ICT) has brought about significant changes in the structure and functioning of businesses, this research provides information about the changes that have occurred in ICT adoption in nonprofit organizations between 2000 and 2004. Using archival data, it specifically investigates various indicators of ICT adoption and adoption readiness factors. Results illustrate that nonprofit organizations are beginning to position themselves to take advantage of the opportunities provided by ICT adoption.
Although a significant amount of research has focused on traditional media choice and use, and even on some ‘new’ media, these studies have either neglected the Internet and World Wide Web or were conducted prior to their recent popularity. This study offers a novel exploration of individuals' use of three Internet functions (information retrieval, information giving, and conversation capabilities) in the context of the use of other communication media. Data from 684 individuals demonstrate that the Internet is a multidimensional technology used in a manner similar to other, more traditional media. Specifically, conversation features of the Internet align with mediated interpersonal technologies (the telephone and electronic mail), whereas the Internet's information-retrieval and information-giving features are used in ways similar to mass media channels (newspapers, television, and books and magazines). In addition, needs fulfilled by these channels cluster in ways consistent with past research, regardless of the technologies employed to meet them.
A key to the success of public organizations is their ability to identify and build capacity, particularly their distinctive competencies, in order to produce the greatest value for key stakeholders. This article grounds this proposition in the resource-based view of organizations and presents a method for identifying and making use of distinctive competencies in the form of a “livelihood scheme”—a business model appropriate for the public sector—that links distinctive competencies to organizational aspirations and goals. The case of a major public sector training and consultancy unit that is part of the United Kingdom’s National Health Service is used as illustration. A number of conclusions are offered in the form of a set of propositions tied to the resource-based view and related research issues. The results contribute to both public strategic management theory and practice.
Nonprofit social service organizations provide the backbone of social support infrastructure in the U.S. and around the world. As the ecology of information exchange moves ever- more digital, nonprofit organizations with limited resources and expertise struggle to keep pace. We present a quali- tative investigation of two nonprofit outreach centers pro- viding service to the homeless in a U.S. metropolitan city. Despite similar goals shared by these organizations, appar- ent differences in levels of computerization, volunteerism, and organizational structure demonstrate the challenges in attempting to adopt technology systems when resources and technical expertise are highly constrained.
This study investigates the impact of information technology (IT) on productivity and collaboration patterns in academe. Our data combine information on the diffusion of two noteworthy innovations in IT--BITNET and the Domain Name System (DNS)--with career-history data on research-active life scientists. We analyzed a random sample of 3,114 research-active life scientists from 314 U.S. institutions over a 25-year period and find that the availability of BITNET on a scientist's campus has a positive effect on his or her productivity and collaborative network. Our findings also support the hypothesis of a differential effect of IT across subgroups of the scientific labor force. Women scientists and those working at nonelite institutions benefit more from the availability of IT in terms of overall research output and an increase in the number of new coauthors they work with than do men or individuals at elite institutions. These results suggest that IT is an equalizing force, providing a greater boost to productivity and more collaboration opportunities for scientists who are more marginally positioned in academe.