مقاله سال ۲۰۱۶

Nonprofit organizations have different relationships with their publics than corporations (Fussell Sisco, Pressgrove, & Collins, 2013). Nonprofit organizations address societal issuessuch as animal welfare, poverty, or homelessness (Boris & Steuerle, 2006). Many nonprofit organizations work with small budgets and staffs, which often affects how public relations activities are conducted and enhances the attractiveness of social media.

Online resources such as social media and websites are not used to their full potential in the nonprofit sector (Waters & Lord, 2009). An inability to convey what the nonprofit organization does in a meaningful way online might be the cause (Patel & McKeever, 2014). Often held to a high standard (Doh, 2006), nonprofits can hurt their reputation as well as their relationships with donors online and offline with their social media practices. Damaged relationships with donors severely hinder the operations of nonprofit, local animal welfare organizations that rely heavily on individual donations and are not affiliated with a national organization (Caroline Radom, personal communication, 2014).

Social media can help amplify organization-public relationships through its ability to facilitate immediate feedback from members of key publics (Bowen, 2013). This study explores the role of control mutuality in social media engagement as a means of providing insight for social media strategy creation for nonprofit organizations such as local animal welfare organizations.