The adoption of social media by non-governmental organizations (hereafter NGOs) has been praised as a low-cost yet impactful communication strat-egy to engage different publics and stakeholders, from funders and volun-teers to the wider public opinion. However, most current empirical research on NGO social media uses in the field of public relations (PR) focuses on select channels, with little attention to how they intersect and become inte-grated into the organization’s larger communication ecosystem. This chapter argues that the integration of social media in NGO strategic communication should be addressed in a more holistic manner, addressing recent prompts to consider social media adoption in relation to organizational strategies, governance, and contextual environment (Janssen Danyi & Chaudhri, 2018;
Nah & Saxton, 2013; Saxton & Guo, 2014). To exemplify this approach, this chapter presents an exploratory study of social media use by Dutch social change NGOs working in areas such as social justice, environmental-ism, LGBTQ rights, refugees, literacy, and participatory democracy.
Methodologically, the study juxtaposes a content analysis of social media with findings from ten in-depth interviews with NGO representatives. Where content analysis can provide insights into how NGOs use specific social media channels to communicate with their publics and stakeholders, inter-views are able to place the adoption of new platforms into the wider com-munication strategy of an organization, shedding light on factors influencing this adoption. This triangulated approach reveals that social change NGOs in the Netherlands deploy a mix of traditional and new media channels in an effort to adapt to the shifting practices of the larger communication ecosystem. Importantly, some channels such as email newsletters, leaflets, or advertising can remain invisible when researchers focus exclusively on the online presence of an organization. The chapter recommends that the study of social media in NGOs’ strategic communication should be approached as in flux, shaped by context-specific factors such as the availability of human and financial resources, collaborations, mission, etc. and inserted within the larger, multichannel communication practices of the organization. This approach affords more nuanced insights into the strategic communication practices of NGO social change initiatives.
DOI: 10.4324/9781003188636 -6
NGO’s Social Media Use: The Public Relations Approach
NGOs refer to organizations with a legal status that is mainly characterized by their nonprofit and voluntary orientation, thus making these organiza-tions distinct from the government and the corporate sector (Ricciutti &
Caló, 2018). Furthermore, social change NGOs are animated by a desire to transform civil society in a democratic and often participatory manner. This means they engage various publics, from journalists or funders to (potential) volunteers or the public at large. Communication processes—both external and internal to the organization—thus lie at the heart of an NGO’s social change strategy. Regardless of mission or size, NGOs have to be attuned to general communication practices within their particular environment (Campbell & Lambright, 2018).
In the field of PR, the integration of new media in NGOs’ communication practices has been placed under the banner of dialogue and interactivity (Taylor & Kent, 2014), promising the development of a new culture based on technologically mediated “engagement, participation and dialogue”
(Greenberg & MacAulay, 2009, p. 67). NGOs’ subsequent adoption of social media was largely assessed through the same dialogical lens. Several studies examined the use of one or two social media channels in order to identify the presence and potential of two-way communication with dif-ferent types of publics (Auger, 2013; Bortree & Seltzer, 2009; Edwards &
Hoefer, 2010; Inauen & Schoeneborn, 2014; Kim et al., 2014; Lovejoy et al., 2012; Lovejoy & Saxton, 2012; Namisango & Kang, 2019; Waters
& Jamal, 2011; Waters et al., 2009). Lovejoy and Saxton’s (2012) typology of functions of social media communication—inform, build, and maintain community and mobilize publics for action—provided a subsequent frame-work for further analysis of the integration of these channels into NGOs’
communication practices. Overall, the findings of the dialogical approach have highlighted that organizations tend to use these channels in a broad-casting manner, to promote themselves or inform publics of their activities.
A second relevant approach in the PR study of social media use by NGOs examines the factors influencing technological adoption. Informed by resource dependence theories, such studies seek to identify (mostly via sur-veys) the organizational dimensions conducive to the adoption and effective (i.e., dialogical) use of social media (Adjei et al., 2016; Nah & Saxton, 2013;
Seo et al., 2009; Svensson & Hambrick, 2015). In general, findings suggest that new media adoption hinges upon the presence of a dedicated commu-nication and marketing team within NGOs.
One limitation of the public relations literature is the tendency to decon-textualize the use of a social media channel and examine it as if it were the only communicational tool of the organization. The (relatively easy) access to an organization’s online presence, along with the simple coding tool provided by Lovejoy and Saxton (2012), have boosted the popular-ity of content analyses in the study of NGOs’ use of social media. Yet, in
practice, NGOs juggle multiple online and offline channels to communicate with their audiences. Different channels are seen as more appropriate for reaching out to different publics (Auger, 2013; Guidry et al., 2017; Kim et al., 2014). This suggests the need for a more holistic approach to address the relation between new communication technologies such as social media and an organization’s communication needs, strategy, and practices.
From Social Media Channels to the Communication Ecosystem To outline such a holistic approach, this chapter draws inspiration from the related field of grassroots collective action, as this field has adopted a more comprehensive view to the communication strategy deployed by citizens and NGOs involved in civic mobilization processes. Such research has revealed that, in practice, such communication strategies rely upon a mix of new and old media that reflects the wider hybrid media system within which they operate (Chadwick, 2013; Treré, 2018). Citizen mobilizers and NGOs alike often switch between channels, while each channel can fulfill differ-ent communicational and organizational roles. For example, email can be a means of information (both internally, among staff, and externally, with other stakeholders) and a means of decision-making (where feedback thus received cements the action the organization will take). Thus, communica-tion strategies in grassroots collective accommunica-tion have to remain fluid, changing with the life cycle of the mobilization process and the type of action per-formed (Mattoni & Treré 2014).
Furthermore, in hybrid media systems, social actors have to constantly mediate between the pressure to adapt to the medium’s logic and the need to appropriate the medium for their own purposes. Blending remains a keyword in this process: different messages, media, and practices of use are mixed and adapted to different goals and forms of action (Morell, 2012).
Thus, communication strategies develop within a larger communication ecology or ecosystem (Bastos et al., 2015; Mattoni, 2017; Mattoni & Treré, 2014; Treré & Mattoni, 2016). The terms “ecology” and “ecosystem” point to the interrelation “among social activities, information technologies, and communication formats” (Treré & Mattoni 2016, p. 294). In its dictionary version, ecosystem refers to “the complex of living organisms, their physi-cal environment, and their interrelationships in a particular unit of space”
(Encyclopædia Britannica, 2019). When borrowed in the discussion of com-munication media, the term thus evokes the idea of a complex system with interrelated elements.
Adopting an ecosystem approach to NGOs’ social media use can thus address calls to the communication mix in relation to organizational strate-gies, governance, and contextual environment (Janssen Danyi & Chaudhri, 2018; Nah & Saxton, 2013; Saxton & Guo, 2014). Even though not all NGOs share the mobilizing aim of collective action, communication with different publics remains at the heart of their activities. Starting from the
assumption of an NGO’s communication as an ecosystem orients research toward capturing the “communicative complexity” (Treré & Mattoni, 2016, p. 301) within and outside of the NGO, eschewing dichotomies such as online/offline, new/old (media). Furthermore, such an approach entails a sensitivity to multiple media formats and fluid media practices within the organization as well as between the organization and its multiple stakehold-ers (Mattoni & Treré, 2014).
The Dutch NGO Sector: An Overview
To illustrate the ecosystem approach, this chapter builds on an exploratory study of the adoption of social media by Dutch social change NGOs. In the Netherlands, this sector has had a rich tradition of social welfare delivery, being among the largest in the world (Brandsen & Pape 2015; Burger &
Veldheer, 2001; Burger et al, 1999; Schulpen, 2016). Referred to as the
“societal midfield” (van Doorn quoted in Brandsen & Pape, 2015), Dutch NGOs remain generally focused on service delivery in areas such as educa-tion, health, or social housing (Burger & Veldheer, 2001). In turn, such orga-nizations have enjoyed dedicated public funding—although this has tended to benefit larger organizations in the field of aid and development, such as Oxfram Novib, ICCO, Hivos, or Cordaid. Between the 1960s and 1990s, these large organizations have received a fixed percentage of Dutch public international aid (Koch & Loman, 2009). Smaller NGOs, on the other hand, had to tap into smaller and more fragmented public funding schemes.
The neoliberal policy turn (1980s–1990s) in the Netherlands has also affected NGOs, pressuring them to adopt a “managerial” ethos and to look for private funding (Koch & Loman, 2009; Brandsen & Pape, 2015; Schul-pen, 2016). As a result, “many nonprofit organizations were forced to reor-ganize, professionalize, merge, or commercialize” (Burger & Veldheer, 2001, p. 227). Furthermore, under the banner of terms such as “active citizenship”
and “do-democracy,” the government coupled administrative decentraliza-tion and the retreat of the welfare state with the promodecentraliza-tion of volunteerism as a sign of “good citizenship” (Verhoeven & Tonkens, 2013).
Today, NGOs remain a substantial sector of the Dutch economy. In addi-tion to public funds, corporaaddi-tions now provide around 60% of the rev-enues of the Dutch NGO sector, although this tends to favor specific sectors like sports and recreation (Meijer et al., 2006). In addition, around 87%
of Dutch households donate to the NGO sector (primarily health, environ-ment, and international aid), both financially and in-kind (Bekkers et al., 2015; Schuyt et al., 2013; Ugur, 2018). National donation campaigns have a long-standing history (Wiepking & van Leeuwven, 2013), while door-to-door solicitations remain the most popular way of donating, although online and text messaging donations are also growing (Bekkers et al., 2015).
Such studies of Dutch NGOs however rarely focus on communication pro-cesses. This chapter thus takes an exploratory approach to this problematic,
building upon existing studies suggesting organizations are likely to rely upon different media channels during campaign periods, while broadcasting remains crucial to their communication practices. This is not surprising, as the Dutch media system is characterized by the prominence of broadcasting as a source of news (Reuters Institute, 2018), which is echoed by a handful of empirical studies on digital activism (Bekkers et al., 2011; Dumitrica &
Achterberg, 2017). When it comes to social media use, Dutch NGOs tend to associate these channels with collaboration, as a means to connect and inter-act with their publics. Yet, NGOs also struggle with implementing social media into their overall communication programs (Sheombar et al., 2015).
Methodology
The chapter builds upon interviews with and content analysis of ten social change NGOs in the Netherlands. The organizations were identified by con-sulting two government publications (Burger & Dekker 2001; Gemeente Den Haag, 2013). The sample was heterogeneous in type of organization, spe-cialization, geographical scope, and history (see Table 4.1 ). While small, the sample enabled an exploratory mapping of social media use by Dutch NGOs.
The interviews were conducted between 2015 and 2018, seven by phone and three in person (for one NGO, we interviewed two different members).
Interviewees were involved in organizational communication, in roles such as social media officer, PR officer, or communication advisor. The interviews lasted between one and two hours. Introduced as an inquiry into social media use by Dutch NGOs, each interview started with questions about the history of the respective organization and its main programs. The next section focused on the use of social media, with particular attention to the NGO’s relation with various stakeholders—such as journalists, politi-cians, or volunteers. Finally, respondents were asked their opinion about the advantages and disadvantages of social media use in their NGOs. Impor-tantly, participants were asked to connect social media use to the larger communication infrastructure of the organization.
In response to the public relations literature reviewed earlier, a content analysis of the NGOs’ online presence was added. The analysis, focused on the interactive elements of websites and social media channels, was done independent of the interviews, in order to allow comparisons between the findings obtained through each of the two data collection methods. This stage of the analysis thus started from the NGOs’ websites, moving along to the other public online communication channels linked from there. For websites, the analysis captured the structure of the homepage, with attention to the presence of interactive elements (e.g., opinion poll, donate button) and social media icons. For the social media channels, the analysis recorded the metrics made available by the platform, along with elements such as latest content (e.g., latest uploaded video on YouTube, number of Facebook posts in the last month).
Delia Dumitrica
Table 4.1 Dutch NGOs interviewed in this project
Type Specialization Geographical scope Founded Respondent Pseudonym
Meer Democratie Nonprofit Participatory National 2015 Respondent 1
democracy
Transnational Nonprofit research and advo- Social justice International 1974 Respondent 2 Institute cacy institute
Stichting Petities Nonprofit Participatory National 2004 Respondent 3
democracy
Ons Geld Stichting Nonprofit organization Economic change National 2013 Respondent 4
associated with a citizen Respondent 5
initiative
Milieudefensie Nonprofit association with Environment National 1971 Respondent 6 55,000 members
Federatie Community-based nonprofit Environment Local 2006 Respondent 7
Broekpolder
COC Nederland Federation of nonprofits LGBTQ National/ 1946 Respondent 8
international
Stichting Lezen and Nonprofit Literacy National 2006 Respondent 9
Schrijven
Stichting Vluegeling Emergency relief fund Conflict areas and National/ 1956 Respondent 10 (nonprofit) refugees international
From Social Media Use to Mapping Communication Ecosystems In PR research, NGOs’ use of social media is often examined in terms of the organization’s ability to shift from one- to two-way communication.
One-way communication refers to the use of communication technologies to broadcast a social actor’s idea or plans. The features of web 2.0—namely,
“openness for collaboration and interactivity” and “a requirement for authenticity instead of pre-packaged imagery and content” (Macnamara, 2010, pp. 26–27)—recommend new forms of communication and sociality based upon dialogue and interaction. Two-way communication is seen as leading to relationship and community-building, and thus more desirable for engaging an organization’s stakeholders (Cho et al. 2014; Harrison et al., 2017).
In line with the two-way communication paradigm, the content analy-sis revealed that the ten Dutch social change NGOs seamlessly blended different channels within existing websites. All homepages featured social media icons, alongside tools such as newsletter subscriptions, donation or membership buttons, or, in a few cases, opinion polls and even a quiz. At a bare minimum, the online communication ecosystem of organizations—
regardless of scope or size—used a website, a Facebook page, and a Twit-ter account. Recent trends of favoring visuals over text online were also reflected here, both in terms of using still and moving images in websites and on social media accounts and in terms of experimenting with Instagram and/
or YouTube accounts (Guo & Saxton, 2018; Saxton & Waters, 2014). One organization used podcasts, one had a blog, two offered RRS (or web) feeds (however, these did not seem to work), and three had LinkedIn accounts.
Overall, however, Facebook remained the most popular social media plat-form in terms of numbers of followers ( Figure 4.1 ).
This blending of the different channels was also visible on the social media accounts of these organizations. While NGOs may use each channel for a different strategic purpose such as community-building, information provi-sion, or calls to action (Auger, 2013; Guidry et al., 2017), cross-promotion of the same content can amplify reach and strengthen brand identity. The Dutch NGOs in this study circulated virtually the same content across these different social media channels. Facebook posts and tweets mirrored each other, providing links to the website that hosted longer versions of the mes-sages. YouTube videos and Instagram photos were also recycled in websites, Facebook, and Twitter posts.
Understanding why this happened and how it fit with the organization’s overall strategic communication was however difficult to establish on the basis of a content analysis alone. The interviews, however, placed social media use within the organization’s communication ecosystem. Similar to Chadwick’s (2013) argument that organizations adapt to a hybrid media system, the respondents in this study painted a picture of complementar-ity and multifunctionalcomplementar-ity of the different communication channels used