Assignment:
Respond to the following discussion by sharing additional insights or alternative perspectives.
Be sure to support your posting and responses with specific references to the Learning Resources and/or current literature. Use APA formatting to cite references in your posting and responses.
As we move forward, technology is becoming increasingly important for nonprofit (and all other) organizations. Along with this comes the experience of building relationships with stakeholders online. There are several specific differences between maintaining relationships between stakeholders online and on ground. First, I would like to mention a challenge for online stakeholders, especially considering fundraising. Recent studies have found that online fundraising has decreased in response to the number of charities and causes in the news and the light that is shown on them (Patel & McKeever, 2014). Many receive unfavorable publicity (Patel & McKeever, 2014). This has been titled compassion fatigue (Patel & McKeever, 2014). One way to build this relationship is to be a responsible organization (Patel & McKeever, 2014). By this it means to follow through with claims made by the organization. Another strategy is to report to the stakeholders and make sure they are informed of all that is going on in the organization, for example, where the funding is going (Patel & McKeever, 2014). On ground stakeholders are able to see this through watching the organizations work, seeing the services first hand, and listening to the members or leaders speak. Online stakeholders do not always have this option. This is why communication is very important. The organization should never lose track of or assume that the stakeholders are aware of their actions and goals.
The roles of virtual stakeholders differ from on ground stakeholders as well. Stakeholders often hold the duty of ensuring that the organization is performing in ways that benefit society (Fremond, 2000). On ground stakeholders are able to see how the organizations programs are working in real life and act accordingly to what they see. Online stakeholders do not always have this privilege. In this case, the online stakeholder will rely on the communication of the organizations and perhaps the communication of the on ground stakeholders surrounding it. In general, the online stakeholders go through a completely different process to engage in their roles. However, organizations must remember that online communication can benefit both stakeholders since online access is very plentiful and easy accessible now.
References:
Fremond, O. (2000). Retrieved January 6, 2016, from https://www.oecd.org/daf/ca/corporategovernanceprinciples/1930657.pdf
Patel, S. J., & McKeever, B. W. (2014). Health nonprofits online: the use of frames and stewardship strategies to increase stakeholder involvement. International Journal Of Nonprofit & Voluntary Sector Marketing, 19(4), 224-238. doi:10.1002/nvsm.1507