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Abstract

Charitable nonprofit organizations have a responsibility not only to the communities they serve but also to the individuals who support them. When nonprofits fail to act as good stewards of raised monies, they may find themselves caught in a scandal that not only holds legal ramifications but financial and ethical implications as well. Drawing on resource dependence and stewardship theories, manipulated stimuli related the American Red Cross’ response to the 2010 Haitian earthquake was utilized to analyze the relationship between future giving intention and current monetary donor, blood donor, and volunteer status. This paper also considers crisis communication in examining how strategic messaging during a reputational scandal may influence stakeholder perceptions and help to mitigate backlash. Findings suggest that while charitable nonprofit organizations are dependent on external stakeholders for much need monetary resources, stewardship helps to alleviate potential negative effects associated with a nonprofit’s missteps through the development of social capital via relationship building. Through combining effective crisis communication with strong stewardship practices, nonprofit organizations may preserve donor trust and sustain future giving behaviors amid an organizational scandal.

Journal Title

Iowa Journal of Communication

Volume

57

Issue

1

First Page

205

Last Page

234

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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