Stakeholder Communication in 140 Characters or Less: A Study of Community Sport Foundations

Community sport foundations (CSFs), like other non-profit organizations, are increasingly employing social media such as Twitter to communicate their mission and activities to their diverse stakeholder groups. However, the way these CSFs utilize social media for communicating such practices remains unclear. Through a mixed-method approach of content analysis of tweets from 22 CSFs established by English professional football clubs and interviews with key individuals within these CSFs (n = 7), this study examines the extent to which CSFs’ core activities are being communicated through Twitter and identifies the strategies employed for doing so. Reflecting the target audiences CSFs are seeking to reach through Twitter and the challenges associated with communication about projects involving marginalized groups, tweets largely concern programs related to sports participation and education. The most frequently employed communication strategy is to inform, rather than interact or engage with stakeholders. However, CSFs with higher organizational capacity attempt to go beyond mere informing towards engaging with stakeholder groups that relate to their social agenda, highlighting the importance of trained and dedicated social media personnel in optimizing CSFs’ use of Twitter for communication.     

Institutional Innovation in Philanthropy: Community Foundations in the UK

In the United Kingdom, there has been a resurgence of interest in philanthropy amongst the media, policymakers, and scholars alike. In this context, the analysis of new and innovative forms of philanthropy is paramount. This paper focuses on an innovation in the philanthropic form: the community foundation. The success of community foundations in the United States provided the impetus for the establishment of community foundations in the UK in the 1980s. This paper examines how the community foundation form has been adapted to the UK and the factors which have influenced the development and roles of British community foundations. It is argued that this study is both timely and important for three reasons. First, the analysis of new structures through which people give furthers our understanding of Britain’s culture of giving. Second, the paper examines the role of community-based philanthropy in the civil renewal of Britain’s communities. Finally, the study makes an important contribution to efforts to promote the community foundation form worldwide as it highlights the challenges of transferring philanthropic forms from one context to another.

The British Community Development Project: Lessons for today

This paper looks back at the experience of the first Britishpoverty programme, the national Community Development Project(CDP), which operated from 1969 to 1978. The "radical" projectswithin CDP comprehensively rejected the official governmentview of the nature and causes of, and solutions to, povertyand urban deprivation. The roots of the radical CDP perspectiveare to be located within the political character of the periodamong other factors. The paper offers a retrospective accountof the strengths and limitations of CDP.     

From Direct Involvement to Indirect Control? A Multilevel Analysis of Factors Influencing Chinese Foundations’ Capacity for Resource Mobilization

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - Some nonprofits easily attract resources, while others struggle to survive. However, little is known about what...     

Micro Foundations of Religion: A Revised Theory

In a major revision of my earlier theoretical work on religion, I attempt to identify and connect the basic micro elements and processes underlying religious expression. I show that all primary aspects of religion—belief, emotion, ritual, prayer, sacrifice, mysticism, and miracle—can be understood on the basis of exchange relations between humans and supernatural beings. Although I utilize a cognitive definition of religion, this new version of the theory is especially concerned with the emotional and expressive aspects of religion. Along the way I also clarify the difference between religion and magic and this sets the stage for explaining the conditions under which religion (but not magic) can require extended and exclusive exchange relations between humans and the gods, thus enabling some religions to sustain stable organizations based on a lay membership.     

Cooperatives and Community Development: A Perspective on the Use of Cooperatives in Development

Community developers have long understood the importance of local participation in the events and processes that shape communities. Effective, democratic, and people-and-place-centered development strategies have the potential to achieve such participation. This article suggests that cooperatives can be an effective participatory strategy to bootstrap low-income people into the socio-economic mainstream. Woolcock and Narayan's (2000) social capital and poverty transition model is adapted to demonstrate the development potential of cooperative businesses. We hope to stimulate discussion among community development scholars and practitioners, policymakers, and the public on the potential of cooperative business as a community development strategy, particularly in resource limited communities.     

Model Development in Community Practice:

No abstract available for this article.     

A Multidimensional Exploration of the Foundations of Community Attachment among Seasonal and Year‐Round Residents

Utah is a popular second‐home destination because of its unique landscapes offering numerous natural amenities. This research utilized data from a mail survey of residents in six Utah counties and had two objectives: (1) to test a multidimensional conceptualization of community attachment and (2) to determine if the foundations of community attachment, based on those conceptual dimensions, are different for year‐round and seasonal residents. The study utilized structural equation models, which allow the use of latent variables, to complete those objectives. Results revealed that a multidimensional conceptualization of community attachment is appropriate. The conceptual dimensions (social bonds, participation, and sentiments) used in this research all proved to be important elements of the higher order construct “community attachment” for both year‐round and seasonal residents. For year‐round residents, community attachment is best predicted by the social bonds dimension, while for seasonal residents the participation dimension is most important. However, all three of the dimensions of attachment used herein are important among both residence categories, indicating that future research on this topic would be best served by using a multidimensional conceptualization of community attachment.     

Growing Up at Centrepoint: Retrospective Accounts of Childhood Spent at an Intentional Community

A qualitative analysis of the accounts of 29 adults who grew up in a controversial New Zealand community identified positive and negative experiences and their psychological implications. In addition to highly publicized child sexual abuse that occurred at Centrepoint, children also experienced parental neglect, psychological manipulation, illegal drug use and stigma from the broader society. These factors created an adverse matrix that facilitated sexual abuse. Positive experiences included support for vulnerable families and children, recreational activities, and the opportunity to develop communication skills. While there may be positive experiences for children living in intentional communities such as this one, it is important to be aware of the potential for psychological harm to children in communities with powerful, shared systems of belief, skepticism about the broader society, and strong dynamics of dependence. These findings may have implications for other similar communities operating elsewhere in the world.     

Mentoring the Hmong: A Practice Outlet for Teaching Faculty and a Possible Community Development Tool

This brief article summarizes the personal experiences of a social work educator who became a mentor for an immigrant Hmong family. The Hmong family came to the United States from the Highlands of Laos and a culture that was vastly different from American culture. The mentoring experience had multiple and continuing benefits for the educator, the curriculum, the learning climate, the Hmong, and the majority community.     

The Density of Nonprofit Organizations: Beyond Community Diversity and Resource Availability

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - This paper examines the determinants of the density of nonprofits registered in the USA by using alternative measures of...