Mediatization, Marketization and Non-Profits: a Comparative Case Study of Community Foundations in the UK and Germany
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Mediatization, Marketization and Non-profits: A Comparative Case Study of Community Foundations in the UK and Germany Tobias Bürger Doctor of Philosophy School of Arts and Cultures February 2019 Abstract: Over the past decades, media actors and technologies have profoundly transformed how organisations and institutions communicate with citizens and vice versa. Drawing on mediatization theory, the thesis explores the contours and context of communication by non-profit organisations, focusing on community foundations in the UK and Germany. The aim of the work is to provide a deeper understanding of the strategies, motivations and patterns of communication which have been adopted in these organisations which now exist within a highly networked and mediatised society, and the ways in which those strategies have kept pace with technological change. I make an original contribution to the concept of mediatization by applying it to the non-profit sector, using a comparative case study approach. I also make an original contribution to our understanding of how non-profits plan their communication strategies in a contemporary environment of information overload and economic austerity. Drawing on interviews with communication professionals and marketing managers in a range of community foundations in the UK and Germany, the study explores how activities such as building relationships, strategic planning and positioning, fundraising, attracting volunteers and interacting with stakeholders, including potential donors, are influenced by processes of mediatization and marketization. In addition to the interviews, a content analysis of these organisations’ websites has been undertaken to better understand their adoption and use of digital communication tools to maximise their effectiveness online. Through a careful and in-depth analysis of how processes of mediatization, marketization and professionalisation affect these non-profits, the study provides a timely assessment of both drivers and resistors in adopting and adapting to social and technological change within this particular sector. To my family for their support, My grandparents for their belief in me, Katharina for her love and encouragement, And Karen for her guidance. Acknowledgements1 As with a lot of work that we do over the course of our lives, little is achieved without relying on the groundwork of others and the guidance and mentoring by people whose thoughts and advice we appreciate. I would like to express my gratitude to Karen Ross and Darren Kelsey for supervising my work and being available for feedback at any time. I would also like to thank the following people for their commitment at various stages of my journey. Their support has made it possible that this journey reached its final destination, although the road was at times bumpy and the mountains steep: the Stiftung Mercator in Essen for providing me with the opportunity to formulate my initial thoughts on this project, Saskia Richter (†2015), Jessica Einspänner-Pflock, Lewis Faulk, Anna Domaredzka, the workshop group at the 2016 International Society for Third-Sector Research (ISTR) conference in Stockholm for their valuable feedback, Siobhan Daly, Marloes Jansen and the colleagues at the School of Arts and Cultures at Newcastle University, my former colleagues at the Department of Media at Northumbria University, Sigrid Kannengiesser, Christopher Allinson, Barry Knight, and Nick Deychakiwsky from the C.S. Mott Foundation. I would also like to thank the communication professionals at the community foundations for their insights and their support in these challenging times. 1 Quite often we forget that it is not only people but also music and art, that accompany us through life’s journey. For the time writing this thesis I benefited from listening to the brilliant musical works of Philipp Glass, Dmitri Shostakovich, Antonio Vivaldi, George Frideric Handel, Michiel van den Bos, FM-84, Timecop 1983, and Johann Joachim Quantz while musing over pictures painted by Joseph M. W. Turner and Georges-Pierre Seurat. CONTENTS List of Tables & Figures 1 Introduction Non-profits, Foundations, and Technology .................................................................... 2 Non-profits and the Media ................................................................................................. 3 Research Approach and Methodology ............................................................................. 5 Chapter Outlines .................................................................................................................. 6 2 Philanthropy, Non-profits, and Media Modern Foundations: In Search of the Root Cause ........................................................ 9 Modern Foundations: Criticism and Developments .................................................... 12 The Modern Foundation: A Contested Concept .......................................................... 16 A Changing Third-Sector: Non-profits and Trends of Marketization ...................... 18 Community Foundations: Mapping the Field ................................................................ 23 The Media and Social Change ......................................................................................... 29 Media and Information Technologies as Game Changers .......................................... 31 The Rise of Social Media Platforms ................................................................................ 35 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 41 3 The ‘Networked Non-profit’: Non-profits, ICTs, and Social Media Adopting Media ................................................................................................................. 44 Building Relationships ...................................................................................................... 47 Advocacy ............................................................................................................................. 49 Accountability ..................................................................................................................... 51 Giving and Fundraising .................................................................................................... 52 Volunteering ...................................................................................................................... 54 Possible Future Research .................................................................................................. 54 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 56 4 The Mediatization of Non-profit Organisations Non-profits and Communication Theory ..................................................................... 61 The Emergence of Mediatization as an Interdisciplinary Concept ............................ 64 Theoretical Approaches to Mediatization Research and Criticism ............................. 66 From Mass Media Logic to Networked Media Logic ................................................... 71 Empirical Mediatization Research ................................................................................... 73 The Mediatization of Non-profits ................................................................................... 79 Exploring the Mediatization of Community Foundations ........................................... 83 i 5 Methodology A Comparative Case Study Approach ........................................................................... 90 Interviews ........................................................................................................................... 91 Content Analysis ............................................................................................................... 97 6 ‘We are local. We have a voice, that kind of thing’: Exploring the Communication Practices of Community Foundations Moving the Community Foundation into the Public Eye ........................................ 102 ‘Relationship-Building-Overdrive’ ............................................................................... 105 Media Channels and Formats ....................................................................................... 108 Marketing the Community Foundation ...................................................................... 128 ‘Put Yourself in Their Shoes’ ......................................................................................... 133 Giving, Fundraising, and Volunteering ....................................................................... 137 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 142 7 Mediatization, Marketization, and Community Foundations The Mediatization of Community Foundations ........................................................ 145 Strengthening Trends of Marketization through Mediatization .............................. 157 8 Conclusion: Mediatized and Marketized Community Foundations ............... 171 Appendix A Literature Review: Methodology .................................................................................... I B Codebook for the Content Analysis ........................................................................ XIII C Intercoder reliability and statistical software used ................................................ XXI References