Little scholarly evidence exists about the communication needs of nonprofit community partners and what they think constitutes an ideal service-learning (SL) relationship. This study seeks to fill this gap by identifying SL projects and relationships that best serve nonprofit community partners with communication needs. The researchers conducted a focus group and a survey with nonprofit organization staff to identify their expectations of a SL partnership and the type of partnership they prefer to meet their communication needs. This study confirms anecdotal evidence that nonprofit community partners need to be better educated about public relations and the public relations process.

Tensions that result from varying expectations of service learners and clients/community partners are as common as the pedagogical practice of service learning in public relations courses. The matchmaking process between instructors and clients can influence expectations; however, the literature includes little guidance about the process of client selection. This paper analyzes a request-for-proposal (RFP) client selection process through the lens of coorientation theory to gauge the effectiveness of communication in the service-learning relationship.