Organizational sensegiving: Indicators and nonprofit signaling

Abstract

Resource acquisition depends upon the agreement between an organization's sense of identity and the perceptions of organizational identity held by resource providers. To smooth the flow of resources and buffer against potential issues, organizations seek to manage external perceptions and, to the extent possible, control their organizational identity. Using exploratory factor analysis, we examine the data from 300 GuideStar profiles to develop a sense of how nonprofit organizations “give sense” to resource providers and attempt to manage their organizational identity. We find evidence of three sensegiving strategies. We then use a seemingly unrelated regression model to examine the relationship between these strategies and revenue outcomes, finding evidence that (a) nonprofit organizations demonstrate intentional sensegiving, and (b) different sensegiving approaches are related to different income streams.

The more you know, the more you give: Influence of online disclosure on European community foundations' donations

“…Accountability to stakeholders, and to donors in particular, is crucial for all nonprofits—including CFs—that aim to build legitimacy and attract charitable contributions by providing signals of good housekeeping and by demonstrating their capacity to act in the interest of the community (Cabedo, Fuertes‐Fuertes, Maset‐Llaudes, & Tirado‐Beltrán, 2018; Conway, O'Keefe, & Hrasky, 2015; Levine Daniel & Eckerd, 2019; Murtaza, 2012). Given that nonprofits interact with a wide range of stakeholders who have varying information needs (Connolly, Hyndman, & McConville, 2013; Dhanani & Connolly, 2012), these organizations are expected to be accountable to multiple actors and on different aspects simultaneously (Ebrahim, 2010).…”

What Constitutes a New Nonprofit? Investigating Nonprofit Organizational Founding Dates

“…However, given that 60 percent of founder perceptions either did not match at all with the administrative indicators, or matched some arbitrary perception, this survey data firmly illuminates the diversity and vibrancy of the nascent phase. From this, it is apparent that emerging nonprofits do not "signal" their existence uniformly, much as many nonprofits engage in various sense-giving strategies (Levine Daniel & Eckerd, 2019). Nonprofit scholars must, therefore, engage in discussion and debate to propose what indicators are most useful for identifying and assessing the emergence of new nonprofits.…”

Competition and Sensegiving: Nonprofit Markets and Organizational Signaling

“…Organizational identity comprises that which is central or core to the organization's character, is unique to the organization, and endures over time (Albert & Whetten, 1985). While adhering to these key criteria, organizational identity is also dynamic (Gioia et al, 2000), responsive, and/or specialized or fractured, with specific signals set to match distinct audiences (Levine Daniel & Eckerd, 2019). In order to acquire the resources they need to survive, all organizations have to convey who they are, i.e., their identity, to various stakeholders, in ways that appeal to those stakeholders.…”

“…This negation may occur, in part, because of the need to manage organizational identity across a diverse set of stakeholders. One way to do this is through the deployment of deliberate organizational sensegiving images that convey to stakeholders who the organization is/what it does in such a way the organization remains recognizable to donors, clients, collaborators, and competitors alike (Levine Daniel & Eckerd, 2019). That is, the organization needs to convey its image of itself to a wide variety of different stakeholders including funders, donors, clients, governments, and the public generally.…”