Mediatization, Marketization and Non-profits: A Comparative Case Study of Community Foundations in the UK and Germany

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.