Social Organizations The term “social” includes social… Service Health Cultural Philanthropic Religious Communication is essential for their success, therefore they require active, creative public relations programs.

Nonprofit Social Organization Categories Social Service Agencies: Serve the social needs of individuals and families. Goodwill, Red Cross, Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts, YMCA. Health agencies: combat a specific illness through education, research, and treatment, deliver generalized health services in communities. American Heart Association, American Cancer Society. Hospitals: In addition to caring for ill and injured patients, hospitals conduct preventive health programs and provide other health- related social services that go well beyond the traditional institutional concept. Religious organizations: Distribute charity, conduct personal guidance programs, provide leadership on moral and ethical issues in their communities, and operate social centers where diverse groups gather.

Nonprofit Social Organization Categories Cont. Welfare agencies: Most continuing welfare payments to persons in need are made by government agencies, using tax-generated funds. Cultural Organizations: Libraries, musical organizations, museums of art, history, and natural science, frequently receive at least part of their income from government sources. Foundations: The hundreds of tax-free foundations in the US constitute about 9 percent of total charitable giving. Money to establish a foundation is provided by a wealthy individual or family, a group of contributors, an organization, or are distributed as grants to qualified applicants.

Public Relations Goals Every voluntary agency should establish a set of public relations goals. In general, organizations should design their PR to achieve these objectives: –Develop public awareness of the organization’s purpose and activities –Induce individuals to use the services the organization provides –Create educational materials –Recruit and train volunteer workers –Obtain funds to operate the organization

Fund-Raising Most frequently asked question of voluntary agencies is “Where will we get the money?” The largest, most publicized donations are made by corporations and foundations, the total of individual contributions far exceeds combined corporate and foundation giving, amounting to about 76 percent in annual US philanthropic donations. Risks of Fund-Raising: – Adherence to high ethical standards of solicitation and close control of money-raising costs, so that expenses constitute only a reasonable percentage of the funds collected. Numerous groups have suffered severe damage to their reputations from disclosures that only a small portion of the money they raised was applied to the cause they advocated. – Fund-raising and administrative costs fluctuate widely among organizations, and it is difficult to establish absolute percentage standards for acceptable costs.

Fund-Raising cont. Motivations for giving: – An understanding of what motivated individuals and companies to give money is important to anyone involved in fund-raising. – Ego satisfaction Those who are motivated by it range from donors to large institutions who insist that the buildings they give be named for them, etc. – Peer pressure. Types of fund-raising: – Corporate and foundation donations – Structured capital campaigns – Direct mail – Sponsorship of events – Telephone solicitations – Use of 800/900 telephone numbers – Commercial enterprises