Communication in a Fund-Raising Marathon Group

Abstract

A bona fide group perspective (Putnam & Stohl, 1990) suggests that participation in a particular group is influenced by members' simultaneous affiliation with other groups. Based on this premise, this study examined the communication in a temporary group dedicated to raising money for a nonprofit diabetes organization by participating in a marathon. Using ethnographic methods, it examined how participants formed a temporary group through communication, how internal and external communication supported and energized members in their training and fund-raising efforts, how members maintained multiple group memberships and responded to changing membership of the group, and whether communication contributed to the group and to its members achieving their goals. Overall, the findings suggest that participation in multiple groups actually assisted successful members in reaching goals.