Environmental Nonprofit Organizations Research Articles

An Empirical Mapping of Environmental Protection and Conservation Nonprofit Discourse on Social Media

This article is a comprehensive empirical overview of environmental protection and conservation nonprofits’ discourse on social media. To what extent have these nonprofits framed climate change in their public discourse and how has it evolved over time? How do organizational characteristics and resources affect their social media behavior? To address our research questions, we use machine learning with texts—specifically topic modeling—to track the activity of 120 environmental nonprofits during a 14-year time span on X, formerly known as Twitter. Our analysis of more than 1.3 million tweets shows that climate change, although not closely aligned with the missions for more than half of the top tweeting organizations included in our sample, has consistently been a prevalent priority issue on their social media agendas for more than a decade. This heightened attention to climate change discourse by the environmental nonprofit sector denotes their uniform efforts to inspire government for climate action.

Public welfare crowdfunding decision-making of environmental nonprofit organizations based on social responsibility.

Sustainable crowdfunding has emerged as a significant factor in the quest for alternative funding streams in recent times. The process has entailed the removal of financial obstacles and intermediaries, facilitating proximity between entrepreneurs' initiatives and fund providers, thereby initiating modifications in conventional investment and profitability criteria. The correlation between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainable business returns is a significant metric that may enhance funding costs. CSR initiatives and crowdfunding possess the potential for mutually beneficial outcomes in terms of fundraising. However, fundraisers encounter obstacles and competition in their efforts to attain their donation objectives. As an illustration, CSR endeavors may provide a chance to raise capital via crowdfunding. Conversely, crowdfunding has the potential to serve as a means of micro-funding various social initiatives that align with a corporation's corporate social responsibility objectives. The present research investigates the correlation between efficacious donation fundraising campaigns in the context of crowdfunding endeavors that hold the possibility of transforming into corporate social responsibility initiatives. The present study investigates the correlation between the initial amount of funds raised on the first day of a fundraising campaign and the target amount of funds sought by the fundraiser, as well as the type of activities involved. The present study utilizes data derived from crowdfunding endeavors in Southeast Asian nations to scrutinize the funds amassed through donations by juxtaposing trends, cultures, and characteristics of fundraisers employing donation-based crowdfunding. The present investigation employs data collected between the period spanning from the beginning of September 2021 to the end of September 2021 in the economies of Southeast Asia, including Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines. The present investigation utilizes the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach for the estimation of the variables. The findings of the hypothesis indicate that there exists a positive correlation between crowdfunding, environmental nonprofit organizations, organizational profitability, and CSR.

소구 유형과 그래픽 표현 일치가 온라인 크라우드펀딩에 미치는 영향

Social media-mediated online crowdfunding campaigns are an effective way to help nonprofit organizations raise funds. The purpose of this study is to design persuasive online fundraising messages to convince potential supporters to participate in online crowdfunding campaigns. The research methodology is as follows. First, an examination of online crowdfunding theory. Second, the components of online crowdfunding messages are analyzed. Third,the visual characteristics of existing online crowdfunding messages are analyzed to design messages for nonprofit environmental organizations. Finally, to verify the persuasive effect of matched online crowdfunding messages. SPSS26.0 data analysis software was used to compare the differences in persuasive effects of the four design options. The results showed that the desired persuasive effect could be obtained when the appeal type and graphic expression were consistent. Specifically, online crowdfunding messages consisting of emotional and visual graphics, rational and metaphorical graphics were likely to persuade potential sponsors to participate in the donation. This study is important in helping nonprofit environmental organizations to successfully raise funds for their campaigns through online crowdfunding, as they are committed to public service.

ICT environmentalism and the sustainability game

Abstract Over the past three decades, corporate branding has trended strongly towards environmental conscientiousness and green rhetoric, often heralded under the term “sustainability” – a broad and mutable rhetorical strategy that not only serves industry self-interest but is mobilized by civil society actors as well. This tension is especially apparent in the information communication technologies (ICT) sector. Employing Wittgenstein’s concept of the language-game, this article describes how sustainability has been deployed by tech companies, and how these efforts have also been contested – and strategically mobilized – by activist environmental non-profits and critical scholars seeking to reform tech sector practices. Combining environmental communication, political economy, and discourse analysis, we investigate the conceptualization and communication of sustainability as a discourse within and against the sector.

Impacts of Systems Thinking on Mission When Environmental Nonprofit Organizations Encounter the Complex Systems Problem of Homelessness.

The article examines how nonprofit organization staff navigate organizational mission as they encounter complex systems problems outside their area of expertise, focusing on environmental organizations encountering homelessness in river watersheds. Drawing on surveys from seventy-three individuals from forty-three organizations and interviews with seventeen nonprofit staff, I find that staff who demonstrate systems thinking are more likely to describe integrating complex systems problems into their mission and activities in meaningful ways. Not interacting with systems issues due to lack of skill is most often explained with language of mission adherence and avoiding mission drift.

Shoreline Management and Coastal Resilience in Virginia: Analysis of the Roles of Environmental Nonprofit Organizations in Encouraging Living Shorelines

Coastal erosion and shoreline retreat can be offset by responsible shoreline management through nature-based solutions such as living shorelines. This study describes five roles played by environmental nonprofit organizations in shoreline management and coastal resilience in Virginia by illustrating how these nonprofits support and encourage living shorelines. The five key roles played by environmental nonprofits are: (1) public education about living shorelines, (2) advocacy for living shorelines, (3) technical assistance to design and install living shoreline projects, (4) training for professionals to increase capacity for living shoreline projects, and (5) access to funding. The government regulatory framework primarily addresses the permitting process, leaving it to nonprofit organizations to fulfill various roles beyond the actual permitting process. The implications of greater involvement by the nonprofit sector in shoreline management that encourages and supports living shorelines are discussed.

Nonprofit Sector Size and the Breadth of Local Government Climate Actions: Exploring the Moderating Role of Collaboration

Existing studies often use the association between sector sizes to test the supplementary and complementary models of government–nonprofit relations, assuming that one mode of government–nonprofit relations dominates a policy subsector. We challenge this assumption and propose that the relationship between nonprofit sector size and the breadth of local government policy actions depends on their level of collaboration. Situated in the context of urban climate governance and drawing information from a national survey of U.S. local government climate actions, we test this modified model and find a statistically significant moderation effect of collaboration. However, contrary to our proposed hypotheses, our findings suggest that a positive association between the number of environmental nonprofits and governmental climate actions exists when the level of government–nonprofit collaboration is low to moderate. We posit that the adversarial lens of government–nonprofit relations and the cost of collaboration are key to understanding these surprising findings.

Characteristics of Large Environmental Nonprofits That Identify Climate Change and Social Justice as Focal Concerns

This article examines the uptake of social justice and climate change as focal issues among the largest U.S. environmental nonprofits. We use 2016 Internal Revenue Service (IRS) filings to identify 5,413 large environmental nonprofits of which 8% attend to issues of climate and 10% to issues of social justice. Larger organizations are more likely to attend to issues of climate change and social justice, as are groups founded more recently. Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) topic modeling of organizational mission statements and descriptions of major activities is used to assign groups to six distinct issue categories. Results highlight the divide between wildlife groups that are decidedly unlikely to attend to issues of either climate or justice, and the rest of the national environmental movement. Energy and natural resource groups, while strongly vested in climate issues, rarely attend to social justice. These findings have clear implications for climate and justice advocates seeking change in the environmental advocacy sector.

The Central Arctic Ocean fisheries moratorium: A rare example of the precautionary principle in fisheries management

AbstractOn 25 June 2021, a historic fisheries Agreement entered into force: The Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean (CAO). Nine countries and the European Union agreed to refrain from any commercial fishing in the CAO and to jointly undertake a scientific effort to understand ecosystem dynamics, including fish populations. This was the first multilateral Agreement to take a legally binding, precautionary approach to protect an area from commercial fishingbeforefishing had begun. The Agreement is a textbook example of the precautionary principle as it works to take “preventive action in the face of uncertainty.” However, despite the precautionary principle’s popularity with natural resource academics, it is rare for countries to forego economic benefits and to adopt this approach in managing resources. So, what made this Agreement possible? And what can we learn from this Agreement that could provide guidance on other resource management challenges? This paper explores the unique conditions that made this Agreement possible and examines how success was achieved by the interrelationships of science, policy, legal structures, politics, stakeholder collaboration, and diplomacy. In summary, this paper concludes that a series of factors helped make this Agreement possible, including but not limited to: scientific breakthroughs coupled with science-based legal frameworks; proactive partnerships between industry, environmental non-profits, and government; willingness of international stakeholders to learn from prior mistakes; and a nation willing to be the first-mover in foregoing future economic profits within their own Exclusive Economic Zone to order to benefit ecosystems beyond their waters.

The Effect of Governance on Donations: Evidence from Brazilian Environmental Nonprofit Organizations

The Effect of Governance on Donations: Evidence from Brazilian Environmental Nonprofit Organizations

Safe Space Commitment

Many cities around the world are taking steps to celebrate urban nature and move toward more sustainable living. As we progress, there is increasing focus on environmental initiatives and on intersecting with Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and other marginalized communities. Because of the long history of racism in the conservation and environmental movements, BIPOC communities have often been excluded from working in environmental science, ecology, and related fields. According to one survey of more than 200 environmental nonprofits, government agencies, and funders, “People of color are 36% of the US population and comprise 29% of the science and engineering workforce but they do not exceed 16% of the staff in any of the organizations surveyed” (Green 2.0, 2021). Absent changes in the latter percentages, environmental organizations cannot effectively address many of the urban environmental issues they face without input from, and connection with, these communities.

The Role of Gender, Race/Ethnicity, and Other Factors in Influencing Top Executive Compensation in American Environmental Nonprofits

The article reports the findings of a pathbreaking national study that examines executive compensation in American environmental nonprofits. This article seeks to accomplish two goals: (1) examine the gender disparities in the pay of chief executive officers (CEOs), executive directors, and presidents in environmental organizations; and (2) analyze the ethnic/racial differences in the wages of the top executive in said nonprofits. The study uses financial information from Internal Revenue Service Form 990 to examine top executive salaries in 2,703 organizations. The author collected data from tax forms filed between 2018 and 2020. The article examines how gender and race/ethnicity are associated with compensation. It also analyzes how region, organizational type, urbanization, organizational revenue, staff size, the board size, the receipt of bonuses and incentives, the size of the bonuses/incentives, and the size of the base wages are related to overall compensation. Men occupied 51.2% (1,383) and women 48.8% (1,320) of the top executive positions in the organizations studied. Whites dominate the CEO position, that is, 92% or 2,488 of the CEOs were White, and 8% (215) were people of color. The study found significant gender pay gaps. While the median compensation for men was $117,468, it was $88,568.50 for women. Hence, women CEOs earned 75.4% of what men were paid. There was also an ethnic/racial pay gap. The study found that White CEOs earned a median income of $102,801. The median wage for Asian CEOs was 97.6%, Black CEOs was 96%, Latinx CEOs was 80.8%, and Native American CEOs was 73.4% of what White CEOs earned. White men obtained the highest median compensation of all gender, and racial/ethnic groups studied. The total compensation also varied by region, organizational revenues, organizational type, level of urbanization, staff size, board size, receipt of bonuses and incentives, the size of bonuses/incentives, and size of base wages. The size of the organization’s revenue, whether a CEO received bonuses/incentives, region, the CEO’s race/ethnicity, the CEO’s gender, and size of the staff were significant factors in the multivariate regression model.

The Power of Emotional Appeal in Motivating Behaviors to Mitigate Climate Change among Generation Z

ABSTRACT This study examines how emotionally evocative viral videos on climate change may promote Generation Z’s actions addressing climate change. Through an online survey of 583 participants, this study provides empirical evidence supporting the conceptual framework incorporating problem recognition, involvement recognition, and motivation mediators to understand the mechanism underlying the effects of emotions on advocacy behaviors from passive information seeking, to proactive willingness to speak out, and willingness to alter behavior to mitigate climate change. Results of the study provide guidelines for environmental nonprofit organizations and advocacy groups on how to educate Generation Z on the climate change issue and engage this young generation to mitigate climate change.

State of Disaster: A Historical Geography of Louisiana’s Land Loss Crisis by Craig E. Colten

<i>State of Disaster: A Historical Geography of Louisiana’s Land Loss Crisis</i> by Craig E. Colten

Investing in monarch conservation: understanding private funding dynamics

Non-profit environmental organizations (NGOs) rely heavily on external donors to fulfill their mandates. However, forecasting donations for long-term planning is an elusive task at best. The non-compulsory nature of donation requires NGOs to understand how donors’ attention and funding allocations change over time as conservation scenarios change and incorporate these insights into their budgeting plans. We hypothesize that an NGO can hinder its capacity to reach its conservation goals by neglecting its donor-NGO-natural system (DNNS), which is reactive to the socio-ecological context. To test our hypothesis, we compared the ecological outcomes derived from a budgeting strategy assuming donors have a fixed willingness to pay throughout the program (open-loop) against the reality that donor preferences change over time (closed-loop) based on the evolving ecological context, partly driven by the program’s actions. Our analysis was performed using two different willingness to pay (WTP) behavioural models, one representing donors informed about the success of the program supported (GPI), and another without such information (GPI), evidencing how the underlying assumptions about the target donors can radically change the organization’s fundraising strategy. Next, we used our closed-loop approach to estimate NGO’s optimal yearly donation requests to achieve a conservation target. Finally, we tested the consequences of presuming an incorrect WTP behavioural model while estimating optimal yearly donation requests by applying the optimization results from the previous step into a model parameterized with a different behavioural model. Our model was created by coupling a discrete choice experiment (DCE) and a systems dynamics model, developing a coupled social-ecological model of the eastern Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus), a charismatic long-distant migrant butterfly that has dwindled in numbers across North America mainly due to the increases in GMO agriculture. Our results showed a significant difference in donations received and ecological outcome forecasted by an open-loop model and the actual numbers obtained by the more real-life, closed-loop model, highlighting the importance of accounting for human behaviour during the planning phase of a long-term conservation strategy. Next, when we used our closed-loop to estimate optimal donation requests, the conservation objectives and funds raised were consistently and efficiently achieved, regardless of the underlying behavioural WTP model. We also designed novel visual tools from the behaviour WTP model exploration to bridge the gap between science insights obtained from DCEs and decision-making. However, when we used closed-loop optimal donation requests obtained from one WTP behaviour model into a simulation parameterized with different WTP behavioural models, considerable ecological and financial targets deviations arose. These deviations highlight the importance of acknowledging the dynamic nature of donor’s behaviour and the need to thoroughly characterize such behaviour. Finally, we introduce a novel forecasting tool that conservation managers will have at their disposal to improve the accuracy of their budget forecasting and, ultimately, increase the program’s success rate.

Between the Public and the Private Interest: The Interrelationship of Intermediary Roles of Environmental Nonprofits in Coastal Resilience

Government regulators cannot mitigate the loss of wetlands and coastal erosion alone. Nonprofits, uniquely situated between coastal property owners with personal interests and governments with regulatory interests, are positioned to mediate the interests of different parties while considering local context and individual circumstances. However, it is unclear what roles environmental nonprofits play within the network of actors. This study asks: (1) What roles do environmental nonprofit organizations play in local stakeholder network arrangements for wetlands conservation and shoreline management? (2) How are these roles interrelated? We use two frameworks describing the roles of nonprofits to examine the roles of environmental nonprofits within the network of actors that seek to mitigate loss of wetlands and coastal erosion by focusing on living shorelines as shoreline management solutions utilizing natural and nature-based features. We show how these roles are interrelated to provide context for how government can leverage nonprofits in achieving regulatory outcomes.

The Significance of 501(c) Status Among Environmental Nonprofits Engaged in Oil and Gas Policy Debates

This paper examines the advocacy activities of 30 environmental nonprofits engaged in oil and gas policy debates. Because 501(c)(3) organizations are restricted or prohibited from engaging in certain types of advocacy, the literature typically considers 501(c)(3) organizations service providers and 501(c)(4)s advocacy organizations. This study looks at whether this dichotomy holds among a group of organizations that actively advocates and examines the implications of 501(c) status. Data come from surveys of organizations active in hydraulic fracturing policy debates, along with organizations’ Form 990s and websites. Results obtained through statistical analyses and qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) indicate that the environmental nonprofits actively advocate and report doing so relatively effectively. Furthermore, this research uncovers new patterns in advocacy tactics and the organizations that use them by analyzing advocacy participation and effectiveness separately and through QCA.

Relational Communication as a Partnership-Building Tool for Environmental Nonprofits

ABSTRACT Environmental nonprofits (ENPOs) play vital roles in addressing environmental problems. To succeed, ENPOs must be adept at developing and maintaining successful partnerships with businesses, government agencies, and other NPOs. Even though evidence suggests ENPOs rely on these partnerships more than NPOs in other cause areas, however, relatively few empirical studies have focused on how they find success. This study explored what types of partnerships are common, what contributes to perceived success, and what communication tools ENPOs rely on. In addition to providing important descriptive information about the partners ENPOs value most, the results revealed that perceived success was closely linked to relational framing of conversations between partners, but not organizational features or homophily. Implications for ENPOs and future studies of NPO partnerships are discussed.

Perceived Organizational Support and Volunteer Outcomes: Evidence From a German Environmental Nonprofit Organization

While research on organizational aspects designed to enhance volunteer attitudes has grown over time, we still lack knowledge on the mechanisms that explain these relationships and are specific to the volunteering context. In the present study, we draw on social identity theory to explore how two organizational characteristics relating to a nonprofit organization’s (NPO) nature (volunteers’ organizational vision acceptance) and nurture (volunteers’ perception of organizational support) interact to promote volunteers’ engagement and retention. Findings from a survey of 1,355 volunteers in a German environmental NPO show that the relationship between perceived organizational support and both volunteer outcomes is mediated by organizational identification and moderated by volunteers’ acceptance of organizational vision. We contribute to research on the professionalization of volunteer management by highlighting the importance of volunteers’ acceptance of their NPO’s vision for their engagement and intention to leave.

The effect of deliberate ignorance and choice procedure on pro-environmental decisions

When people are given the opportunity to avoid unpleasant information about the possible negative consequences of their self-interested behavior on others, a significant number of people tend to avoid this information. Consequently, the choice to remain ignorant to the negative implications of one's actions has been shown to substantially reduce prosocial behavior when compared to situations in which people are aware of these consequences. Recent studies question the role of deliberate ignorance in environmental contexts. Participants did not avoid information regarding the negative consequence of their choices on a pro-environmental organization. In addition, the option to remain ignorant of this information did not affect their proenvironmental behavior. We argue that the procedure that should be followed in order to remain ignorant plays a critical role in shaping this decision. We employ a binary dictator game where the recipient is a nonprofit environmental organization, and manipulate the procedure that dictators have to follow to remain ignorant of the recipient's payment. We find a significant effect of the applied procedure on both the tendency to remain ignorant and the subsequent pro-environmental behavior.