Women Leaders and Management of Public Relations in Nonprofit Organizations

IntroductionPublic relations are one of the most important aspects for any nonprofit organizations. Due to the nature of nonprofit organizations and their dependence on various sources for funding, maintaining public relations is one of the most important functions for leadership. It is even more vital in the today's times when there are so many challenges facing the nonprofit sector. There are demands to develop strategies and new management practices (Papadimitriou, 2007) for nonprofit organizations in the era of increasing collaborations. Collaborations are welcomed more than ever from the for-profit sector. This switch is a result of the for-profit sector's corporate social responsibility movement that embraces the strategic management philosophy to shape the nonmarket environment (Bach & Allen, 2010). Also, in the times of tight economic environment, several nonprofit organizations compete for the same pool of resources including government funding. Therefore nonprofit organizations should seek out, cultivate, and sustain relationships. This ability to develop and sustain meaningful public relationships is a core component in a nonprofit's ability to survive; relationships take many different forms, with many different types of stakeholders. Relationships are established with government agencies, other nonprofits, international organizations, foundations, corporations, and individuals, many of which are developed through community relations. Community relations are established to create a sense of togetherness, promote transparency, are carried out in a multiplex environment, and, most importantly, are dialogic (Banks, 2000). Therefore, it is essential that leaders of nonprofits serve as dialogic leaders with superior public relations skills. This would be even more important if the organization does not have a public relations professional. Unfortunately, the role of public relations in nonprofit organizations is not well developed. There is a lack of studies that provide insights about leaders of nonprofit organizations and their involvement in public relations. This paper seeks to enhance the literature on nonprofit leadership and public relations, additionally; this study examines public relations from the viewpoint of women leaders of nonprofit organizations. The objective of the study is to understand how women leaders of nonprofit organizations play role in public relations for their organizations.To achieve this objective, first I present literature review that discusses public relations in the nonprofit organizations in general and role of leadership in specific. Next, information about the method of the study is presented. Then, findings of the study are presented that are followed by discussion section. Finally, the research is concluded.Literature ReviewResearch on the role of women as leaders of nonprofit organizations is scarce (Themudo, 2009) and role of women leaders in the public relations for the nonprofit organization is even more limited. Organizations in the nonprofit sector traditionally lack resources; therefore, many nonprofits do not have the ability to hire a professional public relations expert. In looking just at media publicity, an element of public relations, Jacobs and Glass (2002) found among 739 nonprofit organizations in New York City that the probability of getting media publicity increased by having a public relations professional, a well-developed information infrastructure, and money. Therefore leaders of the nonprofit organizations might bear the responsibility of public relations for their organizations. The nature of the work of leader, regardless of sector, requires acting as the role model for the organization. For example, being a leader, being visionary or information barrier, being the decisive decision maker, serving as manager to supervise an oranization's operations, and being a board developer (Wibowo & Kleiner, 2005). "It's important to realize that leaders have the opportunity to shape the strategic plan, to engage in advocacy/public relations, to act as spokesperson, to motivate, to make crucial fiscal decisions, to build connection with different stakeholders, to set examples, and to shape organizational culture" (Ahmed, 2005, p. …