The non-profit organization : communicating the mission : a comparative study : Dar tal-Providenza & Malta Community Chest Fund

Abstract

The object of my study was to conduct a communications audit. I wished to examine the external communications process at present being adopted by two non-profit organizations, the Malta Community Chest Fund and Dar tal- Providenza, and to assess their current relationship with the general public. The study begins with an analysis of literature by British and American authors on the third sector in general, then moves on to refer more specifically to the funding institution and the service delivery organization. I subsequently reviewed literature on the corporate personality and public relations. My aim was to capture variations in the roles of these two organizations, and to test the effectiveness of the messages they were sending to the public at large. I also examined literature on patterns of charity so as to identify different nuances to the term charity. I conducted interviews with past and present leaders of the Malta Community Chest Fund, and with the current director of Dar tal-Providenza. This was done in order to evaluate their respective communications strategies, with an emphasis on their method of transmitting their mission to their external publics. In addition, I wished to determine the public's perception, and to assess their knowledge on these two institutions. I intended, moreover, to delve into the psychological motives for giving and volunteering. To this end, I formulated a public opinion survey in order to carry out an investigation on a random sample of the Maltese and Gozitan general public. A statistical examination of the data brought out varying degrees of similarity between the two organizations. I was also in a position to indicate likely significant relationships with the control variables chosen. Finally, I suggested feasible research areas for future study.