This study explored how nonprofit executives in the U.S. engaged with online publics through various communication strategies. We investigated the extent to which nonprofit executives leveraged 1) digital dialogic principles, 2) social presence strategies, and 3) message tactics. In addition, this study attempted to explore how different communication strategies influenced publics’ digital engagement with nonprofit leaders. We conducted a content analysis on 700 Twitter posts from 35 nonprofit executive leaders who possess an active Twitter presence and 195 public comments. These executives led America’s largest nonprofits across a wide range of religious, educational, scientific, sports, and social welfare organizations. The results showed that nonprofit executives employed some degree of the four dialogic principles and capitalized on each of the three types of social presence strategies evenly. Regarding message function, nonprofit executives were most active in disseminating information and creating an online community. Findings regarding the associations between communication strategies and public engagement remain mixed.

本研究探讨了美国的非营利组织高管如何通过各种沟通策略与在线公众互动。我们调查了非营利组织高管利用 1) 数字对话原则、2) 社交存在策略和 3) 信息策略的程度。此外，本研究试图探讨不同的传播策略如何影响公众与非营利组织领导人的数字参与。我们对来自 35 位拥有活跃 Twitter 存在和 195 条公众评论的非营利组织执行领导人的 700 篇 Twitter 帖子进行了内容分析。这些高管领导着美国最大的非营利组织，涉及范围广泛的宗教、教育、科学、体育和社会福利组织。结果表明，非营利组织的高管在一定程度上采用了四种对话原则，并均匀地利用了三种社交存在策略中的每一种。在消息功能方面，非营利组织高管在传播信息和创建在线社区方面最为活跃。关于传播策略与公众参与之间关联的调查结果仍然喜忧参半。