The value of technology affordances to improve the management of nonprofit organizations

Information and communication technology and nonprofit organizations

Nonprofit organizations have been structured as an important research field in recent years due to their role in social development and in the demands not fulfilled by the government (Sales and Silva, 2015). The growth of these organizations in civil society has been increasingly demanding their professionalization, use of different management tools and application of technology. To understand how ICT has been applied by nonprofit organizations and how research has been addressing this issue, a search for publications that use the expressions “ICT” and “nonprofit” was conducted. We surveyed not only journals specialized in the third sector but also major journals publishing studies on the ICT area. We found 89 articles. After the reading of the abstracts, 44 articles were eliminated because they did not mention ICT and nonprofit organizations. From those 45, 17 were eliminated because although they mentioned the two topics, they did not directly address the relationship between ICT and nonprofit organizations. The remaining 28 papers were deeply reviewed and consolidated in Table I.

Based on this review, it was possible to observe that the use of ICT in the nonprofit sector is a novel theme, emerging just recently in the 1990s. This decade was the period in which studies on this sector in Brazil were intensified (Sales and Silva, 2015). The papers reviewed also indicated that investigations have been scattered over time, as in the past five years, only eight studies have been highlighted. Despite the social relevance of nonprofit organizations and the fact that ICT has being configured as an essential tool for their development and innovation, few systematic studies that reinforce the use and results achieved by these organizations from the use of ICT have been found (Senne and Barbosa, 2015).

The studies listed in Table I mention a variety of technologies, going from internet-based application to phone systems. They also suggest a variety of organizational types, including humanitarian, social, religious, philanthropic, charitable, cultural, educational, scientific and environmental issues, among others (Sales and Silva, 2015). Despite such a diversity, no robust theoretical and methodological approaches were identified. Most studies lack a clear conceptual point of view (Duncombe and Boateng, 2009). In addition to the theoretical weaknesses of this field, the practice reveals little attention given by ICT professionals to nonprofit organizations. Technologies purposively designed to meet the needs of this sector are practically inexistent in the market (Popjoy, 1992). The fact that nonprofit organizations are not adequately targeted by the ICT industry combined to the lack of academic studies reinforce the relevance of our research topic.

In line with Sales and Silva (2015), we argue that ICT has the potential to enable greater efficiency and sustainability for nonprofit organizations. They can bring more transparency in the relationship among nonprofit, civil society and government, and transparency is recognized as crucial social demand (Vaccaro and Madsen, 2009; Tremblay-Boire and Prakash, 2015). The internet has been used as a strategic tool to promote accounting transparency, accountability and provision of information to groups interested in the nonprofit sector (Rodríguez Pérez and Godoy, 2012, 2015).

The ICT-enabled connectivity has changed the relationship between nonprofit organizations and different actors, influencing roles and social responsibilities of organizations (Ashta, 2009). Digital technologies have transformed communication and helped empower groups and communities, providing new opportunities and ways to impact society (Fryer and Granger, 2008). These authors emphasize that communication enables the participation of more citizens, the exchange of ideas and the development of collaborative and collective action. ICT has an important role in expanding the possibilities for interaction and association, allowing information to be disseminated more broadly across organizational boundaries (Lee, 2010). Networking and association with other nonprofit organizations is one of the potentialities of ICT use, assisting in the development and internationalization of innumerable nonprofit organizations (Lee, 2010; Burt and Taylor, 2003). Therefore, ICT can make nonprofit organizations expand their areas and venues of action. ICT help to achieve the organizational mission and consolidate the values of the organizations through new approaches and action strategies (Burt and Taylor, 2003; Te’eni and Young, 2003; Brainard and Brinkerhoff, 2004; Saidel and Cour, 2003).

Nonprofit organizations have been migrating from a hierarchical and centralized communication style in traditional websites to communication in decentralized networks (Eimhjellen et al., 2014). Online communication tools and social media enable a direct involvement between the organization and its public, allowing to build communities and to collaborate, to raise funds and to deliver services (Zort et al., 2013; Tremblay-Boire and Prakash, 2015). Websites and communication technologies and social media using dynamic content reinforce the values of these organizations, spread their objectives, promote engagement and mobilize people and resources for a collective action (Zort et al., 2013; Eimhjellen et al., 2014). In addition to communication and information sharing, ICT also assists in the administrative management of these organizations, facilitating the coordination of schedules and activities (Saab et al., 2013). Technological tools support financial management through budget control and increase organization visibility, influencing its access to funding sources and to resources (Berlinger and Te’eni, 1999; Tremblay-Boire and Prakash, 2015). Berlinger and Te’eni (1999) indicate the existence of ICT tools that assist management and administrative functions as well as those that assist in achieving an organizational objective, such as online discussion groups and communication tools.

Access of nonprofit organizations to ICT does not necessarily imply their effective use (Fryer abd Granger, 2008), as there are some barriers that prevent the effectiveness of the application of technological tools in nonprofit organizations. Eimhjellen et al. (2014) emphasize several aspects, such as the size of the organization, inertia, structure, age, resources and guidance that interfere with technology use. Size (e.g. the number of volunteers) and complexity are frequent barriers in such a manner that smaller organizations have more difficulty in implementing technological solutions (Rodríguez et al., 2012).

Nonprofit organizations have a very specific mission focused on social demands (Sales and Silva, 2015). The orientation and characteristics of these businesses are identified as an inhibitor of technology application because of the difficulty in finding tools that focus on these issues (Berlinger and Te’eni, 1999; Burt and Taylor, 2003; Eimhjellen et al., 2014). Lack of resources and funding sources, sometimes from public funds, are obvious barriers to the constant updating and consolidation of technology use (Finn et al., 2006; Fryer and Granger, 2008; Zort et al., 2013). Besides these factors, Eimhjellen et al. (2014) highlight that the difficulty in controlling organizational boundaries are seen as a possible reason of why the social media of nonprofit organizations are not as present as their websites. Zort et al. (2013) appoint the lack of usefulness perception of the artifacts as barriers to effective technology in nonprofit organizations.

The workforce profile made up by employees and volunteers may also restrict the application of technology. Studies highlight some features as technology barriers, namely, reduced work staff and lack of training, experience, skills and knowledge necessary for the handling of artifacts (Popjoy, 1992; Burt and Taylor, 2000; Schneider, 2003; Finn et al., 2006). Due to reduced budget, a great number of nonprofit organizations have difficulty retaining talent with the skills needed for ICT implementation and use, influencing the level of professionalization of these organizations (Saidel and Cour, 2003). The aspects aforementioned indicate that there are differences among nonprofit organizations regarding the potentiality and objectives of technology allocation, as well as the results achieved through these artifacts.

Affordance theory, a theoretical lens to understand the potential of information and communication technology for nonprofit organizations

Technology affordances refer to the array of potential uses enabled by ICT artifacts (Markus and Silver, 2008). The concept of affordances has been incorporated into ICT literature and permeates the relationship between technology and organization (Zammuto et al., 2007). The potential emanating from technological artifacts comes from behavior-oriented goals of people that use such artifacts that become concrete actions (Strong et al., 2014). Affordances emerge from the interrelationship between the characteristics of the technology and the actors or groups of actors (Markus and Silver, 2008). In this research, this relation is observed at organizational level and not individual level, according to Zammuto et al. (2007).

The affordance lens considers reciprocity between the action taken in given organizational context and the capabilities of the technology (Majchrzak et al., 2013), going beyond the technology functionality and recognizing the artifact as a social object (Zammuto et al., 2007). The affordance theory is useful to understand the imbrication of human and material agencies because they are interdependent phenomena. Leonardi (2011) points out that affordances are not a property of the actors or the artifacts, but made from the relationship between them.

Strong et al. (2014) present an explanatory model of the affordances, highlighting the effectiveness of the goals that guide human action from technology and achievement of concrete results. The theory shows the study of the technology associated with organizational change, thus providing a view on the role of technology and organization in the process of change. Affordance actualization involves human action, reinforcing that an affordance can exist for one group or organization and may not exist for another (Leonardi, 2011; Strong et al., 2014.). Actualization occurs when affordances are used toward achieving organizational goals using technology (Volkoff and Strong, 2013; Strong et al., 2014). The affordances reinforce the view on goals that guide the actions, showing a dynamic process by which the results are achieved, identifying the potential value of technology and challenges associated with different actions (Strong et al., 2014).

Technologies differ in terms of potential action based on the context in which they are used, as an artifact can produce multiple results (Leonardi, 2011). Affordances are not always identifiable a priori, although they are easily observable when the technology application context is understood (Leonardi and Barley (2008). Strong et al. (2014) highlight the need to expand studies that observe technology from the lens of affordances, directing the focus to other organizational contexts such as nonprofit organizations, which are object of this research. Zammuto et al. (2007) emphasize that affordances depend on the capabilities of technology and on organizational aspects such as processes, controls, social capabilities and expertise, in such a manner that the organizational characteristics of nonprofit organizations reinforce the importance of understanding the potential of technology.

Although the characteristics of a given technology are common to different organizations and contexts, the affordances are not (Leonardi, 2011). There are factors that constrain or enable affordances, aspects dealt with in the previous section as barriers. These restrictions indicate that the existence of affordance does not guarantee its achievement or the accomplishment of the objective that guides the relationship between action and technology (Leonardi, 2011; Goh et al., 2011). The organizational social dynamics presents effectiveness on technology, which reinforces that similar technologies in different contexts may have diversified affordances (Leonardi and Barley, 2008).

Nonprofit organizations differ from other organizations not only in their social and material settings but also in the opportunities of changes, reinforcing that the goal which guides the actions in these organizations is social change. Strong et al. (2014) indicate that affordance lens is a new and not fully developed reflection that opens a great number of new research methods. However, affordances highlighted by the authors are specific to the investigated case, indicating that the organizational specificities that support or restrict the actualization of the technology potentialities must be considered. The adequacy of the affordance actualization model for other organizational contexts – nonprofit organizations (Figure 1), and the investigation of barriers that limit the achievement of affordances are research proposals presented by Strong et al. (2014).

The literature on technology in nonprofit organizations presents the potentialities of these artifacts arising from the social aspects and technological elements of these organizations. The observed affordances were classified into four categories (Table II), wherein each category has a series of sub-categories that comprise diverse potential applications of ICT in nonprofit organizations.

The category “coordination” includes the management of organization activities and its working environment, highlighting the integration between different areas and projects. “Networking” is related to the association of the organization with its partners, providing structure and joint performance work, which in some cases involves participation in international organizations. The affordances of “communication, mobilization and advocacy” involve the potentiality of technology for the organization to mobilize people in support of its objective and to communicate with different audiences, bringing together those who can be helped or participate in the actions. “Access to different resources and funding programs” involve an important affordance category linked to organizational sustainability. All those categories of affordances seem to support the achievement of the organizational objectives, helping the nonprofit organizations to cope with their social mission.

The affordances of technology, observed from studies on nonprofit organizations, permit the identification of different benefits of ICT for these organizations such as access to financial, human and material resources; improvements in the work organization; organizational transparency to different audiences; and learning and organizational development among others. However, these benefits are not always accessible to organizations because there are factors that can limit the actualization of the technology potentiality. These barriers were categorized into four groups (Table III): lack of resources, workforce profile, organizational structure and specificity of the mission and organizational complexity.

One of the main categories of restrictions to perform the affordances of technology is the difficulty in accessing technological, material, human and financial resources. The workforce profile highlights the lack of people with expertise in technology and aspects such as turnover and difficulty of these organizations in retaining talent. Organizational structures and traditional hierarchy may have more difficulty in effecting technology potentiality more than horizontal organizations. Finally, the mission of nonprofit organizations has as consequence of different business logic, to a degree that in some situations, these characteristics restrict the application of ICT and the full use of its potential.

Affordances of technology in Brazilian nonprofit organizations

The six cases indicated different potential uses of technology and different levels of ICT application. From each case, an analytic table was built based on the elements investigated by Strong et al. (2014). This analysis extends the aspects observed by the authors, incorporating the barriers of the affordance actualization. We identified the category and the subcategory of affordance, the technology features, the organizational features in terms of skills and abilities to use ICT, quotations that illustrate the concept of affordance technology, which was evidenced by the respondents, the technology in practice, observing how it is actually used by the organization, the organizational goals to be achieved through the application of technology, and the barriers that restrict the potential of ICT in being effective. Appendix 1 shows one example of an analytical table, the one of the Culture Case. The same analysis was conducted for the other five cases. For reasons of length, we cannot include all the six tables in this paper.

We compared the results of each individual case – a cross-case analytical process – but we did not identify some significant differences between the cases. Because the in-depth comparative analysis was not the aim of this study, we decided not to emphasize the comparisons. On the other hand, the individual analysis of each case – a within-case analytical process – allowed us to identify the contextual character of affordances, in a manner that the specificities of each organization made the affordances observed in a specific reality not always present in other situations. However, not every potentiality denoted by the literature was present in the investigated contexts, in addition to new affordances arising from the survey data. The analysis of the six cases highlighted the affordances of technology that emerged from the research data (Table V).

The “coordination” category focused on the management and internal communication of the organization (Zorn et al., 2011). The technology makes the coordination of the work and projects possible, in addition to easing the work of the team, allowing people to develop their activities remotely in an integrated manner with other members of the organization (Lee, 2010). In addition to these aspects reported in the literature, the results pointed to an organizational and informational integration, the construction of the memory of the organization, dynamism and agility in the execution of work as new categories of affordances of ICT for the nonprofit organizations.

Technology showed potential in reconfiguring relations with partners and sharing knowledge with others organizations, providing “networking formation.” In the investigated cases, ICT has an important role to promote associations and to exchange experiences and projects reinforcing the ideas presented by Zort et al. (2013).

“Communication and mobilization” involve affordances linked to interactions with external stakeholders to promote and publicize the organization, its activities and actions (Brainard and Brinkerhoff, 2004; Eimhjellen et al., 2014; Tremblay-Boire and Prakash, 2015). Results indicated new potentialities of technology that involve issues such as responsiveness, recognition and proximity to the public. Technology has been essential in the management of relations and communication processes of nonprofit organizations. Social media allows communication processes to be built collectively with the participation of external agents, forming a way to impact society and empower groups and communities. Communicating and mobilizing people have become quite important for nonprofit organizations to a point that in some cases they are essential to complete the mission of the organization.

The action of “advocacy,” based on theoretical reflections, was grouped with the communication and mobilization category. However, advocacy has been appointed as a mission for some of the cases investigated (law, gender and equality), and it is not considered a category of affordances. Therefore, involving communication processes, the potentiality of technology for the practice of influencing decision-making processes (lobby) and gain public opinion in support of a cause is considered a tool for achievement of the organizational mission.

Nonprofit organizations have donations from the private sector and participation in government programs as the main sources of funding. This feature has been identified in the investigated cases, in a manner that it reinforced the ICT potential in expanding “access to these resources,” as in addition to the notices published on the internet, technology can assist in conducting campaigns (Alexander, 2000; Saab et al., 2013).

Resource use transparency helps nonprofit organizations in the relationship with their funding agencies, and technological artifacts have helped in the accountability processes. In the investigated cases, the technology is highlighted as an effective control tool. However, it does not consolidate itself as a resource to strengthen organizational transparency. In the analyzed contexts, the use of technology for accountability is not consolidate. The managers did not perceive this important technology affordance. Non-profit organizations operate with public resources to achieve results for society. In this way, although the technology could be seen as a governance mechanism, our results suggest that it has not been used for this purpose.

The mission of the nonprofit organizations investigated is linked to social change, which can be made in different ways, such as educational activities (seminars, training and courses), publication of information materials and dissemination of knowledge, awareness, discussion, social groups mobilization and advocacy of the causes defended. All these actions can be performed through technologies and online platforms. All the previous affordances of technology are important for the achievement of the organizational mission. In the cases investigated, technologies were considered essential to achieve organizational goals. As ICT potentialities, respondents indicated that technology has permitted the identification of new demands in society, providing these organizations to expand their work through new approaches to reach new audiences and areas of activity. Results pointed to affordances that reinforce the role of technological artifacts to consolidate the organization and its results.

However, in some organizations, the observed affordances do not become effective in their fullness. This occurs because despite the identified ICT potential, there are restrictions or constraints that hinder the achievement of objectives through technology (Leonardi, 2011; Goh et al., 2011). The limiting factors were called barriers to the achievement of affordances. Table VI presents the barriers that emerged from the six cases, which were classified into four groups.

The lack of resources is one of the main difficulties faced by nonprofit organizations to achieve their objectives through ICT. All organizations indicated that the public official announcements and public and private funding programs have rules that limit the use of resources, which should be directed almost exclusively for the business purposes of the projects. These restrictions have hampered investment in technology.

As reduced budgets, which are often from donations, are insufficient to invest in technology and enable people, some organizations have obsolete equipment and outdated technology. In the interviews, the respondents have indicated the type and the time of use of the existing technologies in the organizations. This allowed us to understand the lack of adequate technologies for the development of organizational activities. The difficulty in having financial resources pressures some organizations into not purchasing specialized technological artifacts to expand communication activities and instrumentalize financial management. Still, there are very few tools specifically designed for the particularities of the management of nonprofit organizations, being too expensive for these organizations.

The lack of financial resources has reflected in the team profile because some organizations have difficulty in hiring skilled professionals to implement the potentialities of ICT. The behavioral profile of the team has also reflected in actualizing the affordances of ICT, as in some cases, resistance of people against technologies, learning difficulties and problems on how to appropriately handle artifacts.

The investigated organizations presented teams with members from different generations, leading to differences in knowledge across the usefulness and application of technology as well as difficulties in terms of adaptation. In addition to the differences in age, teams are also heterogeneous because they are formed up of contractors and volunteers. As we know, volunteers in many cases work in the organization not for their professional profile, but because of their engagement with its cause.

Managers have a strong relationship with the mission of the organization, although not necessarily technical management skills. Some managers are unaware of the utility of various technological tools and as a result do not encourage investment in technology. Some nonprofit organizations are thought to operate offline, creating problems with the technical staff that value the use and potentialities of technological devices.

In many nonprofit organizations, there is no strategic thinking driving its performance, which may be related to the specificity of the mission focused on humanitarian and social causes. This feature brings a complexity in terms of directing these organizations with the help of technological tools. In addition, a great number of organizations fail to take advantage of the potentiality of ICT due to the lack of access to technology by the public helped by their actions.

Therefore, results showed great potentiality of technology to support the actions of nonprofit organizations as a tool to achieve their mission. However, some factors were highlighted as challenges for the management of these organizations because they can restrict or disable the achievement of results and technology affordances.