Stewardship Concept Utilization on the Websites of Polish Public Benefit Organizations

Abstract

This paper aims to identify the significance of using the stewardship concept in a specific type of Polish nonprofit organization, i.e. the Public Benefit Organization (PBO). The subject of the research were the websites of the Polish Public Benefit Organizations, and the purpose was to determine the level of implementation of stewardship strategies. Having PBO status involves the possibility of using certain privileges such as the right to receive 1% of personal income tax. However, this requires from the organization the ability to acquire and maintain relations with stakeholders (including donors). The current study applies content analysis to scrutinize the relationship between implementation of the stewardship concept on their websites and certain features that characterize organizations (e.g., their size, type of business, total revenue, etc.). The stewardship concept seems to be a particularly valuable construct in the public relations process, by explicitly emphasizing the need for the cultivation of an everlasting relationship with stakeholders. Therefore, this article explores the degree of application of the stewardship concept in Polish public benefit organizations, as well as the dependence between specific features of these organizations and the intensity of the stewardship concept application. The results have revealed a statistical relationship between the size of a PBO and the implementation of the stewardship concept (the size was identified by the level of total annual revenue, receiving 1% of personal income tax and the number of employees). However, the research suggests that the type of PBO activity does not affect the implementation of the stewardship concept.

Keywords

• public benefit organization
• stewardship concept
• relationship