Crisis communication and nonprofit public relations: A mixed-methods investigation

The crisis response strategy an organization uses influences its recovery or failure in the eyes of its various publics. Being able to correctly address a crisis and the publics affected is a task that would benefit many public relations practitioners in managing an organization's reputation.;The main questions examined in this dissertation will be two-fold. First, the research will attempt to understand how nonprofit public relations practitioners define an organizational crisis and the role of public relations in that situation. Second, this study will ask practitioners if they support the theoretical model in Coombs' Situational Crisis Communication Theory as a practical option for nonprofit organizations.;This study demonstrated that the Situational Crisis Communication Theory is germane to the crisis communication of nonprofit public relations and can specifically aid these practitioners. The current study also revealed that Coombs' crisis response strategies are appropriate in determining whether the public would actually engage with the nonprofit organization after a crisis situation.