Defining the Content of Sustainability Reports in Nonprofit Organizations: Do Stakeholders Really Matter?

Abstract

The aim of the article is to investigate the role of stakeholder engagement and participation in nonprofit organizations’ sustainability reporting, according to the literature on third sector and stakeholder theory. To verify the levels of involvement, the authors conducted an empirical survey, using content analysis, on a sample of 54 sustainability reports of nonprofit organizations included in the Global Reporting Initiative database as of September 1, 2012. In order to strengthen the results obtained from the content analysis, the authors shared their findings with the organizations of the sample. The survey showed that there were some criticisms regarding stakeholder participation in the targeted research field. These are considered in the conclusions. Questions for the future included whether stakeholder engagement is moving from being simply a way to consult and influence stakeholders to being an effective instrument for involving them in nonprofit organizations’ reporting and decision-making processes, through mutual commitment.

Keywords:

• nonprofit
• stakeholder engagement
• strategy
• sustainability reporting
• content analysis

Notes

Although the article is the result of a team effort, Giacomo Manetti can be considered the author of the first, second, third, and fifth sections and Simone Toccafondi the author of the fourth section.