Content Analysis for Nonprofits

For this blog, I will select a nonprofit organization and conduct a content analysis. The organization I will use for this exercise is The Muscular Dystrophy Association. (MDA).

The MDA is a voluntary national health agency that involves a partnership between caring citizens and scientists. The main focus of this organization is to eliminate neuromuscular diseases that over a million Americans deal with every day. Funded entirely by private contributors, the MDA offers programs for research and medical care. According to www.mda.org, the MDA is one of the leading voluntary health agencies and have local offices throughout the United States.

Using Google News, I conducted a search for Muscular Dystrophy Association. Most of the articles I found were related to treatment for the disease and fundraising efforts for the MDA.  Out of the top 20 links, 17 of them were related to community efforts. Granted some referred to the same fundraiser, but they were from different media outlets. The MDA has shown popularity with fundraising events in Seattle, WA and Pryor, OK (Locked up for MDA), to fundraisers at a popular burger joint in San Clemente, CA.

The MDA has also shown popularity across different demographics.  One example I found was a link to a blog for Great American Country. The link was for promoting “The 2013 New Faces Of Country Music.” This is an annual event co-sponsored by the Academy of Country Music and the MDA. This event, in addition to the regular Labor Day telethon “MDA Show of Strength, provides the MDA with the plenty of national exposure.

There is also evidence of the MDA’s popularity among younger generations. One example is the annual “Fill the Boot” campaign organized by an Oklahoma University fraternity and their local fire departments. According to the Oklahoma Daily, this year’s fundraiser raised more than $250,000. Overall, the local chapter in Oklahoma City raises approximately 1.6 million a year, with about 14% going to muscular dystrophy (MD) research around the world. Approximately 77% of the money raised goes to helping local MD patients. Other examples of MDA’s popularity among younger people are “Rock away for MDA” and “The MDA Walk” organized in collaboration with university organizations across the country.

I feel the articles I found were right in line with the message this non-profit organization promotes. The MDA is dedicated to doing research and helping people globally, nationally, and locally. Of the top 20 articles I found, the other three were about breakthroughs in treatments for MD. I did not really find anything from a credible media outlet that casted the MDA in a negative way.

Based on the continuous support of the MDA and its sponsored events, I do not have any recommendations for them to improve their communications. The MDA continues to gain support, both with those familiar with the Jerry Lewis hosted telethon and those who have no idea who he is. With their funding of medical breakthroughs and prolific fundraising efforts, the MDA can feel secure in its place amongst other nonprofit organizations.

References: http://blog.gactv.com/blog/2012/11/28/country-radio-seminar-announces-new-faces-lineup/; http://www.lionsroarnews.com/campus-life/kappa-alpha-hosts-rock-away-for-mda-1.2952198#.ULagdEI1b8s; http://mda.org; http://www.ocregister.com/articles/open-378982-today-association.html; http://pryordailytimes.com/local/x983001822/Locked-up-in-Pryor-for-MDA.