How Digital Platforms Promote Roles of Nonprofit Human Service Organizations During the COVID-19 in China

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic compelled nonprofit human service organizations (NPHS) to rapidly adapt to heightened service demands while prioritizing the well-being of their staff and volunteers. Although digital platforms hold promise in facilitating NPHS adaptation, little is known about their impact during the crisis. How and through what pathways do digital platforms help NPHS adapt their service roles in times of crisis? Did digital platforms with different types of sponsorship vary in the way they affect NPHS’s roles? Our study, based on 94 interviews in China, reveals that digital platforms assisted NPHS through three pathways: reducing transaction costs in stakeholder engagement, mitigating information asymmetry in targeting service recipients, and promoting shared responsibility for volunteer participation. Different sponsorship types influenced these pathways: government-sponsored platforms enhanced legitimacy, business-sponsored platforms leveraged private resources, and nonprofit-sponsored platforms bolstered citizen trust. This research informs scholars and practitioners on understanding how NPHS remained agile and innovative while facing extraordinary external challenges.

PRACTICE POINTS

• To help nonprofit human service organizations (NPHS) adapt their service roles in synchronicity with the changing environment, we recommend that NPHS adopt suitable digital platforms for their collaborative network, client identification, and volunteer management during and after the public health crisis.

• NPHS need to use digital platforms to achieve a better online-offline synchronization in information and services. NPHS could use the online system of digital platforms to send online service information, facilitate offline service programs and motivate residents to take offline voluntary actions.

• For adopting nonprofit-sponsored digital platforms, NPHS should create collaborative networks of shops, banks, and volunteers within the community through issuing the credit system to earn citizens’ trust, attract private resources and achieve legitimacy during and after the crisis.

KEYWORDS:

• Adaptation
• COVID-19
• digital platforms
• nonprofit human service organizations

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ During the COVID-19 pandemic, the restriction policies in China varied by province (Huang, Wu, et al., 2023), but citizens could generally travel to different cities in the same province.

² We selected community citizens following the below rules. First, selected community citizens have participated in the three digital platforms for at least half a year. Second, selected community citizens have interacted with NPHS for services. Third, selected community citizens are open to accept our interviews.

³ Interview with the citizen in Jiaxing City on October 12, 2021.

⁴ Interview with the executive of the community NPHS in Jiaxing City on October 11, 2021.

⁵ Interview with the executive of Colorful Philanthropy in Hangzhou City on February 14, 2022.

⁶ Timebank on Volunteering Together is a kind of virtual bank of volunteer time. For every hour of volunteer time, one credit is given.

⁷ Interview with the executive of the NPHS in Jiaxing City on October 13, 2021.

⁸ Interview with the executive of one community NPHS in Hangzhou City on October 11, 2021.

⁹ Interview with the staff member of Grand Ma Studio in Hangzhou City on February 14, 2022.

¹⁰ Interview with the community citizen in Hangzhou City on February 15, 2022.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (72022016), “Pioneer” and “Leading Goose” R&D Program of Zhejiang (2024C03268), Humanities and Social Science Fund of Ministry of Education of China (2023JZDZ038, 21JZD019), National Social Science Fund of China (22AZD019, 20CZZ015), and Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation (LR20G030002).