ABSTRACT
Nonprofit organizations also have been using social media for a variety of functions, including fundraising and community interaction. Nonprofits are attracted to social media more than to traditional communication venues such as newspapers, television, and radio. Nonprofit organizations' use of social media as a crisis communication tool can be connected to the rise of technological advances, transforming how nonprofit leaders interact with and disseminate information to their audience and communities in a crisis situation. Social media and digital advancements in technology have become critical components of emergency preparedness, response, and recovery. Three nonprofit organizations that recently experienced crisis situations are featured in this chapter as case studies to help demonstrate how social media were used during a crisis. They are: Boston Athletic Association and the April 2013 Boston Marathon Bombings, The Salvation Army and the May 2013 Tornado in Oklahoma, and The American Red Cross and Hurricane Sandy, October 2012.
