RESEARCH ARTICLE Social media, an emerging platform for relationship building: A study of engagement with nongovernment organizations in India Siddharth Tripathi | Sanjeev Verma NITIE, Mumbai, India Correspondence Siddharth Tripathi, Fellow (Doctoral) Scholar, NITIE, Vihar Lake Road, P.O. NITIE, Mumbai‐400087 India. Email: siddharthfn2012@nitie.ac.in; siddharthtripathi.nitie@gmail.com The purpose of this study is to explore the major determinants of nongovernment organizations (NGOs) engagement and relationship building on social media in India. Netnography with a met- aphoric grounded analysis is used for the data analysis to identify these determinants, and a con- ceptual framework is proposed to inform the strategic direction of NGOs. The findings suggest that supporters engage with NGOs largely for personal and organizational reasons. Emotions, trust, and information needs emerge as the primary personal drivers for engagement, whereas organizational accountability, performance, brand image, and transparency emerge as organiza- tional drivers. Behavioural intention mediates the relationship between the drivers of engage- ment and supporter contributions. The study suggests that as the number of supporters on social media platforms is rapidly increasing, NGOs should recognize the importance of the sup- porter experience while designing their marketing strategies. Given the peculiarity of supporter behaviour in relationship building by NGOs, the inclusion of more supporters may improve the welfare of society. 1 | INTRODUCTION India is home to the largest number of children in the world, signifi- cantly larger than the number in China (The situation of children in India‐ A Profile, 2011). Every sixth child in the world lives in India (Old statistics on children in India, n.d.). The large population of chil- dren in India demands attention towards basic necessities, such as food, education, and shelter, to support their growth. As suggested by Sen (2014), education is pivotal for the well‐being of a society. To achieve the objective of universal education, the Indian government's initiatives such as Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and the Right of Children for Free and Compulsory Education (RTE Act) are much needed and appreciated interventions (Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, n.d.). Accomplishing universal education is an enormous task for any government, and the role of nongovernment organizations (NGOs) can make a real difference. Blum (2009) emphasized the importance of NGOs in the education sector and described their role in the development of rural areas in India. NGOs play a crucial role in providing education to underprivileged children who do not receive formal school education in India for various reasons (Rose, 2009). Previous studies have sug- gested that NGOs are doing a great job in helping to educate under- privileged kids to bring a positive social change (Blum, 2009; Rose, 2009). However, a wide range of problems, such as poor school infrastructure, shortages of classrooms, and the availability of qualified teachers, are associated with NGOs (Paik, 2009). Some of the reasons why NGOs do not attain their desired goals are a lack of funding and volunteer support. Social media may offer an opportunity for NGOs to build relationships for improved support from volunteers available on different social network sites. Social media has widely replaced traditional mediums of communi- cation (Weaver & Morrison, 2008), and the process of receiving and sharing information has improved (Mangold & Faulds, 2009). The low cost of social media marketing, as well as the number of users and user information available, has contributed to making social media a major opportunity for not only profit‐making companies but also NGOs. Recent research has highlighted the benefits of engagement on social media in building a brand, improving customer satisfaction and loyalty, and increasing revenue (Verma, 2014). Corporations widely use social media to increase their interaction with consumers and to engage in buzz marketing (Ryan, 2016; Taufique & Shahriar, 2012), but few studies have examined the use of social media by NGOs to garner sup- port. Understanding the underlying factors of engagement and rela- tionship building with volunteers on social media may help NGOs reap the benefits of low‐cost/high‐connectivity platforms. This paper is an attempt to fill the void by offering an understanding of important Received: 21 August 2016 Revised: 20 July 2017 Accepted: 2 August 2017 DOI: 10.1002/nvsm.1589 Int J Nonprofit Volunt Sect Mark. 2018;23:e1589. https://doi.org/10.1002/nvsm.1589 Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/nvsm 1 of 11