Text Based Measurement of Communication Quality in Nonprofit Organizations Evidence from Organizational Narratives and External Evaluations

Nonprofit organizations increasingly rely on communication strategies to build trust and signal credibility to donors and other stakeholders. Despite the central role of communication in nonprofit marketing, empirical evidence on how qualitative features of organizational messaging relate to external evaluations and resource allocation remains limited. This study examines whether communication quality embedded in nonprofit organizational descriptions functions as a strategic marketing signal associated with organizational ratings and financial outcomes. Using a large scale secondary dataset of 8,408 U.S. nonprofit organizations, we apply an embedding based content analysis to quantify latent communication dimensions related to professionalism, transparency, and emotional framing. These dimensions are combined into a composite Communication Quality Index and linked to organizational outcomes, including overall charity ratings, accountability scores, and key financial indicators. The results show that higher communication quality is positively associated with overall and accountability focused ratings. Communication quality is also related to program spending intensity and fundraising efficiency, highlighting potential trade offs between communication investments and cost structures. Overall, the findings position nonprofit communication as a core marketing signal with both evaluative and operational implications.