Community Relations

Historical Development of Community Relations Concept

The historical evolution of community relations emerged from the changing pressures in society resulting in great dissatisfaction between organizations and their publics. Originally, the concept of philanthropy in terms of educational programs or job training was considered enough effort to bring goodwill to an organization, especially corporate entities. The emergence of community relations as more dedicated to research and analyzing attitudes paralleled the increased activism of publics within communities.

In the early stages of industrial expansion, business organizations were considered a benefit to a community. New industry provided jobs from generation to generation and supplied the community with an ample tax base for developing the infrastructure of a community. However, as time passed, it became more and more evident that corporations often exacted a toll on a community in terms of layoffs, relocations, pollution, increased health problems, safety issues, the attraction of large groups of people, as well as domination of the local boards of directors. Initially, the activism was directed toward business, often corporate organizations, established within a geographical community. As technology and transportation improved, the geographical constraint was not always the central factor. The “voice” of the community was more like coalescing around an idea or concept that emerged often as an issue wherever the organization was located.

Groups were being established with official names like unions, service groups, and educators to organize and represent certain issues. Other groups clustered under general labels like environmentalists (e.g., Greenpeace and Sierra Club), animal rights (e.g., PETA), or senior citizens (e.g., Gray Panthers) were named to brand their coalition's mission. The Gray Panthers, for example, do not have a main office or physical meetings. This electronic network of senior citizens lobbies for legislation, senior rights for access, and medical care through their listserv and electronic e-mails. The community is where the locus of communication exists.

These resistance and opposition groups sought to bring organizations into public disfavor. Such forces resulted in the public relations function of issue management emerging as a specific organizational responsibility. Community relations contributes by monitoring the emerging top social issues, a practice that documents the range and change of concerns within society on a yearly basis.

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