The Role of Social Indicators in Institutional Interactions (Case Study: Charities and the Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation in Iran)

This paper explores the relationship between institutional interactions and social capital indicators “Case Study: Charities and Relief Institutions in 2020”.

The paper tries to answer the question of the relationship between the interaction between relief foundation and charities and social capital indicators by using a qualitative approach based on the thematic analysis method, which aims to find out the basic, organizing and comprehensive themes related to the research problem. The statistical population of the study consisted of managers, planners, experts and professors of the College of Aid and Charities, with whom semi-structured interviews were conducted, and finally 23 people were selected using the snowball method. Brown and Clark's (2006) thematic analysis method was used to analyze the data, and finally, three main themes emerged: social trust, social participation, and social cohesion.

After conducting the survey, the main results and findings of the research showed that charities specializing in specific issues have more efficient management with high supervision, which can better win people's trust. Imam Relief Foundation can successfully apply its implementation methods in the form of new organizational policies in the field of coordination with charities. The results have shown that the interaction and relationship between the Relief Foundation and charities is a function of criteria and indicators such as: the ability of charities to help the needy, accuracy in common matters, coordination of charities with relief policies, use of common capacities for synergy, avoidance of parallel work, and providing more help to the truly needy while maintaining the dignity of the needy. In this case, not only is the target community helped, but institutional interactions become more coordinated.

Through recognizing the perceptions and attitudes of the participants, the researcher realized that proper communication and interaction between the relief foundation and the charities can increase social capital (trust, participation, cohesion). The relief  foundation and charities as social networks are a platform for participation, which leads to social cohesion and integration and social trust.

The presence of social trust in charities and Imam Khomeini Relief Committee (RA) causes the cohesion of the organizations, increases social participation and improves the effectiveness of the services provided.