Improving Fundraising Efficiency in Small and Medium Sized Non-profit Organizations Using Online Solutions

ABSTRACT

Although Switzerland enjoys a mature e-commerce sector and online marketing with widespread use of social media, large Swiss nonprofit organizations (NPOs) still adopt mainly off-line marketing and mass marketing strategies to support their fund-raising efforts. Mass marketing techniques are expensive and require a large financial investment, which Swiss small and medium-sized organizations cannot afford. The high cost of adopting these conventional fund-raising strategies greatly affects small NPOs, who lack funds to run their social and humanitarian projects. If instead NPOs focused on more cost-efficient marketing strategies, they could improve the sustainability of their fund-raising campaigns. Taking an explorative approach, this study first surveys Swiss donors to understand and quantify their behaviors. Second, it conducts qualitative interviews with NPOs to provide insights into their fund-raising strategies. Finally, it concludes with a set of practical suggestions for small and medium-sized NPOs to build specific capabilities to collect online donations more efficiently.     

Motives for fixed-asset revaluation: An empirical analysis with Swiss data

This paper investigates the economic motives of fixed-asset revaluations of Swiss listed companies. We provide international insights on revaluation motives, particularly in a stakeholders' regime, over a period which is characterized by significant changes of the accounting standards relative to fixed-assets valuation. We also test the impact of international stakeholders on the choice of whether to revalue assets. Results from pooled data show positive associations between revaluation and both the proportion of foreign sales and leverage, and a negative association with the investment opportunities. These findings suggest that revaluation is used as a device to improve creditors' and foreign stakeholders' perceptions of the financial health of the firm and thereby improve the firm's borrowing capacity. Cross-sectional results show that although leverage has declined over the periods investigated, interest rates have become lower for firms that revalue upward their fixed assets (compared to non-revaluers), emphasizing the debt-costs hypothesis.     

A network approach to strategy

The task of environmental analysis has a key role to play in formulating strategy and the strategic management process. How the process should be organised, however, depends largely on the theoretical perspective applied to both the nature of the business environment, and a corresponding understanding of strategic action within that environment. The objective of this paper is to develop a strategic analysis framework which incorporates the theoretical propositions in the markets-as-network model. The Swiss energy industry is used to provide the context to illustrate the framework's application. Finally we examine what it contributes to moving the markets-as-network model towards the explanatory level of inquiry.     

瑞士地方政府间税收竞争研究

国际财政学界普遍认为地方政府间税收竞争是一把双刃剑:一方面,适度的税收竞争有助于发展经济、限制政府规模无限制扩大等;另一方面,过度的税收竞争会导致地方政府财政收入明显下降,从而影响政府职能的有效履行。本文对瑞士的地方政府间税收竞争现状及其产生的后果进行了分析,并指出了其对我国当前进一步的财政分权以及我国地方政府间税收竞争模式构建的启示性意义。     

Three aspects of the Swiss term structure: an empirical survey

The term structure is an important transmitter of, and indicator for, monetary policy. This paper studies the Swiss term structure using monthly data from 1989 to 2005. We study the impact of the new monetary policy strategy that the Swiss National Bank (SNB) adopted at the beginning of 2000 on three aspects of the term structure. First, we test the expectations hypothesis and find it confirmed at the short end of the yield curve. At the long end, time-varying term premia seem present. Second, we ask whether the yield curve contains information regarding future inflation and economic activity. We find that a steepening of the yield curve predicted an increase in economic activity in the short term before the change in policy strategy, but not thereafter. Third, we study the contemporaneous reaction of the term structure to macroeconomic conditions and conclude that the SNB’s commitment to stabilizing inflation may have become more credible after the change in the monetary policy strategy.      

Trust-A monolithic panacea in land use planning?

Although trust research has been extensive and substantial, the constitution and actual merits of trust in land use planning remain nebulous. What do participants of a local land use planning process actually mean when they say they trust the planning committee? How important is participants’ trust in the planning committee in shaping their perceptions of the planning process and their cooperation in it? To explore the everyday meaning of trust in the specific context of local land use planning, semi-structured interviews with the participants of a local planning project in Switzerland were conducted (n = 9). Based on these results, the constitution and the relevance of trust in the responsible planning committee among a wider circle of participants were assessed (n = 66). The results show that participants trust the planning committee if they perceive its members as competent, honest, open, fair, reliable, reciprocating, respectful and committed. Interestingly, a considerable part of trust in the planning committee hinges explicitly on whether the committee incorporates the personal interests of the participant. Trust is indeed vital to participants’ belief that a meaningful discussion and cooperation with the members of the planning committee is possible. However, trust is neither a guarantee for people's approval of planning decisions nor for their cooperation. One implication of the findings is that in order to evaluate trust-building practice comprehensively, it is necessary to first understand the specific everyday meaning of trust for ‘real people’ in real planning processes.     

Sources Of Technical Progress: Empirical Evidence From Swiss Industry

The aim of this paper is to empirically investigate the sources of technological opportunities. The analysis is based on a survey conducted among 358 Swiss R&D executives in 1988. The most important results can be summarized as follows: 1. Market organizations are perceived as the most important source of contributions to technical progress. The most important source is firms within the same industry; second is product users; and third, suppliers of materials and equipment used in manufacturing. 2. The contribution of non-market organizations seems relatively unimportant. University research, other government research institutions, state companies and agencies, professional and technical associations and individual inventors make small contributions. 3. Science also contributes to technical progress, even if only selectively. Education and training in physics, computer science, materials science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and applied chemistry are all considered relevant to technical progress in Switzerland. 4. Generally, university research is not considered as relevant to technical progress in the industries surveyed. In certain fields, such as computer science, materials science and electrical engineering, university research does, however, seem relevant to technical progress.     

ARE OFFICIAL POVERTY STATISTICS NECESSARY?

Caritas Switzerland has recently criticised the country's lack of official poverty statistics in strong terms, and called for the introduction of internationally accepted poverty measures. However, the fact that these measures are widely used is not a testimony to their reliability, which is more than questionable. It appears that Caritas Switzerland is actually seeking some empirical support for the interventionist social policies it supports. Given the success of Switzerland's decentralised social policies, the recommendation that the country should abandon its tradition and become a conventional European social democracy is surprising.     

Editorial

This paper deals with the labor supply for alpine farming—a sector in which employees obtain at best seasonal employment and work extremely long hours for very little pay, but nevertheless often return year after year. Based on data obtained from 120 interviews carried out in 2011, we implemented a logistic regression model to discover which factors influence an employee's decision to return to an alpine summer pasture. Results are presented quantitatively, and their interpretation is also supported by a qualitative approach. Our findings indicate that occupational choice in this region is mainly driven by motivational values and quality of infrastructure, with pecuniary benefits playing a marginal role.     

Policy changes in the Swiss electricity market: Analysis of likely market responses

The Swiss electricity market is still a public monopoly. Switzerland do not intend to be part of the single European electricity market, but given its strategic geographical position—Switzerland is in the middle of the core area of the European Union, Swiss power producers maintain electricity exchanges (imports and exports) with neighbouring countries. These exchanges represent an important source of revenue for Swiss utilities.

Switzerland is currently facing a period of fundamental policy changes. Even though the market has not been legally liberalised, emergent liberalisation is taking place. Furthermore, nuclear dismantling has been debated since the early 1980s. People have not yet accepted the dismantling proposition, so there is actually no law banning the construction of new nuclear plants, but given the current attitude of the population and the politicians any new nuclear investments are most unlikely.

The aim of this paper is to illustrate likely market responses to different policy changes in the Swiss electricity market, such as nuclear phase-out and changes in international exchanges policies that may arise as a consequence of the emergent liberalisation that is taking place in this market.

This article presents a conceptualisation model that helps understanding the logic of the dynamic behaviour of the Swiss electricity market, and illustrates the rationale of politicians and decision makers involved in the market planning process, as well as the possible consequences of the implementation of different policies. The purpose is not to forecast or quantify market response, but to identify and understand possible scenarios for market behaviour.