We the living: the effects of living and deceased donor stories on charitable bequest giving intentions

Choosing messages to encourage charitable bequest giving may be particularly challenging given sensitivity to personal mortality reminders. Previous research suggests that people often react to mortality reminders with avoidance, including distancing themselves from those associated with death. We compare the effects of otherwise similar living and deceased bequest donor stories on subsequent intentions to leave a charitable bequest. Although both story types significantly increased subsequent intentions to leave a charitable bequest, living donor stories consistently outperformed otherwise identical deceased donor stories. Fundraisers may do well to emphasize stories of living planned bequest donors and de‐emphasize death and the deceased in charitable bequest fundraising messaging. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Perceived value of corporate donations: an empirical investigation

• There is current recognition that value is the fundamental basis for all marketing activities. The present research provides an empirical examination of perceptions of value within the voluntary sector and specifically donations made by organisations towards the funding of charitable projects. The impact of a number of charity and project‐related variables on the formation of value and the corresponding effect of value on satisfaction and behavioural variables are examined.
• The results support claims that past experience with and information about a charity as well as information about a specific project are significant determinants of value. However, the impact of these constructs is differential between the two components of value (i.e. get/benefits and give/sacrifices). We confirm the significant effect of value on satisfaction and indicate that satisfaction and benefits derived from a donation have a direct impact on behavioural intention.

Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Do charitable causes need to segment their current donor base on demographic factors?: An Australian examination

Modern charities are facing increasing pressures requiring them to use more effectively a range of marketing activities, and segmentation may be one such tool. The giving literature suggests that the demographic factors of gender and age might serve as appropriate segmentation criteria and this paper examines whether motivations of existing donors vary by age or gender. The results suggest that there may be limited benefits in segmenting existing donors and that charities may be able to use similar promotional strategies for all existing donors. Copyright © 2002 Henry Stewart Publications     

Investigating online recognition for blood donor retention: an experiential donor value approach

• Recognising that charitable behaviour can be motivated by public recognition and emotional satisfaction, not-for-profit organisations have developed strategies that leverage self-interest over altruism by facilitating individuals to donate conspicuously. Initially developed as novel marketing programmes to increase donation income, such conspicuous tokens of recognition are being recognised as important value propositions to nurture donor relationships. Despite this, there is little empirical evidence that identifies when donations can be increased through conspicuous recognition. Furthermore, social media's growing popularity for self-expression, as well as the increasing use of technology in donor relationship management strategies, makes an examination of virtual conspicuous tokens of recognition in relation to what value donors seek particularly insightful. Therefore, this research examined the impact of experiential donor value and virtual conspicuous tokens of recognition on blood donor intentions. Using online survey data from 186 Australian blood donors, results show that in fact emotional value is a stronger predictor of intentions to donate blood than altruistic value, whereas social value is the strongest predictor of intentions if provided with recognition. Clear linkages between dimensions of donor value (altruistic, emotional and social) and conspicuous donation behaviour (CDB) were identified. The findings provide valuable insights into the use of conspicuous donation tokens of recognition on social media and contribute to our understanding into the under-researched areas of donor value and CDB.

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The timing of final charitable bequest decisions

• Understanding the timing of final charitable bequest decisions permits nonprofits to co‐ordinate their marketing efforts to correspond with donor decision‐making. Using probate data from Australia and longitudinal survey data from the USA, this paper seeks to identify the timing of decisions that resulted in realized charitable bequests. We find evidence that charitable transfers result mostly from decisions that occur during the last 5 years of life and at the oldest ages. Charitable plans made earlier in life are often discarded.

Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The framework of first-line manager's HR role identity: A Multi-actor HR involvement perspective

Drawing on role identity and social context theories, we introduce a conceptual model of first-line manager (FLM)’s HR role identity that extends the current theorization of what precedes their effective HR implementation. We establish that FLMs' role identity will guide their HR implementation behavior by attaching the HR role to their self-concept. We also develop a multi-actor HR involvement perspective to the discourse on FLMs' HR role identity since role identity is believed to increase when FLMs recognize HR role expectations and then behave as desired. In explaining the role of multi-actor HR involvement, the climate for HR implementation is considered a mediator in the relationships between HR involvement and FLMs' HR role identity since the social context created by each HR actor represents FLMs' interpretations of HR role expectations. Accordingly, we develop several propositions that serve as a baseline for future endeavors.     

The contextualization of human resource and quality management: a sensemaking perspective on everybody's involvement

The principal idea of this paper is that human resource management (HRM) and quality management (QM) ideas require contextualization when used to change organizations. Here, contextualization stands for the process that leads to a shared meaning, i.e. the majority of the co-workers in an organization understand and define a concept or change in terms that are shared and accepted. In the present paper, we study a strategic change project, based on HRM and QM ideas, conducted at the County Council of Värmland (CCV), the public healthcare authority in the County of Värmland in Sweden, where the focus was on everybody's involvement. Our interpretation of the project shows that a shared meaning of the concept of everybody's involvement was not reached in this particular case, i.e. contextualization did not occur. One important result of the study is that contextualization is a prerequisite for realizing HRM and QM thoughts. The paper also stresses how important it is that general and ‘non-contextualized’ HRM and QM ideas are adapted to local practices when used to direct organizational change.     

The giving standard: conditional cooperation in the case of charitable giving

• In this study, we make a first attempt to investigate the mechanisms of conditional cooperation in giving outside experiments, using retrospective survey data on charitable giving (the Giving the Netherlands Panel Study 2005 (GINPS05, 2005 ; N = 1474)). Our results show that in the case of door‐to‐door donations, social information affects perceived social norms for giving and, through this perception, influences the level of actual donations. The effect of social information on actual door‐to‐door donations is fully mediated by perceived social norms for giving. Furthermore, we found empirical support for the giving standard hypothesis. People in different income categories donate roughly the same amounts in separate instances (they use the same social information), and as a result people in lower income households donate a higher percentage of their income to charitable organizations.

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Perceived versus actual value of product substitution flexibility: An experimental investigation

Prior literature suggests that in the presence of operational uncertainties such as uncertain demand, firms should deploy operational flexibilities. However, these flexibilities are costly to develop and a correct valuation of these capabilities is necessary to ensure that they are only deployed when the expected benefits exceed the cost. Using a set of behavioral decision-making experiments for inventory of substitutable products, we investigate how decision-makers perform when estimating the value of operational flexibility of product substitution. We found that subjects consistently overestimated the monetary value of product substitution. Furthermore, the overestimation became more acute as demand correlation increased. This behavior is not explained by risk aversion or random errors. Instead, it appears to be driven by fundamental and systematic behavioral biases when estimating the conjunctive probability of substitution. We suggest and validate a decomposition-based approach to mitigate this overestimation.     

Prediction of donor lifetime value and the development of true segmented donor strategy

This paper is based on projects developed by WWAV Rapp Collins on behalf of two UK charities, Shelter and the NSPCC. The classic model used by nonprofit organisations for donor development programmes using the concept of lifetime value (LTV) is challenged and the paper describes the development of an alternative model. The paper assesses existing segmentation methodology and systems such as RFV, and analyses, step by step, how the new model was set up. There is particular emphasis on the scoring methods used and validation of the scores. Income from donors is likely to be maximised by efficiently separating the profitable from the unprofitable with the use of a more discriminating system.     

企业盈余管理的价值均衡观浅探

本文运用契约经济学的分析方法探讨了在委托代理理论框架下影响企业盈余质量的契约关系,并提出了研究盈余管理问题的价值均衡观,为提高企业盈余质量提供了一个新的研究视角.     

The development of purpose and strategy within British charitable organisations: historical impressions

This paper is based on research work undertaken as part of a PhD thesis. It considers the development of purpose and strategy within British charitable organisations. First, the historical path of charity in Britain is traced. Secondly, an assessment of the more fundamental forces that constitute the nature of charitable initiative are explored, much of which is applicable beyond ‘our island home’.[Churchill, W. (1957) ‘A History of the English Speaking Peoples’, Cassell and Company, London.] The historical relationship of charity to business is then examined, particularly in terms of the influence that business ‘culture’ is gaining in shaping charitable endeavour today. Finally, an initiative to link business and charity is presented and conclusions are noted. Copyright © 1999 Henry Stewart Publications     

Exploring early purchasing involvement in discontinuous innovation: A dynamic capability perspective

This paper aims to address the gap concerning our knowledge about early purchasing's involvement (EPI) in new product development (NPD) projects in contexts characterized by discontinuous innovation. We adopt a dynamic capability perspective to explore how existing sourcing and supplier relationship management capabilities are adapted when purchasing agents become involved in discontinuous innovations projects. We use an embedded case-study approach to study four NPD projects in a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) company. The case studies are based on interviews with managers and staff from the research and development, purchasing, and marketing departments, as well as suppliers involved in the projects. Our empirical findings capture emerging purchasing practices including a “reversed” sourcing process, purchasing-marketing interaction, and the coordination of “a learning atmosphere” between the R&D department and suppliers through proactive innovation meetings and creativity workshops. We derive propositions to conduct further research into the role of the purchasing department in times of discontinuous innovation. We also provide a framework of sourcing and supplier-relationship practices that firms can use when embarking on discontinuous innovation.     

Segmenting the Belgian charitable sector: The impact of environmental factors on households' generosity

Research on charitable giving has known a renewed interest over the last years. Despite a recent evolution, the literature remains predominantly Anglo‐Saxon, and studies are consequently conducted in societies marked by a strong charitable giving culture. In that respect, donors are generally considered as isolated individuals, and the impact of social and environmental factors such as public policies, institutional specificities, and punctual events is often underestimated. Moreover, research on generosity often suffers from the absence of reliable data, free of desirability bias. Based on fiscal data of tax returns and gift tax returns provided by the official Belgian statistics bureau, this research investigates individual donating behaviors while considering the influence of environmental determinants on generosity. More specifically, we empirically assess the generosity of Belgian households over a period of 8 years marked by natural disasters, massive calls for public generosity, and changes in tax policies. Among other things, we qualify the results of previous research on the role of age and open the debate on the role of household composition as a variable for segmenting donors. Finally, we propose leads for future research in order to stimulate further academic effort on the topic.     

The economics of consumers' gifts and legacies to charitable organisations

Charity organisations in The Netherlands receive over 50 per cent of their total income from private fundraising; only a small part of this, 20 per cent, originates from legacies. The paper introduces some economic models of consumer behaviour in the neo‐classical tradition that harmonise with altruistic behaviour. Some models for analysing donations and bequests to charitable organisations are introduced and the hypotheses that follow from these theories are compared with Dutch data from 500 respondents. Most respondents had donated something to a charity during the last six months, but only a few had even thought about naming a charity in their will. Restrictions are felt by individuals due to their limited resources. More important, however, seem to be the restrictions on behaviour due to having children, or other close relatives; individuals feel obliged to leave everything to their children or other close relatives. Although the respondents have a reasonably positive opinion about the work and trustworthiness of the charity organisations, charities are not yet considered as ‘a close friend’. Around 40 per cent of respondents are not particularly happy with the information they receive from charity organisations. Communication about legacy donating is considered acceptable by most respondents, as long as the approach is not too personal. Copyright © 2000 Henry Stewart Publications.     

Towards a better understanding of the financial donor: an examination of donor behaviour in terms of value structure and demographics

While marketing academics have long advocated the application of marketing principles by not-for-profit organisations, a review of the literature suggests that attempts to segment financial donors have primarily concentrated on demographic variables. Recently, there have been moves to gain a better understanding of more psychographic influences on individuals' propensity to contribute to charities. It is proposed that the concept of values offers potential for enhancing this understanding. Findings confirm some earlier studies in that demographics such as age, education and household income significantly discriminate between heavy and light donors. Additionally, ten of the initial 56 values tested contribute to the overall discriminant model obtained. The profiles obtained suggest that distinct promotional strategies, with emphasis on different reasons for donating, may appeal to the two groups. Copyright © 1999 Henry Stewart Publications     

Determinants of charitable donation intentions: a structural equation model

• Currently charities have to depend more on individual donors and less on the government for funding. Hence, understanding the individual donor and what motivates them to contribute to charities is something, which has been of increasing interest to nonprofit marketers. In this article, a path model for the charitable donation process of a religious individual is developed and tested. The variables that are used in the model are religiosity, attitude towards helping others (AHO), attitude towards charitable organizations (ACO), attitude towards the advertisement (Attad) and behavioral intentions (BI). The results suggest that AHO by itself does not cause BI. Altruistic people need to be targeted with an appropriate advertisement message. Since religiosity is an important causal variable for AHO, segmenting and targeting individuals who are religious would be pertinent. Attempts to build favorable ACO would also be worthwhile.
• Religiosity
• Charitable donation intentions
• Charity advertisements.
• Path model for predicting intentions to donate.

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The antecedents and consequences of charitable donation heterogeneity on social media

This study claims that donating is a rational behavior that balances altruism and self‐interest; therefore, the frequency and magnitude of donating are picked as crucial criteria to classify different crowdfunders because both of them reflect the rationality of donating. This study identifies 6 clusters of crowdfunders and explores the antecedent variables of the typology based on self‐system theory, as well as reveals the social influence of different types of crowdfunders. Data of the crowdfunders (n = 13,868) were collected from “Micro Philanthropy,” a popular SNS crowdfunding platform for charity in China. Social Network Service (SNS) profile information such as network features, social interaction features, and the identity of users was found to be significantly related to the typology. Active donors and bounteous donors are more influential than other donors in absorbing the attention of SNS users and attracting new donors.