The impact of a changing financial climate on a UK local charitable sector: voices from the front line

Forced to compete with private and public sector providers, charities experience tensions as the quest for a more commercially-oriented position may conflict with their social imperative. Little attention has been given to understanding the experiences of local charities as service providers. This paper captures the reactions of those working on the charity front line.     

New development: Fundraising in UK charities—stepping back from the abyss

Fundraising techniques used by charities can enhance or diminish public trust. The dangers of questionable and over-aggressive fundraising practices are very real. In particular, in the UK, the ‘Olive Cooke affair’ in 2015 triggered a highlevel examination of fairly widespread dubious practices. In this article, the reflections of a key actor on the events surrounding the affair, and subsequent fallout, are examined. It is argued that this whole saga has the potential to encourage the development of a charity sector that is more trusted by the public; a sector that has stepped back from the abyss.     

Do ‘Good Governance’ Codes Enhance Financial Accountability? Evidence from Managerial Pay in Dutch Charities

This paper examines the initial impact of a ‘good governance’ code for charitable organisations that was promulgated in the Netherlands in 2005. Data are gathered from publicly available annual reports of 138 charities in the post‐implementation phase of the code (2005–2008). We first examine whether the code altered charities’ governance structures. Next, we investigate managerial pay as a key aspect of discharging financial accountability because prior literature focused on ‘excessive’ compensation. The findings indicate that a strengthened governance structure positively affects the likelihood of disclosing information concerning managerial pay, as well as mitigating managerial pay level.     

The Conundrum of Fundraising in Nonprofit Organizations: A Story from Ireland

Nonprofit organizations need to engage in fundraising as resource‐dependent organizations. There is, however, a conundrum that arises in the practice of fundraising. Nonprofit organizations rely on their trustworthiness to attract resources. At the same time, however, they need to manage and negotiate the tensions that can arise from being perceived as overly concerned with the taint of money and financial matters and, therefore, moving too far from their voluntary or nonprofit roots. In this article, we argue that such a conundrum has had a negative impact on the effectiveness of the fundraising effort in Ireland because it is primarily seen to be a volunteer activity. In addition, organizations are not investing in their marketing effort and are not developing practice, which, in turn, is leading to a lack of development in the profession of fundraising.     

WHO FAVOURS THE GAY COMMUNITY? EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE USING CHARITABLE DONATIONS

In this paper, we conduct an experiment to determine the characteristics of individuals who are more likely to donate to a gay charity. After filling out a questionnaire that includes information on gender, ethnicity, and religiosity, as well as other factors, Israeli undergraduate students are asked to choose two out of four options: participation in a lottery, donation to a gay charity, donation to a religious charity, and donation to an education‐focused charity. Our most robust findings are that females and the less religiously observant are more likely to donate to the gay charity.     

慈善组织公信力重建的路径选择

公信力是慈善组织的生命线,频发的慈善负面事件使得慈善组织公信力处于危险境地,但同时也带来公信力重建的机遇。慈善组织公信力建设是现代福利国家的必然选择。慈善组织公信力重建路径具有多维性,重建过程中需要注重慈善组织自身建设、政府与慈善组织的关系建设、公益慈善法律法规体系建设和多元监督体系与第三方评估建设这四个方面。此外,透明度建设是慈善组织公信力重建的突破口,提升诚信度和慈善能力是慈善组织公信力重建的内在动力,第三方评估和监督机制是慈善组织公信力重建的外在动力。     

Dominant stakeholders,activity and accountability discharge in the CSO sector

Civil society organisations (CSOs) comprise a diverse range of associations, including non‐governmental organisations (NGOs), community groups, political parties and social networks. Nevertheless, despite heterogeneity, regulators, funders and donors often treat CSOs as homogeneous when demanding accountability. This paper highlights differences in to whom CSOs across different categories (or types) perceive themselves to be accountable, what for and the different practices they undertake to discharge accountability. It calls for stakeholders to acknowledge diversity in accountability across different CSO types. This survey‐based research finds CSOs weight upwards and downwards stakeholders equally, and undertake voluminous reporting. They would benefit from negotiating multiple‐use mechanisms, especially with dominant stakeholders. In combining stakeholder and accountability theory, the research highlights specific CSO types needing further study.     

Governance and Funds Allocation in United States Medical Research Charities

We examine boards of directors of medical research charities and find that medical charities spend less on program activities and more on fund-raising when the executive director of the charity serves on the board of directors, especially when the board is small. Executive salaries are also higher at charities where management is represented on the board. Management and general expenses and fund balances are, however, unrelated either to the presence of an insider on the board or to the size of the board.     

Selection of Causes According to Socio-Demographic Status in South Africa

Cause related marketing links charities to the sales of products, brands, or services. The charity is mentioned in promotional campaigns and a percentage donated to the cause according to unit sales or turnover. This article aims to establish which charities are more popular with South African consumers, and whether different socio-demographic groups (age, gender, income, and education) prefer to support different causes. A quantitative study was conducted in South Africa using a structured questionnaire administered via interviews at shopping malls. Different groups were found to prefer to support considerably different causes and these causes were identified.