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Organizational Factors Affecting Charitable Giving in the Environmental Nonprofit Context

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  • Chiara Leardini

    (Department of Business Administration, University of Verona, 37129 Verona, Italy)

  • Gina Rossi

    (Department of Economics and Statistics, University of Udine, 33100 Udine, Italy)

  • Stefano Landi

    (Department of Management, University of Ca’ Foscari–Venice, 30121 Venice, Italy)

Abstract

Nonprofit organizations operating in the environmental protection and conservation sector face challenging fundraising issues in collecting from individual donors the money needed to accomplish their goals. The purpose of this study was to investigate which organizational factors can play a role in influencing the ability of these organizations to collect charitable contributions. By applying an extended version of the economic model of giving to a sample of 142 environmental nonprofits from the United States, the results of the regression analyses show that the following factors allow these organizations to attract more donations: devoting a high percentage of donations to programs, promoting the organization’s image through fundraising activities, having a large amount of assets that ensures a sustainable financial structure, and providing online information that demonstrates how the organization has dealt with its mission. Moreover, the study reveals that providing high amounts of disclosure on the organization’s website can have a conditional effect on fundraising expenses by boosting the positive effect of these expenses on donations. The results of this study contribute to the debate on the effectiveness of organizational factors in attracting funds from donors willing to support environmental nonprofits.

Suggested Citation

  • Chiara Leardini & Gina Rossi & Stefano Landi, 2020. "Organizational Factors Affecting Charitable Giving in the Environmental Nonprofit Context," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-11, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:21:p:8947-:d:435947
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Kwanho Suk & Triza Mudita, 2021. "Charitable Organizations’ Cost Disclosure Mitigates Overhead Aversion," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-12, December.
    2. José Miguel Tirado-Beltrán & Iluminada Fuertes-Fuertes & J. David Cabedo, 2020. "Donor Reaction to Non-Financial Information Covering Social Projects in Nonprofits: A Spanish Case," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-17, December.

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