Exploring the barriers that influence intention to donate and role of the charity shop within the multi-tier supply chain

Abstract

PurposeHumanitarian relief organisations such as charities count on donations to provide assistance to people in need when disasters occur. In the UK, about 11,200 charity shops collect second-hand goods from donors to raise funds for their parent charity to support target beneficiaries. As their numbers increase, charity shops are finding it difficult to secure good quality stock. Furthermore, they may need to plan ahead to secure sufficient stock when the economy experiences a downturn. This paper identifies the charity shop's role and its donation flow in the multi-tier supply chain and empirically assesses the barriers that influence intention to donate with a mixed-methods approach.Design/methodology/approachIn order to explore the charity shop's role within the multi-tier supply chain, this study begins with a literature review and then develops a conceptual model. In order to empirically evaluate the barriers that influence intention to donate, the authors conducted semi-structured interviews with 14 charity shop managers and collected 222 usable questionnaires from donors. The interpretive structural modelling (ISM) approach was applied to examine the interrelationship among barriers and rank their priority.FindingsThis paper identifies ten significant barriers that influence intention to donate: lack of good quality items for donation; lack of information on how charity shops make use of donations; lack of familiarity with the donation process; lack of information of what items can be accepted by charity shops; lack of awareness of the impact that donations make; the difficulty of being available at the scheduled times for charity shops' free pick-up services; the difficulty of donating during shops' opening hours; the difficulty of finding parking to access charity shops; and living too far away from charity shops. In particular, the questionnaires' results indicate that lack of good quality items is the most significant barrier. This is also reflected in the ISM model, and thus needs more attention.Practical implicationsThe results are very useful for charity shops themselves to understand current barriers to securing good quality stock and to develop potential stock-securing interventions based on these barriers' priority.Originality/valueAlthough charity shops have been investigated by several researchers, their supply chain remains insufficiently explored. This paper fills this gap by identifying the charity shop's role and its donation flow in the supply chain and by empirically assessing the supply-side barriers with a mixed-methods approach.

Evaluating the Sourcing Challenges Faced by Humanitarian Charities

“…Agency theory is a principle that is used to explain and resolve problems in the relationship between principles and agents [14]. Problems arise as a result of information asymmetry when the agent (for example, the humanitarian charities) represents the principal (for example, the donors), as it is difficult for the principal (donors) to track what the agent (humanitarian charities) is doing [6]. Principals may face risks as a result of this [15]; hence, to address the aforementioned principal-agent problems and ensure donation continuity, it is becoming increasingly important for the charities commission to establish strong governance and accountability [16].…”

“…Corporate governance within the charity sector may be referred to as the process of charities discharging accountability to their donors (how they spend funds to support the beneficiaries). In terms of accountability, charities act as a middleman, receiving donations from donors and selling them to raise funds to support the intended beneficiaries [6]. Understanding the process from sourcing donations to supporting the intended beneficiaries helps to capture the value chain and operations of humanitarian charities.…”

“…This is because charities, on the one hand, want to gain legitimacy to meet the demands of institutional stakeholders, such as converting donor donations into funds to support target beneficiaries. However, it is constrained by certain circumstances, such as the required expertise to deal with sourcing barriers [6]. Furthermore, natural disasters, diseases, terrorism, political turmoil, and other factors have all severely disrupted the normal day-to-day operations of humanitarian charities [5,20].…”

“…Although previous studies have illuminated the operations of humanitarian charities in various aspects, such as donor behavior [6,7], charitable giving [8,9], and logistics issues [10], relatively limited research has been conducted to date on the sourcing challenges faced by humanitarian charity supply chain. Since the late 1980s, the image of charities has shifted from poor secondary trading outlets to primary high street shops as a result of professional management skills [11,12].…”

“…Since the late 1980s, the image of charities has shifted from poor secondary trading outlets to primary high street shops as a result of professional management skills [11,12]. Today, the number of charities in the United Kingdom has risen to over 11,200 [13], making it difficult for charities to source high-quality items due to intense competition and an economic downturn [6]. Furthermore, because donations from individuals/organizations are highly stochastic in nature, charities face challenges in ensuring consistent high-quality donations.…”