Guide to giving during the COVID-19 pandemic: the moderating role of religious belief on donor attitude

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to empirically explore donors’ responses to fundraising appeals to mitigate the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis. Some governments worldwide have launched fundraising campaigns to support the pandemic relief efforts, such as the Feena Khair* campaign in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Specifically, the study examines how the internal and external aspects can fuel beliefs in the inclination of donors to give money. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative survey instrument was developed, validated and disseminated. A total of 263 usable responses were obtained using the snowballing sampling technique. Partial least squares-structural equation modeling was used to analyze the research model and obtain meaningful results. Findings The results show that external aspects, i.e. charity projects and trust in charities, have a significant relationship with donors’ attitudes toward fundraising appeal for the COVID-19 fight. Interestingly, the study demonstrates a significant moderating effect of internal values of religious beliefs on the positive relationship between external aspects and attitude to give money. Practical implications The results suggest that governments and non-profit organizations should consider the important role of religious beliefs in driving people’s attitudes to engage in fundraising appeals to fight the pandemic. These findings could generate better insights and policies that boost relief and donation efforts in many ways, such as embarking on sensitization programs to create sufficient awareness on the importance of giving and social solidarity during this challenging time, strengthening the religious faith of donors, setting up charity projects with inclusive information and nurturing a high level of public confidence in charities. Originality/value This study is likely the first study to focus on fundraising campaign attitudes during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bahrain. It is a pioneer study scrutinizing the moderating effect of religious beliefs on the association between extrinsic perspectives of donors and their attitudes toward monetary donations.

Infaq during movement lockdown: the perspective from social responsibility theory

“…[3] said: … “ almsgiving is a sign of faith for those who give it ” (Hadith narrated by Muslim). While this research paper is in final editing, an article similar to this study had been published by Sarea (2020). However, Sarea (2020) found out that the religious factor serves as a moderator significantly to the donor attitude.…”

“…Our argument is based (2020). However, Sarea (2020) found out that the religious factor serves as a moderator significantly to the donor attitude. As the independent variable and demography setting are different from those in this article, perhaps this is why our findings are not parallel.…”

Role of ‘Guru Ka Langar’ in Pandemic Management During COVID-19: Guided by Religious Belief

“…The moderating role of religious beliefs in donor attitude suggests that governments and non-profit organisations should recognise the significant impact of religious beliefs in motivating people to participate in pandemic fundraising efforts. These findings may lead to greater understanding and policies that will help relief and donation efforts in various ways 14 .…”

Intention to Donate Money via Social Network Site: Perspective from a Developing Country

“…Intrinsic factors are referred to as extending one's capacities to do something that reflects on his/her inner value (Oh & Ki 2018) while extrinsic factors are described as exercising something due to outside influences (Ahn et al 2017). Various intrinsic factors have been linked to donor's intention, such as attitude (Da Silva et al, 2020), past behaviour , and self-efficacy (Ergun & Avci 2018), whereas examples of extrinsic factors are religious belief, charity project, (Sarea & Bin-Nashwan 2021), and Internet technology features (Ahn et al 2018). To fit the theoretical framework discussed above, the intrinsic factors of this study are attitude, descriptive norm, PBC, and past behaviours, while the extrinsic factor is the Internet technology feature.…”