Impulsive donation decisions during online browsing of charity websites

Abstract

Although online fundraising by charitable organisations is now commonplace, many aspects of effective online fundraising remain unexamined. In particular, little is known about the nature and determinants of impulsive donation decisions taken by browsers of charity websites. This empirical study attempted to help fill this important gap in current knowledge about online fundraising via an investigation of the antecedents of impulsive online giving to a hospice organisation in the south of England. Two hundred and thirtynine donors who stated that their gifts had been made impulsively and 223 donors whose online gifts were reported as having been pre-planned completed a questionnaire that explored, inter alia, a person's socio-demographic characteristics, level of impulsiveness and attitude towards impulsive behaviour, charity donation history, prior knowledge of hospice issues, subjective norms and personal involvement with charity giving. The main determinants of impulsive donations were identified and the profiles of various types of impulsive giver were established. Relevant matters were investigated in the contexts of two types of web page design: emotive and informative.

The effects of donation button design on aid agency transactional trust

“…It is worth noting that the mean viewing time is consistent with the results cited by Bennett (2009) in which 42 s was identified as the average time people spend looking at a charity web page. Because credit cards are generally required to donate online, it was possible that those participants who did not own a credit card may have given a low donation compliance rating based on their realworld inability to donate online.…”

“…For example, Bennett (2009) cited commercial research undertaken by a charity group that indicated that 42 s was the average time people spend looking at a charity web page. Clearly, the trust-building process needs to operate within this restriction.…”

“…Olsen et al, 2001;Powell, 2005) appears to be being realised with a dramatic increase in the amount of funds that charities are obtaining via online donations (Bennett, 2009). The increase in online fundraising may be due to aid agencies designing their websites based on the developing literature on aid agency web site design (e.g.…”

Donation Behavior in Online Micro Charities: An Investigation of Charitable Crowdfunding Projects

“…We measured an individual's inherent altruism using four items that adapted from Chen et al's study [14]. Moreover, consistent with prior study, funders' income and past donation experience were also considered as control variables of intention to donate [6]. In the present study, the wording of the measurement statements was modified to reflect the charitable crowdfunding context.…”

Adománygyűjtés, impulzusadományozás a közösségi médiában

“…Az impulzusadományozások természete, az ilyen típusú adományo-zás mögött meghúzódó pszichológiai, szociális és egyéb tényezők legalább ennyire fontosnak minősíthetők. Bennett (2009) kiemeli: miközben az impulzusvá-sárlás fogalmát a szakirodalom már alaposan körüljár-ta, ennek jótékonysági környezetben való vizsgálatával a szakma még adós. A szerző szerint a téma fontosságát támasztja alá, hogy:…”