The growing involvement of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in solving development problems has led to an increase in the number of NGOs around the world and therefore in their visibility and influence. Although concerns about the role and responsibility of NGOs have been raised from more than 20 years, there is still a need to ensure good practices in NGOs and to determine what measures will improve NGOs’ accountability to their stakeholders. Our study aims to contribute to this initiative from the donor accountability approach. To achieve this goal, we conducted a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis to analyze the constraints and needs that donor accountability pose to NGOs. Our findings suggest that donor accountability could interfere with NGOs’ activities, leading them to generate short-term results, focus more on financial results, and feel increased pressure on overhead costs. The most recent literature opens an opportunity, however, to make upward accountability more useful for NGOs. Following this trend, we propose that donor accountability be considered as a dimension to assess NGO quality so that it becomes a powerful marketing tool to attract and retain donors.

PurposeThe growth in the number of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) worldwide has led to increased competition for donations. A stronger NGO brand equity will make donors more attracted to an organization, compelling them to increase both their donations and their commitment. The goal of this study is to propose a novel donor-based brand equity model. The present study takes into consideration the special characteristics that donors confer to NGOs—specific examples of nonprofit organizations (NPOs) that demand higher moral capital. The suggested framework considers the donor's perspective of NGO brand equity and identifies new dimensions: familiarity (recall, brand strength and brand identification), associations (authenticity, reputation and differentiation) and commitment (attitudinal, emotional) by building on previous NPOs and consumer-based brand equity models.Design/methodology/approachBased on the analysis of the literature, the authors propose an NGO donor-based brand equity model, which the authors test with a convenience sample of 137 individuals through partial least squares structural equation modeling.FindingsThe results of this study demonstrate the positive effects of brand reputation, brand differentiation, brand identification and brand commitment on donor-based brand equity.Practical implicationsThe novel proposed model will help NGO managers better understand the sources of brand equity from the donor's perspective and more efficiently manage their resources and activities to strengthen their NGO's brand equity.Originality/valueThis paper provides a novel, multidimensional NGO donor-based brand equity model that is oriented to the specific characteristics of NGOs; this orientation distinguishes it from previous NPOs and commercial brand equity models.