Volunteerism, compassion and religiosity as drivers of donations practices

Abstract

The topic of donations is one of high relevance and has been widely covered in contemporary marketing literature. It is a topic of interest to both theoreticians and practitioners alike, particularly due to its implicit links to fundraising activities and research. The reality of what makes an individual donor ultimately part with his money and give it away to a nonprofit organization is a hot contemporary topic. This study looks into the role of religiosity as a predictor of donations practices. Also volunteerism and compassion, two acts of pro-social behaviour are analysed as predictors of donations practices. Using data collected from a survey of 612 charity donors in Portugal, the results show unequivocally that religiosity does influence donations practices, and so being a predictor of donations practices. Moreover, pro-social behaviour is a predictor of donations practices when in the case of volunteerism, but not in the form of compassion.• The findings are particularly useful for nonprofit organizations that want to attract and retain individual charitable donors and may also help to increase donation regularity, to obtain higher amounts, and donations both to religious and to secular organizations. Finally, it can be stated that the understanding of religiosity sheds light on knowledge about donations practices, and that this study also makes an important contribution to academia, as it is the first study conducted in Portugal that assesses the drivers of donations practices.

Holier than thou: Investigating the relationship between religiosity and charitable giving

“…In a more recent study, Ranganatham and Henley () found that religiosity did positively impact charitable intentions but no such effect was found for AHO. Based on this review, and given that the “common rule” (de Abreu et al, ) among all major religions is helping others, we offer the following hypotheses:H2 The relationship between religiosity and charitable giving is mediated by AHO.H3 The relationship between religiosity and charitable giving is mediated by ACO.…”

“…All of the world's major religions encourage helping others (de Abreu, Laureno, da Silva, & Duionisio, ; Norenzayan & Shariff, ; Ranganatham & Henley, ). The Old Testament (Jewish) of the bible in Deuteronomy 15:11 says “For there will never cease to be poor in the land.…”

“…Reistma, Scheepers, and Te Grotenhuis () questioned whether the intuitive appeal of a hypothesized positive relationship between religiosity and charitable giving has gained widespread acceptance. Research results since Reistma et al's claim was made have been largely equivocal (Bekkers & Wiepking, ; de Abreu et al, ; Galen, ; Norenzayan & Shariff, ; Ranganatham & Henley, ; Shariff & Norenzayan, ; Yao, ).…”

“…Using a sample survey of 612 Portuguese donors, de Abreu et al () found that donors with a higher degree of religiosity were more likely to regularly donate to both religious and secular organizations. The authors were careful to point out that religious affiliation and religiosity are conceptually distinct.…”

“…Some overlap, however, does exist. de Abreu et al () used Reistma's () 14‐item measure of religiosity that contains a “practice dimension,” which includes items that measure the frequency of church attendance and praying. Based upon the results of their logistic regression, de Abreu et al () conclude that religiosity, as well as religious affiliation, is positively associated with charitable donations.…”