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This study examines how the strength of social ties between focal and peer fundraisers interacts with the network structure generated by these social ties to determine crowdfunding performance. With relationship intensity and preference similarity between focal and peer fundraisers as the two dimensions of tie strength, our study discloses how the benefits and costs associated with these tie strength dimensions are affected by network closure, the degree to which peer fundraisers are connected to each other. Our estimation results indicate that (1) relationship intensity and preference similarity exhibit inverted U-shaped relationships with crowdfunding performance, and (2) network closure attenuates the effectiveness of tie strength dimensions. Together, our study findings reveal an important interplay between indirect and direct social ties. In essence, social ties among peer fundraisers facilitate a group identity that reduces the returns of time and resources a fundraiser spends on strengthening ties with these peer fundraisers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While visual cues have been pervasively employed in online charitable appeals to increase donors' positive responses, the contrast of the recipient's imagery at different time nodes has received little attention in philantrophic marketing. This research explored the effect of recipients' imagery contrast on donation willingness and distinguished two contrast effects in visual imagery of online charitable appeals: pre-middle contrast that depicts the past health and current state and post-middle contrast that portrays the future health and current state. We conducted three scenario-based experimental studies based on Credamo participants (total N = 910). Study 1 (N = 198) using a one factor (pre-middle contrast vs. post-middle contrast vs. no contrast) between -subjects design demonstrated that charitable appeals with imagery contrast (vs. no contrast) led to higher donation intentions. Study 2 (N = 145) compared two different contrast effects (pre-middle contrast vs. post-middle contrast), with findings showing that guilt mediated the effect of pre-middle contrast while hope mediated the effect of post-middle contrast on willingness to donate; guilt and hope had opposing mediating roles, resulting in no significant difference in donation willingness between the two contrast effect types. Study 2 also examined the moderating effect of individuals' optimism tendencies. Study 3 (N = 567) showed the spatial position of imagery photos had on significant influence on donation willingness. These findings shed light on the research on visual imagery in charitable appeals as well as its effective adoption in online charity advertising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Online fundraising has become a rapidly growing alternative business financing method for esports. Despite this, a lack of attention has been given to its fans' motivations for participating in crowdfunding (CF) projects or behavioral intentions for spectatorship. To address this, the present study (1) categorizes esport CF investors' motivations based on the big five personality traits and (2) compares whether motivations and behavioral intentions for esports spectatorships vary depending on each group. Design/methodology/approach: We applied K-means clustering analysis to classify investors. ANOVA was used to verify whether there were differences in CF motivations and behavioral intentions. Findings: The study identified six distinct investor segments. Overall, esports CF investors showed high agreeableness and conscientiousness with low neuroticism. Fanatic fans were the most motivated and had the highest spectatorship intentions, driven by strong openness. In contrast, recognition seekers and charity donors exhibited the lowest viewing intentions. Entertainment seekers were highly motivated by excitement and aesthetics, linking CF participation to a strong desire to watch events. Despite higher neuroticism, reward hunters also showed significant viewing intentions, driven by drama and aesthetics. These findings highlight the diverse motivations and their influence on esports spectatorship. Originality/value: This study investigates the motivations and behavioral intentions of CF investors and spectatorship, which has substantive theoretical and managerial implications for the business of esports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to empirically determine success factors in the email marketing as a sub-discipline of online fundraising of nonprofit organizations (NPOs). Hereby, it responds to the gap of knowledge as existing research has not in detail touched nonprofit email marketing. To explore success factors in NPOs' email marketing, a detailed structural equation model, in which email marketing success acts as the final endogenous variable and the nine potential success factors function as formative latent exogenous variables, was developed. A quantitative survey was conducted with employees of NPOs from German-speaking countries. For data analysis, which was carried out with the software SmartPLS, 153 responses were utilized. Using aggregate and disaggregate analyses on the developed model, various critical success factors in NPOs' email marketing could be empirically identified. Furthermore, an importance-performance map analysis allowed the identification of the most crucial measures for increasing success, as a low performance of the NPOs faces a high total effect on email marketing success. From the results of the importance-performance map analysis, it was possible to derive specific practice-relevant action recommendations regarding measures in which NPOs should prioritize an increase in performance. Therefore, in addition to its theoretical relevance, the study also has a strong practical value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rewards-based crowdfunding presents an information asymmetry for participants due to the funding mechanism used. Campaign-backers trust creators to complete projects and deliver rewards as outlined prior to the fundraising process, but creators may discover better opportunities as they progress with a project. Despite this, the all-or-nothing (AON) mechanism on crowdfunding platforms incentivizes creators to set meager funding-targets that are easier to achieve but may offer limited slack when creators wish to simultaneously pursue emerging opportunities later in the project. We explore the related issues of how funding targets seem to be selected by the creators, and how dissatisfaction with the rewards outcomes may arise for the backers. We constructed a quasi-experimental (QE) research design based on an extensive dataset from Kickstarter with nearly 390,000 campaigns. Our findings show that creators who set particularly meager funding-targets for their campaigns are more likely to receive sufficient funds but are less likely to satisfy backers with the project outcomes they deliver. We also test the moderating roles of creator and campaign characteristics. Overall, this study provides evidence that the funding mechanism used in rewards-based crowdfunding may be unsustainable in its current form, unless new mechanisms are introduced to realign the diverging incentives for creators and backers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a growth in online fundraising from crowdfunding apps, like GoFundMe, that propagate fundraising appeals on social networking sites. In the online space, these crowdfunding apps pose a potential threat to the traditional intermediation role of charities. The disintermediation threat is that donors choose crowdfunding intermediaries instead of charities to channel their giving. In this article, we discuss what makes crowdsourced fundraising effective and how charities can adapt to this new dynamic for more effective online fundraising emphasizing two key success factors: brand strength/reputation and managing the donor experience. In addition, we explain the advantages and disadvantages of social media fundraising and giving and propose ways charities can leverage their good reputations and public trust to stimulate reintermediation. Finally, we propose a landscape for future research based on model that emphases the fundraising campaign's ability to stimulate viral sharing within and between online social networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction/Main Objectives: Using celebrities for online fundraising has become increasingly popular, especially during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. It has encouraged social media influencers (SMIs) around the world to help raise money through their own Instagram accounts. Thus, this study aims to understand the roles of SMIs in fundraising activities, to identify the influencers' attributes which affect their followers' willingness to donate, and to explore the motivation of the followers to donate. The SMI who became the subject of this study is Rachel Vennya, an Instagram celebrity who is also an entrepreneur. Background Problems: The growing role of SMIs in online fundraising has indirectly made them idols. However, there is a need to investigate what drives social media users' willingness to support and donate to online fundraising hosted by SMIs. Novelty: This study enriches the literature about SMIs and the motivation to donate in different contexts, such as online fundraising through Instagram, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia. Research Methods: Using a qualitative method, semi-structured interviews with 10 informants, who were aged between 25 and 35 years old were conducted. The informants were selected from among Rachel Vennya's Instagram followers and participated in her COVID-19 fundraising campaign. Finding/Results: In accordance with the objectives, there are three roles for the SMIs, which are expanding their followers, raising awareness and inspiring people to donate. The findings also identified three characteristics that affect the willingness of people to donate, namely attractiveness, trustworthiness and ability, while the influencer's influence and making it easy to donate are the motivations for the followers' intentions to donate. Conclusion: The findings could contribute to the knowledge of SMIs and online fundraising. They could also help the governments' efforts to get non-profit organizations to focus attention on proactive strategies aimed at boosting their online fundraising campaigns in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction/Main Objectives: Using celebrities for online fundraising has become increasingly popular, especially duringthe recent COVID-19 pandemic. It has encouraged social media influencers (SMIs) around the world to help raise money through their own Instagram accounts. Thus, this study aims to understand the roles of SMIs in fundraising activities, to identify the influencers’ attributes which affect their followers’ willingness to donate, and to explore the motivation of the followers to donate. The SMI who became the subject of this study is Rachel Vennya, an Instagram celebrity who is also an entrepreneur. Background Problems: The growing role of SMIs in online fundraising has indirectly made them idols. However, there is a need to investigate what drives social media users’ willingness to support and donate to online fundraising hosted by SMIs. Novelty: This study enriches the literature about SMIs and the motivation to donate in different contexts, such as online fundraising through Instagram, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia. Research Methods: Using a qualitative method, semi-structured interviews with 10 informants, who were aged between 25 and 35 years old were conducted. The informants were selected from among Rachel Vennya’s Instagram followers and participated in her COVID-19 fundraising campaign. Finding/Results: In accordance with the objectives, there are three roles for the SMIs, which are expanding their followers, raising awareness and inspiring people to donate. The findings also identified three characteristics that affect the willingness of people to donate, namely attractiveness, trustworthiness and ability, while the influencer’s influence and making it easy to donate are the motivations for the followers’ intentions to donate. Conclusion: The findings could contribute to the knowledge of SMIs and online fundraising. They could also help the governments’ efforts to get non-profit organizations to focus attention on proactive strategies aimed at boosting their online fundraising campaigns in the future.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) which first appeared at the end of 2019 has become a pandemic and instantly changed the way people interact. Not only because this virus has claimed many victims, but also because of policies to limit physical activity. These conditions have contributed to the emergence of solidarity in the form of online fundraising in society. Therefore, this research, intends to look at two online fundraisings; first, which was initiated by the People's Consultative Assembly of the Republic of Indonesia (MPR RI), and second, which was initiated by Narasi Tv. In addition, this research looks at fundraising within the framework of a theatrical event which consists of various elements, tries to unveil the ideology that operates behind the events, and describes the audience's response as a result of their interpreting process towards the online fundraisings. Since the phenomenon being analyzed is online activity, this research uses netnography as a method to observe textual communication and multimedia communication which is the data in this research. The researchers argue that these two-fundraising had different characteristics of initiator, stage, and actor, so that each had different ideological implications as well. The different characteristics also produce different responses as the interpretation of the audience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increasing number of nonprofits are interacting with their current and prospective donors on social media. How to elicit donations effectively through social media, however, remains under-researched. This study applied the optimal matching theory to examine online interactions between nonprofit organizations and their followers. A 2 (valence of organizational post: positive vs. negative) × 2 (type of social support: emotional vs. informational) between-subjects experiment was conducted to investigate how the match between a nonprofit organization's need and its followers' social support impacts third-party observers' perceived relationship satisfaction and donation intention. The mediation effect of enacted social support evaluation (i.e., perceived helpfulness, supportiveness, and sensitiveness) was also examined. It was found that organizational post valence exerted an indirect effect on third-party observers' perceived relationship satisfaction and donation intention through perceived supportiveness and helpfulness. These mediation effects were conditional on the type of social support provided by online followers of the organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We provide the first field evidence pointing at the role of pure self-image, independent of social image, in charitable giving. In an online fundraising campaign for a social youth project run on an opera ticket booking platform, we document how individuals seem to engage in self-deception to preserve their self-image. In addition, we provide evidence on stark adverse long-run effects of the fundraising campaign for ticket sales. "Avoiding the ask," opera customers who faced more insistent online fundraising buy fewer tickets in the following season. Our results suggest that fundraising management should not decide in isolation about their campaigns, even if very successful. Rather, broader operational concerns have to be considered. This paper was accepted by Yan Chen, decision analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study used meta-analytic methods complemented with an "attracting the crowd" framework to develop and test a model that connects campaign characteristics to fundraising outcomes. The proposed framework suggests that all paths between a crowdfunding campaign and its outcomes run through a single primary mechanism – attracting the crowd. A total of 36 separate meta-analytic associations across 112 samples (k = 112) with more than 3.5 million observations (N = 3,546,755) were computed to examine the proposed framework. Results suggest that the amount of text, videos, and positive tone of a campaign have a positive association with the number of backers contributing to a campaign. Number of backers in turn showed a positive association with funding amount and funding success. The results support the proposed framework and suggest that number of backers is a key mechanism that connects campaign characteristics to funding amount and funding success. A post hoc analysis was also performed to examine the association between gender and funding outcomes. The results suggest that the gender of those seeking funding has little direct influence on number of backers, funding amount, and funding success, which offers support for arguments of gender equality in online fundraising. Implications for research and practice are discussed. • Meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) was used to examine elements of online crowdfunding. • Developed and tested an "attracting the crowd" framework. • Text, videos, and positive tone showed a positive association with number of backers. • Gender showed no relation with campaign characteristics or crowdfunding outcomes. • Contributes to theory development and evidence-based practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the degrees of formality that were applied to the processes whereby a sample of 91 British charities had implemented their online fundraising systems. On the average, the charities in the sample had not used systematic processes when introducing Internet donation facilities. However, the organisations that had in fact employed systematic approaches reported that their systems achieved better performance than the remainder of the sample. A majority of the respondents stated that their charities had experienced beneficial spillover effects between the implementation of online fundraising and the operations of alternative fundraising methods (direct mail for instance). However, fifteen per cent of the sample claimed that detrimental channel cannibalisation had occurred following the introduction of Internet fundraising, in that the new online system had taken revenues away from conventional donation channels. The incidence of cannibalisation did not appear to have been influenced by website design considerations. Levels of overall satisfaction with the performances of the sample charities' Internet fundraising facilities were mixed. Only a quarter of the respondents agreed strongly or very strongly that they were highly satisfied with their system. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]