Wiley-Online-Library: Journal of Philanthropy: Table of Contents

Measuring Nonprofit Capacities in the Context of Unrestricted Funding: A Case Study on Nonprofits Supporting Homeless People in the Netherlands

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:30:09 -0700

ABSTRACT

Philanthropic funders increasingly use more unrestricted or flexible grantmaking, with the aim of strengthening nonprofit organizations and their capacities. Empirical research in this area is, however, limited, partly because of a lack of available data. This research note explores whether an existing longitudinal practice-based survey can be applied to measure nonprofit capacities as conceptualized in the academic literature. We analyze 68 drop-in centers for people experiencing homelessness in the Netherlands that receive unrestricted support from an endowed foundation. Our results reveal several gaps in existing measurement frameworks and suggest new potential sub-dimensions of nonprofit capacity. We construct reliable multi-item scales for strategic planning and external communication and identify additional dimensions—positioning and board continuity, staff and volunteer policy, internal mission orientation, and external mission orientation—that extend current conceptual models. By tracking changes in these capacities over time, we demonstrate the potential of practical longitudinal surveys for studying organizational development. The insights can be used by researchers and practitioners to advance empirical research on nonprofit capacity building.

What Drives Engagement With Fundraising Messages on Social Media? Insights From an LLM‐Assisted Approach

Ahmed Benhoumane, Elodie Manthé — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 16:54:33 -0700

ABSTRACT

Nonprofit organizations increasingly rely on social media platforms for fundraising, yet little is known about which message features effectively drive online engagement. This study investigates how content cues including informativeness, emotional tone, urgency, and inclusiveness, together with format cues such as hashtags, emojis, and message length, shape audience reactions to charitable appeals. Drawing on 18,257 fundraising-related posts on X (formerly Twitter), we applied a hybrid coding approach that combined manual annotation with large language model assistance. Our findings reveal that informativeness alone suppresses engagement (likes and shares) unless paired with positive emotionality, challenging the assumption of its uniform effectiveness. Engagement dimensions (likes, shares, and comments) respond differently to message features, reflecting distinct motivations. Additionally, credibility cues, such as verification status and source type (individual vs. organizational), play a critical role in shaping authenticity and audience impact. By uncovering these heterogeneous dynamics, the study conceptualizes engagement as multidimensional and offers nonprofit organizations practical guidance for tailoring appeals to align with specific fundraising objectives.

Crafting Persuasive Donation Crowdfunding Appeals: The Influence of Rhetoric and Images

JoAnne Yong‐Kwan Lim — Sun, 31 May 2026 20:35:00 -0700

ABSTRACT

The study of textual and visual cues in donation crowdfunding has drawn significant attention. However, there is limited understanding of how rhetoric promotes donation crowdfunding performance, especially with images. Further, there are two competing theoretical perspectives on the use of images: the picture superiority effect, which suggests the vital role of images in enhancing campaign persuasiveness, versus the cognitive overload theory, which suggests that too much information can overwhelm donors. Our study addresses these gaps by examining the influence of rhetoric types (image and concept) derived from the Regressive Imagery Dictionary on donation crowdfunding performance, and their interaction with images. Using campaigns from a Southeast Asian donation crowdfunding platform and a hurdle model, our study demonstrates that the drivers of funding likelihood (Stage 1) differ from those that affect the amount raised among funded campaigns (Stage 2). At Stage 1, image-based rhetoric increases the likelihood of funding, whereas surprisingly, there are no interaction effects between rhetoric types and image count. At Stage 2, the use of increased image-based rhetoric, accompanied by more images, enhances the amount raised in campaigns. Increasing concept-based rhetoric, along with more images, inhibits the amount raised. Our findings, thus, elucidate when the amplifying power of images on donation crowdfunding performance surfaces and when it has a dampening effect. Our findings also caution against the assumption that the impact of cues (e.g., concept-based rhetoric and images) on donation crowdfunding performance is uniform across the donation process.

Benefit or Burden? An NPO‐Centered View on Corporate Volunteering

Yinthe Valcke, Marc Jegers — Fri, 29 May 2026 02:40:40 -0700

ABSTRACT

Corporate volunteering is generally described as a “win–win–win” arrangement, where companies lend extra manpower to non-profits while reaping benefits on both the organizational and individual employee levels. However, there is a lack of research from the perspective of the third category of “winners”, the non-profit organizations (NPOs). Through interviews with 14 NPO professionals, this paper challenges the assumed win for this third actor by exploring the genuine benefits and drawbacks that they encounter when participating in these programs, as well as identifying under which circumstances these outcomes prevail. Benefits and drawbacks have been identified on the NPO level concerning the NPO's daily operations and its capacity development, along with the impact of corporate volunteering programs on different stakeholder groups. Key findings suggest that these outcomes are heavily influenced by the motivation of the individual corporate volunteers, the commitment of the sending company, and the extent to which the corporate volunteers use their professional skills, as well as characteristics such as the duration of the assignment and the size of the group of corporate volunteers. This research highlights the importance of not simply assuming the non-profit's win, but rather understanding its multi-faceted perspective on corporate volunteering.

Issue Information

Fri, 29 May 2026 01:44:22 -0700

Journal of Philanthropy, Volume 31, Issue 3, August 2026.