Information Source Reliance and Charitable Giving Decisions

• Published date: 01 June 2017
• Author: Lindsey McDougle,Huafang Li
• Date: 01 June 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nml.21258

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N M  L, vol. 27, no. 4, Summer 2017 © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/nml.21258

Journal sponsored by the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University.

Correspondence to: Lindsey McDougle, Rutgers University-Newark, School of Public Aff airs and Administration, 111

Washington Street, Newark, NJ 07102. E-mail: lindsey.mcdougle@rutgers.edu.

Research Note

Information Source Reliance and

Charitable Giving Decisions

Huafang Li , Lindsey McDougle

Grand Valley State University, Rutgers University-Newark

This study examines the relationship between donor reliance on information and donors’

subsequent charitable giving decisions of both time and money. To examine this relationship,

we utilize data from an original survey of residents in San Diego County, California ( n =

1,002), asking donors about their charitable activities and the information sources that

they use to facilitate their charitable decisions. Our findings reveal that relying on informa-

tion from both nonprofit accrediting agencies and personal experiences positively influences

donors’ decision to give time to nonprofit organizations (that is, volunteer), but has no

significant impact on decisions to give money. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Keywords: Information , charitable giving , volunteering

INFORMATION IS A VALUABLE TOOL. Indeed, the open exchange of information allows all par-

ties involved in a transaction to understand each other ’ s goals and assumptions. As such, nonprofit

organizations (NPOs) and donors often use information in an attempt to reduce information

asymmetries between them. NPOs rely on information disclosure to provide donors with evidence

of their transparency (Saxton, Neely, and Guo 2014 ), while donors rely on access to information to

provide them with insights into NPO trustworthiness (Bekkers 2003 ; Sloan 2009 ).

Despite the importance of information, not all information influences a donor ’ s giving deci-

sions equally. In some instances, opinionated information provided by a friend or relative will

influence giving decisions more so than information provided on NPO websites (McDou-

gle and Handy 2014 ). In other instances, however, nonprofit accrediting agencies and

third-party accountability organizations will provide greater assurance of NPO credibility

(McDougle and Handy 2014 ).

In this study we explored the influence of various information sources on donors’ decisions

to volunteer time and donate money to NPOs.

1 Specifically, we use individual-level data

from an original survey of residents in San Diego County, California ( n = 1,002) to answer