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Recent emphasis in research and theory building on compassion in organizations has not yet received sustained attention by organization development and change scholarship. Compassion at work, however, has been reported as instrumental in coaching, ad hoc organizing, prosocial behavior during challenging times, and other processes central to developing and changing organizations. It also has been theorized to bring about an untapped organizational capability, contribute to fostering a climate of workplace forgiveness, and to facilitate development of social entrepreneurship. In this essay, we begin to outline what the recent advances in the compassion literature offer researchers and practitioners of organization development and change. We briefly review how compassion is defined across different contexts, how it can be seen through a positive lens and within broader lines of inquiry on social and emotional dynamics at work, and how interpretive approaches to studying compassion might fit with the study of change. Seeing compassion scholarship as more than a specialized trend in positive organizational behavior, we offer ample opportunities for diverse and novel inquiry into development and change at work.

Prosocial lending in online crowdfunding has flourished in recent years, and it has become a new way to fundraise for philanthropy. However, there is almost a 70% user attrition rate in crowdfunding. The purpose of this study is to understand what the lender’s lending experience and social connection influence lender retention of online prosocial lending from a self-determination perspective.

Drawing on self-determination theory (SDT), this research utilizes a quantifiable method for factors of the lender's lending experience and social connection. Additionally, the research constructs economic models to explore the impacts of these factors acting as the necessary conditions for basic psychological needs on lender retention, using a large-scale sample of over 380,000 lenders from Kiva.

The results indicate that, from the lender's lending experience aspect, the loan narratives with more profit language in the last lending and the failure of past participation are negatively related to lender retention. Regarding the lender's social connection aspect, their friends or small lending teams are positively related to lender retention, while whether they are invited and lending team size show negative influence. Furthermore, results indicate the moderating effects of the disclosure of lending motivation.

This research explores the mechanism of lender retention of online prosocial lending, providing a self-determination perspective about how previous experience influences long-term lending behavior. The study offers significant implications for the literature on online philanthropy, SDT and user retention of online platforms. At the same time, the study provides an understanding of the effects of different aspects of SDT.