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1 – 10 of over 1000Mary Ann Hofmann and Dwayne McSwain
This paper provides a review and synthesis of past research regarding financial disclosure management by nongovernmental nonprofit organizations and suggests directions for future…
Abstract
This paper provides a review and synthesis of past research regarding financial disclosure management by nongovernmental nonprofit organizations and suggests directions for future study. The primary purpose of this review is to summarize the evidence on financial disclosure management to help regulators and other stakeholders understand why, how, and to what extent nonprofits engage in this behavior. The paper begins by defining disclosure management in nonprofit organizations and exploring the motivations for why it might occur. Next is a survey of the nongovernmental nonprofit financial reporting environment: objectives, common practices, and the informational needs of users of nonprofit financial reports. Research exploring the motives, methods, and consequences of disclosure management is summarized. The evidence suggests that nongovernmental nonprofit managers have a variety of incentives to manage reported numbers and that they do in fact alter spending decisions, choose accounting methods, and design cost allocations to achieve certain performance benchmarks. Furthermore, this review sheds light on the consequences of disclosure management and what can or should be done to limit it.
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Noel Hyndman and Mariannunziata Liguori
There has been limited research on why football clubs contribute to charity. This paper examines how football clubs and their charitable conduits report information when…
Abstract
Purpose
There has been limited research on why football clubs contribute to charity. This paper examines how football clubs and their charitable conduits report information when discussing their connectedness. In addition, it explores reasons why, and the extent to which, football clubs support altruism via such charitable vehicles.
Design/methodology/approach
Case studies of four major football teams (Manchester City/Manchester United in England and AC Milan/Inter Milan in Italy) are discussed, with formal reports of the clubs and their associated charitable conduits being analysed.
Findings
Boundaries between the clubs and their charitable conduits are frequently blurred. Evidence suggests that acknowledging the co-existence of different factors may help to understand what is reported by these organisations and address some of the caveats in terms of autonomy and probity of their activities and reporting practices.
Research limitations/implications
The research uses case studies of four major ‘powerhouses’ of the game and their associated charitable spinoffs. While this is innovative and novel, expanding the research to investigate more clubs and their charitable endeavours would allow greater generalisations.
Practical implications
The study provides material that can be used to reflect on the very topical subject of ‘sportswashing’. This has the potential to input to deliberations relating to the future governance of the game.
Originality/value
The paper explores relationships between businesses and charities/nonprofits in a sector so far little investigated from a charitable accountability perspective. It suggests that motives for engaging in charitable activity and highlighting such engagement may extend beyond normal altruism or warm-glow emotions.
Saeed Awadh Bin-Nashwan, Meshari Al-Daihani, Hijattulah Abdul-Jabbar and Lutfi Hassen Ali Al-Ttaffi
With fundraising appeals for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) relief efforts and donating to those affected by its spread and impact, donors, volunteers and charities can all…
Abstract
Purpose
With fundraising appeals for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) relief efforts and donating to those affected by its spread and impact, donors, volunteers and charities can all play their part and render much-needed support and aid. The purpose of this study is to be part of such effort by empirically examining the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations that drive people's attitudes to engage in fundraising campaigns launched in many communities, providing a richer understanding of donors' responses.
Design/methodology/approach
The present work follows a quantitative approach based on an online survey conducted among potential Kuwaiti charitable donors. A total of 565 useable responses (356 females, 209 males) were obtained using snowball sampling and analyzed through smart partial least squares (SmartPLS) software.
Findings
With 90% of respondents financially able to donate who have a monthly income equal to or greater than the average (US$2000), this study confirms the suitability of the model used in predicting donors' attitudes to contribute online to grassroots fundraising campaigns. It reveals that all constructs included in the model (i.e. charitable projects geared for those affected by the pandemic, Internet technology (IT) features and religiosity level) are statistically significant, except for trust in charities.
Practical implications
This study suggests that in uncertainty and concern surrounding COVID-19, nonprofit organizations, charities and governments should make concerted efforts toward mitigating the impacts of the pandemic on families and workers who are on the frontline against its outbreak. Possible areas need to be improved through suitable proactive strategies to solicit online monetary donations, such as charitable projects with inclusive information, focus attention on IT features (e.g. privacy, trustworthiness, security and effectiveness) and strengthen the religious faith of donors toward the significance of helping vulnerable groups and regions.
Originality/value
The research adds value to the literature on donation and giving behavior by offering an in-depth understanding of what influences online donation attitudes, especially amid such an unprecedented epidemic crisis.
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Thad Calabrese and Cleopatra Grizzle
Despite the enormous size of the nonprofit sector, there has been very little empirical research done on the capital structure of nonprofit organizations, and no one has examined…
Abstract
Despite the enormous size of the nonprofit sector, there has been very little empirical research done on the capital structure of nonprofit organizations, and no one has examined the potential effects of borrowing on individual contributions. Using a representative sample of nonprofits, the empirical analysis first determines whether secured or unsecured borrowing by nonprofits influence future contributions. The results for the full sample support a “crowding-out” effect. When the analysis is repeated on a subsample of nonprofits that are older, larger, and more dependent upon donations, the results are more ambiguous: secured debt has little or no effect, while unsecured debt has a “crowd-in” effect. The empirical analysis is then expanded to test whether nonprofits with higher than average debt levels have different results than nonprofits with below average debt levels. The results suggest that donors do remove future donations when a nonprofit is more highly leveraged compared to similar organizations.
Several nonprofit associations have implemented assessment and certification programs intending to produce institutional improvement for member organizations. Using the Technology…
Abstract
Several nonprofit associations have implemented assessment and certification programs intending to produce institutional improvement for member organizations. Using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as a foundation, this study develops and tests an extension of TAM with organizations that chose to participate in one such program, (the Louisiana Standards for Excellence organizational assessment), and with those that did not. The results of this quantitative study largely validate TAM and indicate that dimensions such as usefulness, access barriers related to resources, attitudes, executive director pro-activity and behavioral intent all influence the decision to pursue voluntary certification. These findings advance current theory and contribute to the foundation for future research aimed at understanding user-adoption behavior in a general sense, and more specifically, in the nonprofit sector.
The purpose of the study was to examine how heads of small charitable performing arts organisations who did not possess backgrounds or qualifications in marketing interpreted the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the study was to examine how heads of small charitable performing arts organisations who did not possess backgrounds or qualifications in marketing interpreted the implications, for future marketing activities, of significant cuts in government funding and how their views on the value of marketing changed consequent to the cuts.
Design/methodology/approach
Dervin's sensemaking interview method was employed to explore the processes, whereby the heads of 26 small nonprofit contemporary dance companies made sense of the marketing demands of newly constrained funding situations.
Findings
Three groups of respondents were identified, respectively, labelled as marketing reductionists, knowledge seekers, and marketing activists. Many of the respondents did not distinguish between marketing and human resource management functions. Major confusions existed vis-à-vis pricing policies and how to evaluate returns on marketing expenditures.
Research limitations/implications
The study covered a single sector in just one country. Replication of the study in other sectors and countries would be worthwhile, as would the comparison of how small arts companies deal with various other types of financial crisis.
Practical implications
National bodies that award performing arts qualifications need to include marketing in their curricula and syllabuses. Arts marketing associations should make available on their web sites instructional materials relating to marketing. The government should encourage the formation of marketing co-operatives among small performing arts companies.
Originality/value
The study applied a qualitative interview technique unfamiliar to most researchers in the marketing field. It was the first to investigate the impact of cutbacks in government funding on the interpretations of marketing held by heads of small arts organisations.
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Zakhar Berkovich and Elizabeth A.M. Searing
The purpose of this paper is twofold. The first is to map the most influential literature in nonprofit finance and financial management. The second is to understand why the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is twofold. The first is to map the most influential literature in nonprofit finance and financial management. The second is to understand why the literature has evolved the way it has, including isolated silos developing in certain disciplines.
Design/methodology/approach
The review includes articles assembled from three sources: a core list, an expert list and journal archive searches on phrases that emerged. Using social origins theory as a guide, we coded 119 articles for traits such as root discipline, methodology and author characteristics.
Findings
Research tends to stay confined within the doctoral discipline of the author, who publishes in journals valued by their discipline. This has caused limited cross-referencing across disciplines, and it has allowed different understandings and judgments of the same phenomenon to exist in different fields. Data availability drives much of the research agenda, but author teams of mixed disciplines are promising.
Originality/value
Unlike a traditional literature review, this study identifies factors that have had a formative influence on the development of the diverse field of nonprofit finance and financial management. This diversity has resulted in a fractured field held in silos with few indigenous developments. Using social origins theory as a guide, this study provides an overview of the most consequential literature through the analysis of authors and institutional characteristics. This approach provides an evolutionary perspective and illustrates how this disciplinary adherence has created a research topography that limits progress for both scholars and practitioners.
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The purpose of this paper is to provide an empirical analysis on aid-related misconduct and sectoral regulatory failures. Via a series of Oxfam revelations, this paper aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide an empirical analysis on aid-related misconduct and sectoral regulatory failures. Via a series of Oxfam revelations, this paper aims to highlight potential civil and administrative remedies to rectify wrongdoings and increase accountability in aid organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
Chronicling recent revelations of misconduct by aid workers, this paper begins with an overview of moral and legal responsibilities of the entrusted; then it illustrates how the Oxfam misconduct violates those moral and legal responsibilities in aid delivery. The author draws upon legal and administrative dilemmas on regulating the aid sector and aid workers’ behavior. Finally, this paper offers practical civil remedies for the harmed and administrative remedies for long-term institutional reforms.
Findings
The damage – across a broad spectrum of interests, caused by aid workers engaging in exploitative conduct – not only is a betrayal of the trust reposed by vulnerable people in these individuals but also a failure with far-reaching implications on the part of the donor organizations. The use of the criminal law in aid-related misconduct is highly problematic, assuming a specific offense is committed (which, in many cases, it may not have). There are jurisdictional limitations on the ability of donor countries and international regulations other than in regard to peacekeepers are almost nonexistent. Given such context, civil and administrative remedies provide a viable alternative for the harmed who seek justice.
Research limitations/implications
Legal remedies can be highly jurisdictional contingent. Depending on the specific jurisdiction where misconduct takes place, there are potentially other suited remedies not mentioned in this paper to address aid workers’ unethical behavior.
Practical implications
This paper provides tips on using existing legal channel (the civil law) and available pro bono resources to hold transgressors and their employers accountable.
Social implications
Effective regulating aid-related conduct prevents further harm on vulnerable people and restores public trust in the aid sector.
Originality/value
This paper addresses the regulatory blind spot on aid workers’ exploitative conduct through the context of Oxfam revelations. Second, it provides practical policy recommendations for navigating legal and administrative dilemmas on regulating aid workers’ behavior.
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Elizabeth A.M. Searing, Simone Poledrini, Dennis R. Young and Marthe Nyssens
This paper aims to examine the applicability of the benefits theory of nonprofit finance to an international sample of social enterprises (SEs).
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the applicability of the benefits theory of nonprofit finance to an international sample of social enterprises (SEs).
Design/methodology/approach
This research analyzes the revenue sources of SEs through the lens of benefits theory. In particular, the authors test the links between revenue sources and the character of an enterprise’s mission. This study uses data on 545 SEs collected by the International Comparative Social Enterprise Models project, which was an international collaborative effort of more than 200 researchers. The authors use cross-sectional multivariate regression to identify the factors which influence the revenue portfolios of SEs.
Findings
The findings provide evidence of SE revenue portfolios that are nuanced and complicated. Benefits theory helps to illuminate this nuance. The application of benefits theory to SE goes beyond the traditional characterization of the publicness and privateness of goods and services to include the intended beneficiaries, the nature of benefits they receive and the management practices followed to assure distribution of benefits to intended beneficiary groups. By analyzing the public (and private) goals of SEs, such as employment generation and food security, the authors gain an understanding of what they really do, and hence, how they can be best financed.
Originality/value
This study provides empirical support to the applicability of benefits theory to SEs, which provides both theoretical advancement and practical implications.
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Deborah Kelly and Alfred Lewis
This article aims to examine the dynamic nature of the sources of funding for not‐for‐profit (NPs) organizations with particular reference to NPs in the human service sector NPs…
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to examine the dynamic nature of the sources of funding for not‐for‐profit (NPs) organizations with particular reference to NPs in the human service sector NPs in the US.
Design/methodology/approach
The universe of NPs include government and so‐called third sector organizations which such as charities, healthcare organizations, educational institutions and disaster relief organizations. Specifically the authors examined the human service sector of NPs with the aim of analyzing the relationships between government subsidy and the level of commercial activities of NPs.
Findings
The expectation is that NPs with greater level of commercial of for‐profit type activities are better managed than NPs that are solely reliant on government subsidies.
Originality/value
This article examines the dynamic nature of the sources of funding for not‐for‐profit (NPs) organizations with particular reference to NPs in the human service sector NPs in the US.
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