STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODEL DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNICATION FACTORS INFLUENCING DONATION TO NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

Abstract

The study is aimed to study 1) to explore communication methods applied by successful nonprofit organizations in Thailand, 2) to analyze communication factors influencing donors’ decision on donation for nonprofit organizations, and 3) to develop a structural equation model of communication factors influencing donors’ decision on donation for nonprofit organizations and test its congruence with the empirical data. The study is mixed-method research, divided into 2 parts. Part 1: Qualitative research was conducted with in-depth interviews with 4 key informants who are personnel responsible directly for communication of two nonprofit organizations, namely Ramathibodi Foundation and The Thai Red Cross Society, and 2 academicians in communication in the nonprofit organization context. Part 2: Quantitative research was conducted by survey questionnaires with 315 samples who are donors to nonprofit organizations. Data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics for analyzing the structural equation model.

From the study, the nonprofit organizations are found to apply the following communication strategies: 1) communication for establishing trust and faith, 2) proper communication for accessing donors of different generations, 3) the use of personal media, 4) collaboration with alliances, and 5) donation through crowdfunding. Besides, factors found to influence donation to the nonprofit organizations.

1) Donors' trust and faith in NPOs, 2) NPOs' missions and operations, 3) a variety of convenient channels, 4) a display of respect and admiration to donors, 5) the establishment of good relationships with donors, 6) tax deduction after donation, 7) predisposed personal factors, 8) NPOs' image, 9) shared values, and 10) social factors facilitating donation behaviors. For the analysis of the structural equation model, it is found that the developed model is congruent with the empirical data since it passes more than 3 from 9 indices as the determined criteria as follows: (1) Chi-square/df = 1.305 (<2.00) (2) GFI = 0.98 (>0.90) (3) AGFI = 0.91 (>0.90) (4) CFI = 1.00 (>0.90) (5) NFI = 0.99 (>0.90) (6) IFI = 1.00 (>0.90) (7) RFI = 0.98 (>0.90) (8) RMR = 0.013 (<0.05), and (9) RMSEA = 0.031 (<0.05). Moreover, from analyzing the effect size of Path Coefficients of latent variables in the structural equation model, it is found that communication factors have a direct effect on trust; social marketing has a direct effect on trust; the corporate image has a direct effect on trust, donation motivation, and donation behaviors; and trust has a direct effect on donation motivation and behaviors.

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