A Tale of Two Charitable Campaigns

Abstract

In light of the current economic conditions and the subsequent increased pressure on nonprofit organizations to collaborate, many nonprofit organizations are developing and conducting cross-sector workplace giving campaigns to increase philanthropic activity. Although some scholars have focused on the implications of such activities for for-profit organizations, little research has been conducted to better understand employee-level giving behaviors in charitable workplace campaigns. This longitudinal study focuses on workplace givers and the impact of individual-level factors on actual donation amounts in two annual workplace campaigns at a large public university from 2001 to 2008. Results show that salary consistently predicts giving amounts across campaigns; length of service, however, only predicts giving amounts in one campaign. Being promoted and receiving tenure led to employees donating less, whereas being promoted while already tenured led to employees donating more. We close the article with a discussion of the managerial implications of our findings.