Nonprofit Organizations at the Crossroads of Offline Fundraising and Social Innovation: The Influence of Promoter Behavior on the Success of Donation-Based Crowdfunding Through Digital Platforms

The purpose of this research consists of exploring the extent to which the behavior of promoters or fundraisers - explaining the success of offline fundraising campaigns for charitable causes - may influence as well the success of donation-based crowdfunding (DCF) campaigns promoted through digital platforms. First, the literature on the influence of the promoter behavior on the success of offline fundraising campaigns for charitable causes is reviewed. Second, hypotheses are proposed linking the determinants identified in the literature to DCF campaigns. Thirdly, their explanatory capacity is measured through quantitative analysis based upon a database of 360 campaigns fostered by nonprofits via Microdonaciones, a donation-based crowdfunding digital platform, for the period 2012–2017. Logistic regression analysis is used to test the hypotheses proposed. Results confirm in the light of the promoters behavior, that fundraising campaigns fostered by nonprofits organizations for charitable causes behave similarly offline and online.