Date of Conferral

5-10-2024

Date of Award

May 2024

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Policy and Administration

Advisor

Lori Demeter

Abstract

While philanthropic studies have been conducted for centuries, little information exists regarding factors that impel donors to make financial donations to environmental nongovernmental organizations (ENGOs). The phenomena surrounding human motivation have been studied via numerous lenses providing information focused on various domains of interest e.g., poverty alleviation, provisioning of educational opportunity, disease eradication, disaster relief, etc. The theoretical framework for this study was Self-Determination Theory (SDT). This study focused specifically on U.S. citizens and the motivational factors that impel said citizens to make monetary contributions to ENGOs. Ten participants ages 18 and over who had donated to an ENGO in the past year were interviewed virtually via Zoom. Results indicated the importance of being informed about how the ENGOs were spending their donations was paramount to the donors. This also was the dominant sentiment expressed by the participants, as they decided whether they would continue their support for the ENGO(s). The donors wanted to know about the ENGO’s practices (that is, how, and where their money was being spent) and what the ENGOs will strive to accomplish currently and in the future. Recommendations include recruiting more participants to provide a more robust and thorough examination and to garner support from ENGOs. Social change implications include that by better understanding donor decision-making, ENGOs can develop or revise current policies to better attract and retain donors interested in environmental concerns.

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