An investigation of the characteristics of Australian charitable donors

Abstract

Ad appeals using a range of emotional appeals have been used in different donation campaigns, but if not managed well, can evoke anger and irritation and as a result alienating potential donors. An understanding of the key donors’ demographics, psychographics and perception of charities can then help build a better advertising campaign towards donation intention. This research therefore aims to do investigate this proposition by building and extending on Schlegelmilch et al. (1997) research to an Australian sample. Results showed that, donors are likely to be older and less highly educated. Religiosity was found to have low influence on charitable donations. Australian donors were also more likely to have positive attitudes towards international charities as opposed to national charities. Further research should focus on cross-country comparisons of donor characteristics to provide a more holistic perspective on donor behaviour and thus assist managerial decisions in the marketing of charities.