A New Look at Nonprofit Online Fundraising: Persuasion through the Means of Credibility and Psychological Consistency

Student's Name

Kaytlin LeMier, Minnesota State University, Mankato

1st Student's Major

Communication Studies

1st Student's College

Arts and Humanities

Students' Professional Biography

Kaytlin LeMier is a student in Communication Studies at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Mentor's Name

Kristen Cvancara

Mentor's Email Address

kristen.cvancara@mnsu.edu

Mentor's Department

Communication Studies

Mentor's College

Arts and Humanities

Abstract

A study was conducted to examine how the persuasive elements of a message contribute to non-profit organizations’ potential to gain financial support. The purpose of the study was to apply theories of persuasion to advance an understanding of the underlying elements relevant to successful fundraising appeals. The two main constructs examined were credibility and psychological consistency. Applied to the context of non-profit fundraising, credibility refers to the judgments granting institutions and/or donors make about the believability of the non-profit organization or its individual representatives, and psychological consistency refers to donors’ internal drive to reduce inconsistencies between their behavior and their beliefs, values, or attitudes. The method of investigation involved a secondary research analysis of existing literature to illustrate how the level of credibility donors associate with an organization is likely to impact the effectiveness of fundraising messages, and to articulate the influence psychological consistency plays in the desire and motivation for donors to support non-profit fundraising efforts. Presented as a professional report, this study reviews the implications of the findings and offers specific ways in which non-profit organizations can improve the effectiveness of fundraising attempts via examples grant writing and online fundraising campaigns.

Recommended Citation

LeMier, Kaytlin (2009) "A New Look at Nonprofit Online Fundraising: Persuasion through the Means of Credibility and Psychological Consistency," Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato: Vol. 9, Article 10.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.56816/2378-6949.1063
Available at: https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/jur/vol9/iss1/10

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