The Future of Fundraising: Motivations for Participating in Facebook Fundraisers and Implications of Social Capital

Abstract

In 2017, Facebook created a platform for philanthropic fundraising that allowed users to ask their friends to donate to a specific non-profit organization. This study aims to identify unique individual and network characteristics of those who choose to donate to these campaigns, as well as explore the potential relationships between bridging and bonding social capital and participation in a Facebook fundraiser, and identify motivations for participation. Results from an online survey of active Facebook users (N = 167) demonstrate that those who donate to Facebook fundraisers have higher scores in social capital, altruism, self-monitoring and are motivated to donate by perceived poster genuineness, relation to the organization, and demonstrating their own goodwill to their network. Results from this project can be utilized to help inform the growth of prosocial campaigns on social networking sites.