Technology is rapidly changing the world of philanthropy, providing organizations with new ways to raise funds and engage donors. One promising new development is the use of cause-related games to mobilize potential donors. Although gamification has long been used in fundraising, its effectiveness, especially for games that have philanthropic components but are not directly related to fundraising, calls for empirical examination. In this paper, we report findings from a study conducted in China. Using online snowball sampling, we recruited 1618 participants (effective sample size of 1586, comprising 41% males and 59% females). The results revealed that participation in cause-related games is significantly associated with an individual’s willingness to donate, and past donation and volunteer experiences moderate this relationship. These findings shed light on the potential mechanism through which cause-related games can influence potential donors, which has significant implications for theory and practice.

Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) have a moral obligation to act in the public interest and are thus expected to lead by example in transparency. Yet, by focusing on the benefits that NPOs derive from being transparent (i.e., the instrumental approach), prior literature has tended to neglect the view of transparency as a moral responsibility regardless of the associated benefits (i.e., the normative approach). We suggest that embracing a normative approach may enable a more comprehensive conceptualization and operationalization of NPO transparency. Based on a systematic literature review, this study conceptualizes NPO transparency as a three-dimensional construct, comprising completeness, accessibility, and inferability. Such conceptualization is then translated into an extensive transparency index that NPOs, with sufficient staff and resources, can use to monitor their practices. Finally, we assess the appropriateness of the conceptualization and the index through a content analysis of 432 NPO websites in Belgium. By highlighting inferability as an important but understudied dimension, we contribute to a more comprehensive normative understanding of NPO transparency.

In Central Europe, people trust each other less than in Western European countries. According to the common approach to volunteering, this should also mean fewer volunteers available. Our research examines whether two forms of volunteering—formal and informal—compete for engaged individuals in Central Europe. On a sample of 2,034 respondents from Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, we analyzed by structural equation model on how social capital and human capital influence wealth and time availability in relation to formal and informal volunteering. Our findings show that the two forms of volunteering do not compete but rather complement each other. Additionally, income has a stronger influence on both formal and informal volunteering than time availability. Furthermore, formal volunteering appears to be more sensitive to fluctuations in the availability of financial resources and time among potential volunteers, confirming resource theory.

Partnerships between international and local NGOs (INGOs and LNGOs) have often been analysed using principal–agent theory, where INGOs treat LNGOs as implementing agents and control their actions. The paper examines how LNGOs can improve their agency in these relationships to create more equal partnerships and thus greater local ownership. We propose a framework in which LNGOs can draw on material, organizational and ideational sources of power to improve their agency. The framework is applied to a case of a peacebuilding project in Nigeria’s farmer–herder conflict. The project was run by an INGO in partnership with two Nigerian LNGOs. The LNGOs had rather different experiences of the partnership. The paper argues that these are explained by differences in their organizational power and how this power was enhanced by ideational power. Material power mattered, but did not play a central role. The findings show that LNGOs can enhance their positions in partnerships if they have effective internal policies and procedures, local and contextual knowledge, and can frame these strategically.

Men’s Sheds are unique community-based mutual-aid not-for-profit membership organisations, which aim to use activities such as craftwork to improve men’s health. While the Men’s Sheds movement appears to be growing, with Sheds in Africa, Europe, Oceania and North America, there is limited understanding of what makes a thriving Shed or membership association more widely. This paper uses in-depth qualitative interviews with committee members of Men’s Sheds in Western Australia to uncover what makes a thriving Shed. The findings reveal that the key factors relate to having an inclusive governance, an inclusive space for activities, supportive networks, and sufficient resources. Overall, a thriving shed is one where members feel included. The paper proposes a framework for a thriving Men’s Shed and offers insights for other membership associations.

Understanding the factors that predict volunteer retention is critical for the sustainability of nonprofit organizations (NPOs), but the determinants of volunteer permanence still require research. This study investigates the utility of the Three-Stage Model of Volunteers’ Duration of Service (3SMVDS) in predicting volunteer retention after 5 months and compares its explanatory performance to that of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Through path analysis, we assess each model's ability to predict volunteer retention after a 5-month period. The data analysis from 271 Spanish novice volunteers yields significant insights. The findings indicate that the 3SMVDS is more effective than the TPB in predicting actual volunteer retention at the 5-month mark, although it presents some theoretical discrepancies with the original model. These results underscore the complexity of volunteer retention and encourages a more sophisticated theoretical understanding that could guide the development of targeted interventions for NPOs to enhance volunteer engagement and retention.

This manuscript explores cross-sectoral social partnerships (CSSPs) through a four-tiered model highlighting tensions within individual organizations, between two or more players, within the new partnership and between that newly formed entity and the stakeholders it addresses. We draw insights from and develop the model according to the existing literature. We then provide examples of tensions in each of the four levels based on our case study of a Romanian CSSP formed in response to the Ukrainian refugee crisis beginning in 2022.

This article explores the growing forms of collaboration between volunteers and professionals within the Italian refugee reception system through the lens of boundary work—an ongoing process of reciprocal demarcation and self-reflexivity that positions them in synergy, tension, or mutual opposition. Drawing on 33 qualitative interviews conducted at Italian reception facilities employing both volunteer and paid staff, this study explains why volunteers are welcomed in these settings. Volunteers are expected and willing to build authentic and unique relationships with migrants, expanding opportunities for housing, employment, and training, while extending care beyond the temporal and spatial boundaries of institutional reception, softening the disciplinary logic characterizing these contexts. However, we show that the boundaries between professional and volunteer care logics and practices are also carefully monitored and managed in the pursuit of a mutually beneficial diversity. These efforts are aimed at preventing care from becoming an overly individualized endeavour that could undermine bureaucratic, rights-based standards of equity and foster dependency rather than autonomy among refugees. This analysis highlights the perceived opportunities and risks of collaboration between volunteers and professionals in these contexts, contributing to a deeper understanding of the functioning and outcomes of refugee reception systems.