Results
This chapter explains the methods used
to carry out the research project and presents the findings. While the study was designed to be
exploratory, an electronic survey process was used to capture both quantitative
and qualitative data. To determine the nonprofit advancement’s perceptions
about the organization’s climate, a Likert scale was applied to a set of
statements. Following the quantitative
section, a series of open-ended items were presented to get to the main issue
being researched which is a picture of the lived experiences of the nonprofit advancement
members. The stories of how the nonprofit
advancement members secured or lost nonprofit funding due to the interaction of
organizational leadership and/or non-fundraising organizational members.
Research Context
The study took place with a community of
advancement professionals. The Association
of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) has several chapters throughout the
world. Two particular chapters were
selected as mentioned in chapter three (The Mid-America and the Greater Wichita
Chapters of AFP). These groups consist
of advancement professionals, consultants and others who support fundraising
activities and training. The chapters
span a geographical area from Kansas to North Dakota.
Research Participants
The particular participants for this
study consisted of those within the aforementioned groups that were fulltime advancement
professionals for a particular organization.
There was no real attempt to select genders or ages of the
participants. Participants did provide
their gender, level of education and length of time with the organization. Length of time as a fundraiser was not
considered though it was mentioned by some in their qualitative responses.
Research participants consisted of 21
individuals, three males and 18 females.
The two targeted groups selected for this study consisted of 255 individuals. This sample of 21 represented 8.25% of the target
population.
Research Instruments
The electronic survey consisted of 27
questions. There were six demographic
items. There were 16 items involving a Likert
scale to determine the participant’s view of the organization’s climate. The remaining five questions were open ended
questions about the fundraiser’s experience with organizational leaders and
other non-fundraising organizational members and their success or not of securing
funds for their organization.
Demographics of the
Sample
The demographic data were placed into
SPSS for analysis. Using crosstabs, the
information shows variation in length of employment and level of education.
The demographic items show that there
were three males and 18 females who responded to the survey. Each of the participants have at least a
bachelor’s degree, eight have a masters and one with a doctorate.
|
Table 2 Sample Demographics (N=21)
|
|||||
|
How long have you worked for
this organization?
|
Male
|
Female
|
Bachelors
|
Masters
|
Doctorate
|
|
less than one year
|
1
|
6
|
4
|
3
|
0
|
|
more than 1 year less than 3 years
|
0
|
6
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
|
more than 3 years less than 5 years
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
|
more than 5 years less than 10 years
|
1
|
5
|
4
|
1
|
1
|
|
Total
|
3
|
18
|
12
|
8
|
1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Perceptions of Organizational
Climate
The 16 Likert scale items each measure
an individual characteristic of organizational climate. The questionnaire was created using three
existing surveys as a model. The Personal Leadership Questionnaire as developed
at Tarleton State University of Texas.
The Leadership Assessment Personal Satisfaction Survey as developed at
the Learning Center by Dr. Arky Ciancutti (2011). The Organizational Culture Assessment
Instrument as developed by Cameron and Quinn (2000) and downloaded from the
Illinois State University website (http://my.ilstu.edu/~llipper/com435/survey_ocai_culture.pdf). Using SPSS, frequency tables were created for
each of the 16 items showing the percentages and counts of subjects degree of
agreement or disagreement they had with each item.
As the data was reviewed three distinct categories
of items emerged. These categories were items
related to the nonprofit advancement member, organizational leadership and
non-fundraising organizational members. (see Table 3)
|
Table 3 Organizational Climate Items
by Category
|
|
|
Category
|
Number of Survey Items
|
|
Nonprofit Advancement Member
|
7
|
|
Organizational Leadership
|
6
|
|
Non-fundraising organizational members
|
3
|
The discussion of findings is presented
below by category with tables showing the frequency distribution for each.
Nonprofit Advancement
Category of Organizational Climate Items
The responses that generated the highest
number of subjects that strongly agreed were
all categorized as being related to
the individual fundraiser. Two items had
over 80% of the subjects strongly agreeing: I
am committed to the organization (86%)
and I am clear regarding the expectation of raising funds (81%). The
items involving feeling appreciated for efforts varied as when the item
speaking to appreciation of the funds
collected had a high overall agreement (95%) with 71% who strongly agree
and 24% who agreed. However the item I
believe leadership appreciates me had an overall agreement of just 76% with
43% strongly agreeing and 33% agreeing. There was 91% overall agreement that organizational leadership trusts me to make
the right decisions; 48% strongly agreed and 43% agreed. Lastly, regarding
whether the subjects often tell people
this is a great place to work., 57% strongly agreed with another 19%
agreeing with this statement.
An interesting finding for the Individual Category items were that two
items within this category had 19% and 14% of the subjects indicating they were
neutral for the item. The item I tell people often that this organization is
a great place to work had 19% of the subjects choosing a neutral response. I believe that organizational leadership appreciates me had 14% of
the subjects choosing to be neutral
in response. See Table 4.
|
Table 4 Individual Organizational Climate Items
Frequency Distribution (N=21)
|
|||||||
|
Individual Organizational Climate Items
|
Strongly
Agree
(n/%)
|
Somewhat
Agree
(n/%)
|
Strongly
Disagree
(n/%)
|
Somewhat
Disagree
(n/%)
|
Neutral
(n/%)
|
I do not
Know (n/%)
|
No Answer (n/%)
|
|
I am committed to this organization.
|
18/86%
|
2/10%
|
0
|
0
|
1/5%
|
0
|
0
|
|
The organization expects me to ask for personal,
corporate, foundation and church donations.
|
17/81%
|
1/5%
|
1/5%
|
2/10%
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
The organization appreciates when I obtain
personal, corporate, foundation or church donations.
|
15/71%
|
5/24%
|
0
|
0
|
1/5%
|
0
|
0
|
|
I tell people often that this organization is a great
place to work.
|
12/57%
|
4/19%
|
0
|
0
|
4/19%
|
0
|
1/5%
|
|
I believe that organizational leadership trusts me
to make the right decision.
|
10/48%
|
9/43%
|
0
|
1/5%
|
1/5%
|
0
|
0
|
|
The organization clearly communicates its goals
and strategies to me.
|
9/43%
|
11/52%
|
0
|
1/5%
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
I believe that organizational leadership
appreciates me
|
9/43%
|
7/33%
|
0
|
1/5%
|
3/14%
|
0
|
1/5%
|
Organizational Leadership
Category of Organizational Climate Items
The leadership category had responses in
several of the Likert scale choices. No
real clear section stood out. There were
some very close scores across the four scales of strongly agree, somewhat
disagree, strongly disagree and somewhat disagree. The next highest rankings of strongly agree
and somewhat agree of the entire survey were categorized as being related to organizational
leadership. 77% responded strongly agree
or somewhat agree that organizational
leadership trusts the staff to make the right decisions. 24% strongly agreed and 53% somewhat agreed. However, 10% responded to this same statement
(organizational leadership trusts the
staff to make the right decisions) as somewhat disagree and 14% responded
neutral.
77% of respondents chose strongly agree
or somewhat agree to organizational
leadership involves others in the planning process. 54% somewhat agree and 33% strongly
agree. 33% responded strongly disagree
or somewhat disagree to organizational
leadership involves others in the planning process. 14% strongly disagree and 19% somewhat
disagree. 10% responded as neutral.
76% responded that organizational leadership appreciates the staff of the organization. 33% strongly agreed and 43% somewhat
agreed. 14% responded to this statement
(organizational leadership appreciates
the staff of the organization) as somewhat disagree.
62% of respondents responded that organizational leadership appreciates the
staff and creates an atmosphere of
mutual trust. 43% somewhat agree and
19% strongly agree. 33% responded
somewhat disagree to organizational
leadership appreciates the staff and
creates an atmosphere of mutual trust.
Organizational
leadership involves others in the planning process
receiving 57% of responses of strongly agree (33%) and somewhat agree
(24%). This statement also garnered 33%
of the strongly disagree (14%) and somewhat disagree (19%) of the
responses. 10% responded as neutral.
The highest scores of strongly disagree
and somewhat disagree relate to organizational
leadership is asked to obtain personal, corporate, foundation or church donations
(48%) and Organizational leadership
understands their role in obtaining personal, corporate, foundation or church
donations (43%). 24% strongly disagree and 24% somewhat
disagree and 24% strongly disagree and 19% somewhat disagree respectively. Yet, this was not a clear distinction as 52%
also responded strongly agree (33%) or somewhat agree (19%). 5% responded neutral to organizational leadership understands their role in obtaining personal,
corporate, foundation or church donations.
See Table 5.
|
Table 5 Leadership Organizational Climate Items
Frequency Distribution (N=21)
|
|||||||
|
Organizational Climate
|
Strongly
Agree
n/%
|
Somewhat
Agree
n/%
|
Strongly
Disagree
n/%
|
Somewhat
Disagree
n/%
|
Neutral
n/%
|
I do not
know
n/%
|
No Answer
n/%
|
|
I believe that organizational leadership trusts
its staff to make the right decisions.
|
5/24%
|
11/53%
|
0
|
2/10%
|
3/14%
|
0
|
0
|
|
I believe that organizational leadership
appreciates the staff of the organization.
|
7/33%
|
9/43%
|
0
|
3/14%
|
1/5%
|
1/5%
|
0
|
|
Organizational leadership creates an atmosphere of
mutual trust.
|
4/19%
|
9/43%
|
0
|
7/33%
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
Organizational leadership involves others in the
planning process.
|
7/33%
|
5/24%
|
3/14%
|
4/19%
|
2/10%
|
0
|
0
|
|
Organizational leadership is asked to obtain
personal, corporate, foundation or church donations.
|
7/33%
|
4/19%
|
5/24%
|
5/24%
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
Organizational leadership understands their role
in obtaining personal, corporate, foundation or church donations.
|
7/33%
|
4/19%
|
5/24%
|
4/19%
|
1/5%
|
0
|
0
|
Non-fundraising
Organizational Member Category of Organizational Climate Items
The final category of the
non-fundraising organizational members provided the highest in negative scores
for two of the three questions related to this section. 58% strongly disagreed or somewhat disagreed
that non-fundraising organizational
members are asked to obtain personal, corporate, foundation or church donations.
It was an even response of 29% for each.
52% strongly disagreed (19%) or somewhat disagreed (33%) that non-fundraising organizational members
understand their role in obtaining personal, corporate, foundation or church
donations. 5% responded neutral or I
do not know to this statement as well.
The category also received some positive
responses as well. 67% responded that commitment to this organization runs high
(48% strongly agree, 19% somewhat agree).
10% responded strongly disagree (5%) and somewhat disagree (5%) to commitment to this organization runs high. An interesting twist on this statement is
that 14% responded neutral and 10% responded as I do not know. 24% of the respondents did not have a clear
picture of the commitment within the organization. See Table 6.
|
Table 6 Non-fundraising Organizational Member
Organizational Climate Items Frequency Distribution (N=21)
|
|||||||
|
Organizational Climate
|
Strongly
Agree
n/%
|
Somewhat
Agree
n/%
|
S trongly
Disagree
n/%
|
Somewhat
Disagree
n/%
|
Neutral
n/%
|
I do not
know
n/%
|
No Answer
n/%
|
|
Other non-fundraising organizational members are
asked to obtain personal, corporate, foundation or church donations.
|
4/19%
|
4/19%
|
6/29%
|
6/29%
|
0
|
1/5%
|
0
|
|
Other non-fundraising organizational members
understand their role in obtaining personal, corporate, foundation or church
donations.
|
1/5%
|
7/33%
|
4/19%
|
7/33%
|
1/5%
|
1/5%
|
0
|
|
Commitment to this organization runs high.
|
10/48%
|
4/19%
|
1/5%
|
1/5%
|
3/14%
|
0
|
2/10%
|
Placing all
three sections together can be seen in Chart 1.
The strongly agree and somewhat agree are added together and strongly
disagree and somewhat disagree are added together. You can see that the highest positive scores
are in the nonprofit advancement (NPA) section and the highest negative scores
are in the organizational leadership (OL) and the non-fundraising
organizational member (STF) sections.
Responses to Open-ended
questions
Analysis of the open-ended responses
brought three themes to light, focus on the money, focus on the mission and
focus on the donor. Each of these themes
expressed themselves in the positive and negative stories provided. To set the stage for this section, 23% of the
participants did not answer the five open ended questions. 53% of participants answered all five of the
questions. Not all answers provided
insight. Many wrote that they had not
experienced the theme discussed in the question.
Focus on the Money
In a research project where successful fundraising
based on organizational climate, you would think that focusing on the money
would be a good thing. However, this is
not the case. One respondent wrote, “The
organizational leadership was too concerned about the dollar goals and not
about the donor’s wishes.” Another
respondent stated that the Executive Director of the organization lacked the
courage to face issues and talk with donors.
No ability to share the vision of the organization. Another respondent wrote, “a higher level
manager has come in after me and taken the sponsorship for anther division
making all of my work null and void.”
Leadership was focused on the money for their personal reasons and not
about the relationship that breeds funding.
Focus on the mission
This theme is similar to focusing on the
money. Organizational leadership can
focus on the mission of the organization without creating a connection with the
donor. “The Dean asked for a lot of
money, but did not have an explanation of why the program would need it.” Another respondent wrote, “the President did
an exceptional job showing the vision and impact the university is
having.” Focusing on mission works both
ways, being able to articulate the mission in a way that engages the funding source
is positive. Focusing on the mission and
not creating this engagement is detrimental to securing funding.
Focus on the donor
Focusing on the donor has positive and
negative impacts. “The donor perceived
that the gift they were willing to make was not appreciated by the organization
and its leadership.” “Leadership does
too much talking and not enough listening in meetings with donors.” Others wrote about experiences were the donor
felt a connection with organizational leadership, has a good experience as a
volunteer, or a direct benefit from a program designed by non-fundraising
staff. “The donor felt good chemistry
with the organizational leadership and that made them want to support our
mission.” “A donor felt good about a bad
situation after working with a sincere program staff member.”
The responses to the open ended
questions did not give a perfectly clear picture. There were positive stories and negative
stories for each of the questions. The
following table gives a numerical value to those that responded to each
question with an example. See Table 7.
|
Table 7 Participants that answered the
question with an example (N = 16)
|
||||||
|
A. How long have you worked for this
organization?
|
Number of participants in this
criteria
|
unsuccessful organizational leadership
|
successful
organizational leadership
|
unsuccessful
non-fundraising organizational members
|
successful
non-fundraising organizational members
|
“smooth things over”
|
|
Less than one year
|
4/25%
|
4
|
4
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
|
more than 1 year less than 3 years
|
6/38%
|
2
|
6
|
1
|
6
|
4
|
|
more than 3 years less than 5 years
|
1/6%
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
|
more than 5 years less than 10 years
|
5/31%
|
4
|
4
|
3
|
3
|
4
|
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