The research notes are published quarterly. Previous editions can be found at the Member Portal.

 

 

Issue XIV: March 2026

 

Does Public Funding Discourage or Shift Private Philanthropic Donation? Evidence for Fields of Welfare

Author(s): Arjen De Wit – Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam | Michaela Neumayr – Vienna University of Economics and Business | Femida Handy – University of Pennsylvania | Pamala Wiepking – Indiana University Indianapolis/Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Provided by: Catherine Desjacques

When governments dedicate money to particular fields of social welfare (e.g. helath, social protection, international aid etc.), does this encourage or discourage private donations to those same areas? If public funding deters private contributions, do donors shift their support to other sectors of welfare? Currently, there is no definitive answer to these crucial questions, which are of the utmost importance at a time when governments dramatically reduce social welfare spending. Theory and research suggest both scenarios are possible.

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Organizational Change in Nonprofit Organizations: A Decade in Review (2014-2024)

Author(s): Hana Fehrenbach – University of Freiburg, Germany | Marlene Walk – University of Freiburg, Germany | Itay Greenspan – Hebrew University, Israel

Provided by: Silvia Fierascu from the Department of Communication Sciences, West University of Timisoara

Over the past decade, Voluntas has published a growing – though still developing – body of work on how nonprofit organizations adapt, transform, and respond to change. In this virtual issue, Fehrenbach, Walk, and Greenspan take stock of what organizational change research within the journal has looked like over the past ten years (2014–2024). Their review identifies a set of articles explicitly focused on change and highlights two dominant perspectives in the literature: (1) nonprofits reacting to external pressures from their institutional environments, and (2) internal transformation processes shaped by evolving structures, strategies, and practices.

 

Volunteer Responses to Scandals in Nonprofit Organizations

Author(s): Eva Maria Jedicke – University of Freiburg, Germany | Isabella M. Nolte – Harz University of Applied Sciences, Germany | Jörg Lindenmeier – University of Freiburg, Germany

Provided by: Brad Mazon from Sahiyo

This article addresses ethical dilemmas faced by nonprofit volunteers in the face of a nonprofit scandal. It provides a sort of “ethical roadmap” for NPOs to better respond to volunteers’ needs during a scandal, while at the same time, offering insights as to how to re-build trust and public legitimacy to enable NPOs to fundraise and grow. The authors investigate how volunteers respond to scandals in nonprofit organizations, and the role of moral reasoning strategies as drivers of volunteer behavior.

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Democracy and Management: Organizational Practices and Nonprofits’ Contributions to Society

Author(s): Berta Terzieva – WU Vienna University of Economics and Business | Christian Burkart – FH JOANNEUM | Florentine Maier – WU Vienna University of Economics and Business | Michael Meyer – WU Vienna University of Economics and Business

Provided by: Jonathan Gunson

This study sheds light on the complex interplay between sets of organizational practices and the societal roles that nonprofits prioritize. As nonprofits navigate the challenge of pursuing a social missions while operating in a market economy, many adopt managerial practices in response. This tendency of nonprofits becoming businesslike is a contested scholarly topic, with limited empirical support. Using survey data from nearly 600 nonprofits in the Vienna metropolitan region, the study examines the dynamics between organizational practices—specifically, business-like practices versus democratic ones, which may serve as a counterbalance to the potential pitfalls of managerialism—and nonprofits’ emphasis on different societal roles: service provision, advocacy, and community building.

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Match Charity Messages to Donor Mindsets: Abstract versus Concrete Appeals

Author(s): Gijs van Houwelingen – Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), The Hague | Marius van Dijke – Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam

Provided by: Gerald Czech from WU Vienna and the Austrian Red Cross

Fundraisers often default to concrete, identifiable impact stories. However, theory suggests that abstraction can broaden moral concern. Drawing on insights from moral psychology and construal-level theory, this article demonstrates that the most effective approach depends on the moral values of the donor. In which situations does abstract framing increase giving, and how are these situations moderated by loyalty values?

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Grant Expectations: Navigating the Foundation Payout Debate

Author(s): Tobias Jung – University of St Andrews | Jenny Harrow – City University of London | Cathy Pharoah – City University of London

Provided by: Peter Stemp

Little is known about foundations, which frequently opens the sector to underinformed debate and potentially ill-conceived policy. A current example is whether UK foundations should be subject to a mandatory minimum payout requirement (MPR). The authors argue that the current discourse lacks a sufficiently nuanced, evidence-informed debate about the role of foundations in UK society. Rather than focusing narrowly on whether a 5% rule should be introduced, they suggest that the payout debate raises broader questions about the nature, roles, and responsibilities of foundations.

 

Philanthropic Foundations and the Exercise of Power

Author(s): Lauren Dula – Binghampton Univeristy, State University of New York | Laurie E. Paarlberg – Indiana University, Indianapolis – Imoleayo Adeyeri, Indiana University, Indianapolis

Provided by: Jemima Chana from Oxford Fundraising Network

The inherent inequalities in the relationship between grant making foundations and beneficiaries are widely discussed across disciplines and research communities. However, some forms of power receive more attention than others — either because they are more visible in practice or because of their broader societal impact. Are there forms of power that remain unexplored in the foundation context?

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Do Formal and Informal Volunteering Compete or Complement? Insights for Civil Society Support

Author(s): Oto Potluka – Center for Philanthropy Studies, University of Basel | Lenka Švecová – University of Chemistry and Technology Prague | Eva Blahová – Prague University of Economics and Business | Natasa Diatkova – University of West Bohemia, Pilsen

Provided by: Ashifa Agede from Centre for Health Systems Support & Initiatives for Development

This article explores how formal and informal volunteering relate in Central Europe, offering insights relevant for policies aimed at strengthening volunteer engagement and civil society, especially in contexts with lower institutional trust and developing NGO sectors. The study asks: Do formal and informal volunteering compete for volunteers, or do they support each other, and how do social and human capital, income, and time influence this?

 

What Keeps Development Partnerships Unequal — Resources or Racialised Power?

Author(s): Sara Kinsbergen – Radboud University | Frédérique Been – University of Ottawa | Junru Bian – University of Ottawa | Mieke Molthof – Radboud University | Clémence Honings – Radboud University | Dirk-Jan Koch – Radboud University

Provided by: Sarah Greenfield Clark from The Movements Trust

This article examines inequality in North–South development partnerships and is relevant for philanthropy because it shows how everyday funding practices and unspoken perceptions quietly block genuine power-shifting.
How do mutual perceptions, including racial ones, play a role in hindering and fostering more equitable partnerships between Northern and Southern NGOs?

 

About the ERNOP Research Notes Most academic research on philanthropy is underutilised, while on the other hand, there is a need for practitioners to learn from academics. Given limited resources within the academic and philanthropy community, academic insights should be used as much as possible. However, practitioners rarely have time and access to the work published in academic journals. Besides, not all content of academic papers is relevant for practitioners. At the same time, academics often do not have time and/or skills to make their work accessible for practitioners and, what’s more, they get little rewards for doing so as the number of individual publications is often too limited to build a constituency. Therefore the European Research Network On Philanthropy (ERNOP) –  the academic network of philanthropy researchers in Europe – develops the ERNOP Research Notes. The Research Notes are an initiative by ERNOP and endorsed by the European Fundraising Association (EFA), Philanthropy Europe Association (Philea), the Centre for European Volunteering (CEV) and Impact Europe.

 

More information about the Research Notes can be found here.