Nonprofits’ online transparency: conceptualization and operationalization

This study develops a reflective online transparency scale, following the recommended methodological steps and precautions of a scale development process. This new scale brings clarity among existing measurement tools of web NPOs' transparency and disclosure. Preliminary to the scale construction, concepts such as transparency, disclosure and accountability are identified and differentiated in order to clearly establish what the scale assesses. A review of literature of existing measurement tools also highlights the necessity to propose a new valid and reliable transparency scale. The latter results from an exploratory factor analysis applied on a database collected from the websites of 216 philanthropic organizations collaborating with Donorinfo, a foundation working for the transparency of the Belgian philanthropic sector. The database gathers binary variables measuring the presence or absence on websites of elements of information, called items. This exploratory step refines the preliminary list of items deduced from field experts' opinion as well as a review of literature of existing measurement tools. This step also induces the dimensions of the transparency scale and the weights of each items. Normative judgements from field experts, collected through an online survey, support this exploratory step. Next, the scale is purified thanks to a confirmatory factor analysis applied on a database related to the websites of a random sample of Belgian NPOs, comparable to the Donorinfo sample. A final nomological validation step brings legitimacy to the proposed scale. As a result, the paper provides a reliable and valid online transparency scale, a measurement tool to approach online transparency in private donors' eyes. Most important references: DeVellis, R. F. (2003). Scale development: theory and applications (2nd ed). Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications. Dumont, G. E. (2013). Nonprofit Virtual Accountability. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 42(5), 1049–1067. Fox, J. (2007). The Uncertain Relationship between Transparency and Accountability. Development in Practice, 17(4/5), 663–671. Gandía, J. L. (2011). Internet Disclosure by Nonprofit Organizations: Empirical Evidence of Nongovernmental Organizations for Development in Spain. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 40(1), 57–78. Michener, G., & Bersch, K. (2013). Identifying transparency. Information Polity, 18(3), 233–242. Saxton, G. D., & Guo, C. (2011). Accountability Online: Understanding the Web-Based Accountability Practices of Nonprofit Organizations. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 40, 270