Determinants of Fundraising Efficiency for Religious and Nonreligious Nonprofit Organizations

This article offers a comprehensive analysis of fundraising efficiency for religious and nonreligious nonprofit organizations. An Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) linear regression model is used to test whether or not the determinants of fundraising efficiency are consistent among religious and nonreligious groups. The study shows that organization size and reputation positively influence fundraising efficiency across samples. I also show that increased spending on administration and professional fundraising expenses have a negative effect on fundraising efficiency. However, the magnitudes of the coefficients are inconsistent among religious and nonreligious organizations, implying that religious affiliation influences fundamental characteristics of nonprofit organizations that impact fundraising efficiency. I also find unexpected relationships between fundraising efficiency and government grants, but interpret this as settling an inconsistency in the literature