The Social Network Effect

• DOI: 10.1177/0899764013485159
• Publication Date: 2013-04-26T01:00:34Z
• Authors: Gregory D. Saxton; Lili Wang
• Keywords: Social network (sociolinguistics)

Social networking applications such as Facebook, Twitter, and Crowdrise offer new ways for nonprofits to engage the community in fundraising efforts. This study employs data from Facebook Causes examine nature determinants of charitable giving social environments. Our findings suggest donations on these sites are not driven by same factors “off-line” settings. Instead, a network effect takes precedence over traditional economic explanations. donors do seem care about efficiency ratios, their typically small, success is related organization’s financial capacity but its “Web capacity.” Moreover, online prone contribute certain categories causes more than others, especially those health. Given growth media-driven fundraising—and increase crowdfunding, slacktivism, impulse donating, other practices this entails—these carry notable theoretical practical implications.