Public trust in charities: evidences from Finland and Sweden
Chapagain, Chiranjibi (2019)
Chapagain, Chiranjibi
2019
Johtamisen ja talouden tiedekunta - Faculty of Management and Business
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2019-06-19
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-201906262276
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-201906262276
Tiivistelmä
Public sector across the globe is currently experiencing a decline in public trust and this issue has been widely discussed across the globe. While working as a fundraiser in summer 2018, the author discovered that charities are struggling to recruit and keep their regular donors. Donations from general people are one of the main sources of charity funding. Individuals who donate to charities do not receive a direct benefit in exchange for their support to charities. Moreover, they don’t have all the necessary information, on which they can decide to donate. Trust is what facilitates the transactions between charities and donors in such a situation. Some studies, for instance by the European Fundraising Association shows that the number of donors in Finland and Sweden has declined. But research on public trust in Finland and Sweden is scarce. There is a gap in comprehensive studies of public trust in charities in Finland and Sweden. The key research aim of this thesis is to examine the level of public trust in Charities in Finland and Sweden. This thesis aims to answer the question "how is the situation of public trust in the charity sector in Finland and Sweden?"
To answer the research questions two separate surveys were conducted to observe situation of public trust in Finnish and Swedish charity sectors. Another two separate surveys were conducted to observe the level of public trust in Greenpeace Finland (experiencing a decline in donor numbers) and Finnish Red Cross (experiencing growth in donor numbers) and its effects. Interviews were conducted with fundraising manager of Finish Red Cross and Greenpeace Finland, and annual reports of these organizations were also analyzed in this thesis. Quantitative descriptive analysis of survey data and content analysis of qualitative interview data were done.
Three main points can be highlighted in this thesis. First, public trust in charity sector in Finland Sweden is in satisfactory level, which also means that there is room for improvements. Second, public trust is important for donors while making donation decisions and administrative efficiency, transparency and accountability are main determinants of their trust towards a charity organization. And the third, public trust is not the sole reason that determines the growth in donation collection in the charity organizations.
To answer the research questions two separate surveys were conducted to observe situation of public trust in Finnish and Swedish charity sectors. Another two separate surveys were conducted to observe the level of public trust in Greenpeace Finland (experiencing a decline in donor numbers) and Finnish Red Cross (experiencing growth in donor numbers) and its effects. Interviews were conducted with fundraising manager of Finish Red Cross and Greenpeace Finland, and annual reports of these organizations were also analyzed in this thesis. Quantitative descriptive analysis of survey data and content analysis of qualitative interview data were done.
Three main points can be highlighted in this thesis. First, public trust in charity sector in Finland Sweden is in satisfactory level, which also means that there is room for improvements. Second, public trust is important for donors while making donation decisions and administrative efficiency, transparency and accountability are main determinants of their trust towards a charity organization. And the third, public trust is not the sole reason that determines the growth in donation collection in the charity organizations.