Are you willing to donate?: relationship between perceived website design, trust and donation decisions online

Online fundraising is becoming increasingly important for non-profit organizations, but the factors that convince people to make a donation online have not yet been fully investigated. In the present work, data of two studies (total N = 2525) was used to examine factors of online donation. An effect of website design perceptions (in terms of content, usability, and aesthetics) on willingness to donate was postulated. Furthermore, research questions about demographic aspects such as age and gender as well as trust in the organization were posed. In both studies, fully-functional health-related websites were evaluated (in sum 33 websites). For statistical analysis, logistic regressions were performed. The results showed different relevance of predictors of donation in different scenarios of donation. For the donation of one's own money, the perceived content and trust in the organization showed the greatest influence. When donating other people's money, the aesthetics of the website was the most important factor for the willingness to donate. Thus, the design of the website, but also of trust in the organization are highly relevant. The differences between the two scenarios of online donation might be explained by the increased relevance of the decision, which results from donating one's own money, and according cognitive processes. Nevertheless, further research should examine influences of additional variables and establishing implications for successful digital donation generation in the healthcare sector.