Governance Practices and Disclosures by Not-for-Profit Organizations: Effect on the Individual Donating Decision

This study aims to (1) examine how individual donating decision could be affected by demographic factors and (2) determine perception of public towards governance disclosure practiced by non-profit organizations in Malaysia. This study uses positivist approach and survey instrument to obtain data that generated subsequent statistical analyses. Using snowballing and simple random sampling, this study manages to secure a sample of 255 respondents. SPSS ANOVA, product–moment correlation and multiple regressions are used to generate results for the testable propositions. The results for Pearson moment correlation of governance practices and disclosure are statistically significant (p < 0.01). Gender is the only influencer that revealed differences between groups in respect of donating decision. The findings also showed that information disclosures about governance (β = 0.288, p < 0.001), background (β = 0.199, p < 0.003) and performance (β = 0.210, p < 0.000 with the exception of finance (β = 0.078, p > 0.001) are strong predictors of individual donating decision. The insight of this study offers senior officials and decision-makers of not-for-profits and charity organizations the essence of governance practices disclosure, revealing sufficient background and performance information for potential donors to make informed decisions. In spite of the popularity of the governance research over the years, this study is one of the novel investigations using not-for-profit organizations in relation to the proclivity for individual giving intention, the results of which could be applicable to emerging markets.