Why Do Private Non-Profit Organizations Provide Information on the Internet?

Purpose – This research measures information provision on the internet by private non-profit organizations (NPOs) and provides insight in underlying drivers.Design/methodology/approach – This research involves scoring websites of Belgian NPOs on the basis of their information dissemination and applies univariate and multivariate statistical methods. It also provides two illustrating case studies.Findings – The drivers of internet information provision in our sample organizations show many similarities to those found for for-profit corporations. However, contrary to the latter, NPOs include little financial information and focus on their goals. Furthermore, in line with the notion that insiders-workers may capture the organization, we find that the degree of professionalization has a significantly negative impact on disclosure. Overall, outside pressures as predicted by neo-institutional theory and agency issues are important in shaping communication of information. In fact the two cases indicate that the pressures as predicted by neo-institutional theory may easily lead NPOs to cater to key stakeholders in much the same way as for-profit corporations cater to customers.Research limitations/implications – The results are indicative of general forces driving NPO behaviour. Of interest would be a more in depth analysis to link the prevalence of certain forces to specific governance models and to contextual factors.Practical implications – These findings may give users/visitors of websites better insight into the forces shaping information communication policies of an NPO.Originality/Value – This paper adds to the scant evidence on internet information provision by private non-profit organizations and its drivers. As such it offers an opportunity to study the forces that are likely shaping decision making within NPOs