A TYPOLOGY OF WEBSITE OBJECTIVES IN NON-PROFIT ORGANISATIONS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

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1 A TYPOLOGY OF WEBSITE OBJECTIVES IN NON-PROFIT ORGANISATIONS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY José Carlos Pinho Escola de Economia e Gestão, University of Minho, Portugal ABSTRACT The increasing popularity of the use of the Internet in a wide range of different areas of society has, to some extent, compelled non-profit organisations to gradually integrate new information technologies. Yet, the emerging literature on the evaluation of websites content has been mostly confined to for-profit organisations. This has led researchers to recognise the convenience of expanding research to different industries and different cultural contexts. Thus, this paper seeks to evaluate the Websites content in a new environmental context and empirically examine the main Interactive forms by proposing a measure that enables to evaluate the effectiveness of non-profit organisation s websites. Alexa Network data is used to assess the traffic and hit rate of websites. KEYWORDS Non-profit organisations, website objectives. 1. INTRODUCTION Website evaluation is a growing aspect of the IT activities within many organisations. While some are integrating their websites in their business processes, others are still experimenting pilot projects (Huizing, 2002). A common trend in most of the existing studies about the use of the Internet is that they are mainly focused on for-profit organisations, however, all kinds of organisations can be found on the Web addressing to different target publics. In recent years a number of non-profit organisations have developed static websites for merely experimental and informative purposes. This situation seems to be changing by the increasing number of interactive and transaction features in the websites. Although, different industries evidenced different evolutionary stages, it is generally accepted that the ability to conduct transactions is often considered a critical factor that distinguishes latter from earlier stages (O Keefe and McEachern, 1998). Additionally, the combination of and website allows non-profit organisations to deepen their relationships and tailor their activities at an individual level and a low-cost. Seybold and Marshak (1998) emphasised the importance of personalising interactions with customers. Given the specificity of the services provided by non-profit organisations, which are mainly based on intangibles like ideas and information, attitudes and awareness, the Internet is therefore likely to be better suited to this kind of organisations than it is to for-profit firms (Saxton and Game, 2001). After all, providing information is what Internet does best and promoting actively an effective Website as well as integrating it with other existing marketing strategies are important steps towards e-commerce success. However, this only works if the Website content fits the expectations of the target population. This study deals mainly with the basic contents and hypertext structures of websites in a sample of Portuguese non-profit organisations. It also examines in a systematic manner the type and nature of the nonprofit s website presence. In order to achieve this purpose, the study replicates and extends some of the dimensions used to analyse non-profit website contents in a study undertaken by Saxton and Game (2001) in the UK. Exploring the strength of the relationship between the proposed dimensions and several objective measures (i.e., daily hit rates) along different areas of non-profit activity is also a concern of the present study. By doing this, empirical evidence will be gathered about the way non-profit organisations are present in the Internet. 889

2 International Conference WWW/Internet WEBSITE EFFECTIVENESS AND ATTRACTIVENESS Before examining the major objectives of a website, it seems important to start by clarifying the concept of non-profit organisation. According to Hall (1987) a non-profit organisation is defined as a body of individuals that associate for any of three purposes: 1) to perform public tasks that have been delegated to them by the state; 2) to perform public tasks for which there is a demand that neither the state nor for-profit organisations are willing to fulfil; or 3) to influence the direction of policy in the state, the for-profit sector or other non-profit organisations (Hall, 1987:3). These features emphasise the distinctive character of non-profit organisations when compared with for-profit firms, namely that the mission of a non-profit organisation is built around service, defined by Kant and Summers (1987) as some societal value of doing good. In the line of this argument, Schofield remarks that to some extent financial values become subservient to these social values and these social values themselves only have meaning as long as they are regarded as being beneficial (1996: 111). This contrasts deeply with for-profit organisations for which making money is a major concern. However, during the last few decades, the lines dividing for-profit and not-for profit organisations have become increasingly blurred (Kanter & Summers, 1987; Osborne, 1996). For-profit organisations are more aware of the role of values, stressing the organisations social mission (Ouchi, 1981) and non-profit organisations are more financially concerned due to the need of attracting revenues. Since non-profit organisations are forced to adopt a very different attitude in relation to their funding sources, applying to Internet to gain more visibility and to diversify fundraising becomes an important strategy. Assuming that a Website is the most visible part of the Internet, this paper aims at analysing the basic contents and hypertext structures of websites in a sample of Portuguese non-profit organisations. It also examines in a systematic manner the type and nature of their website presence. Research on Web site effectiveness has generally emphasised four different research streams (Yang et al., 2003). One research stream stresses the basic contents and hypertext structures of Web sites (McLaughlin, 1996; McNaughton, 2001). Another research stream focuses on the effects of progressive levels of interactivity human-computer interface design factors applicable to commercial websites (Shneiderman, 1996; Coyle and Thorson, 2001). A number of studies on e-retailing addressed the factors that influence the choice between purchasing in retail stores versus on-line stores (Phau and Sui, 2000). Finally, as acknowledged by Yang et al. (2003), a number of recent contributions to the literature developed an integrated approach which have included technical and content factors with human factors (Simeon, 1999; Nel et al., 1999). This study addresses mainly to the first research stream, which is supported by a growing body of literature. For example, in an early study, McLaughlin (1996) identified three dimensions of attributes for categorisation of Web pages, namely: network embedness, defined as the centrality of the web page within the online community; openness, defined as the accessibility of the web page to visitors; and the design concept, defined as the mix of artistic and technical sensibilities. Ainscough (1996) evaluated 50 sites, and identified four categories: i) the interactive brochure; ii) the virtual storefront; iii) the information clearinghouse; iv) the customer service tool. McNaughton (2001) investigated the underlying objectives for Websites implemented by firms in high technology business markets. This author identified, through a content analysis methodology 150 AEA members of three major sites: image building, sales assistance and integrated sites. Other studies bave been focused on the characteristics that influence the attractiveness of individual Webpages, such as the background and the complexity of a Website (Bruner and Kumar; 2000). An interesting study addressing the different evolutionary stages of a Web site was conducted by Angehrn (1997) who have proposed the ICDT-model, which determines the company s Internet maturity. Consistent with this approach, Huizingh (2002) maintains that literature holds that the early stages of websites are characterised by some form of brochureware sites, which make brochures of the company available in an electronic form. The next stage is often characterised by the addition of communication or interactive features. The inclusion of a transaction function, which includes a number of activities that can range from simple and on-line order forms to on-line ordering using a credit or debit card and online accounts is a major distinction between information and communication sites (Huizingh, 2002). With regard to the Web-site efficiency, Berthon et al.(1996) proposed a number of measures, that varies from awareness, locability/attractability, contact, conversion rates to retention efficiency measures. Huizing 890

3 A TYPOLOGY OF WEBSITE OBJECTIVES IN NON-PROFIT ORGANISATIONS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY (2002), for his part, also applied to several measures to assess a website performance, namely websales, number of visitors and website satisfaction. As can be easily observed most of the previous studies mainly addresses for profit businesses, although all types of organisations can be found on the Internet. According to Saxton and Game (2001) given the nature of the services provided by these kind of organisations, which are mainly based on intangibles, like ideas and information, attitudes and awareness, the Internet is therefore likely to be better suited to this kind of organisations than it is to for-profit firms (Saxton and Game, 2001). Furthermore, in a context in which non-profit organisations are forced to adopt a very different attitude in relation to their funding sources and managing their resources more efficiently in order to accomplish their activities, having a successful Website can be a way of raising awareness and influence, creating an information resource, improving service delivery, diversifying fundraising, attract volunteers, and improving operating efficiency (Frenza, 1997; Frenza and Hoffman, 1999; Saxton and Game, 2001). Hence, this study replicates and extends some of the dimensions used to analyse non-profit interactive forms in a study undertaken by Saxton and Game (2001) in the UK and explores the strength of the relationship between the proposed dimensions (or forms of interactivity) and several objective measures (i.e., daily hit -rate, internal and external links) along different areas of activity. By doing this, some empirical evidence can be gathered about the way Portuguese non-profit are using their Websites to accomplish their activities. It is expected that the greater information content of the non-profit organisation home page, the more attractive will it be (Dholakia and Rego, 1998). Using this reasoning, the following hypothesis can be suggested: H1: The number of interactive forms will be positively related with the daily hit-rate along different areas of non-profit activity. Broadly speaking, online users of non-profit services access homepages for different reasons, that is some visit a website in search of specific information about campaigns and events, others to obtain services. Still others, search for other potential links from and to other webpages during random web-browsing. As noted by Dholakia and Rego (1998:728) network centrality is likely to result in prominence and consequently, a great number of visitors. This author operationalised the complexity of a Web site by using the number of links from the Webpage assuming that complex and large sites have a large number of lin ks from the home page and vice-versa. Having the foregoing discussion in mind the following two research propositions are proposed: H2: The number of links to the non-profit Web page from other Webpages is likely to be positively related to its daily hit-rate. H3: The number of links from the non-profit Web page is likely to be positively related to its daily hit-rate. 3. METHODOLOGY AND CONSTRUCTS DEVELOPMENT Given the non-existence of a general database with statistical information regarding the activity of non-profit organisations operating in Portugal, a set of national lists of these organisations were then obtained from different State departments. Due to the diversity of State departments responsible for accounting records of non-profit organisations, the process of obtaining a complete sampling frame was a difficult task. In order to avoid duplication of cases among different national lists, it was decided to create a database with the data obtained from the different state departments related with different fields of non-profit activity. Some corrections were then made in order to ensure the quality of the sampling frame from which the sample was drawn. Organisations were selected by applying a sampling procedure that was a combination of quota sampling and proportionate stratified sampling. From a population of nearly 6500 non-profit organisations, a sample of 360 was selected (Krejois, and Margan, 1970). However, after identifying, in a second stage of the research, the URL s organisations (i.e. uniform resource locators) a total of 188 Websites was found to be accessible and appropriate for the present research due to its content/image nature following the guidelines of 891

4 International Conference WWW/Internet 2003 Hoffman and Novak (1996). Most of these URL s were found through multiple search mechanisms; databases, search engines, direct contact with the organisations and online domain name registries. The time frame of sampling was restricted to March and April 2003 and subsequently data have been checked and entered into a SPSS data file. Each home page was then individually examined along 6 dimensions, formed by 21 sub-dimensions, assessed through a dichotomous variable (1= It is not present; 2= It is present). These dimensions which revealed different forms of interactivity were drawn from a study conducted by Saxton and Game (2001). It seems worth noting that the sample comprised 14.4% non-profit organisations operating in the area of culture and entretainment, 26.6% from health, 28.2% from social services, 28.2% from environment and 2.7% from international activities. Additionally, other Web page features were assessed in the present study, such as the average daily hit rate, number of links to the website from other Web pages, age of the site and traffic. Some of these measures have been used by several authors to evaluate the effectiveness of a website (Dholakia and Rego, 1998; Bellizi, 2000). These measures can also be generated from Alexa Network ( in which users need to introduce each domain name (URL) associated with a downloaded website entry. Next, the downloaded entry pages were content analysed (Yin, 1989). At this stage, only preliminary analysis have been performed. It is antecipated that results will be available in the next few months. 4. IMPLICATIONS FOR THEORY AND PRACTICE As a new, interactive and rapidly growing medium of communication, the Internet has generated great interest among academics and practitioners. However, to fully exploit the potential of the Internet, analysts must continuously reassess and redesign their Web sites to meet not only customer needs but also to face an increasingly competitive environment. This would certainly require a different attitude towards the Internet, irrespective of the area of activity. From an academic perspective, this study represents a systematic approach to examine the emerging and growing phenomena of the Web in a different organisational context. Our main contribution is the development of a reliable scale instrument appropriated to evaluate the attractiveness and effectiveness of non-profit organisation s websites. From the point of view of practitioners, this study seeks to provide relevant guidelines for non-profit organisation s managers about the way how the Internet, particularly Websites can support a number of nonprofit activities. Similarly to what occurred in the for-profit sector, it is expected that an early market entry has a positive effect on its market share. Thus, it is likely that non-profit organisations are not only scratching the surface in terms of their Website activities but exploiting the first move advantages associated with promoting their social activities, such as built online communities, cost reduction, public image, disseminating their programmes/services and attracting fundraising. REFERENCES Ainscough, T. (1996), The Internet for the rest of us: marketing on the world wide web, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 13, nº 2, pp Angehrn, A. (1997). Designing Mature Internet Business Strategies: The ICDT Model. European Management Journal, Vol.15, nº4, pp Akers, T. and Coleman, L. (1994) Information Superhighway: are Nonprofit Human Service Organizations Networking Electronically? Proceedings of Arnova Conference Ballizi, J.A (2000).Drawing Prospects to E-Commerce Websites, Journal of Advertising Research, January-April, pp Berthon R. T., Pitt L. F., Watson R. T. (1996). The World Wide Web as an Advertising Medium: Toward an Understanding of Conversion Efficiency, Journal of Avertising Research, January-February. Bruner, G.C. II and Kumar, A (2000).Web Commercials and Advertising Hierarchy-of-Effects, Journal of Advertising Research, January-April, pp Carmines, E. and Zeller, R. (1979).. Reliability and Validity Assessment. London: Sage Publications. 892

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