How to activate nonprofit beneficiaries for community resilience? Examining the role of risk perception and evaluation of nonprofit services on prosocial behavior in the context of natural hazards

Abstract

Nonprofit organizations serve an essential role in response to natural hazards by delivering services to affected communities and those in need. However, little is known about the drivers of nonprofit-resident engagement during and aftermath of emergencies. Utilizing survey data collected in Austin, Texas, we address this gap by analyzing how beneficiaries of nonprofit services become donors and/or volunteers. Specifically, this study empirically analyzes how risk awareness and perceived nonprofit responsiveness and satisfaction (i.e., evaluation of services) influence beneficiaries’ donation and volunteering during and after natural hazards. This relationship between risk awareness, evaluation of nonprofit services, and prosocial behaviors is understudied but extremely salient in the context of the expanding role of nonprofits on the frontlines of increasing frequency and duration of extreme weather events. The results indicate that the mediating role of citizens’ evaluation of nonprofit services in the relationship between risk awareness and prosocial behavior is evident, despite the lack of significant direct effects of risk awareness on prosocial behavior. This study offers new perspectives to understanding the co-production of nonprofit services and mobilizing community resources to prepare, respond, and recover from climate impacts and informs ongoing conversations in urban sociology and the sociology of disaster.