Donor motivation in college sport: Does contribution level matter?

Collegiate sport in the United States not only provides educational opportunities to student athletes, but also offers excellent entertainment options to stakeholders of universities and their community. For the long-term sustainability of college athletic programs, financial support from individual donors is very important. Our purpose in this study was to identify and compare motives of low- and high-contribution donors to athletic programs. A sample of college sport donors (N = 484) completed the Scale of Athletic Donor Motivation, and the data were categorized into low- and high-contribution groups. The results of multigroup structural equation modeling indicated that tangible benefit was a salient predictor of giving intention among the low-contribution group, whereas socialization was significant for the high-contribution group. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.