According to The Giving Institute, individual, corporate and foundation contributions to nonprofit organizations in 2014 totaled more than $358 billion, and the vast majority of donations (72%) for many years now have come from individuals. Many ofthese organizations rely on peer-to-peer fundraising events such as walks, runs or rides.While some sort of affinity to the cause is often the impetus for participation in such events, we know little else aboutthe motivational and communicative processes that influence individuals’ decisions in this area.

Despite much research being conducted related to nonprofits and fundraising (see e.g., Kelly, 1998; Waters, 2008), scholars and practitioners lack a clear model to help explain the antecedents to communication and behavioral intentions as it relates to organizational support. To advance these aims, the authors explore fundraising events as a way to better understand the underlying motivations related to situational support. It is anticipated that findings will not only help nonprofit organizations develop more sophisticated communication for fundraising events, but also provide a foundation for theoretical advancement as it relates to other situational support scenarios such as political campaigns, advocacy or employee engagement initiatives.

Furthermore, scholars have called attention to the lack of theoretical development related to nonprofit communication (Sisco, Pressgrove, & Collins, 2013). This research seeks to fill that gap by combining variables from the situational theory of problem solving (Kim & Grunig, 2011) and the theory of reasoned action (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980). These two theories have been used for decades to predict communication and behavior, and they have complementary yet distinct variables that help explain stakeholder motivations. This research extends previous research in this area (McKeever, 2013), by proposing a new model that may be useful for scholars and practitioners interested in understanding the idea of situational support.