The antecedents of donor commitment to voluntary organizations

The past decade has seen a rapid growth in the number of regular or so‐called committed giving schemes. Charities have been increasingly eager to solicit donors onto a low‐value monthly donation, collected automatically from their bank account or credit card. Although the initial costs of donor acquisition are higher than for cash donations, charities find that committed givers are less likely to lapse and therefore offer substantially higher lifetime values over time. In this article, we examine to what extent these individuals are truly committed, that is, whether they are more committed than occasional cash givers and the factors that might drive that commitment. The results of a series of ten focus groups conducted on behalf of five large national charities are reported and a model of the antecedents of commitment hypothesized. Implications for fundraising strategy are explored.     

Gender Differences in Income Sources of the Elderly in Peninsular Malaysia

Objectives of this study were to identify and compare the sources and amounts of income received by elderly males and females. Specifically, this study examined gender differences in income receipt for a sample of 1,841 residents of Peninsular Malaysia who were aged 55–75. Significant differences were found in the source and amount of income of elderly males and females. Although the majority of elderly of both genders received income from their children, there were profound gender differences in the receipt of work-related and investment-related income.     

Examining Cost Fulfillment: Child Care Policy and Strategies

ABSTRACT

Most advanced industrialized countries have established social support to aid families in balancing productive and reproductive labor during child-bearing years. Secondary data analysis was used to examine patterns of public support for low-income working families. Key findings highlight four types of policy strategies (Conservative, Limited, Average, and Universal) suggesting differentiated social citizenship opportunities based on place of residence. This research highlights how a complex policy environment contributes to unintended consequences as the working poor are exposed to child care and employment instability. Future research should consider how the policy environment contributes to material well-being in families during the life course.     

The Woodwork Effect: Estimating It and Controlling the Damage

Many patients in home- and community-based services (HCBS) are not people who, without HCBS, would be in nursing homes. Those attracted to HCBS tend to be people who are younger, better supported, less dependent, and more mentally intact than their nursing home counterparts. Studies show that only about a quarter of the clients selected as likely to enter nursing homes within the coming year are likely to do so, even though they receive no HCBS. Of the 43 studies reported, more than two-thirds had rates of control group nursing home admission of less than 20%. Most patients would also be likely to have experienced only a short nursing home stay even if they were admitted. The result: Receiving HCBS reduced nursing home use rates on average by only a small percentage, not enough to offset the costs of HCBS. Moreover, both older and more recent studies show only small to insignificant effects on most adverse patient outcomes.     

Lesbian Parents and Work

Twenty-one lesbian parents, representing 15 families, were interviewed to examine the work-family issues experienced by the women. Seventy percent of the interviewees were satisfied with their employment situations and characterized the relationships between their households and the workplace as positive. Qualitative analysis of the interview data revealed work-related stressors and supports, and strategies for balancing work and family. Themes included instrumental support, interpersonal support, integration of work and family, and creative responses to work-family tensions. Implications for social work policy and direct practice are discussed.     

Urban growth patterns and growth management boundaries in the Central Puget Sound, Washington, 1986–2007

Many regions of the globe are experiencing rapid urban growth, the location and intensity of which can have negative effects on ecological and social systems. In some locales, planners and policy makers have used urban growth boundaries to direct the location and intensity of development; however the empirical evidence for the efficacy of such policies is mixed. Monitoring the location of urban growth is an essential first step in understanding how the system has changed over time. In addition, if regulations purporting to direct urban growth to specific locales are present, it is important to evaluate if the desired pattern (or change in pattern) has been observed. In this paper, we document land cover and change across six dates (1986, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2002, and 2007) for six counties in the Central Puget Sound, Washington State, USA. We explore patterns of change by three different spatial partitions (the region, each county, 2000 U.S. Census Tracks), and with respect to urban growth boundaries implemented in the late 1990’s as part of the state’s Growth Management Act. Urban land cover increased from 8 to 19% of the study area between 1986 and 2007, while lowland deciduous and mixed forests decreased from 21 to 13% and grass and agriculture decreased from 11 to 8%. Land in urban classes outside of the urban growth boundaries increased more rapidly (by area and percentage of new urban land cover) than land within the urban growth boundaries, suggesting that the intended effect of the Growth Management Act to direct growth to within the urban growth boundaries may not have been accomplished by 2007. Urban sprawl, as estimated by the area of land per capita, increased overall within the region, with the more rural counties within commuting distance to cities having the highest rate of increase observed. Land cover data is increasingly available and can be used to rapidly evaluate urban development patterns over large areas. Such data are important inputs for policy makers, urban planners, and modelers alike to manage and plan for future population, land use, and land cover changes.     

Embodied Practices of Engineering Work

This article explores relationships between activity theoretic and ethnomethodological studies of work and its objects, with specific reference to the case of design practices in civil engineering. My starting point is the shared interest of activity theory and ethnomethodology in the place of artifacts in everyday working practice. I review briefly some basic premises of first ethnomethodological, then activity theoretic studies of artifacts-in-use. I then offer a preliminary account of computer-aided and paper-based design work in civil engineering, informed by both perspectives. My account emphasizes the multiplicity of media and associated objects involved in the work of engineering on the one hand, and their integration in practice into a coherent field of action on the other. The article concludes by returning to the question of relationships between ethnomethodology and activity theory, focusing on differences in their respective stances toward theory itself.     

The impact of urbanisation on avian species: The inextricable link between people and birds

This study investigates the impact of urbanisation on birdlife in a major city. Line transects and point counts were used to survey birds in three habitat types: parkland, residential areas and business/industrial areas. Abundance, richness and diversity of assemblages were determined for all bird species and for those birds native to the area. Behaviours of birds, and of human residents in relation to birds, in these urban areas were documented, including all instances of avian aggression. Bird species, including a subset of native bird species, have greater abundance and richness in parklands. Overall species diversity is greatest in residential habitat types, but native diversity is greatest in parklands. Introduced species are most abundant in business/industrial habitat types. The most frequent aggressive encounters were initiated by noisy miners Manorina melanocephalas, one of the four most common species throughout all habitat types (other common species include the rainbow lorikeet Trichoglossus haematodus, rock dove Columba livia and common myna Sturnus tristis). Other behaviours involved birds utilising food and roost resources and were classified as being caused by active and passive human behaviours. These outcomes indicate that local changes to the environment can impact the bird species by providing different food and roost resources. Human residents and local governments have a range of tools to modify the diversity of urban areas. Further research is needed to determine alternative definitions of modification, such as defining it as open space, and investigating the health of the avian populations in urban areas.