Donors and Non-Profit Organisations’ Accounting Manipulations: An Overview of the Literature

Abstract

There is almost no literature directly linking non-profit organisations’ earnings manipulations to expected donor behaviour. Therefore, the literature on non-profit organisations’ accounting manipulations is reviewed from the perspective of their expected effects on donations. It becomes clear that manipulations frequently aim at disclosing figures which are documented to be beneficial to the amount of funds raised. This provides enough ground to suggest strict accounting regulations for non-profit organisations, combined with audit engagements extended to the cost accounting information disclosed, despite some evidence that a majority of potential donors might not be interested at all in financial information.