Motivations for Participating in Health Related

18 Abstract In recent years, fundraising has been a major challenge for nonprofit organizations (NPOs) due to lack of support from state and federal governments, the recent economic downturn, and fierce competition among increasing numbers of charities. To overcome this challenging environment, NPOs have attempted to reach prospective donors and contributors by developing broad and diverse fundraising programs. Charity events utilizing sports activities have become a popular and successful method used to raise funds for NPOs. However, there is a paucity of empirical research regarding motivations for participating in charity sport events in the context of sport marketing. This study was designed to examine participants' motivational profiles in charity sport events to begin to address this need. Based on sport motivation and donor motivation literature, as well as feedback from interviews with past event participants, 30 items representing 15 motivational dimensions were identified. Responses were collected from participants (N = 211) in two Relay for Life events, and six factors were extracted: (a) Philanthropy, (b) Collaboration. These six factors accounted for 66.2% of the total variance. The results indicated that Philanthropy was the most important motivation, followed by Family order. In addition, the findings also revealed group differences in motivational profiles based on the participants' age and gender. Furthermore, participants' satisfaction with the event and intention to return to the event were significantly related to motivational profiles. This study contributes to the body of knowledge regarding donor motivation in the context of sport marketing by incorporating motivation for participation in charity sport events. In addition, the results of the current study can help sport practitioners/fundraisers gain a better understanding of the motivational factors for charity sport event participation, in order to develop the most effective sport-related fundraising programs. Furthermore, event marketers of charity sport events can utilize the participants' demographic characteristics as a basis for market segmentation.