Intentions and donations: monetary charity in Kuwait during the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the intentions of individuals’ monetary charity during the COVID-19 crisis in Kuwait. The new conditions of COVID-19 enhanced both the theoretical as well as empirical importance of understanding how charities canalize monetary donations toward those in need. Design/methodology/approach: An initial framework is developed based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to conceptualize how an individual’s intention of donating money to charitable organizations is realized in their behaviors. A cross-sectional study of 276 donors is conducted. Findings: Explained variance gained is 0.73% suggesting that during the pandemic, donors are financially able to donate and prioritize easily accessible channels to transfer monetary charity. Donor attitudes towards charitable organizations were found to be insignificant regardless of the mismanagement reported. Practical implications: This study importantly discusses public behavior toward charities during the pandemic and suggests policies for managing such charities during a pandemic for optimizing their effectiveness. Originality/value: This paper used a contemporary context to measure behavioral intentions including attitude (attitude toward making a financial donation, attitude toward charitable organizations and the attitude toward helping others), perceived behavioral control, descriptive norms, moral norms, injunctive/prescriptive norms and past behavior and thus enhance the empirical base of the TPB.