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Relocated professional fundraisers in Hawaii: the impact of cultural sensitivity and cultural awareness on fundraising performance

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Relocated professional fundraisers in Hawaii: the impact of cultural sensitivity and cultural awareness on fundraising performance

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Content Running head: RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS i

Relocated Professional Fundraisers in Hawaii: The Impact of Cultural Sensitivity and Cultural

Awareness on Fundraising Performance

by

Jamee K. Kunichika

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

December 2019

Copyright 2019 Jamee K. Kunichika
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Dedication

For my family . . .

and the courageous relocated and local professional fundraisers in my past, present, and future.

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Acknowledgements
This dissertation represents countless hours of researching, writing, and reflecting over an
issue that has perplexed me for many years in my professional practice. This effort has also
furthered my journey to be an inclusive leader and human being by doing my best to understand
the challenges that others face as they work towards achieving professional success. In addition,
it represents the culmination of nearly three years of study at USC—one of the most rigorous and
worthwhile endeavors that I have undertaken; one that has challenged me to work to be the best
and most well-rounded leader that I can be at this moment in my life. For those who have
supported and contributed to my dissertation journey, I am indebted to you, and I would like to
express that appreciation next.
First of all, this dissertation would not have been possible without the guidance of Dr.
Kimberly Hirabayashi, who served as my dissertation chair/guru. Thank you, Dr. H., for your
patience, kindness, and honest feedback along the way. I appreciated your thought-provoking
questions and creative reframing ideas. Through this dissertation process and the Learning class,
you have made me a clearer and more concise writer; I am grateful for that. You went the extra
mile, put in extra effort that was not required, and shared more knowledge than you had to
despite your busy professional and personal responsibilities. All you asked for in return was that
I did my best. I am proud of this final dissertation and know that I could not have done this
without you!
A great deal of gratitude also goes out to Dr. Monique Datta and Dr. John Cash, both who
served as members of my dissertation committee. Dr. Datta, mahalo nui loa for agreeing to serve
on the dissertation committee of a fellow local Hawaii resident. Your rich knowledge of place
helped to shape my dissertation and I hope the findings and recommendations of this dissertation
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can help members of our local community. Dr. Cash, John, thank you for the many years of
knowledge that you have imparted on me about the fundraising field. I am more knowledgeable
about how to support fundraisers in the field because of you. Your vast practical knowledge also
helped to shape my dissertation and provided a lens of balancing practical and conceptual
thinking. I am filled with gratitude to you!
Throughout my many years of schooling, my parents and sister have been pillars of
support and encouragement through the many challenges that we have faced as a family. Bella:
Thank you for always lying beside me to keep me company during those long days and nights of
writing. You are the best pup and best friend a gal could ask for. Kimber: Thank you for giving
me the nod of support and inspiration to go back to school. It helped me believe that I could do
this after all these years since law school. Your encouragement along the way—through
moments of profound realizations about privilege and power in Hawaii, to counseling me
through the inner-challenges of team assignments, to being my dissertation editor—was
immensely appreciated, as always. Dad: Thank you for your quiet encouragement along the
way and especially for helping me take care of Princess Bella during my many hours of
researching, reflecting, and writing. You have always been my quiet cheerleader supporting me
to achieve whatever I aspire to. Best. Dad. Ever. Mom: I wish you were here so we could
celebrate this achievement together. I miss you every day.
Above all, I am forever indebted to my partner, Lani, who has been nothing short of
ridiculously patient and understanding as I worked toward the completion of this dissertation and
doctorate degree. From agreeing (with a quiet growl) that I can take my laptop on our vacation
getaways, to being the best househusband and cleaning the house and washing clothes, to
understanding why I have barely cooked any homemade meals since the start of this program,
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everything you have done for me throughout this journey greatly shows your encouragement,
support, love, and belief that I could do this. Thank you for being the catalyst that pushed me
outside of my comfort zone and into this program that got my brain’s synapses sparking again!
Let the celebration begin!

RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS vi
Table of Contents
Dedication ii
Acknowledgements iii
Table of Contents vi
List of Tables vii
List of Figures ix
Abstract x

Chapter One: Introduction 1
Introduction of the Problem of Practice 1
Global Goal 1
Related Literature 2
Importance of the Organizational Innovation 2
Description of Stakeholder Groups 3
Stakeholder Group for the Study 4
Purpose of the Project and Questions 5
Methodological Framework 5
Definitions 6
Organization for the Study 6

Chapter Two: Review of the Literature 8
Influences on the Problem of Practice 8
Evolution of Hawaii’s Unique Asian-Influenced Culture 8
Importance of Culturally Sensitive and Culturally Aware Fundraising
Strategies 9
Fundraising Strategy Considerations for Asian-Influenced Cultures 10
Clark and Estes’ (2008) Knowledge, Motivation, and Organizational Influences
Framework 10
Stakeholder Knowledge, Motivation, and Organizational Influences 11
Knowledge and Skills 11
Motivation 17
Organization 22
Conceptual Framework: The Interaction of Stakeholders’ Knowledge and
Motivation and the Organizational Context 27
Summary 34

Chapter Three: Methods 36
Participating Stakeholders 36
Interview Sampling Criteria and Rationale 37
Interview Sampling (Recruitment) Strategy and Rationale 40
Data Collection 42
Interviews 42
Documents 45
Data Analysis 46
Credibility and Trustworthiness 47
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Ethics 48

Chapter Four: Findings 51
Participating Stakeholders 51
Stakeholder Knowledge, Motivation, and Organizational Needs to Achieve the
Global Goal 54
Knowledge and Skills Findings 54
Motivation Findings 76
Organization Findings 82
Summary 92

Chapter Five: Recommendations 95
Recommendations for Practice to Address the Knowledge, Motivation, and
Organizational Needs 96
Recommendation 1: Training to Develop Relocated Professional
Fundraisers’ Skills 96
Recommendation 2: Increase the Knowledge of Relocated Professional
Fundraisers Through Training to Develop Their Skills 100
Recommendation 3: Increase the Self-Efficacy of Relocated
Professional Fundraisers Through Training to Develop Their Skills 104
Integrated Implementation and Evaluation Plan 107
Implementation and Evaluation Framework 107
Organizational Purpose, Need, and Expectations 108
Level 4: Results and Leading Indicators 108
Level 3: Behavior 110
Level 2: Learning 116
Level 1: Reaction 119
Evaluation Tools 121
Data Analysis and Reporting 122
Summary 123
Limitations and Delimitations 123
Recommendations for Further Research 125
Conclusion 125

References 127

Appendices 132
Appendix A: Interview Protocol 132
Appendix B: Document Analysis Notes Template 137
Appendix C: Immediate Evaluation Instrument 139
Appendix D: Delayed Evaluation Instrument 141
Appendix E: Training Program Evaluation Data Analysis Dashboards 143

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List of Tables

Table 1: Global Goal 5

Table 2: Knowledge Influences, Knowledge Types, and Knowledge
Influence Assessments 17

Table 3: Motivation Influences and Motivational Influence Assessments 22

Table 4: Organizational Influences and Organizational Influence Assessments 27

Table 5: Overview of the Characteristics of This Study’s Participants 53

Table 6: Summary of Participants’ Thoughts Related to the Relationship Between
Trust and Relationship-Building with Prospective Donors from Hawaii 57

Table 7: Summary of Participants’ Length of Years as Professional Fundraisers
in Hawaii, Indicated Level of Confidence Interacting with Prospective Donors
from Hawaii, and Reason for Level of Confidence 78

Table 8: Summary of Organizational Needs and Recommendations 98
Table 9: Summary of Knowledge Needs and Recommendations 102
Table 10: Summary of Motivation Needs and Recommendations 106
Table 11: Outcomes, Metrics, and Methods for External and Internal Outcomes 110
Table 12: Critical Behaviors, Metrics, Methods, and Timing for Evaluation 112
Table 13: Required Drivers to Support Critical Behaviors 114
Table 14: Evaluation of the Components of Learning for the Program 119
Table 15: Components to Measure Reactions to the Program 121

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List of Figures
Figure 1: Interaction of organizational context and culture and stakeholder
knowledge and motivation influences 31

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Abstract
This dissertation served to address the problem of professional fundraisers in diverse
cultural environments being unable to implement effective fundraising strategies with culturally
diverse prospective donors, leading to poor fundraising performance, and ultimately,
professional fundraiser turnover. The qualitative study examined the interview responses of 11
participants—six relocated professional fundraisers to Hawaii and five professional fundraisers
from Hawaii—and analyzed the fundraising-related prospective donor communications of four
Hawaii organizations. The findings suggest that relocated professional fundraisers need to know
how to effectively communicate and establish credibility with the prospective donors from
Hawaii in order to foster trust with them. Ways to foster trust included respecting their
communication style, showing patience for the pace of their philanthropic process, practicing
cultural norms and language, establishing roots to demonstrate commitment to community, and
leveraging relationships to establish commonality. In addition, relocated professional fundraisers
need to know how to self-monitor to create positive impressions with prospective donors from
Hawaii, and have self-efficacy and see the value in implementing culturally sensitive and
culturally aware in interactions with prospective donors from Hawaii. Furthermore,
organizations can help relocated professional fundraisers increase their knowledge of Hawaii’s
culture and history through organizational comprehensive training programs that support the
development of cross-cultural norms and behaviors skills and increase their ability to navigate
relationships with Hawaii’s unique prospective donor community through organizational
mentoring programs that strengthen cross-cultural relationship-building skills.
Recommendations for the field include organizations increasing the cultural knowledge and self-
efficacy of relocated professional fundraisers through training to develop their skills.
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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Introduction of the Problem of Practice
In order to prosper in the 21st century, nonprofit organizations must raise a considerable
amount of funds from ethnically and racially diverse populations (Newman & Fogal, 2002).
Diverse populations are growing and currently comprise 30% of the U.S. population (Newman &
Fogal, 2002). Individuals in diverse populations are likely to have recently acquired their wealth
(Newman & Fogal, 2002). Fundraising success with these individuals hinges on a professional
fundraiser’s ability to implement culturally sensitive and culturally aware fundraising strategies
(Newman & Fogal, 2002; Tsunoda, 2010). However, U.S. professional fundraisers generally
design their fundraising strategies with only prospective donors of the White population in mind
(Newman & Fogal, 2002). If professional fundraisers in diverse cultural environments are
unable to implement effective fundraising strategies, then this inability can lead to poor
fundraising performance, and ultimately, professional fundraiser turnover. It is important for
nonprofit organizations in diverse cultural environments to help their professional fundraisers
overcome this issue because the cost of replacing a fundraiser is approximately 250% of their
annual compensation (Thomas, 2010).
Global Goal
This study’s global goal, crafted for the purpose of this study in consultation with the
advisor of this dissertation, was for professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations
and who have relocated to Hawaii to implement culturally sensitive and culturally aware
fundraising strategies for all prospective donors from Hawaii in their individual portfolios. The
global goal focused on improving the effectiveness of fundraising strategies in order to increase
the likelihood that prospective donors from Hawaii would make philanthropic gifts to the
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relocated professional fundraisers’ organizations. As a result, the relocated professional
fundraisers would increase their likelihood of success in achieving fundraising dollar targets—
the overall goal of professional fundraisers.
Fundraising strategies include the next steps for the relocated professional fundraisers
and the organization’s leadership team to achieve to increase prospective donors from Hawaii’s
affinity to the organization. The next steps must show consideration for the local cultural views
of philanthropy, distribution of personal and family wealth, interests of the prospective donor,
and status of the professional fundraisers’ relationship with the prospective donors.
Related Literature
The Asian-influenced culture of Hawaii requires employees who relocate from other
states to be aware of the local cultural values (Omizo, Kim, & Abel, 2008) in order to be
professionally successful in their new environment. For relocated professional fundraisers this
means creating fundraising strategies that reflect an awareness of the distinct cultural differences
and sensitivities of the prospective donors (Jung, 2015; Newman & Fogal, 2002). In Asian-
influenced cultures, such as Hawaii’s, the awareness and sensitivities include the conflicting
nature of Western philanthropic practices and Asian-influenced cultural norms (Newman &
Fogal, 2002; Tsunoda, 2010).
Importance of the Organizational Innovation
It is important for Hawaii organizations that employ professional fundraisers who have
relocated to Hawaii to integrate strategies to help relocated professional fundraisers be able to
implement culturally sensitive and culturally aware fundraising strategies for prospective donors
from Hawaii for a variety reasons. If relocated professional fundraisers are unable to implement
effective cultural fundraising strategies in their new and diverse cultural environment, then this
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failure will impact the ability of the relocated professional fundraisers to raise private gifts from
prospective donors from Hawaii. This inability can lead to poor organizational fundraising
performance and ultimately, professional fundraiser turnover.
Additionally, the average tenure for a professional fundraiser at one organization is 18 –
24 months nationally (Thomas, 2010). This brief duration means that professional fundraisers
are frequently relocating to various organizations across the country, all with varying cultural
contexts. Thus, organizations across the country that employ relocated professional fundraisers
need to know how to help them be successful in their new cultural contexts.
Description of Stakeholder Groups
In organizations that employ professional fundraisers who have relocated to Hawaii, the
key stakeholder groups that contribute toward raising private gifts from prospective donors from
Hawaii are the organization’s leadership team, the fundraising leaders, and the relocated
professional fundraisers. An organization’s leadership team impacts the organization’s capacity
to raise private gifts from prospective donors from Hawaii in two ways. First, the leadership
team determines the private fundraising priorities for the organization. Second, they partner with
the organization’s professional fundraisers to engage, solicit, and steward prospective donors for
fundraising dollars to fulfill the identified fundraising priorities for the organization.
An organization’s fundraising leaders contribute to raising private gifts from prospective
donors from Hawaii through the creation of organizational fundraising strategies. The
fundraising leaders then guide the organization’s professional fundraisers in the execution of
those strategies.
Relocated professional fundraisers support an organization’s capacity to raise private
gifts from prospective donors from Hawaii by partnering with the organization’s leadership to
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engage, solicit, and steward prospective donors for fundraising dollars to fulfill the identified
fundraising priorities for the organization.
Stakeholder Group for the Study

While the joint efforts of all key stakeholder groups will contribute to raising private gifts
from prospective donors from Hawaii, an organization’s relocated professional fundraisers play
one of the most critical roles in the fundraising process. The relocated professional fundraisers,
like other professional fundraisers, serve as the philanthropic brokers between the prospective
donors and the organization. Successful philanthropic broker relationships require the relocated
professional fundraisers to be culturally sensitive and culturally aware in their fundraising
strategies for local prospective donors (Newman & Fogal, 2002; Tsunoda, 2010). Accordingly,
it was important to understand the needs of relocated professional fundraisers employed by
Hawaii organizations to be able to implement culturally sensitive and culturally aware
fundraising strategies for prospective donors from Hawaii. Therefore, the stakeholder group of
focus for this study was the relocated professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii
organizations. The expectation of this study’s recommendations was for Hawaii organizations to
help its relocated professional fundraisers to be able to implement culturally sensitive and
culturally aware fundraising strategies for prospective donors from Hawaii. Table 1 reiterates
this study’s global goal related to the stakeholder group of focus.

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Table 1
Global Goal

Global Goal
Professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations and who have relocated to Hawaii
will implement culturally sensitive and culturally aware fundraising strategies for all prospective
donors from Hawaii in their individual portfolios.
__________________________________________________________________________
Purpose of the Project and Questions
The purpose of this project was to conduct a needs’ analysis in the areas of knowledge
and skill, motivation, and organizational resources necessary to reach the global goal. The
analysis began by generating a list of possible needs and then moved to examining these
systematically to focus on actual needs. While a complete needs’ analysis would focus on all
stakeholders, for practical purposes the stakeholders focused on in this analysis was relocated
professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations.
As such, the questions that guided this study were the following:
1. What is the stakeholder knowledge and motivation needs related to relocated
professional fundraisers achieving the global goal of implementing culturally
sensitive and culturally aware fundraising strategies for all prospective donors in
their individual portfolios?
2. What is the interaction between the organizational culture and context and
stakeholder knowledge and motivation?
3. What are the recommended knowledge, motivation, and organizational solutions?

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Methodological Framework
Clark and Estes’ (2008) gap analysis, a systematic, analytical method that helps to clarify
organizational performance goals and identify the gap between the actual performance level and
the preferred performance level within an organization, was adapted for this study’s needs’
analysis. Assumed knowledge, motivation, and organizational needs were generated based on
personal knowledge and related literature. These needs were verified by using interviews,
document analysis, literature review, and content analysis. Research-based solutions were
recommended and evaluated in a comprehensive manner.
Definitions
• Cultural awareness: An understanding of “cultural norms and beliefs and the actions that
can perpetuate such beliefs” (Moore, 2018, p. 244).
• Cultural sensitivity: An “understanding [of] the dynamics of another culture” in order to
be “open and respectful to cultural differences” (Ruddock & Turner, 2007, p. 362).
• Relocated professional fundraiser: In the course of this study, the researcher is defining
“relocated professional fundraiser” as someone who is employed as a professional
fundraiser by a Hawaii organization and who has moved to Hawaii to work as a
professional fundraiser.
Organization of the Study
Five chapters have been used to organize this study. This chapter provided the reader
with the key concepts and terminology commonly found in a discussion about the importance of
culturally sensitive and culturally aware fundraising strategies in diverse cultural environments.
The global goal and initial concepts of gap analysis adapted to needs analysis were introduced.
Chapter Two provides a review of current literature surrounding the scope of the study. Topics
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include the evolution of Hawaii’s culture, culturally sensitive and culturally aware fundraising
strategies, and Asian-influenced fundraising strategies will be addressed. Chapter Two also
details the assumed knowledge, motivation, and organizational needs, along with the conceptual
framework that underlies this study. Chapter Three provides an overview of this study’s
methodology related to the choice of participants, data collection, and analysis. In Chapter Four,
the data and results are described and analyzed. Chapter Five provides solutions for practice,
based on data and literature, as well as recommendations for an implementation and evaluation
plan.

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CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
Explored in this literature review is the importance of culturally sensitive and culturally
aware fundraising strategies in diverse cultural environments and its relationship to achieving
fundraising success. The review first examines the general research that explains the evolution
of the context of this study, namely, Hawaii’s cultural setting. The research review then
evaluates the literature about culturally sensitive and culturally aware fundraising strategies in
diverse cultural environments. Finally, the general literature section will discuss the research
that examines the fundraising strategies in Asian-influenced environments. Following the
general research literature, the review focuses on the current research related to the knowledge,
motivation, and organizational influences on the ability of relocated professional fundraisers to
implement culturally sensitive and culturally aware fundraising strategies for prospective donors
from Hawaii.
Influences on the Problem of Practice

Evolution of Hawaii’s Unique Asian-Influenced Culture
A sugar production and export explosion occurred in Hawaii in the mid-nineteenth
century (Takaki, 2012). The economic boom caused an influx of over 300,000 plantation
laborers to emigrate from Asia, significantly altering Hawaii’s racial demographic makeup
(Takaki, 2012). The population shifted from a predominantly indigenous population of 97%
Native Hawaiian/part-Native Hawaiian and 2% White to a majority of 62% Asian, with 16.3%
Native Hawaiian/part-Native Hawaiian, and 7.7% White population (Takaki, 2012). According
to the United States Census Bureau, in 2015, the Asian population in Hawaii still accounted for a
substantial portion of the population at 55.9%.
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One of the effects of the early migration of Asians was the integration of Asian cultural
values of humility, emotional restraint, conformity, collectivism, and filial piety (Omizo et al.,
2008) into Hawaii’s cultural landscape. More than 150 years later, these influential Asian
cultural values have evolved into a local culture defining the collective identity of people from
various races born and raised in Hawaii (Young, 2002). Employees who relocate from other
states and enter Hawaii’s workforce are often unaware of Hawaii’s local cultural values and are
partial to European American cultural values of individualism and autonomy (Omizo et al.,
2008). However, these employees, particularly professional fundraisers, must understand that
Asian cultural values strongly influence Hawaii’s local culture. Consequently, professional
fundraising success requires professional fundraisers to modify their fundraising strategies
according to the diverse cultural environment they are working in.
Importance of Culturally Sensitive and Culturally Aware Fundraising Strategies
Successful professional fundraisers employ fundraising strategies that demonstrate they
are aware of the differences and sensitivities of the prospective donor’s culture. Newman and
Fogal (2002) asserted that professional fundraisers must have an awareness of the different
values and meanings of the local culture and be able to modify their fundraising strategies to
meet the expectations of the local prospective donors. Based on a study of 80 community
foundations and 87 affluent donors in four ethnic minority communities in the U.S., the authors
found that fundraising success in diverse cultures also requires fundraising strategies that reflect
an understanding of cultural sensitivities. Jung (2015) advised, in a literature review focused on
art museum fundraising practices, that these fundraising strategies include an awareness of the
motivations and different styles of giving of prospective donors of diverse cultures. The author
affirmed that demonstrating such an awareness in their fundraising strategies increases the
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likelihood of success. Newman and Fogal (2002) added that at the broader level, fundraising
organizations that hope to engage local prospective donors “must first fully embrace the diversity
of the local community in its mission policies, and practices” (p. 16). Fundraising success in
diverse cultures hinges on the professional fundraiser’s ability to respect the cultural differences
of the local prospective donors. In Asian-influenced cultures, like Hawaii’s, the research reveals
particular cultural sensitivities and differences that professional fundraisers must be aware of.
Fundraising Strategy Considerations for Asian-Influenced Cultures
Professional fundraisers must be aware of and sensitive to the way Western philanthropic
practices conflict with Asian-influenced cultural norms. In a study examining U.S. higher
education philanthropic giving from Asian Americans, Tsunoda (2010) asserted that cultural
sensitivity includes recognizing that Asian American prospective donors may be unaware of
Western charitable practices. The author recommended that fundraising strategies take into
consideration the fact that Asian American giving to universities contradicts cultural preferences
of exclusively monetarily supporting family members. Moreover, Newman and Fogal (2002)
cautioned professional fundraisers to be aware that preserving one’s dignity is important in
Asian-influenced cultures. Consequently, rather than ask a prospective donor directly for funds,
the author explained that a fundraising strategy should focus on informing a prospective donor of
a philanthropic opportunity and then waiting for a response. Professional fundraisers who work
with Asian American prospective donors, like those professional fundraisers who relocate to
Hawaii, must be aware of these Asian cultural sensitivities.

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Clark and Estes’ (2008) Knowledge, Motivation, and Organizational Influences
Framework
Clark and Estes (2008) offered a construct for improving organizational performance.
The premise of the construct is that organizations seeking to increase its ability to achieve
organizational goals should focus on closing the gaps between the current performance levels
and desired performance goals of employees (Clark & Estes, 2008). The authors specified that
in order to close employee performance gaps organizations must identify the human causes of
the gaps and implement the appropriate solutions to close those gaps. Clark and Estes further
explained that the human causes of many performance gaps are related to at least one of three
dimensions—the knowledge, motivation, or organizational influences that impact the ability of
employees to achieve their desired performance goals.
In this section, a review of current scholarly research focuses on these three dimensions
of performance gap causes in order to uncover the assumed knowledge, motivation, and
organizational influences needed for relocated professional fundraisers of Hawaii organizations
to achieve the global goal. The assumed knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences
related to the performance of relocated professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii
organizations will then be explored through the methodology discussed in the next chapter.
Stakeholder Knowledge, Motivation, and Organizational Influences
This review of current scholarly research focuses on three dimensions of what is needed
for relocated professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations to achieve the global
goal. The global goal was for relocated professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii
organizations to implement culturally sensitive and culturally aware fundraising strategies for all
prospective donors from Hawaii in their individual portfolios.
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Knowledge and Skills
The first dimension is the knowledge influences required for relocated professional
fundraisers of Hawaii organizations to achieve the global goal. Clark and Estes (2008) asserted
that an organization’s investment in resources to increase the knowledge and skills of its
employees is vital to its success. The authors reasoned that the strengthening of knowledge and
skills improves the ability of employees to solve problems related to their performance. Clark
and Estes’s rationale was based on the inference that performance is enhanced when employees
use the new knowledge and skills to solve their performance problems, and close the gaps
between their current performance levels and performance goals. The authors further presumed
that when employee performance gaps are closed, the organization bolsters its ability to achieve
its organizational goals.
In order for Hawaii organizations to help its relocated professional fundraisers close
performance gaps related to the global goal, an assessment of the requisite knowledge influences
to achieve the goal, corresponding knowledge types, and methods to assess any gaps is essential.
There are four knowledge types needed for employees to solve their performance problems, and
achieve their goals (Krathwohl, 2002; Rueda, 2011). The first type of knowledge is factual
knowledge. Factual knowledge helps employees understand what facts are needed to solve their
performance problem (Krathwohl, 2002; Rueda, 2011). Facts are basic, isolated elements,
terminology, or details specific to domains, contexts, or disciplines (Krathwohl, 2002; Rueda,
2011). Conceptual knowledge is the second type of knowledge. Conceptual knowledge focuses
on what concepts employees must understand to solve their performance problems (Krathwohl,
2002). While Krathwohl (2002) generalized that conceptual knowledge is complex forms of
knowledge, Rueda (2011) specified that conceptual knowledge includes “categories,
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classifications, principles, generalizations, theories, models, or structures” (p. 28). The third type
of knowledge is procedural knowledge. Procedural knowledge helps employees understand how
to solve a problem (Krathwohl, 2002; Rueda, 2011). Metacognitive knowledge is the fourth type
of knowledge. Metacognitive knowledge helps employees be aware of their own mental
processes in solving problems (Krathwohl, 2002; Rueda, 2011). Metacognitive knowledge
allows an employee to know the when and why about solving a problem (Rueda, 2011).
Based on a review of the current research, three knowledge influences of relocated
professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations will be discussed in the next section,
followed by a categorization of these influences into one of the four knowledge types just
reviewed. This categorization into types of knowledge will help to determine the methodology
to assess any knowledge gaps of relocated professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii
organizations.
Communicate effectively with prospective donors from Hawaii. The first knowledge
influence that relocated professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations need to
achieve the global goal is knowing how to effectively communicate with prospective donors
from Hawaii. Smith (2010) affirmed that effective communication is necessary for professional
fundraisers to build relationships with prospective donors and solicit them for gifts. The author’s
three-step competency model for professional fundraiser recruitment highlighted the importance
of effective communication related to the performance outcomes of professional fundraisers.
Smith further asserted that professional fundraising requires similar knowledge essential for sales
and marketing professionals. Research in the sales and marketing professional arena also
underline the importance of cross-cultural communication. Bush, Rose, Gilbert, and Ingram
(2001) explained that a successful cross-cultural buyer-seller relationship requires marketers to
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have intercultural communication competence which stems from their intercultural disposition.
Intercultural disposition includes the ability to empathize with those of other cultures, be a
noncritical observer of behavior, be less ethnocentric, and have an accurate perception of
similarities and differences of one’s self and others (Bush, Rose, Gilbert, & Ingram, 2001).
Thus, relocated professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations must know how to
effectively communicate with prospective donors from Hawaii. This knowledge influence is
categorized as procedural knowledge because it focuses on how to do something, namely, how to
communicate effectively with prospective donors from Hawaii. Accordingly, the method used to
assess whether a procedural knowledge gap exists was through interviews (Clark & Estes, 2008)
with local and relocated professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations. The focus
of the interviews was to evaluate how they communicate with prospective donors from Hawaii.
Establish credibility with prospective donors from Hawaii. The second knowledge
influence that relocated professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations need to
achieve the global goal is knowing how to establish their credibility with prospective donors
from Hawaii. Smith (2010) affirmed that professional fundraising involves similar knowledge
essential for sales professionals. Sales professional success requires knowing how to establish
credibility and trust with the client in order to secure and manage the client relationship (Evans,
McFarland, Dietz, & Jaramillo, 2012). In a study aimed to advance the understanding of key
under-researched areas of sales professional performance, Evans, McFarland, Dietz, and
Jaramillo (2012) found that the seller must establish a “basis of influence” with the buyer which
is critical to performance (p. 93). Since the knowledge required of sales professionals is
comparable to that of fundraising professionals (Smith, 2010), Evans et al.’s (2012) research can
be transferred to the fundraising profession. Accordingly, relocated professional fundraisers
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 15
employed by Hawaii organizations must know how to establish their credibility with prospective
donors from Hawaii. This knowledge influence is also categorized as procedural knowledge as it
centers on how to do something, specifically, how to establish credibility with prospective
donors from Hawaii. Therefore, the method used to assess whether a procedural knowledge gap
exists was through interviews (Clark & Estes, 2008) with local and relocated professional
fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations. The focus of the interviews was to evaluate how
they establish credibility with prospective donors from Hawaii when they meet them.
Self-monitor to create positive impressions with prospective donors from Hawaii.
The third knowledge influence that relocated professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii
organizations need to achieve the global goal is assessing their ability to self-monitor to create
positive impressions with prospective donors from Hawaii. To build relationships with donors,
creating positive impressions is essential. Montagliani and Giacalone (1998) asserted that
favorable impressions require people to adapt to the host culture they are in. Based on a study of
112 individuals from U.S.-based international organizations and undergraduate students in an
international management course, the authors found that the key to employees adapting in
culturally diverse environments is related to their impression management ability. Montagliani
and Giacalone explained that impression management places self-monitoring at the center of
what is important to create positive impressions with clients. The authors defined high self-
monitors as those who are able to deliberately observe and control their attitudes and behaviors
based on their environment. Thus, relocated professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii
organizations must assess their ability to self-monitor, or view and regulate their attitudes and
behaviors based on their surroundings. Their aptitude to assess their ability to self-monitor will
determine whether they are able to create positive impressions with prospective donors from
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 16
Hawaii. This knowledge influence is categorized as metacognitive knowledge because it focuses
on relocated professional fundraisers understanding their own mental process of assessing and
monitoring the impressions they make on prospective donors from Hawaii. Therefore, the
method used to assess whether a metacognitive knowledge gap exists was through interviews
(Clark & Estes, 2008) with local and relocated professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii
organizations. The focus of the interviews was to evaluate their metacognitive analysis of self-
monitoring before and after their meetings with prospective donors from Hawaii.
Table 2 illustrates an overview of how three of the knowledge influences of relocated
professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations, corresponding knowledge types, and
methods used to assess any knowledge gaps that impact the global goal.

RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 17
Table 2
Knowledge Influences, Knowledge Types, and Knowledge Influence Assessments
Global Goal

Professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations and who have relocated to Hawaii
will implement culturally sensitive and culturally aware fundraising strategies for all
prospective donors from Hawaii in their individual portfolios.

Knowledge Influence Knowledge Influence Assessment
Procedural - Relocated professional fundraisers
must know how to effectively communicate
with prospective donors from Hawaii.
Interviews
Procedural - Relocated professional fundraisers
must know how to establish their credibility
with prospective donors from Hawaii.
Interviews
Metacognitive - Relocated professional
fundraisers must assess their ability to self-
monitor to create positive impressions with
prospective donors from Hawaii.
Interviews

Motivation
Motivation is the second dimension required for relocated professional fundraisers
employed by Hawaii organizations to achieve the global goal. Clark and Estes (2008) explained
that motivation is based on people’s personal beliefs about themselves, and their coworkers. The
authors asserted that motivation requires three process areas: active choice, when people act
upon their decision to work toward a goal; persistence, when people continue working toward
their goal despite barriers and distractions; and, mental effort, when people decide the amount of
effort to put into working toward their goal, and then do so. Clark and Estes cautioned that
employee challenges in any of these three motivational process areas can hinder performance.
By assessing and addressing motivational challenges, the authors affirmed that organizations can
assist employees in closing the gaps between their current performance levels and their
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 18
performance goals. Clark and Estes further stated that when employee performance gaps are
closed, the organization’s ability to achieve its organizational goals increases.
Hawaii organizations can increase its ability to achieve organizational fundraising goals
by supporting its relocated professional fundraisers in closing any performance gaps related to
the global goal. If performance gaps exist, then Hawaii organizations must determine how
motivated the relocated professional fundraisers are to achieve the global goal. For Hawaii
organizations to assess their motivation, understanding the motivation influences related to
relocated professional fundraisers achieving the global goal is crucial. These motivation
influences, self-efficacy and values, will be explored next, along with the respective aligned
motivational theories, the self-efficacy theory and the expectancy value theory. The application
of these motivational theories to assess the motivation levels of relocated professional
fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations to achieve the global goal will also be discussed.
The methodology used to assess any motivation gaps of relocated professional fundraisers
employed by Hawaii organizations was determined by the type of motivation influence.
Self-efficacy theory. The first motivational influence related to relocated professional
fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations achieving the global goal is self-efficacy. Pajares
(2006) and Rueda (2011) defined self-efficacy as people’s beliefs or confidence levels about
their capabilities of doing tasks. The authors asserted that this belief or confidence level is based
on various factors including successes or failures in doing the task previously, the feedback
received from others regarding doing the task, and prior knowledge about doing the task. Based
on this assertion, Pajares and Rueda explained that the central premise of the self-efficacy theory
is that the higher the level of people’s self-efficacy in doing a task, the more motivated they will
be to do the task. In order to achieve the global goal, the relocated professional fundraisers
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 19
employed by Hawaii organizations must feel confident that they are capable of being culturally
sensitive and culturally aware in their interactions with prospective donors from Hawaii. Those
with higher levels of confidence in their capabilities will have higher levels of self-efficacy. The
relocated professional fundraisers with higher self-efficacy levels to be culturally sensitive and
culturally aware with prospective donors from Hawaii will be more motivated to persist in
achieving the global goal. Based on the self-efficacy motivation influence, the methodology
used to assess stakeholder motivation was through interviews (Clark & Estes, 2008) with local
and relocated professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations.
Expectancy value theory. Value is the second motivational influence pertinent to
relocated professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations achieving the global goal.
Eccles (2006) explained that value centers around the perceived importance people attribute to
doing a task. The author asserted that if people deem the task to be important, then they are
more likely to be motivated to do the task and to actively choose to do the task. Based on this
assertion, Eccles affirmed that the premise of the expectancy value theory is that fully engaged
performance of tasks requires both an expectation of success when doing the task, and a high
perceived value of doing the task. The author clarified that the first requirement of the theory,
having an expectation of success to do a task, stems from a person’s self-efficacy to do the task.
A description and application of self-efficacy related to relocated professional fundraisers
employed by Hawaii organizations achieving the global goal was discussed in the previous
section.
The second requirement of the expectancy value theory, having a high perceived value of
doing a task, requires relocated professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations to
see the value in implementing culturally sensitive and culturally aware fundraising strategies for
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 20
all prospective donors from Hawaii in their portfolios. If they perceive value in doing so, they
will be motivated and actively choose to do so. Their perceived value can be determined by four
value constructs of the expectancy value theory (Eccles, 2006; Rueda, 2011).
The first value construct is the attainment value people receive from doing tasks (Eccles,
2006). Eccles (2006) described attainment value as the link between tasks and people’s self-
images. If tasks are related to the parts of people’s self-images at the center of how they define
themselves, then they will highly value doing the tasks (Eccles, 2006). If the relocated
professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations define themselves as being open to
engaging with people of different cultures, then they will place a high attainment value on
implementing culturally sensitive and culturally aware fundraising strategies for all prospective
donors from Hawaii in their portfolios. This high attainment value means they will likely choose
to implement the strategies.
The second value construct is the utility value of doing a task (Eccles, 2006). Eccles
(2006) stated the utility value relates to people’s views of how well the completion of tasks fits
into their goals. If the relocated professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations
understand that implementing culturally sensitive and culturally aware fundraising strategies for
all prospective donors from Hawaii in their portfolios can help them achieve their annual
fundraising performance goals, then their utility value will be at a high level, and they will likely
choose to implement the strategies.
The third value construct is the intrinsic value of doing a task (Eccles, 2006). People
place a high intrinsic value on doing tasks that they enjoy (Eccles, 2006). If relocated
professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations enjoy interacting with prospective
donors from Hawaii, then they will place a high intrinsic value on implementing culturally
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 21
sensitive and culturally aware fundraising strategies for all prospective donors from Hawaii in
their portfolios, and they will likely choose to implement the strategies.
The fourth value construct is the perceived cost of doing a task (Eccles, 2006). Eccles
(2006) identified one perceived cost as the loss of time and energy to do other tasks. Relocated
professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations must perceive a low cost in terms of
loss of time and energy to implement culturally sensitive and culturally aware fundraising
strategies for all prospective donors from Hawaii in their portfolios to achieve their annual
fundraising performance goals. If they believe so, then they will be motivated and likely choose
to implement the strategies.
Based on the value motivation influence, the methodology used to assess whether a
motivation gap exists was through interviews (Clark & Estes, 2008) with local and relocated
professional fundraisers. Table 3 illustrates an overview of two of the motivation influences of
relocated professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations and the methods to assess
the impact of any motivation gaps on the global goal.

RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 22
Table 3

Motivation Influences and Motivational Influence Assessments
Global Goal

Professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations and who have relocated to Hawaii
will implement culturally sensitive and culturally aware fundraising strategies for all
prospective donors from Hawaii in their individual portfolios.

Motivation Influence

Motivational
Influence Assessment
Self-Efficacy - Relocated professional
fundraisers must feel confident that they can be
culturally sensitive and culturally aware in their
interactions with prospective donors from
Hawaii.
Interviews
Value – Relocated professional fundraisers need
to see the value in being culturally sensitive and
culturally aware in their interactions with
prospective donors from Hawaii in order to meet
their fundraising performance goals.
Interviews

Organization
The third dimension is the organizational influences required for relocated professional
fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations to achieve the global goal. Clark and Estes
(2008) contended that organizational factors can serve as supports or barriers to employees
closing the gaps between their performance levels and performance goals. The authors asserted
that one of the organizational factors that influence the performance of employees is
organizational culture. An organization’s culture, according to Clark and Estes, is the
employees’ “conscious and unconscious understanding of who we are, what we value, and how
we do what we do as an organization” (p. 107). The authors further emphasized that an
organization’s culture is the most important work process because it determines how the
organization’s employees work together to accomplish tasks, projects, and goals, and thus,
organizational culture touches all performance efforts. Therefore, Clark and Estes advised that
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 23
organizational culture should be a consideration in an organization’s attempts to help its
employees close their performance gaps and achieve their goals, thereby improving the ability of
the organization to reach its goals.
If Hawaii organizations aspire to increase its ability to achieve organizational goals, then
it should support its relocated professional fundraisers in closing their performance gaps related
to the global goal. In order to facilitate the gap closing process, Hawaii organizations must first
identify the gaps, and then determine whether organizational culture barriers are causing the gaps
and hindering performance. To assess organizational culture barriers, it is vital for Hawaii
organizations to understand the organizational culture influences related to relocated professional
fundraisers achieving the global goal. Based on a review of current scholarly research, two
constructs of organizational culture—cultural models and cultural settings—affect the
performance of relocated professional fundraisers. Both organizational culture constructs will be
discussed in the following section, along with an examination of the influences stemming from
each construct. The methodology used to assess whether any organizational culture gaps exist
was through interviews (Clark & Estes, 2008) with local and relocated professional fundraisers
employed by Hawaii organizations and document analysis (Clark & Estes, 2008) of donor
communications of Hawaii organizations.
Cultural models. The first organizational culture construct that affects the performance
of relocated professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations is cultural models.
Cultural models are an organization’s espoused values and understood shared norms of
perceiving and thinking that tend to be invisible to its employees (Gallimore & Goldenberg,
2001).
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 24
A cultural model influence that the leadership of Hawaii organizations must possess is
valuing the importance of the creation of an environment conducive to reducing the cultural
shock effects of its relocated professional fundraisers when they relocate to Hawaii. Smith
(2010) correlated the relationship-building job function of fundraising professionals to that of
sales professionals. In the sales arena, culture shock occurs when sales professionals encounter
social environments that are generally incomprehensible (Guy & Patton, 1996). The authors
reasoned that the resulting alienation and anxiety can be especially damaging to the professional
success of relocated sales professionals because of the relationship-building requirement
essential to their job. Guy and Patton further asserted that sales leadership teams must recognize
the importance of helping their relocated sales professionals overcome the cultural shock effects.
Since the relationship-building job function of sales professionals is similar to that of fundraising
professionals (Smith, 2010), Guy and Patton’s (1996) research can be transferred to the
fundraising profession. Therefore, the leadership teams of Hawaii organizations must value the
importance of creating an environment conducive to reducing the cultural shock effects of its
relocated professional fundraisers when they relocate to Hawaii.
Another cultural model influence that the leadership of Hawaii organizations must
possess is believing that it is important to develop the intercultural communication skills of its
relocated professional fundraisers. Along with sales professionals, Smith (2010) aligned the
knowledge and skills of fundraising professionals with marketing professionals. Bush et al.
(2001) indicated that marketing organizations need to believe in the importance of developing
the intercultural communication skills of its employees through appropriate training methods so
they can effectively communicate with diverse customers. Smith (2010) argued that the skills
required to communicate with customers are considered soft skills that organizations cannot
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 25
teach its employees. However, Bush et al. (2001) specified that when communication in
marketing crosses the cultural boundaries, the need for organizational training to improve the
intercultural communication skills of its marketing professionals is evident and necessary. Thus,
transferring the knowledge and skills research related to marketing professionals to fundraising
professionals, the leadership teams of Hawaii organizations must believe that it is important to
develop the intercultural communication skills of its relocated professional fundraisers.
Cultural settings. The other organizational culture context that affects the performance
of relocated professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations is cultural settings.
Gallimore and Goldenberg (2001) asserted that cultural settings are the instances when an
organization’s members act to achieve something they collectively value or believe in. Based on
the previous section’s examination of the cultural model influences that the leadership teams of
Hawaii organizations need to value and believe in, the cultural setting influences must align with
those cultural model influences to assist the relocated professional fundraisers in achieving the
global goal. As such, there are two cultural setting influences that support both of Hawaii
organizations’ cultural model influences previously discussed.
The first is that Hawaii organizations must provide internal comprehensive training
programs to support the development of its relocated professional fundraisers’ skills related to
cross-cultural norms and behaviors. As mentioned in the examination of cultural model
influences, Smith (2010) affirmed that the knowledge and skills essential to the success of a
fundraising professional parallels that of a sales professional. Sales organizations can help its
relocated sales professionals overcome the cultural shock from moving into a new culture
through comprehensive training programs that develop skills related to cultural norms and
behaviors (Guy & Patton, 1996). The authors emphasized that if sales professionals have the
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 26
requisite selling process skills, then they can be retrained to sell in new cultural environments.
Accordingly, one of Hawaii organizations’ cultural setting influences is that it must provide
internal comprehensive training programs to support the development of its relocated
professional fundraisers’ skills related to cross-cultural norms and behaviors.
Another one of Hawaii organizations’ cultural setting influences is it must provide a
mentoring program that focuses on strengthening the cross-cultural relationship-building skills of
its relocated professional fundraisers. Thomas (2010) explained that organizations can use
mentoring programs to pair professional fundraiser recruits with seasoned professional
fundraisers who have successfully navigated the unique donor community. Mentors can guide
professional fundraiser mentees in determining strategies to build relationships with donors from
the specific community (Thomas, 2010). Therefore, another one of Hawaii organizations’
cultural setting influences is that it must provide a mentoring program that focuses on
strengthening the cross-cultural relationship-building skills of its relocated professional
fundraisers.
Table 4 illustrates an overview of how four of the organizational influences of relocated
professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations—two cultural model influences and
two cultural setting influences—and the methods used to assess any organizational support gaps
impact the global goal.

RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 27
Table 4

Organizational Influences and Organizational Influence Assessments

Global Goal

Professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations and who have relocated to Hawaii will
implement culturally sensitive and culturally aware fundraising strategies for all prospective donors
from Hawaii in their individual portfolios.

Organizational Influence

Organizational Influence Assessment
Cultural Model Influence 1 - The organization
needs its leadership to value the importance of
creating an environment conducive to reducing the
cultural shock effects of its relocated professional
fundraisers when they relocate to Hawaii.
Interviews
Cultural Model Influence 2 - The organization
needs its leadership to believe in the importance of
developing the intercultural communication skills
of its relocated professional fundraisers.
Interviews
Document analysis
Cultural Setting Influence 1 - The organization
needs to provide an internal comprehensive training
program to support the development of its relocated
professional fundraisers’ skills related to cross-
cultural norms and behaviors.
Interviews
Cultural Setting Influence 2 - The organization
needs to provide a mentoring program that focuses
on strengthening cross-cultural relationship-
building skills of its relocated professional
fundraisers.
Interviews

Conceptual Framework: The Interaction of Stakeholders’ Knowledge and Motivation and
the Organizational Context
A conceptual framework informs the research design of the study, justifies how the
proposed research fits into existing research and theory, and rationalizes how the intended
research will contribute to the greater understanding of the phenomenon of study (Maxwell,
2013) leading to the achievement of the global goal. According to Maxwell, the framework
presents the researcher’s tentative theory that explains how the main concepts of the
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 28
phenomenon of the study relate and interact. The author further asserted that the researcher
constructs the framework from the specific ideas found in the existing research and theory
(empirical and theoretical literature) about the phenomenon and blends those ideas with personal
experience and thought experiments. The determination of the conceptual framework for this
study was based on a consideration of the following three sources and further informed with
thought experiments.
The existing theory of the researcher’s worldview is the first source of consideration.
The philosophical lenses that researchers view the world through contain assumptions that can
guide their actions and influence their research (Creswell, 2014). For these reasons, Creswell
(2014) underlined the importance of researchers to share their worldviews to help explain their
selected research approaches. As such, the philosophical lens that resonates closely with how
this researcher views the world is the constructivist worldview. Constructivists believe that
people create their own understanding and knowledge of a phenomenon through making
meaning of their experiences (Creswell, 2014). Thus, the constructivist worldview informed the
conceptual framework for this study through the meaning that the relocated professional
fundraisers make from their experiences being culturally sensitive and culturally aware in their
interactions with Hawaii’s prospective donors.
The next source of consideration is the researcher’s personal experience with the
phenomenon. Maxwell (2013) cautioned that it is important to balance the personal experience
of a researcher with “critical subjectivity” in constructing a conceptual framework (p. 45).
Critical subjectivity is a process where the researcher’s assumptions and beliefs about the
phenomenon are brought to the forefront to help the researcher become aware of and mitigate
potential biases toward the phenomenon (Maxwell, 2013). For that reason, the researcher shares
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 29
that for nine years, she supported and observed relocated professional fundraisers employed by a
Hawaii organization in their work transitions into the host culture—some who found professional
success through their interactions with prospective donors from Hawaii, and others who did not.
This experience has led to the researcher’s belief and assumption that the professional success of
relocated professional fundraisers greatly hinges on the individual and not the organization. The
awareness of this belief and assumption informed this study’s conceptual framework by assuring
that both the role of the individual and the organization are considered in the phenomenon of
relocated professional fundraisers being culturally sensitive and culturally aware in their
interactions with Hawaii’s prospective donors.
The existing research and theory is the final source of consideration. A research review
revealed a gap in the existing literature related to relocated professional fundraiser success in the
context of Hawaii’s diverse cultural environment. Consequently, two existing and related bodies
of theory—the importance of culturally sensitive and culturally aware fundraising strategies in
diverse cultural environments and the fundraising strategies that support professional fundraiser
success in Asian-influenced environments—helped to construct the conceptual framework of this
study. The framework placed these previous bodies of research in context with the role of being
culturally sensitive and culturally aware in interactions with Hawaii’s prospective donors in the
success of relocated professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations, the subject that
grounds this study, and the achievement of the global goal. As the previous bodies of research
were placed, this helped the researcher to identify the main concepts related to the potential
knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences affecting the phenomenon of relocated
professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations being culturally sensitive and
culturally aware in their interactions with Hawaii’s prospective donors.
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 30
Although these main concepts are previously presented independently, all three elements
are interdependent. Clark and Estes (2008) emphasized the importance of alignment of the
identified knowledge, motivation, and organizational support required for employees to achieve
their work goals. For this reason, the conceptual framework for this study, introduced in this
section, highlights the way in which the knowledge, motivation, and organizational needs of the
relocated professional fundraisers align and interact to help them be culturally sensitive and
culturally aware in their interactions with Hawaii’s prospective donors and achieve the global
goal. Figure 1 illustrates this study’s conceptual framework.

RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 31

Hawaii
organization

Hawaii Organization’s
Cultural Models and
Settings

Relocated Professional
Fundraiser Knowledge
Relocated Professional
Fundraiser Motivation
Procedural knowledge and skills related to
communicating effectively, establishing
credibility, and self-monitoring to create
positive impressions
Self-efficacy and value in relation
to being culturally sensitive and
culturally aware in interactions with
prospective donors from Hawaii
Culturally
Sensitive &
Culturally
Aware in
Interactions with
Hawaii’s
Prospective
Donors

Implement culturally sensitive and culturally aware fundraising
strategies for all prospective donors from Hawaii in the relocated
professional fundraisers’ portfolios
Key

Stakeholder
Influences

One-Way
Interaction
Organizational
Context

Phenomenon

Stakeholder
Goal

abc
Cultural Models: Value creating an environment to reduce
cultural shock effects, and believe in developing
intercultural communication skills
Cultural Settings: Cross-cultural norms and behaviors
training, and cross-cultural relationship-building skills
mentoring programs

RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 32
Figure 1. Interaction of organizational context and culture and stakeholder knowledge and
motivation influences. The figure demonstrates the interaction between the organizational
context and culture and the stakeholder knowledge and motivation factors influencing the
phenomenon of being culturally sensitive and culturally aware in interactions with prospective
donors from Hawaii. In particular, the larger blue circle represents Hawaii organizations that
employ relocated professional fundraisers. Within the organizational context are the
organizational influences, namely the Hawaii organizations’ cultural models and cultural
settings. The cultural models include the belief in the importance of developing intercultural
communication skills and the value of creating an environment conducive to overcome culture
shock effects (Bush et al., 2001; Guy & Patton, 1996; Smith, 2010). The cultural settings
involve cross-cultural norms and behaviors training programs and cross-cultural relationship-
building mentoring programs (Guy & Patton, 1996; Smith, 2010; Thomas, 2010). These
organizational influences shape the knowledge and motivation influences of the relocated
professional fundraisers, represented by the two green ovals. The green ovals mirror each other
in terms of size, shape, and color because the knowledge and motivation influences play vital
and active roles in performance improvement (Clark & Estes, 2008) of the relocated professional
fundraisers. In this instance, performance improvement means the phenomenon of the relocated
professional fundraisers being culturally sensitive and culturally aware in their interactions with
Hawaii’s prospective donors that leads to the achievement of the global goal. The knowledge
influence includes procedural knowledge related to communicating effectively, establishing
credibility, and self-monitoring to create positive impressions with prospective donors of the host
culture (Bush et al., 2001; Evans et al., 2012; Montagliani & Giacalone, 1998; Smith, 2010).
The motivation influences involve the self-efficacy and value related to being culturally sensitive
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 33
and culturally aware in interactions with prospective donors from Hawaii (Eccles, 2006; Pajares,
2006; Rueda, 2011).
This study sought to understand how these knowledge, motivation, and organizational
influences interact with one another to best support the phenomenon of relocated professional
fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations being culturally sensitive and culturally aware in
their interactions with Hawaii’s prospective donors, leading to the achievement of the global
goal. In order to support the achievement of the global goal, the knowledge, motivation, and
organizational influences must align and interact with one another (Clark & Estes, 2008). Figure
1 depicts the knowledge influences set within the organizational context and organizational
influences. The organizational setting of cross-cultural training and mentoring programs fosters
learning of the knowledge and skills (Smith, 2010) that relocated professional fundraisers
employed by Hawaii organizations require to be culturally sensitive and culturally aware in
interactions with prospective donors from Hawaii. Figure 1 also sets the motivational influences
within the organizational context and organizational influences. The organizational settings of
cross-cultural training and mentoring programs helps participants build their confidence (Smith,
2010) to be culturally sensitive and culturally aware in their interactions with prospective donors
from Hawaii.
The most interdependent interaction of influences is between the knowledge and
motivation influences (Clark & Estes, 2008), represented by the overlap of green ovals in Figure
1. The ovals are placed in an overlapped position to showcase the symbiotic influence each has
on the other. When these influences merge together and effectively cooperate, the crossover
results in improved work performance (Clark & Estes, 2008). For the purposes of this study,
improved work performance means the attainment of the phenomenon of relocated professional
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 34
fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations being culturally sensitive and culturally aware in
their interactions with Hawaii’s prospective donors, as illustrated in Figure 1 with red, italicized
font, which leads to the achievement of the global goal, represented in the figure with a single
arrow pointing to the orange box. Therefore, this conceptual framework suggested the tentative
theory that if a Hawaii organization’s culture can meet the knowledge and motivation needs of
the relocated professional fundraisers, then the conditions for being culturally sensitive and
culturally aware in interactions with Hawaii’s prospective donors will exist, and there will be a
greater likelihood of the achievement of the global goal.
Summary
The review of literature on the importance of culturally sensitive and culturally aware
fundraising strategies in diverse cultural environments and its relationship to achieving
professional fundraiser success revealed a gap in research related to the sub-group of relocated
professional fundraisers in Hawaii. This study sought to extend the existing research using a
construct for improving organizational performance. Clark and Estes (2008) proposed that
organizations striving to increase their ability to achieve organizational goals should focus on
closing employee performance gaps related to their knowledge, motivation, and organizational
needs. Research on the knowledge, motivation, and organizational needs of professional
fundraisers uncovered a minimal number of studies. Consequently, several studies related to
similar sub-group, marketing and sales professionals, were reviewed and incorporated in
determining the assumed knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences of relocated
professional fundraisers. The assumed influences include: 1) knowing how to communicate
effectively; 2) knowing how to establish credibility; 3) self-monitoring to create positive
impressions; 4) having self-efficacy to be culturally sensitive and culturally aware when
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 35
interacting with prospective donors from Hawaii; 5) valuing being culturally sensitive and
culturally aware in interactions with prospective donors from Hawaii; 6) valuing the creation of a
work environment conducive to reducing the cultural shock of relocated professional fundraisers;
7) believing in the importance of developing the intercultural communication skills of relocated
professional fundraisers; 8) providing cross-cultural norms and behaviors training programs; and
9) providing cross-cultural relationship-building skills mentoring programs. These assumed
influences informed the direction of this study toward an understanding of the knowledge,
motivation, and organizational needs that are essential for relocated professional fundraisers
employed by Hawaii organizations to be culturally sensitive and culturally aware in their
interactions with Hawaii’s prospective donors and achieve the global goal. Accordingly, this
study aimed to validate some of these assumed influences. Further discussion on the validation
process will be explored in the Methodological Approach section in Chapter Three.

RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 36
CHAPTER THREE: METHODS
In this study, the researcher sought to understand the knowledge, motivation, and
organizational needs that are essential for relocated professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii
organizations to be culturally sensitive and culturally aware in their interactions with Hawaii’s
prospective donors to achieve the global goal. This chapter will focus on presenting the research
design and data collection and analysis methods. The design and methods helped to answer the
research questions related to the stakeholder knowledge and motivation required to achieve the
global goal, the interactions between Hawaii organizations’ culture and context and the
stakeholder knowledge and motivation, and the recommendations for organizational practice in
the areas of knowledge, motivation, and organizational resources. This chapter first examines
the participating stakeholders for the study and how this determination was made. This chapter
then evaluates the data collection methods that were used, namely, interviews and document
analysis. Then this chapter reviews the phases of analyzing the data and explains the way the
data was collected, analyzed, and interpreted in order to trust the study’s conclusions. Finally,
this chapter will discuss the researcher’s considerations to ensure ethical dealings with the
study’s participants.
Participating Stakeholders
There were 11 stakeholder participants in this study. The participants of a qualitative
research study inform the purpose of the inquiry and help to answer the study’s research
questions (Johnson & Christensen, 2015). In order to select the participants, Johnson and
Christensen (2015) recommended that the researcher first decide who are the individuals relevant
to understanding the focus of the research, also known as the population of the study.
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 37
In this qualitative research study, the population included the individuals that comprise
the stakeholder group of focus, relocated professional fundraisers of Hawaii organizations. The
perspectives of these individuals were relevant to answering the research questions and
understanding the focus of this study—how the knowledge, motivation, and organizational
influences interact with one another to best support the phenomenon of relocated professional
fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations being culturally sensitive and culturally aware in
their interactions with Hawaii’s prospective donors (discussed in Chapter Two’s Conceptual
Framework section). Relocated professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations are
the only individuals that have experienced the phenomenon of this study and thus, possessed the
first-hand knowledge relevant to understanding the phenomenon. Consequently, the individual
relocated professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations encompassed the
population of this study. Once the researcher establishes the population, Johnson and
Christensen (2015) asserted that the boundaries between those individuals in the population that
should be included in the study, known as the sample, and those who should be excluded must be
defined through a set of criteria.
Interview Sampling Criteria and Rationale
A researcher may choose to consider three factors in determining the criteria set that
defines the sample of a study. The first factor is the sample size required to understand the
research focus and answer the research questions (Creswell, 2014). While there is no mandatory
number (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016), one of the considerations to determine the size of the sample
is the study’s data collection method. In this study, one of the methods of data collection is
qualitative interviews (discussed in the Stakeholder Knowledge, Motivation, and Organizational
Influences section in Chapter Two). Qualitative interviews generally require considerable
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 38
preparation time and conducting an interview can last in excess of one hour (Johnson &
Christensen, 2015). Thus, given the time constraints for collecting data for this study,
approximately one semester, the number of interviews was limited. Another consideration to
determine the size of the sample is the methodological approach of the study. This study’s
methodological approach was qualitative phenomenological research. According to Creswell
(2014), three to ten participants suffice for a study that uses the qualitative phenomenology
research design. In addition, the author noted that qualitative research is characterized by a small
number of study participants. Therefore, based on the data collection method of qualitative
interviews and the use of the qualitative phenomenological approach, the sample size of this
study was relatively small.
Practical considerations of cost and other logistical constraints such as time to complete
the study and accessibility of participants, discussed below, are the second factor for a researcher
to consider in determining the set of criteria for the sample of a study (Johnson & Christensen,
2015). The final factor is the study’s overall sampling strategy which will be discussed in detail
in the next section. In view of these three factors, the following details the set of criteria used to
determine the sample for this study.
Criterion 1. Individuals must have been currently employed by a Hawaii organization in
a professional fundraising position. This criterion distinguishes between current and former
professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations.
Criterion 2. Individuals must have relocated to Hawaii from the mainland U.S. This
criterion differentiates between those professional fundraisers who were born and raised in
Hawaii and those who moved to Hawaii.
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 39
Criterion 3. Individuals must have been employed with a Hawaii organization in the
role of a fundraising professional for more than two years. This criterion provided information-
rich experiences related to the phenomenon. A number of years employed with a Hawaii
organization criterion removed from the sample professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii
organizations without enough phenomenon experience.
Criterion 4. Individuals must have been available to be interviewed in the early Spring
of 2019. The timeframe to complete this study required the collection of data to commence and
conclude in the Spring of 2019.
Criterion 5. Individuals must have been available to be interviewed in-person on Oahu,
Hawaii, if possible. An effective interview requires the researcher to establish trust and rapport
with the interviewee (Johnson & Christensen, 2015), which is more likely to happen in a face-to-
face setting.
An ancillary group who supports the stakeholder group of focus for this study, relocated
professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations, is professional fundraisers employed
by Hawaii organizations who were born and raised in Hawaii. During joint visits with Hawaii’s
prospective donors, these individuals support relocated professional fundraisers employed by
Hawaii organizations in their efforts to be culturally sensitive and culturally aware. As
supporters of the stakeholder group of focus and their own experience with this study’s
phenomenon of focus, professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations who were
born and raised in Hawaii have information-rich experiences that may add to understanding the
research questions of this study. Accordingly, a sample of this support group was included in the
participants of this study. The following details the criteria for the support group’s sample.
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 40
Criterion 1. Individuals must have been currently employed by a Hawaii organization in
a professional fundraising position. This criterion distinguishes between current and former
professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations.
Criterion 2. Individuals must have been born and raised in Hawaii. This criterion
helped to provide information-rich experiences from an alternative perspective than the
stakeholder group of focus—as supporters of the stakeholder group and experience with this
study’s phenomenon of focus.
Criterion 3. Individuals must have been available to be interviewed in the early Spring
of 2019. The timeframe to complete this study required the collection of data to commence and
conclude in the Spring of 2019.
Criterion 4. Individuals must have been available to be interviewed in-person on Oahu,
Hawaii, if possible. An effective interview requires the researcher to establish trust and rapport
with the interviewee (Johnson & Christensen, 2015), which is more likely to happen in a face-to-
face setting.
Interview Sampling (Recruitment) Strategy and Rationale
The overall sampling strategy for this qualitative research study was purposeful sampling
of the convenience and quota types. A qualitative researcher’s intent behind employing
purposeful sampling is to purposefully select participants that are information-rich, meaning they
will best assist the researcher in addressing the research questions and understanding the research
problem (Creswell, 2014; Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). One of the types of purposeful sampling is
convenience. Merriam and Tisdell (2016) explained that convenience sampling describes
“select[ing] a sample based on time, money, location, availability of sites or respondents” (p.
98). The sample criterion in the preceding section for the population of focus related to
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 41
availability to be interviewed in the early Spring of 2019 and in-person, if possible. The criterion
removes from the sample professional fundraisers without availability. Although Merriam and
Tisdell (2016) characterized convenience sampling as “not very credible” and would yield
“information-poor” experiences when the selection is made on convenience basis alone (p. 98),
this study implemented another purposeful sampling type, quota sampling to enhance the
credibility of the sample and provide information-rich experiences.
According to Johnson and Christensen (2015), quota sampling happens when a researcher
determines the number of participants from the sample for the study. In this study, the target
number of participants was five to six from the stakeholder group of focus, relocated
professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations, and five to six from the support
group, professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations who were born and raised in
Hawaii.
In order to recruit the ten to twelve individuals for the qualitative interviews, the
researcher conducted informal conversations with each of the prospective participants. The
intent of the conversations was to apprise them of the purpose of the study, convey that they have
valuable experiences and perspectives of interest to the researcher in understanding the
phenomenon of the study (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016), and explain how this research can lay the
foundation for success for future relocated professional fundraisers recruited by Hawaii
organizations. The researcher also informed them that their participation would be protected
using pseudonyms as recommended by Merriam and Tisdell (2016). For many, if not all, of the
ten to twelve individuals, the phenomenon of focus in this study had directly or indirectly been a
critical factor in their success or a barrier to their success as a professional fundraiser employed
by Hawaii organizations. Consequently, their willingness to participate was highly likely and the
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 42
final sample for this study was 11 participants—six relocated professional fundraisers employed
by Hawaii organizations and five professional fundraisers who were born and raised in Hawaii
and employed by Hawaii organizations.
Data Collection
The determination of the data collection method of a qualitative research study is based
on the most effective way to address the study’s research questions (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
The data collection methods for this study was qualitative interviews and document analysis.
The data elicited from the qualitative interviews was used to help inform the first research
question related to the knowledge and motivation needs of the relocated professional fundraisers
to achieve the global goal. In addition, the data from the qualitative interviews was used to help
answer the second research question related to how Hawaii organizations’ culture and context
interact with its relocated professional fundraisers’ knowledge and motivation in order to achieve
the global goal. Meanwhile, the data from the analysis of documents was used to verify the
findings from the qualitative interviews related to the organizational influence of an
organization’s leadership believing in the importance of developing intercultural communication
skills of its relocated professional fundraisers. Further details are provided next.
Interviews
A qualitative interview of a study is a systematic and purposeful conversation between a
researcher and participant (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). In order to assure that the conversation is
systematic and purposeful, the researcher must pre-determine the interview protocol.
Interview Protocol. The interview protocol (see Appendix A) identifies the structure
and types of questions the researcher must ask participants in order to elicit the data that will
help answer the research questions (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The structure of this study’s
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 43
interview questions was semi-structured. According to Merriam and Tisdell (2016) and Patton
(2002), a semi-structured interview includes some pre-determined, open-ended questions that can
be followed up with probing questions, and an outline of topics to explore with the participants.
In this study, the semi-structured format was selected because of the limited time permitted to
collect data. The semi-structure allows for the conversation to be focused where there are time
constraints (Patton, 2002) yet flexible enough for the researcher “to really listen to what [a]
participant has to share, which in turn enables [the researcher] to better follow avenues of inquiry
that will yield potentially rich contributions” (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016, p. 126). In this study,
the timeframe to complete the data collection was less than one semester. Pre-determined
questions assured the conversations were focused, systematic, and sufficiently comprehensive to
yield data that would help to answer the research questions.
The wording and content of questions were key to determining the types of this study’s
interview questions. The way in which interview questions are worded “can make a significant
difference in the quality of responses elicited” (Patton, 2002, p. 360). For this study, the
questions were worded in a way that focused on the participants’ past and present experiences.
Specifically, the past and current experiences of relocated professional fundraisers and
professional fundraisers who were born and raised in Hawaii employed by Hawaii organizations.
Patton (2002) affirmed that interview questions regarding the past and present are more reliable
than questions focused on the future which require considerable speculation. This study’s
interview questions were also worded in an open-ended and neutral style which “allows the
[participant] to select from among that [participant’s] full repertoire of possible responses those
that are most salient” (Patton, 2002, p. 354). The content of this study’s interview questions was
purposefully selected to help answer the research questions and understand the focus of this
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 44
study—how the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences interact with one another
to best support the phenomenon of being culturally sensitive and culturally aware in interactions
with Hawaii’s prospective donors (discussed in the Conceptual Framework section in Chapter
Two). The reason that all three influences were focused on is because the interview
participants—relocated professional fundraisers and professional fundraisers who were born and
raised in Hawaii employed by Hawaii organizations—have the first-hand knowledge relevant to
understanding the phenomenon of this study.
Interview Procedures. In order to conduct the interviews, the researcher determined
two procedural considerations. The first procedural consideration was the timing of the
interviews in relation to other data collection methods. After conducting interviews, the
researcher of this study collected data through the document analysis method. According to
Merriam and Tisdell (2016), documents are a good source of data to help build theories and
understand emerging findings. In this study, a review of organizational documents aimed at
communicating with prospective donors from Hawaii helped the researcher to validate the
emerging findings from the interviews related to the organizational influence of an
organization’s leadership believing in the importance of developing intercultural communication
skills of its relocated professional fundraisers. (discussed in the Conceptual Framework section
in Chapter Two).
The other procedural consideration was the logistics of the interviews. The first logistical
concern was the number of interviews. Qualitative interviews generally require considerable
preparation time (Johnson & Christensen, 2015). The sample size for the qualitative interviews
of this study was ten to twelve individuals. Based on the time constraints to collect data for this
study, approximately one semester, and the significant preparation time for each interview, each
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 45
participant was interviewed once. The duration of each interview was the next logistical
concern. Qualitative interviews can last in excess of one hour (Johnson & Christensen, 2015).
Thus, in this study, each interview was completed in approximately one hour for a total of ten to
twelve hours for all interviews. The location of the interview was another logistical concern.
The comfort of the participants in their own environments was important and thus, the interviews
took place in the participants’ individual work offices when possible. The final logistical
concern was the method to capture the data from the interview. Merriam and Tisdell (2016)
asserted that audio recording is the most common way to record interview data. Since audio
recording, if executed in an unobtrusive manner, preserves everything the participant says
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016), it was the method used to capture the data from the interviews of this
study.
Documents
An organization’s documents are generally an easily-accessible source of data that exists
independently from any research process or agenda (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Merriam and
Tisdell (2106) explained that the independent generation of the documents means that the
extracted data is a product of the context in which it was produced and thus, the data is grounded
in the real world. In this study, the researcher reviewed four Hawaii organizations’ documents
that were created in the context of appealing to the philanthropic aspirations of prospective
donors and donors. Specifically, the documents reviewed were the 2018 donor impact report of
Hawaii Organization 1, the 2017 donor annual report of Hawaii Organization 2, the 2017 donor
annual report of Hawaii Organization 3, and the 2017-18 donor giving report of Hawaii
Organization 4. These documents are considered popular culture documents as it has been used
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 46
to communicate to a mass audience and persuade the recipients to do something (Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016).
The data extracted from these documents were used to understand the focus of this
study—how the organizational context and culture interact with the stakeholder motivation and
knowledge to best support the phenomenon of the ability to implement culturally sensitive and
culturally aware fundraising strategies (discussed in the Conceptual Framework section of
Chapter Two). Of particular focus was whether the content of the mass communications was
culturally sensitive and culturally aware. The content served as an indicator demonstrating
whether the Hawaii organization’s leadership believes in the importance of intercultural
communication in interactions with Hawaii’s prospective donors. Based on findings in the
general literature review, the protocol used to analyze the documents (see Appendix B) details
the guiding questions used to determine cultural sensitivity and cultural awareness.
Data Analysis
Data analysis began during data collection. The researcher wrote an analytic memo after
the completion of half of the interviews. The researcher documented her thoughts, concerns, and
initial conclusions about the data in relation to the study’s conceptual framework and research
questions. Once the researcher left the field, interviews were transcribed and coded. In the first
phase of analysis, the researcher used open coding, looking for empirical codes and applying a
priori codes from the conceptual framework. A second phase of analysis was conducted where
empirical and prior codes aggregated into analytic/axial codes. In the third phase of data analysis,
the researcher identified pattern codes and themes that emerged in relation to the conceptual
framework and study questions. The researcher analyzed documents for evidence consistent
with the emerging themes and concepts in the conceptual framework.
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Credibility and Trustworthiness
Researchers and those using findings of a qualitative research study must have
confidence in the way the data is collected, analyzed, and interpreted in order to trust the study’s
conclusions (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). According to Merriam and Tisdell (2016), a researcher
can ensure the trustworthiness of a study’s findings by focusing on the credibility and
consistency of the findings. In order to ensure the trustworthiness of this study’s findings, the
researcher employed three strategies.
The first strategy was triangulation. Triangulation means using more than one method of
data collection in order to overcome the concern that conclusions of a study are based solely on
the data extracted from one collection method (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). In this study, the
researcher implemented two methods of data collection, qualitative interviews and document
analysis. The credibility and consistency of the data collected from the qualitative interviews of
relocated professional fundraisers and professional fundraisers who were born and raised in
Hawaii employed by Hawaii organizations was cross-checked with the review of Hawaii
organizations’ documents.
Member checks was the second strategy. Once the qualitative interviews were completed
and the researcher used the data to generate preliminary findings, the researcher checked with
some participants regarding the accuracy of the preliminary interpretation of the data (Merriam
& Tisdell, 2016). In this study, the researcher executed member checks to ensure the credibility
of the research findings with two participants—one relocated professional fundraiser and one
professional fundraiser born and raised in Hawaii. The equal balance of viewpoints from
participants helped to rule out any misinterpretations from what the participants said and helped
to identify the researcher’s biases (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 48
The third strategy was peer examination. A peer examination provides another set of
eyes to “assess whether the findings are plausible, based on the data” (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016,
pp. 249-250). As this study is a dissertation, the dissertation committee served as peer examiners
evaluating the credibility of the findings.
Ethics
When a research study involves human participants, the researcher is responsible to deal
with the participants in an ethical manner (Rubin & Rubin, 2012). In order for the researcher of
this study to ensure ethical dealings with the study’s participants, three ethical considerations that
may impact this study was examined.
The first ethical consideration was obtaining the informed consent from participants.
According to Glesne (2011), potential participants must have sufficient information to make
informed decisions about their participation in a research study. The author explained that
adequate information includes any aspects of the research that may affect the participants’ well-
being. In the qualitative interview process of this study, the main risk to the well-being of the
participants, relocated professional fundraisers and professional fundraisers born and raised in
Hawaii employed by Hawaii organizations, was the emotional reactions that may have surfaced
when recalling their experiences. Painful memories of negative experiences may unexpectedly
appear during an interview (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). In order to ensure that the potential
participants of this study were aware of this risk, an informed consent form disclosed the risk and
participants’ execution of the form was required for participation. Glesne (2011) further asserted
that sufficient information for the potential participants to make informed decisions about their
participation also includes the understanding that their participation is voluntary. If the
researcher has bureaucratic power over participants, then the participants may feel pressure to
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 49
participate in the study and perceive that their participation is required (Glesne, 2011; Rubin &
Rubin, 2012). The researcher of this study was a former colleague to some of the participants
and has no influence on the job evaluation or advancement opportunities of any participant.
Nevertheless, the informed consent form also disclosed the voluntary nature of participation in
order to emphasize that potential participants were not required to participate. A specific
recommendation from Glesne (2011) was used in the informed consent form to further stress that
participation is voluntary, namely that participants may withdraw from the study at any time.
The right of participants’ privacy was the second ethical consideration. Glesne (2011)
asserted that a researcher’s responsibility is to protect the anonymity of participants and the
confidentiality of their perspectives that they share in the interviews. In this study, the researcher
used pseudonyms for each participant. In addition, the researcher followed a suggestion made by
Rubin and Rubin (2012) to destroy any link between the data and individual participants and
store the data in a safe place. The data files for this study were secured on a USB drive in a
password-protected safe that only the researcher and her sister has the password for.
The third ethical consideration was the positionality of the researcher. In qualitative
research, Merriam and Tisdell (2016) explained that the primary instrument for data collection
and analysis is the researcher. During the data collection and analysis process, the authors
cautioned that the data filters through the lens of the researcher and creates opportunities for
conscious and unconscious biases of the researcher to surface. In this study, the researcher was
an outsider to the stakeholder group of focus, the relocated professional fundraisers employed by
Hawaii organizations. The relocated professional fundraisers have had to adapt to the culture of
Hawaii; while the researcher was born and raised in the culture. Therefore, in the interview and
data analysis process, the researcher was respectful and sensitive to the perspectives of the
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 50
relocated professional fundraisers and refrained from making assumptions of the knowledge
required to be culturally sensitive and culturally aware in interactions with Hawaii’s prospective
donors.
The exploration of the three considerations—obtaining the informed consent of
participants, the right to privacy of participants, and the positionality of the researcher—helped
to ensure that the researcher dealt ethically with the relocated professional fundraisers and
professional fundraisers who were born and raised in Hawaii employed by Hawaii organizations
who decided to participate in this study. The researcher’s ethical dealings with the participants
impacts the validity and reliability of the study (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).

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CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS
The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of cultural sensitivity and cultural
awareness on the fundraising performance of relocated professional fundraisers to Hawaii. The
first chapter of this dissertation presented an introduction to the field-based problem related to
the failure of relocated professional fundraisers to Hawaii implementing culturally sensitive and
culturally aware fundraising strategies in their interactions with prospective donors from Hawaii.
Chapter Two offered a review of the literature related to the development of the culture of
Hawaii and culturally sensitive and culturally aware fundraising strategies, as well as the
knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences of the organizational performance gap
analysis framework that underlies the conceptual framework constructed for this study. The
third chapter presented this study’s research design including the data collection and analysis
methodology. This chapter will offer the findings that developed from the data collection and
analysis using this study’s conceptual framework. The findings served to answer the following
two research questions that guided this study:
1. What is the stakeholder knowledge and motivation needs related to relocated
professional fundraisers achieving the global goal of implementing culturally
sensitive and culturally aware fundraising strategies for all prospective donors in their
individual portfolios?
2. What is the interaction between the organizational culture and context and
stakeholder knowledge and motivation?
Participating Stakeholders
The sample of this study was comprised of 11 professional fundraiser stakeholders—six
relocated professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations and five professional
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 52
fundraisers from Hawaii employed by Hawaii organizations. The criterion for the selection of
the sample participants was discussed in Chapter Three. Table 5 illustrates an overview of the
participants’ characteristics.

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Table 5
Overview of the Characteristics of This Study’s Participants
Participant
#
Type of Professional
Fundraiser
(From Hawaii or
Relocated)
Sex Race Years as a
Professional
Fundraiser in
Hawaii
1 From Hawaii Female White 16
2 From Hawaii Female Asian 10
3 From Hawaii Female Native Hawaiian, White 15
4 From Hawaii Female Asian, White 14
5 From Hawaii Female Asian 17
6 Relocated Female White 3
7 Relocated Female White 27
8 Relocated Female White 5
9 Relocated Female White 17
10 Relocated Female White 4
11 Relocated Male White 6

The overview of the participants’ characteristics outlined in Table 5 shows that
Participants 1 – 5 were professional fundraisers from Hawaii and Participants 6 – 11 were
relocated professional fundraisers to Hawaii. In addition to Table 5’s overview, the following
provides a brief summary of the primary focus of the participants’ interview responses:
1. Participant 1 repeatedly emphasized how she interacts with all prospective donors in
the same way regardless if they are from Hawaii or not;
2. Participant 2 reiterated that she did not distinguish between prospective donors from
Hawaii and those not from Hawaii in her fundraising strategies;
3. Participant 3 offered lots of commentary about stories she heard from prospective
donors from Hawaii and their unfavorable interactions with relocated professional
fundraisers;
4. Participant 4 talked a lot about how she was able to often borrow her organization’s
credibility and favorable reputation in the community;
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 54
5. Participant 5 described many cultural norms and behaviors that she observed
relocated professional fundraisers being unaware of;
6. Participant 6 centered much of her comments on the detrimental impact that she faced
due to her organization being unsupportive in her transition to Hawaii;
7. Participant 7 shared many stories about the cultural missteps that she made with
prospective donors from Hawaii when she first moved to Hawaii;
8. Participant 8 commented a lot about feeling as if she was an outsider in her
interactions with prospective donors from Hawaii;
9. Participant 9 commented a great deal about how her understanding of Hawaii’s
culture was accelerated because she moved to Hawaii after living in Japan for many
years;
10. Participant 10 continuously discussed the slow pace of the philanthropic process of
prospective donors from Hawaii; and
11. Participant 11 consistently underlined the challenges that he had understanding
Hawaii’s culture when he first began interacting with prospective donors from
Hawaii.
Stakeholder Knowledge, Motivation, and Organizational Needs to Achieve the Global Goal
Knowledge and Skills Findings
In this study’s conceptual framework, the procedural knowledge that a relocated
professional fundraiser must know in order be culturally sensitive and culturally aware in their
interactions with prospective donors from Hawaii are how to effectively communicate and
establish credibility with them. In addition, assessing their ability to self-monitor to create
positive impressions with prospective donors from Hawaii was the metacognitive knowledge
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 55
needed to be culturally sensitive and culturally aware in interactions with prospective donors
from Hawaii. The findings that emerged from the data collection and analysis of this study were
that relocated professional fundraisers need both procedural knowledge influences, effective
communication and establishing credibility, and the metacognitive knowledge influence of
assessing one’s ability to self-monitor to create positive impressions to achieve the global goal.
Communicating effectively and establishing credibility with prospective donors
from Hawaii. A review of the literature revealed that effective communication is necessary for
professional fundraisers to build relationships with prospective donors and solicit them for gifts
(Smith, 2010). Moreover, establishing credibility is required for professional fundraisers to
secure and manage relationships with prospective donors (Evans et al., 2012; Smith, 2010).
Employees who relocate from other states and enter Hawaii’s workforce, however, are often
unaware of Hawaii’s local cultural values, such as humility, collectivism, emotional restraint,
and conformity, and are partial to European American cultural values of individualism and
autonomy (Omizo et al., 2008). Consequently, an unawareness of Hawaii’s cultural values can
lead to challenges in communicating effectively and establishing credibility with prospective
donors from Hawaii.
Finding 1: Relocated professional fundraisers must know how to effectively
communicate and establish credibility with prospective donors from Hawaii in order to foster
trust with them. A total of eight of the 11 professional fundraisers interviewed for this study
discussed the relationship between trust and relationship-building with prospective donors from
Hawaii. Participant 6 stated, “[Building relationships with prospective donors from Hawaii] is
about building trust. . . . You have to find ways to build that trust.” Here, Participant 6 explained
that fostering trust is key to building relationships with prospective donors from Hawaii.
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 56
Participant 1 echoed a similar sentiment. “[I]f you’re a new person to the islands . . . come at
every visit . . . building a relationship based on trust.” Participant 1 advised relocated
professional fundraisers to work on building trust as the foundation to their relationships with
prospective donors from Hawaii. Participant 11 offered an explanation as to why trust is
important in relationship-building with prospective donors from Hawaii. “You cannot come in
with an obvious agenda. It’s got to be organically led by their interests and the only way they’re
going to tell you [their interests] is if they trust you.” Participant 11 explained that trust is at the
core of understanding a prospective donor’s interests. Aligning a donor’s interests with the
organization’s needs and then soliciting them for a gift related to that need is a professional
fundraiser’s principal responsibility. Table 6 illustrates an overview of other thoughts from the
participants related to the relationship between trust and relationship-building with prospective
donors from Hawaii.

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Table 6
Summary of Participants’ Thoughts Related to the Relationship Between Trust and Relationship-
Building with Prospective Donors from Hawaii
Participant
#
Type of
Professional
Fundraiser
(From Hawaii or
Relocated)
Relationship Between Trust and Relationship-Building
with Prospective Donors from Hawaii
2 From Hawaii “[Prospective donors from Hawaii are looking] for connection
and trust [with professional fundraisers].”
4 From Hawaii “[Prospective donors from Hawaii] feel that there’s more trust
[when they know I’m from here].”

“[Credibility] goes back to trust in that, ‘Well, you’re from
here; you understand me.’”
5 From Hawaii “It’s all down to trust. When you share something, you tend
to trust that person a little more than when you don’t have too
many things in common. It [takes] a little bit more to get that
person to trust you.”

“[I build relationships with prospective donors from Hawaii
by] building that trust. . . . Building their trust over time.”
8 Relocated “I haven’t had any issue with sensing that [prospective donors
from Hawaii] or being told that they don’t trust me or that
there’s a lack of credibility.”
10 Relocated “There’s a lot of trust-building [here with prospective donors
from Hawaii].”

“I think it takes much, much longer here than on the mainland
[for prospective donors] to develop that trust in my ability.”

“I think I’m good at making [prospective donors from
Hawaii] feel like they get to know me enough to trust me.”
11 Relocated “They want to feel that you're interested in them as people and
that their philanthropy is a total outgrowth of them liking you
and trusting you as a person.”

Table 6 shows that the professional fundraiser participants, both from Hawaii and
relocated, indicated that in order to build relationships with prospective donors from Hawaii,
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 58
fostering trust with them was key. In order to foster trust, the participants deemed that knowing
how to effectively communicate and establish credibility with them was vital. Specifically,
throughout their interviews, participants identified different ways to effectively communicate
and establish credibility that helped to foster trust. These ways included respecting their
communication style, showing patience for the pace of their philanthropic process, practicing
cultural norms and language, establishing roots to demonstrate commitment to community, and
leveraging relationships to establish commonality.
Theme 1: Respecting their communication style. An examination of the data revealed
that a total of 10 of this study’s professional fundraiser participants identified that one way to
foster trust with prospective donors from Hawaii was to respect their communication style when
interacting with them. The participants described their communication style as indirect,
nonverbal, unaggressive, humble, and not showing wealth. For example, Participant 4
recounted, “I think non-local donors get more cut-to-the-chase. Like, ‘I know why you’re here.
What do you need from me?’ . . . Whereas, I don’t get that as often with local [donors].” In
gauging the communication indirectness of prospective donors from Hawaii in comparison to
prospective donors not from Hawaii, Participant 4 deemed that prospective donors from Hawaii
communicated in a less direct manner. Participant 7 also distinguished indirect communication
experiences with prospective donors from Hawaii from direct communication experiences with
those not from Hawaii. “When you’re dealing with folks from certain ethnicities [here], nodding
your head up and down does not mean ‘yes.’ That is not something that I had experienced
before I came here.” Here, Participant 7 cautioned that some prospective donors from Hawaii
were indirect in their nonverbal communication. Specifically, a head nodding up and down did
not always equate to a “yes” response. Participant 1 mentioned similar experiences. “Locals
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 59
will say, ‘Yes, yes, yes,’ and then do nothing.” Here, Participant 1 deemed that a verbal “yes”
response did not always equate to a “yes” response. Participant 4 echoed a parallel observation:
You could be meeting with a group of volunteers and you’ll present something and no
one will have questions and no one will say anything. . . . Because they didn’t say
anything, if you’re from the mainland, you might think, ‘Oh, okay, everyone agrees with
that direction.’ But, they don’t really. Then you’re not successful with what you’re
trying to carry out.
Participant 4 noted that no response was also a nonverbal, indirect communication method used
by prospective donors from Hawaii.
Participant 6 specified how the indirect communication style of the prospective donors
from Hawaii affected her gift solicitation method:
Instead of saying, ‘Will you give $25,000,’ I might say, ‘A $25,000 gift will help do this.’
. . . After I have that conversation . . . then I would go back and say, ‘What do you think
about the idea of the $25,000 gift? Is that something that you think you might be
interested in?’ But, definitely a little softer in that, ‘Might you be interested?’ instead of
a direct ask of, ‘Will you consider a $25,000 gift.’
Consistent with findings mentioned in the literature review advising professional fundraisers to
inform rather than directly ask for gifts in Asian-influenced cultures (Newman & Fogal, 2002),
Participant 6 mentioned that she took into consideration the indirect communication style of
prospective donors from Hawaii and employed an indirect solicitation methodology. Based on
the experiences of the professional fundraiser participants of this study, understanding the
indirect, nonverbal communication style of the prospective donors from Hawaii and knowing
how to communicate accordingly aided in fostering trust with them.
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Additionally, the professional fundraiser participants identified that using an
unaggressive communication style helped to foster trust with prospective donors from Hawaii.
Participant 10, a relocated professional fundraiser, stated, “There is a respectful and honest way
you need to be here. Not pushy and not the stereotype of someone coming from the mainland
who knows everything.” Participant 10 deemed that communicating with prospective donors
from Hawaii requires a respectful style that is not pushy. Participant 11, also a relocated
professional fundraiser, echoed a similar sentiment based on his experience:
There were times, early in [my time here], where I would contact a donor and they
wouldn’t respond. Looking back, I offended them. Maybe I was too direct; maybe I was
too intense. But I did something where they didn’t feel comfortable with me and they
just stopped responding. . . . It’s about managing intensity. . . . If you come in too hard or
too strong with your set of questions, you’re not going to be successful.
Here, Participant 11 noted that an intense communication style did not resonate with prospective
donors from Hawaii. A professional fundraiser from Hawaii, Participant 4, shared a similar
thought about relocated professional fundraisers. “I’ve heard from some [local] donors in the
past, ‘So and so, they’re from the mainland. They’re really aggressive. They don’t know local
style.’” In interactions with prospective donors from Hawaii, Participant 4 mentioned that she
heard directly from them about their unfavorable perceptions of relocated professional
fundraisers that an aggressive communication style caused. Participant 3, also a professional
fundraiser from Hawaii, revealed that she mitigated the likelihood of such unfavorable
perceptions using “non-invasive kind of questioning” that projects, “I’m getting to know you . . .
instead of I’m interrogating you because I have an ulterior motive.” Here, Participant 3
identified a strategy that she employed to assure she did not come across as aggressive in her
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 61
communication style. The experiences of the professional fundraiser participants of this study
revealed that knowing how to exhibit an unaggressive communication style aided in fostering
trust with prospective donors from Hawaii.
Moreover, the professional fundraiser participants revealed that communicating in a
humble way with prospective donors from Hawaii helped to foster trust with them. Consistent
with earlier definitions of Hawaii’s local cultural values mentioned in the literature review as
including humility (Omizo et al., 2008), Participants 11 and 2 shared, respectively, “Here, you do
everything you can not to be noticed because the nail that stands up gets hammered down” and,
“If the mainland [fundraiser] is talking a lot or self-promoting, which might be fine somewhere
else, for some donors, here that’s a turnoff.” The participants explained that relocated
professional fundraisers boasting about themselves did not resonate with prospective donors
from Hawaii. Participant 8 echoed that perspective. “I’d say really the most important thing is
to be listening and to really check your ego and to remember that it’s not about you.” When
interacting with prospective donors from Hawaii, Participant 8 advised that relocated
professional fundraisers should focus on the donor and not themselves. Based on the
experiences of this study’s professional fundraiser participants, knowing how to communicate in
a humble way with prospective donors from Hawaii helped to foster trust with them.
Furthermore, the professional fundraiser participants described their experiences with
prospective donors from Hawaii who communicated in a way that did not show their wealth. For
example, Participant 9 stated, “The donors that I’ve engaged with that have the most amount of
money are the ones that you would least likely expect because they don’t dress like they do or
what you might see meeting with folks on the mainland.” Participant 9 noted the modest
outward expression of wealth displayed by prospective donors from Hawaii in comparison with
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 62
prospective donors on the mainland U.S. that she, a relocated professional fundraiser, had
engaged with in previous work experiences. Participant 7, also a relocated professional
fundraiser, echoed that comparative sentiment:
Not understanding how wealth works in Hawaii when I got here [was problematic].
Because [where I last worked on the mainland], it was actually the reverse problem.
Everyone had their mansions and their fancy automobiles and their jewelry. They flashed
it all over the place. And the question was, ‘Do they actually have any money or is it all
spent on this?’ Here, it was like I would go in and visit and I think to myself, ‘Holy shit,
these people can barely put food on the table and then they’re writing me a $10,000
check.’
In interactions with prospective donors from Hawaii, Participant 7 specified experiences of
disparate exhibitions of wealth—modest material displays of wealth while giving large charitable
donations. The experiences of the professional fundraiser participants of this study revealed that
knowing how prospective donors from Hawaii communicated their wealth helped to foster trust
with them. Based on the participants’ thoughts about their experiences with prospective donors
from Hawaii related to the use of indirect, nonverbal communication, unaggressive
communication, humble communication, and not communicating wealth, respecting the
communication style of prospective donors from Hawaii was one way to foster trust with them.
Theme 2: Showing patience for the pace of their philanthropic process. An examination
of the data revealed that a total of eight of this study’s professional fundraiser participants
identified that showing patience for the pace of the philanthropic process of prospective donors
from Hawaii was one way to foster trust with them. Particularly, throughout their interviews,
participants stated that investing time to allow for building quality relationships, dedicating time
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 63
to connect on a personal level before doing business, and devoting time to help educate them
about philanthropy helped to foster trust.
The professional fundraiser participants shared that prospective donors from Hawaii took
time to get to know them and determine whether they were trustworthy enough to develop
quality relationships with them. Participant 9, a relocated professional fundraiser, stated,
“People here are much more invested in the relationship that they build with you as a fundraiser
and with the organization. It’s a much richer connection.” Compared to experiences with
prospective donors not from Hawaii, Participant 9 deemed that prospective donors from Hawaii
were invested in building rich relationships with her. Participant 11, also a relocated
professional fundraiser, recalled similar experiences. “It’s a longer drawn-out process [here]. . . .
But the time that we spend with [prospective donors from Hawaii] pays off because you build the
relationships.” Participant 11 acknowledged that the relationship-building period took longer
with prospective donors from Hawaii compared to experiences with prospective donors not from
Hawaii. Participant 8 also distinguished relationship-building experiences with prospective
donors from Hawaii from those not from Hawaii. “There are certain . . . cultural protocols . . .
before you can have that ask conversation. . . . [T]here’s a much higher expectation of
developing a relationship of some kind and feeling out that relationship.” Participant 8 explained
that the reason prospective donors from Hawaii took time to develop relationships with
professional fundraisers was to discern how they feel about the professional fundraisers.
Participant 10 offered a similar explanation. “[I]t takes much, much longer here than on the
mainland to develop that trust in [your] ability. It seems people really need a long time to make
that decision [whether to trust you].” In interactions with prospective donors from Hawaii,
Participant 10 discussed experiences where the prospective donors took a long time to determine
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 64
whether they trusted her. Thus, she concluded that the relationship-building period was lengthier
with prospective donors from Hawaii than with prospective donors not from Hawaii. Based on
the experiences of this study’s professional fundraiser participants, knowing how to invest the
time to build relationships with prospective donors from Hawaii and provide them the time
necessary to determine how they feel about the professional fundraisers helped to garner their
trust.
Additionally, the professional fundraiser participants stated that they dedicated time to
connect on a personal level first before doing business with prospective donors from Hawaii.
Participant 6 stated, “I go out of my way to not talk business and relate on a family or casual
kind of connection first.” Participant 6, a relocated professional fundraiser, shared that she
focused on relating with prospective donors from Hawaii on a personal level first to avoid giving
the impression that she was only interested in the prospective donor for fundraising purposes.
Participant 8, also a relocated professional fundraiser, detailed the same communication practice
with prospective donors from Hawaii. “There’s a very distinct . . . friendly portion and then
business portion and that was interesting because I think on the mainland it was a little more
fluid throughout. It was a very interesting shift.” Participant 8 attributed her personal level first
and then business level communication practice to learned cultural etiquette unique to Hawaii.
Participant 3, a professional fundraiser from Hawaii, explained her perspective of the
local cultural origins of this communication practice:
Growing up, [I would] answer the phone, ‘Hello . . . hold on.’ [I would] give my dad the
phone; it’s for my Dad. He has his conversation and hangs up and I’m immediately
reprimanded for number one, not acknowledging that was my aunt on the phone. . . . He
goes, ‘Can you not say, hello, Aunty? How are you? How’s Uncle? How’s my cousins?
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 65
Is everything okay? Would you like to talk to my dad?’ . . . You ask how they are first,
make sure everything’s okay. Show interest in them and then, ‘Okay, you want to talk to
my Dad?’
From experiences growing up in Hawaii, Participant 3 underlined the cultural value instilled in
her of the importance of sincerely checking up on how people are doing to show them that they
were valued. The experiences of the professional fundraiser participants of this study revealed
that knowing how to communicate on a personal level before doing business aided in fostering
trust with prospective donors from Hawaii.
Furthermore, the professional fundraiser participants explained that they devoted time to
help teach prospective donors from Hawaii about the importance of philanthropy. Consistent
with findings mentioned in the literature review related to cultural sensitivity and specifically, a
recognition that Asian American prospective donors may be unaware of Western charitable
practices, Participant 4 stated:
For some, giving isn’t always something they grew up with. . . . You see more people
giving smaller amounts of money but they’re not necessarily used to when you go in to
talk to them about a large gift. Sometimes they’re surprised. I come across more people
who haven’t ever made a six-figure gift and they’re just surprised or they don’t know
why you’re scheduling the meeting. . . . I find that it takes a little more education with
some of our donors here.
In interactions with some prospective donors from Hawaii, Participant 4 noted that the
importance of philanthropic giving was not instilled in them growing up. Similar to Participant
4, Participant 10 echoed that experience. “[I’ve] run across a number of people who literally
have said to me, ‘I don’t understand philanthropy and I don’t understand why people give away
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 66
their money and what you get for it.’” Participant 10 proffered that the absence of philanthropic
role models in Hawaii could be the reason that the importance of philanthropy has not been
understood. Meanwhile, Participant 6 offered an alternative explanation. “In [the] culture here,
a lot of money is transferred down through the generations and not a whole lot is given
philanthropically. Traditionally, you keep giving down and it’s not often considered to carve out
a piece for philanthropy.” Participant 6 explained that the cultural practice of transferring wealth
through family generations was the root cause of a lack of understanding about the importance of
philanthropy. Participant 2 described how she addressed a potential unawareness of the
importance of philanthropy in her interactions with prospective donors from Hawaii. “[F]or the
most part, they may be new to fundraising. . . . So, at first I am more cautious and conservative
with local donors.” Participant 2 said that she treaded softly in her initial engagement efforts
with prospective donors from Hawaii in order to respect the likelihood that they lacked an
understanding of the importance of philanthropy. The experiences of the professional fundraiser
participants of this study revealed that knowing how to commit the time to help educate
prospective donors from Hawaii about the importance of philanthropy helped to foster trust with
them. Based on the participants’ thoughts related to their experiences investing time to allow for
building quality relationships, dedicating time to connect on a personal level before doing
business, and devoting time to help educate about philanthropy, showing patience for the pace of
the philanthropic process of prospective donors from Hawaii was one way to foster trust with
them.
Theme 3: Practicing cultural norms and language. A total of six of the professional
fundraiser participants interviewed for this study identified that practicing cultural norms and
language aided in fostering trust with prospective donors from Hawaii. Specifically, throughout
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 67
their interviews, participants stated that gift giving, soliciting gifts from the highest-level person
in an organization or family, being conscientious of the way one’s behavior makes others feel,
and learning to pronounce Hawaiian words and Asian names helped to foster trust with
prospective donors from Hawaii.
The professional fundraiser participants shared that prospective donors from Hawaii
responded favorably when the participants practiced cultural norms. Participant 5 explained:
Depending on who it is maybe bring a small gift because the culture is such that you give
things a lot. . . . [E]ven if it’s something small, I think local donors really appreciate those
kinds of things. They’re always surprised when you do something personal for them. . . .
[I]t doesn’t necessarily have to be a tangible thing. It could be just sharing pieces of
information – things that you find out they’re interested in and sending them a video or
sending them an article that says, ‘I heard you that this is what you care about.’ . . . I
think those are little ways that you can start to build a relationship.
Participant 5 expressed that cultural norms such as gift giving in the form of information and
small, tangible items enhanced the relationship-building experience with prospective donors
from Hawaii.
Participant 6 highlighted another cultural norm that improved the chances of solicitation
success. “The Japanese style of making sure that you ask the right person and that’s usually the
elder or the top person in the organization or in the family . . . [a]nd that you have the right
person asking them for the gifts.” Participant 6 deemed soliciting gifts from the highest-level
person in an organization or family as a display of respect to prospective donors from Hawaii.
An additional cultural norm identified by Participant 3, a professional fundraiser from
Hawaii, related to how one’s behavior makes another feel:
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 68
[A]s a local person and [in] my upbringing, you really don’t want to upset people . . . in
the way you’ve made them feel. . . . I’m fine telling donors that we can’t do something
and I’m fine giving them an answer they’re not going to be happy about. But I think it
has to be done with sensitivity and compassion and kindness and respect because you’re
probably going to cross paths with that person again or you’re going to know someone
who knows them.
Participant 3 noted that she was conscientious about the way that her behavior made prospective
donors from Hawaii feel because of negative repercussions from word of mouth in a small
community and the likelihood that she would run into them again. The experiences of the
professional fundraiser participants of this study revealed that practicing cultural norms aided in
fostering trust with prospective donors from Hawaii.
Additionally, the professional fundraiser participants shared their experiences related to
practicing the cultural language in interactions with prospective donors from Hawaii. Participant
4 stated:
Learning how to pronounce things, I think that’s an immediate, ‘Okay, they’re not from
here.’. . . Hawaiian words . . . and Asian names are hard sometimes for people who aren’t
from here. Then there’s not as much respect because they feel like they didn’t do their
homework. They just don’t know enough about me as a donor or my background. So,
it’s a turnoff.
Participant 4 explained that prospective donors from Hawaii equated a relocated professional
fundraiser’s inability to pronounce Hawaiian words and Asian names to being disrespectful.
In order to avoid communicating disrespect, Participant 10 advised, “Learn as quickly as
you can—how to pronounce Hawaiian words correctly, Japanese names, which I am still terrible
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 69
at.” Through advice given to relocated professional fundraisers, Participant 10 underlined the
importance of relocated professional fundraisers overcoming inadvertently showing disrespect to
prospective donors from Hawaii through learning to pronounce Hawaiian words and Asian
names. The experiences of the professional fundraiser participants of this study uncovered that
practicing cultural norms and language helped to foster trust with prospective donors from
Hawaii. Based on the participants’ thoughts related to their experiences gift giving, soliciting
gifts from the highest-level person in an organization or family, being conscientious of the way
one’s behavior makes others feel, and learning to pronounce Hawaiian words and Asian names,
practicing cultural norms and language aided in fostering trust with prospective donors from
Hawaii.
Theme 4: Establishing roots to demonstrate commitment to the community. An
examination of the data revealed that a total of seven of the professional fundraisers interviewed
for this study shared that demonstrating a commitment to the community through establishing
roots in the community was a way to foster trust with prospective donors from Hawaii.
Particularly, throughout their interviews, participants stated that longevity in Hawaii,
involvement in the community, and stake in the community aided in fostering trust with
prospective donors from Hawaii.
The professional fundraiser participants revealed that their length of time in Hawaii
helped to foster trust with prospective donors from Hawaii. Participant 6 stated that prospective
donors from Hawaii “interact with me and we are seeing each other on a somewhat frequent
basis and around town. I think there’s a little bit more familiarity and confidence in the
relationship that we have.” Participant 6 explained that her longevity in Hawaii mattered to
prospective donors from Hawaii because it bred comfort and confidence in her.
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 70
Participant 7, however, explained a different perspective on why the duration of time in
Hawaii helped to establish credibility and foster trust. “[I]t’s hard to build any sustained
credibility with folks until you’ve been here longer than five years. . . . [Then] it’s like, ‘Oh,
you’re still here. Well, let’s have that conversation.’” She reasoned, “[Y]ou ha[ve] been
preceded by hundreds of thousands of people who thought they wanted to live in Hawaii and
then within two to three years they’ve left.” According to Participant 7, the vast in- and out-
migration of residents over time had caused prospective donors from Hawaii to refrain from
investing in relocated professional fundraisers new to Hawaii because they may decide not to
stay. Instead, Participant 7 explained that it takes years of being in Hawaii to establish
credibility and foster trust with prospective donors from Hawaii. Participant 8 echoed that
sentiment:
I felt very untrusted when I first got here. . . . I had to really work hard to build trust and
build goodwill. . . . [I’m sure it was] just having bad experiences with other people
who’ve come in for a year or two and left. ‘We’ll wait and see if you stick around.’
Here, Participant 8 emphasized that the pattern of in- and out-migration of residents had led to
prospective donors from Hawaii not trusting her when she first arrived. However, her length of
time in Hawaii provided her the opportunity to work hard to build goodwill and earn the trust of
the prospective donors. Participant 11 described a similar experience. “[I]nitially it was really
the ‘how long you stay?’ question. No one would ever actually say that outright to me but it was
more, ‘I don’t want to invest time in you until I know you’re really committed to staying.’”
Here, Participant 11 explained that prospective donors from Hawaii needed to know that he was
committed to being in Hawaii before they would be open to spending time with him.
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Participant 9 offered another perspective on why duration in Hawaii mattered in
establishing credibility and fostering trust with prospective donors from Hawaii. “[It helps]
when you can meet them halfway and really understand what they’re talking about. . . . The
longer [I] live here, the more I learn about the place, the more I can share the commonalities with
them.” Participant 9 explained that commonalities with prospective donors from Hawaii resulted
from being in Hawaii longer. The experiences of the professional fundraiser participants of this
study revealed that showing longevity in Hawaii helped to foster trust with prospective donors
from Hawaii.
Moreover, the professional fundraiser participants shared that showing their involvement
in the community helped to foster trust with prospective donors from Hawaii. Participant 3
stated, “I think being on outside nonprofit boards or for-profit boards [is helpful to build
credibility and trust]. Being involved in the community helps.” Participant 3 focused on board
involvement to help establish credibility and foster trust with prospective donors from Hawaii.
Meanwhile, Participant 6, a relocated professional fundraiser, identified a different type of
community involvement. “I started getting more involved in . . . a variety of different activities,
fundraisers, other fundraisers for other organizations. . . . [K]nowing that you’re here, you’re
committed to being here in the community, and you care.” Participant 6 identified that
volunteering in the community and getting involved in helping other community organizations
fundraise were ways that she showed her commitment to the community. Based on the
experiences of the professional fundraiser participants in this study, showing involvement in the
community helped to foster trust with prospective donors from Hawaii.
Furthermore, the professional fundraiser participants stated that showing they have a
stake in the community aided in fostering trust with prospective donors from Hawaii. Participant
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3 explained why. “You’re here, your kids go to school here, you have a vested interest in this
community, you have a vested interest in me giving to your organization because you care about
this place.” Participant 3 noted that relocated professional fundraisers showing a vested interest
in the community mattered to prospective donors from Hawaii. A vested interest in the
community, according to Participant 3, signified that the money the prospective donors invested
in the relocated professional fundraiser’s organization would be used wisely for the betterment of
the community because the relocated professional fundraiser cared about the community.
Participant 10 expressed how she showed a stake in the community. “[I talk about how I]
love[e] living in the neighborhood and the things I’m engaged within the area. . . . They like that
I bought a house, I renovated a house, and I’m bought into the community here.” Exhibiting a
passion for place helped Participant 10 communicate a stake in the community to prospective
donors from Hawaii. The experiences of the professional fundraiser participants of this study
revealed that showing a stake in the community helped to foster trust with prospective donors
from Hawaii. Based on the participants’ thoughts related to their experiences with prospective
donors from Hawaii and showing their duration in Hawaii, involvement in the community, and
stake in the community, knowing how to establish roots to demonstrate commitment to the
community was one way to foster trust with prospective donors from Hawaii.
Theme 5: Leveraging relationships to establish commonality. A total of six of the
professional fundraiser participants interviewed for this study identified that leveraging
relationships to establish commonality was one way to foster trust with prospective donors from
Hawaii. Specifically, throughout their interviews, participants stated that leveraging
relationships on two levels—individual and organizational—helped to establish commonality
and foster trust with prospective donors from Hawaii.
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 73
The professional fundraiser participants revealed that leveraging relationships with
individuals helped to establish commonality and foster trust with prospective donors from
Hawaii. Participant 3, a professional fundraiser from Hawaii, explained that people born and
raised in Hawaii have an inherent way of creating a connection. “We [connect] naturally. ‘What
high school you went? Where did you grow up? What’s your family name?’ . . . Trying to make
the connection and seeing if [I] know them somehow or know someone that they know.”
Participant 3 identified that a connection was made when dots of individual relationships are
connected between the professional fundraiser and the prospective donors from Hawaii.
Participant 6, a relocated professional fundraiser, stated how she connected the dots of
individual relationships. “[H]aving a core group of people [from Hawaii] that I’ve connected
with and that those people know other people and just even being out in the community with
those people, that sort of gives you a little bit of credibility.” Without inherent connections to
prospective donors from Hawaii, Participant 6 noted that leveraging relationships with people
from Hawaii helped her create connections with prospective donors from Hawaii who knew
those people. However, Participant 6 specified:
There are a few people who are multigenerational business owners in the community who
have a long, long history of relationships and are serving on boards. These are the kinds
of connections that are possibly going to be harder for me to ever really gain the strength
in that relationship where I would want it to be.
Participant 6 identified a group of people who, because of their deep roots of living in Hawaii,
she would have a challenge connecting with. Based on the experiences of the professional
fundraiser participants in this study, relocated professional fundraisers leveraging individual
relationships helped to foster trust with prospective donors from Hawaii.
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Additionally, the professional fundraiser participants shared their experiences
establishing commonality and fostering trust with prospective donors from Hawaii through
leveraging organizational relationships. Participant 10 stated, “I asked my board members to
arrange for me a lunch a month that I can get in front of . . . someone that would like to . . . get
to know [our organization]. It’s been pretty successful.” Participant 10 explained that
leveraging organizational board member relationships helped in connecting with prospective
donors from Hawaii. Participant 4 confirmed this sentiment. “The [prospective donors] know
my [leadership] and that lends a lot of credibility to the organization and it may allow entrée for
me . . . then it definitely makes it easier.” Participant 4 noted that she benefited from
relationships that organizational leadership and board members had with members of the
community in fostering trust with prospective donors from Hawaii.
Participant 7, a relocated professional fundraiser, described her experience leveraging
organizational relationships to establish commonality and foster trust when first coming to
Hawaii:
It was hard to borrow institutional credibility with donors and prospective donors [when I
first got] here than it ever was [on the mainland]. [My first organization in Hawaii] was
not at that same level and I was new to the islands. So, it took a lot longer than I thought
it would to gain any traction. It was frustrating.
Participant 7 noted that an organization’s unfavorable reputation hindered her ability to leverage
institutional credibility with prospective donors from Hawaii. On the contrary, Participant 9
said, “Sometimes people want to engage with me just because I’m with this organization before
they even know me. The organization comes first because it has such a deep reputation in
Hawaii and worldwide.” Here, Participant 9 explained that her organization’s favorable
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reputation was key to building relationships with some prospective donors from Hawaii. The
experiences of the professional fundraiser participants of this study revealed that leveraging
organizational relationships aided in fostering trust with prospective donors from Hawaii. Based
on the participants’ thoughts related to their experiences with prospective donors from Hawaii
and leveraging relationships on individual and organizational levels, knowing how to leverage
relationships to establish commonality was one way to foster trust with prospective donors from
Hawaii.
Finding 2: In order to achieve the global goal, relocated professional fundraisers need
to know how to self-monitor to create positive impressions with prospective donors from
Hawaii. A review of the literature revealed that knowing how to self-monitor is at the center of
what is important to create positive impressions with clients (Montagliani & Giacalone, 1998)
such as prospective donors from Hawaii. Montagliani and Giacalone (1998) defined high self-
monitors as those who can deliberately observe and control their attitudes and behaviors based
on their environment. A total of three of the 11 participants of this study stated that relocated
professional fundraisers knowing how to self-monitor to create positive impressions with
prospective donors from Hawaii was needed to achieve the global goal. Participant 9 mentioned
that relocated professional fundraisers “need to self-regulate when it comes to [their] interactions
with [prospective donors from Hawaii]. . . . [If they’re] super aggressive, [they’re] going to need
to switch that when it comes to the personal interactions [with prospective donors].” Participant
4 echoed that sentiment. “If someone is too aggressive and can’t take it down a few notches, it
would be hard for them to be successful here.” Here, Participants 9 and 4 advised that relocated
professional fundraisers with aggressive styles needed to self-monitor that style or risk
professional fundraising success in Hawaii. Participant 11 offered a reason why self-monitoring
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 76
one’s aggressive style is important in Hawaii. “[Relocated professional fundraisers need to be]
able to modulate [their] intensity and modulate the way that [they] work because the values here
are very different.” Participant 11 identified Hawaii’s unique cultural values as the reason that
relocated professional fundraisers needed to self-monitor any aggressiveness. While only three
of the 11 participants explicitly stated that knowing how to self-monitor to create positive
impressions with prospective donors from Hawaii was needed to achieve the global goal, it is
clear from the interview responses to questions related to other assumed influences that all
participants had been self-monitoring. They identified the different ways they changed their
behavior over time with prospective donors from Hawaii which meant that they understood that
something was not working. Based on all of the participants affirming this metacognitive
knowledge influence, the participants of this study deemed that self-monitoring to create positive
impressions with prospective donors from Hawaii was needed to achieve the global goal.
Motivation Findings
In this study’s conceptual framework, the motivation required of relocated professional
fundraisers to be culturally sensitive and culturally aware in their interactions with prospective
donors from Hawaii is the self-efficacy to interact with them and seeing the value that doing so
will help them achieve their fundraising goals. The findings that emerged from the data
collection and analysis of this study were that the level of self-efficacy needed to achieve the
global goal correlated with the length of time as a professional fundraiser in Hawaii. In addition,
the participants of this study deemed that seeing the value in being culturally sensitive and
culturally aware in their interactions with prospective donors from Hawaii was needed to achieve
the global goal.
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Self-efficacy. A review of the literature revealed that the higher the level of people’s
self-efficacy in doing a task, the more motivated they will be to do the task (Pajares, 2006;
Rueda, 2011). Transferring these findings by Pajares (2006) and Rueda (2011) to the
stakeholder group of focus in this study, relocated professional fundraisers must feel confident
that they are capable of being culturally sensitive and culturally aware in their interactions with
prospective donors from Hawaii. Those with higher levels of confidence in their capabilities will
have higher levels of self-efficacy needed to achieve the global goal.
Finding 3: The level of self-efficacy needed to achieve the global goal correlated with
the professional fundraiser’s length of time as a professional fundraiser in Hawaii. An
examination of the data revealed that the length of time that a professional fundraiser worked in
Hawaii correlated with their level of self-efficacy to interact with prospective donors from
Hawaii. Table 7 illustrates an overview of the length of time and level of confidence that the
participants indicated in interacting with prospective donors from Hawaii.

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Table 7
Summary of Participants’ Length of Years as Professional Fundraisers in Hawaii, Indicated
Level of Confidence Interacting with Prospective Donors from Hawaii, and Reason for Level of
Confidence
Participant
#
Type of
Professional
Fundraiser
(From
Hawaii or
Relocated)
Years as a
Professional
Fundraiser
in Hawaii
(Relocated
only)
Identified Level of
Confidence
Reason for Level of
Confidence
1 From Hawaii N/A “I’m extremely
confident.”
“The fact that my family
has been here long.”
2 From Hawaii N/A “I’m comfortable with
local donors.”
N/A
3 From Hawaii N/A “I’m pretty confident,
very comfortable.”
“Years; longevity [in
Hawaii].”
4 From Hawaii N/A “I’m pretty confident.” “I’ve done [professional
fundraising in Hawaii]
for a while.”
5 From Hawaii N/A “Highly confident” “Living here and
growing up here. Just
having the knowledge of
different cultures and
what might resonate
with someone from a
specific culture and
shared experiences.”
6 Relocated 3 “Depends on the
person”
N/A
7 Relocated 27 “One hundred percent
[confident]”
“[My] confidence comes
from having met with a
certain amount of
success [here].”
8 Relocated 5 “Not [confident] at all” “I’m always going to be
someone who came in. .
. . [S]o, knowing that
and have other people
know that I think that
makes me feel a little
unsettled about
approaching people in
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 79
the right way and feeling
like I can make them
comfortable.”
9 Relocated 17 “I’m very confident.” “Length of time I’ve
lived here. Being able
to understand the place.”
10 Relocated 4 “Pretty confident” “Success in bringing
money in and closing
gifts and success in
building good
relationships
[contributes to my
confidence].”
11 Relocated 6 “I am more
comfortable [now].”
“It’s really shifted the
longer that I’ve been
here.”

Table 7 shows that all professional fundraiser from Hawaii participants, whose length of
time in Hawaii was extensive, indicated that they were “comfortable” to “extremely confident”
interacting with prospective donors from Hawaii. The reasons that these participants attributed
to their high levels of confidence varied. For example, Participant 5 attributed her confidence
from “living here and growing up here. Just having the knowledge of different cultures and what
might resonate with someone from a specific culture and shared experiences.” Participant 5
noted that the knowledge of the various cultures of Hawaii’s people and commonality of
experiences from living in Hawaii for a long time contributed to her high level of confidence
interacting with prospective donors from Hawaii. Participant 1, however, attributed her
confidence to “[t]he fact that my family has been here long.” Here, Participant 1 explained that
her high level of confidence interacting with prospective donors from Hawaii was rooted in her
family’s longstanding and favorable reputation in the community. While the reasons for their
levels of confidence varied, all professional fundraiser from Hawaii participants indicated a
somewhat high level of confidence interacting with prospective donors from Hawaii. As Pajares
(2006) and Rueda (2011) defined self-efficacy as people’s beliefs or confidence levels about
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 80
their capabilities of doing tasks, the professional fundraiser from Hawaii participants, all who
have been professional fundraisers in Hawaii for extensive periods of time, indicated a high level
of self-efficacy in interacting with prospective donors from Hawaii.
Meanwhile, the levels of confidence indicated by the relocated professional fundraiser
participants correlated with their length of time as a professional fundraiser in Hawaii. For
example, Participants 9 and 7 had been professional fundraisers in Hawaii for extensive periods
of time, 17 and 27 years, respectively. Participant 9 identified her level of confidence interacting
with prospective donors from Hawaii as “very confident.” She stated, “The length of time that
I’ve lived here [and] being able to understand the place” contributed to her level of confidence.
Here, Participant 9 explained that her length of time in Hawaii allowed her the opportunity to
know more about Hawaii which increased her level of confidence in interacting with prospective
donors from Hawaii. Participant 7 deemed her level of confidence as “[o]ne hundred percent
[confident].” She attributed her level of confidence “from having met with a certain amount of
success [here].” Participant 7 explained that her respectable amount of fundraising success with
prospective donors from Hawaii over time boosted her level of confidence interacting with them.
However, Participant 7’s level of confidence did not start out that way. “It took a lot longer . . .
to gain any traction. It was frustrating. For the first six months, I was totally depressed and
wanted to go home. . . . Closing gifts was harder. The gift levels were lower.” Thus, relocated
professional fundraiser Participants 9 and 7’s high levels of confidence, or self-efficacy,
interacting with prospective donors from Hawaii correlated with their extensive periods of time
as professional fundraisers in Hawaii.
At the same time, relocated professional fundraiser Participants 6, 8, 10, and 11 had not
been professional fundraisers in Hawaii for extensive periods of time. Their duration in Hawaii
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 81
ranged from three to six years and their indicated levels of confidence were far less than that
indicated by Participants 9 and 7. For example, their levels of confidence varied from “[n]ot
[confident] at all” to “depends on the person” to “pretty confident.” Thus, the relocated
professional fundraiser participants whose time as professional fundraisers in Hawaii were brief,
in comparison to Participants 9 and 7, had low levels of confidence, or self-efficacy, interacting
with prospective donors from Hawaii. Based on all of this study’s participants’ identified levels
of confidence interacting with prospective donors from Hawaii and their duration as professional
fundraisers in Hawaii, the level of self-efficacy needed to achieve the global goal correlated with
the professional fundraiser’s length of time as a professional fundraiser in Hawaii.
Seeing the value. A review of the literature revealed that one of the requirements for
people to fully engage in the performance of a task is a high perceived value of doing the task
(Eccles, 2006). For the relocated professional fundraisers employed by Hawaii organizations,
having a high perceived value of implementing culturally sensitive and culturally aware
fundraising strategies for all prospective donors from Hawaii in their portfolios requires them to
see the value in doing so. If they perceive value in doing so, they will be motivated and actively
choose to do so.
Finding 4: In order to achieve the global goal, relocated professional fundraisers need
to see the value in implementing culturally sensitive and culturally aware fundraising
strategies with prospective donors from Hawaii. Only one of the 11 participants of this study
explicitly indicated that relocated professional fundraisers seeing the value in implementing
culturally sensitive and culturally aware fundraising strategies was needed to achieve the global
goal. Participant 8 stated two reasons why. “[T]here’s the huge looming cultural history of
Hawaii and then there’s also purely that this is the more effective protocol . . . [t]hat will help
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 82
you be more effective and raise more money.” Participant 8 explained that she tried to be
respectful of Hawaii and its people in the way that they want to do business because of the
historical relationship between Hawaii and the U.S. In addition, she explained that implementing
culturally sensitive and culturally aware fundraising strategies with prospective donors from
Hawaii was more effective in raising money from them. While only one of the 11 participants
explicitly stated that seeing the value in implementing culturally sensitive and culturally aware
fundraising strategies was needed to achieve the global goal, it is clear from the interview
responses to questions related to other assumed influences that all participants showed that they
saw the value in doing so. They identified the different ways they changed their behavior over
time with prospective donors from Hawaii which meant that they saw the value in implementing
culturally sensitive and culturally aware fundraising strategies with them. Based on all
participants affirming this motivation influence, the participants of this study deemed that seeing
the value in implementing culturally sensitive and culturally aware fundraising strategies was
needed to achieve the global goal.
Organization Findings
The conceptual framework of this study identified four organizational factors required for
relocated professional fundraisers to be culturally sensitive and culturally aware in their
interactions with prospective donors from Hawaii. The first organizational factor was that
leadership needed to value the importance of creating an environment conducive to reducing the
cultural shock effects of its relocated professional fundraisers when they relocate to Hawaii. The
leadership believes in the importance of developing the intercultural communication skills of its
relocated professional fundraisers was the second organizational factor. The third factor was for
the organization to provide an internal comprehensive training program to support the
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 83
development of its relocated professional fundraisers’ skills related to cross-cultural norms and
behaviors. The organization provides a mentoring program that focuses on strengthening cross-
cultural relationship-building skills of its relocated professional fundraisers was the final
organizational factor. The findings that emerged from the data collection and analysis of this
study were that the first two organizational influences—leadership needing to value the
importance of creating an environment conducive to reducing cultural shock effects and
leadership believing in the importance of developing intercultural communication skills—were
not needed for relocated professional fundraisers to achieve the global goal. The findings did,
however, reveal that the last two organizational influences—providing an internal
comprehensive training program to support the skills development of cross-cultural norms and
behaviors and providing a mentoring program that focuses on strengthening cross-cultural
relationship-building skills—were needed for relocated professional fundraisers to achieve the
global goal.
Leadership needing to value the importance of creating an environment conducive
to reducing cultural shock effects. A review of scholarly research uncovered that an
organization’s leadership must recognize the importance of creating an environment to help their
relocated professional fundraisers overcome the cultural shock effects (Guy & Patton, 1996;
Smith, 2010) when they relocate to Hawaii. Guy and Patton (1996) reasoned that the resulting
alienation and anxiety can be especially damaging to the professional success of relocated
professionals because of the relationship-building requirement essential to their job.
Finding 5: The participants’ leadership did not consistently convey that they valued
the importance of creating an environment conducive to reducing cultural shock effects. A
total of only two of the 11 participants confirmed that the leadership of the Hawaii organizations
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 84
that employed them consistently conveyed that they valued the importance of creating an
environment conducive to reducing cultural shock. As a leader in her organization, Participant 4
described the work environment she helped to create for relocated professional fundraisers new
to Hawaii.
[I] check-in with them and make sure that they’re comfortable and that they’re
acclimating especially to their coworkers and their work environment. I’ve asked some
of my coworkers . . . to take them out to lunch from time-to-time and just check-in and
make sure [they] are feeling good about everything. . . . I encourage other staff to invite
them to things and to ask them to be a part of committees. [I make sure that the
fundraisers are] feeling embraced and welcomed by [our] staff and love the work
environment.
Here, Participant 4 shared that she, as a leader of her organization, created a work support system
for the new relocated professional fundraisers and implemented continuous check-ins with them
to monitor their acclimation. Participant 10 indicated a similar supportive experience relocating
to Hawaii. “This is a stressful thing to come here. . . . [Leadership should] take an interest in . . .
where they live, how their family is doing. . . . There’s a lot of ways [my organization] did that
for me.” Participant 10 stated that although moving to Hawaii was stressful, the leadership of
her organization mitigated that stress by providing personal support.
Participant 11 explained his contrary experience relocating to Hawaii:
I think my organization has really failed me on this front. They could have offered more
resources to me upon my arrival. A crash course in local culture would have been really
helpful. I feel like when you move to Hawaii, no one really helps you with the local
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 85
culture. It’s very much sink or swim. . . . [When I was] coming in, I felt like I had been
walking across a minefield and having limbs blown off.
Here, Participant 11 detailed how a lack of cultural education upon arrival in Hawaii negatively
impacted his work and led to him feeling unsupported by the leadership of his organization.
Participant 3, a professional fundraiser from Hawaii, echoed a similar sentiment about the
leadership of her organization. “[I]t would be good to have a [class] . . . to learn about the
culture. . . . But I think we kind of throw people out there. They don’t feel supported; they feel
alone.” Participant 3 explained her observations of her organizational leaders not supporting
newly relocated professional fundraisers to Hawaii in their cultural education. Based on the
minority of participants affirming this organizational influence, the participants of this study
deemed that the leadership of the Hawaii organizations that employed them did not consistently
convey that they valued the importance of creating an environment conducive to reducing
cultural shock.
Leadership believing in the importance of developing intercultural communication
skills. A review of literature revealed that organizational leadership must believe in the
importance of developing the intercultural communication skills of its professional fundraisers
though appropriate training methods so that they can effectively communicate with culturally-
diverse customers (Bush et al., 2001; Smith, 2010).
Finding 6: The participants’ leadership did not consistently convey that they believed
in the importance of developing intercultural communication skills. None of the participants
of this study confirmed that the leadership of the Hawaii organizations that employed them
consistently conveyed that they believed in the importance of developing intercultural
communication skills of its relocated fundraisers. Participant 1 explained her observations. “It’s
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 86
never crossed their mind, in the organizations I’ve worked at, [for the leaders] to help [relocated
professional fundraisers] learn.” Here, Participant 1 concluded that the leadership of her
organization did not believe in the importance of developing the intercultural communication
skills of relocated professional fundraisers because she had not seen any actions reflective of
such a belief. Participant 11 offered a reason why a belief in the importance of developing
intercultural communication skills was not conveyed. “I feel like some [leaders] have forgotten
what it’s like to assimilate here and they sometimes can minimize your feelings or your
perceptions and they don’t relate.” Participant 11 noted that the leadership of his organization
forgot their experiences moving to Hawaii and thus, did not relate to the intercultural
communication needs of the relocated professional fundraisers. Participant 7, a leader in her
organization, posited another reason. “A successful fundraiser should not need intercultural
communication skills because whether you look like me and you’re from [the mainland] or you
look like you’re from here, we have to be able to communicate.” Participant 7 reasoned that
since effective communication skills transcend cultures, whether organizational leaders believed
in the importance of developing the intercultural communication skills of its relocated
professional fundraisers was irrelevant. Based on none of the participants affirming this
organizational influence, the participants of this study deemed that the leadership of the Hawaii
organizations that employed them did not consistently convey that they believed in the
importance of developing the intercultural communication skills of its relocated professional
fundraisers.
In addition, a review and analysis of one organizational document each from four
organizations of this study’s participants confirmed the invalidation of this organizational
influence. The audience of all four documents was prospective donors and donors of each
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 87
organization, respectively. Based on the literature review, the analysis focused on whether the
documents communicated seven factors of cultural awareness and cultural sensitivity to the
prospective donor audience. Such a communication would equate to the organization’s
leadership believing in the importance of developing intercultural communication skills. Of the
four documents, three reflected only three of the cultural awareness and cultural sensitivity
factors and the fourth document exhibited only two of the factors. Thus, the analysis of
organizational documents focused on prospective donor and donor audiences aligned with the
experiences of the interview participants. Therefore, the participants’ organizational leaders did
not consistently convey that they believed in the importance of developing the intercultural
communication skills of its relocated professional fundraisers.
Organizations providing an internal comprehensive training program to support
the development of cross-cultural norms and behaviors skills. A review of current scholarly
research uncovered that organizations providing internal comprehensive training programs to
support the development of cross-cultural norms and behaviors skills are needed for professional
fundraisers to overcome the cultural shock from moving into a new culture (Guy & Patton, 1996;
Smith, 2010). If fundraising professionals have the requisite fundraising process skills, then they
can be retrained to fundraise in new cultural environments (Guy & Patton, 1996; Smith, 2010).
Consequently, a lack of organizational training support in the development of cross-cultural
norms and behaviors skills can lead to challenges for relocated professional fundraisers
fundraising in Hawaii.

RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 88
Finding 7: In order to support the development of cross-cultural norms
and behaviors skills, the internal comprehensive training programs of Hawaii organizations
must increase relocated professional fundraisers’ knowledge of Hawaii’s culture and history.
An examination of the data revealed that a total of eight of this study’s 11 professional fundraiser
participants identified that increasing knowledge of Hawaii’s culture and history was needed in
training that supports the development of cross-cultural norms and behaviors skills. Particularly,
throughout their interviews, participants stated that understanding Hawaii’s culture and history
and knowing the history of Hawaii’s different cultural groups were required to support the
development of cross-cultural norms and behaviors skills of relocated professional fundraisers.
The professional fundraiser participants revealed that organizational training that
supports an understanding of Hawaii’s culture and history could help to develop cross-cultural
norms and behaviors skills to be culturally sensitive and culturally aware in interactions with
prospective donors from Hawaii. Participant 1 suggested that organizations should consider
“onboarding training that includes getting to know the culture of Hawaii. Because when they
say, ‘Hawaii is a melting pot,’ my God, it’s a melting pot. . . . You’ve got all kinds of different
cultures.” Participant 1 emphasized the vast diversity of cultures in Hawaii and the importance
of organizations supporting relocated professional fundraisers in learning about these cultures.
Participant 7 concurred:
A huge role that I would think [an organization] would start with [is] learning about
Hawaiian culture, about the missionary culture, learning about the plantation
immigrations, as many of them as you can keep in your head. Then understanding the
political dynamics that exist today and the socio-economic development. You have to be
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 89
on your game and your employer should be able to support that in whatever way it makes
sense . . . saving you from yourself.
Participant 7 specified details of what organizational training of Hawaii’s culture and history
should include in order to support relocated professional fundraisers’ cultural and historical
learning.
Participant 11, a relocated professional fundraiser, explained the ramifications
experienced from a lack of organizational training of Hawaii’s culture. “A crash course in local
culture would have been really helpful. I feel like when you move to Hawaii, no one really helps
you with the local culture. It’s very much sink or swim.” Participant 11 noted that a lack of
organizational training to help understand Hawaii’s culture led to a negative experience with
prospective donors from Hawaii. The experiences of the professional fundraiser participants of
this study revealed that organizational training to develop the cross-cultural norms and behaviors
skills of relocated professional fundraisers was needed to support an understanding of Hawaii’s
culture and history.
In addition, the professional fundraiser participants identified that organizational training
that supports knowing the dynamics and influence of Hawaii’s different cultural groups helped to
develop their cross-cultural norms and behaviors skills to be culturally sensitive and culturally
aware in their interactions with prospective donors from Hawaii. Participant 4 stated, “You have
people who can’t stand the missionaries and you have people who think that we wouldn’t be
where we are today without them. . . . You have to know which group of people you’re talking
to.” Participant 4 cautioned of the importance for relocated professional fundraisers to
understand the dynamics between Hawaii’s culture groups. Participant 11, a relocated
professional fundraiser, underlined a suggested focus of organizational cultural training. “I feel
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 90
like Hawaii is a melting pot but Japanese is a portion of the community that tend to be the
highest in numbers and have the most economic and political power. So, I feel like they set the
tone.” Based on experiences with prospective donors from Hawaii, Participant 11 identified that
organizational cultural training for relocated professional fundraisers should focus on Japanese
culture due to their strong economic and political influence in Hawaii. The experiences of this
study’s professional fundraiser participants uncovered that organizational training to develop
cross-cultural norms and behaviors skills must increase relocated professional fundraisers’
knowledge of the dynamics and influence of Hawaii’s different cultural groups. Based on the
participants’ thoughts related to their experiences with prospective donors from Hawaii requiring
an understanding of Hawaii’s culture and history and knowing the history of Hawaii’s different
cultural groups, increasing knowledge of Hawaii’s culture and history was needed in training that
supports the development of cross-cultural norms and behaviors skills of relocated professional
fundraisers.
Organizations providing mentoring programs that focus on strengthening cross-
cultural relationship-building skills. A review of literature revealed that organizations can use
mentoring programs that pair professional fundraisers recruits with seasoned professional
fundraisers who have successfully navigated the unique donor community (Thomas, 2010) to
strengthen cross-cultural relationship-building skills. Mentors can guide professional fundraiser
mentees in determining strategies to build relationships with donors from the specific community
(Thomas, 2010). A lack of organizational mentoring programs to strengthen cross-cultural
relationship-building skills can result in problems for relocated professional fundraisers
navigating Hawaii’s unique donor community.

RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 91
Finding 8: In order to strengthen cross-cultural relationship-building skills,
the mentoring programs of organizations must increase the relocated professional
fundraisers’ ability to navigate relationships with Hawaii’s unique prospective donor
community. A total of six of the professional fundraiser participants interviewed for this study
shared that increasing the ability of relocated professional fundraisers to navigate relationships
with Hawaii’s unique prospective donor community is a necessary part of organizational
mentoring programs focused on strengthening cross-cultural relationship-building skills.
The professional participants described their experiences strengthening cross-cultural
relationship-building skills through using a mentor or being a mentor in navigating relationships
with Hawaii’s prospective donor community. Participant 9 stated that a cultural advisor could
help relocated professional fundraisers “navigate a particularly difficult engagement with a local
donor that they might not understand how to go through the next step.” As a relocated
professional fundraiser, Participant 9 suggested that organizational cultural advisor mentors
could help relocated professional fundraisers navigate relationships with prospective donors from
Hawaii.
Participant 5 offered an alternative organizational mentoring program structure:
I think it’s all [about] exposure. It’s bringing them along with somebody who is already
working with a local donor; bringing them along to watch the interaction. If they’re
observant, they’ll see what is acceptable behavior. So, maybe tag team for a little while
in the beginning. Have the seasoned fundraiser take this new person with them on
several visits to understand different kinds of donors and how you work with them.
They’ll see you taking off your shoes. They’ll see you talking [Hawaiian] Pidgin to
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 92
relate. If they’re observant, they’ll figure out that there are different ways of interacting
with different people [here].
Participant 5 provided a mentoring program structure that would allow for opportunities for
relocated professional fundraisers to learn from first-hand experiences of their seasoned
fundraiser mentors.
Participant 4 echoed that perspective from personal mentoring experiences:
I have [a relocated professional fundraiser] with me in a lot of meetings. I often will tell
[that person] after a meeting different things I’ve seen and so that [the person] observes it
and then understands. It’s hard to just sit down with someone and just lecture off all the
different things that come up that you need to be aware of.
Participant 4 agreed that mentoring program observational opportunities have been more helpful
for relocated professional fundraisers than post-meeting debrief sessions. Based on the
participants’ thoughts related to their experiences with prospective donors from Hawaii requiring
knowing how to navigate relationships, increasing the ability of relocated professional
fundraisers to navigate relationships with Hawaii’s unique donor community was a necessary
part of organizational mentoring programs focused on strengthening cross-cultural relationship-
building skills.
Summary
The findings from the data collection and analysis revealed that seven of this study’s
assumed knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences were essential for relocated
professional fundraisers to be culturally aware and culturally sensitive in their interactions with
prospective donors from Hawaii and to achieve the global goal. The knowledge needs were that
relocated professional fundraisers know how to communicate effectively and establish credibility
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 93
with prospective donors from Hawaii and self-monitor to create positive impressions with them.
In addition, the motivation needs were that relocated professional fundraisers have the self-
efficacy to be culturally sensitive and culturally aware in their interactions with prospective
donors from Hawaii and see the value in implementing culturally sensitive and culturally aware
fundraising strategies. Furthermore, the organizational needs were to provide comprehensive
training programs that support the development of cross-cultural norms and behaviors skills and
to provide mentoring programs that strengthen cross-cultural relationship-building skills.
Furthermore, this study’s findings identified six specific factors related to these influences that
relocated professional fundraisers need to be culturally sensitive and culturally aware in their
interactions with prospective donors from Hawaii and achieve the global goal. These specific
factors are that relocated professional fundraisers must:
1. Know how to effectively communicate and establish credibility with the prospective
donors from Hawaii in order to foster trust with them—ways to foster trust include
respecting their communication style, showing patience for the pace of their philanthropic
process, practicing cultural norms and language, establishing roots to demonstrate
commitment to community, and leveraging relationships to establish commonality;
2. Know how to self-monitor to create positive impressions with prospective donors from
Hawaii;
3. Have self-efficacy to be culturally sensitive and culturally aware in interactions with
prospective donors from Hawaii;
4. See the value in implementing culturally sensitive and culturally aware fundraising
strategies with prospective donors from Hawaii;
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 94
5. Increase their knowledge of Hawaii’s culture and history through organizational
comprehensive training programs that support the development of cross-cultural norms
and behaviors skills; and
6. Increase their ability to navigate relationships with Hawaii’s unique prospective donor
community through organizational mentoring programs that strengthen cross-cultural
relationship-building skills.
Based on these findings, a discussion of the organizational recommendations to address the
knowledge, motivation, and organizational needs to achieve the global goal will be explored in
the next, and final, chapter of this dissertation. These recommendations were guided by the third
research question that guided this study:
What are the recommended knowledge, motivation, and organizational solutions?
In addition, a suggested organizational training program to support the achievement of the
training program learning goals and an integrated implementation plan to assess the
organizational training program will be discussed.

RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 95
CHAPTER FIVE: RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the results and findings of this study, four recommendations address the
knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences needed to achieve the global goal:
1. Provide relocated professional fundraisers with training to know how to effectively
communicate and establish credibility with prospective donors from Hawaii in order
to foster trust with them through demonstration, modeling, and feedback by local
professional fundraisers during face-to-face visits with donors;
2. Provide relocated professional fundraisers with job aids that break down how to
establish credibility and self-monitor with prospective donors from Hawaii and
encourage relocated professional fundraisers to think about content in strategic ways;
3. The organization should use relocated professional fundraiser assessments related to
cross-cultural norms and behaviors to drive placement of individuals along a training
instruction pipeline based on identified training needs; and
4. The organization should use relocated professional fundraiser supervisor progress
reports related to skills in relationship-building with prospective donors from Hawaii
to hold relocated professional fundraisers accountable to what they learned.
These recommendations provide the foundation for a suggested organizational training
program that will support the achievement of five relocated professional fundraiser learning
goals. Learning goals are what the relocated professional fundraisers need to know and be able
to do following the completion of participation in an organizational training program in order to
achieve the global goal. The first learning goal is to critique other relocated professional
fundraisers as they practice communicating with people from Hawaii. Differentiate between
how they established credibility with prospective donors when they worked on the mainland U.S.
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 96
and how they will establish credibility with prospective donors from Hawaii is the second
learning goal. The third learning goal is to implement strategies to self-monitor to create positive
impressions with prospective donors from Hawaii. Explain Hawaii’s cultural norms and
behaviors is the fourth learning goal. The fifth learning goal of the training program is to
summarize the method of building relationships with prospective donors from Hawaii.
An integrated implementation and evaluation plan for the recommended organizational
training program was designed using the Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2016) construct for
evaluating organizational training programs. Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2016) explained that
the premise of the construct is that organizations seeking to increase training program outcomes
should focus on four levels of training program evaluation beginning with the most important
level, the organizational results. The authors asserted that the construct then encourages
evaluation of the behavior of the participants on the job based on what they learned from the
program, then evaluation of what the participants learned from the program, and finally, the
evaluation of the participants’ reactions to the program.
Recommendations for Practice to Address the Knowledge, Motivation, and Organizational
Needs
Recommendation 1: Training to Develop Relocated Professional Fundraisers’ Skills
According to Clark and Estes (2008), one of the areas that employees need to address to
solve their performance issues and achieve their goals is organizational work processes and
material resources. In this study, the literature uncovered four assumed organizational influences
that relocated professional fundraisers need to achieve the global goal. These four influences fell
within the work processes area, specifically, organizational culture. The first influence was that
the organization’s leadership values the importance of creating an environment conducive to
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 97
reducing the cultural shock effects (Guy & Patton, 1996; Smith, 2010) of its relocated
professional fundraisers when they relocate to Hawaii. The organizational leadership’s belief in
the importance of developing the intercultural communication skills (Bush et al., 2001; Smith,
2010) of its relocated professional fundraisers was the second influence. The third influence was
that the organization provides a training program to support the development of skills related to
cross-cultural norms and behaviors (Guy & Patton, 1996; Smith, 2010) of its relocated
professional fundraisers. The organization provides a mentoring program that focuses on
strengthening cross-cultural relationship-building skills (Thomas, 2010) of its relocated
professional fundraisers was the fourth influence.
The results and findings of this study deemed that two of the organizational influences
were needed to achieve the global goal. The first organizational need, indicated by eight of the
11 participants, was providing a training program to support the development of its relocated
professional fundraisers’ skills related to cross-cultural norms and behaviors. Providing a
mentoring program that focuses on strengthening cross-cultural relationship-building skills was
the second organizational need indicated by six of the participants. Since both needs impact the
ability of relocated professional fundraisers to achieve the global goal, both were prioritized in
the recommendations and planning of the implementation and evaluation of a training program.
Based on the two organizational needs, context-specific recommendations grounded in
theoretical principles have been provided. Table 8 illustrates an overview of the theoretically-
based recommendations to help address the organizational needs.

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Table 8
Summary of Organizational Needs and Recommendations
Organizational Need Principle and Citation

Context-Specific
Recommendation
The organization needs to
provide an internal
comprehensive training
program to support the
development of its relocated
professional fundraisers’
skills related to cross-cultural
norms and behaviors.

Measurement of learning and
performance are essential
components of an effective
accountability system capable
of improving organizational
performance.
Systems of accountability
should address how learning
is measured (Dowd & Shieh,
2013; Golden, 2006).
The organization should
use relocated
professional fundraiser
assessments related to
cross-cultural norms and
behaviors to drive
placement of individuals
along a training
instruction pipeline based
on identified training
needs.
The organization needs to
provide a mentoring program
that focuses on strengthening
cross-cultural relationship-
building skills of its relocated
professional fundraisers.
Measurement of learning and
performance are essential
components of an effective
accountability system capable
of improving organizational
performance. Measuring
learning is crucial in the
decision-making process
(Marsh & Farrell, 2015).
The organization should
use relocated
professional fundraiser
supervisor progress
reports related to skills in
relationship-building
with prospective donors
from Hawaii to hold
relocated professional
fundraisers accountable
to what they learned.

Developing relocated professional fundraisers’ skills related to cross-cultural norms
and behaviors through a training program. The results and findings of this study revealed
that eight participants identified that organizations need to provide an internal comprehensive
training program to support the development of relocated professional fundraisers’ skills related
to cross-cultural norms and behaviors. A solution rooted in accountability theory has been
selected to address this organizational need. Dowd and Shieh (2013) and Golden (2006) found
that the measurement of learning and performance are essential components of an effective
accountability system capable of improving organizational performance. This would suggest
that if organizations measured the learning and performance of relocated professional fundraisers
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 99
related to cross-cultural norms and behaviors, then organizations could use the results to inform
training. Accordingly, the recommendation is for organizations to use relocated professional
fundraiser assessments related to cross-cultural norms and behaviors to drive placement of
individuals along a training instruction pipeline based on identified training needs.
Organizations can implement, as an example, annual evaluations that include an indicator related
to cross-cultural norms and behaviors with prospective donors from Hawaii. If there is a
knowledge and skills gap identified, then organizations can place the relocated professional
fundraisers onto a training glide path accordingly.
Based on Clark and Estes’ (2008) construct for improving organizational performance,
training was identified as a solution to close the relocated professional fundraisers’
organizational culture gap. The authors explained that training is as a way to impart new
organizational culture into an organization and change employees’ cultural behaviors at work.
In this study, the leadership of organizations did not develop the relocated professional
fundraisers skills related to cross-cultural norms and behaviors through training, but
organizations need to do so to help relocated professional fundraisers achieve their performance
goals. Using professional fundraiser assessments to drive cross-cultural training instruction as
the recommended solution to close the organizational culture gap was reinforced by a
quantitative study of 206 expatriates of a French multinational corporation (Wurtz, 2014). Wurtz
(2014) found a significant positive relationship between annual performance evaluations and
cross-cultural training, specifically, those training programs executed once the expatriate was in
the new country. The authors’ research can be transferred to this study because according to six
participants of this study, moving to Hawaii was like moving to a new country because of the
strong Asian cultural norms and behaviors. Therefore, if organizations institute indicators on
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relocated professional fundraiser assessments related to cross-cultural norms and behaviors to
drive training instruction, then relocated professional fundraisers’ cross-cultural norms and
behaviors skills will develop, and their performance will increase.
Recommendation 2: Increase the Knowledge of Relocated Professional Fundraisers
Through Training to Develop Their Skills
According to Krathwohl (2002), employees need four knowledge types—factual,
conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive—to solve their performance problems and achieve
their goals. In this study, the literature revealed three assumed knowledge influences that
relocated professional fundraisers need to achieve the global goal. These influences fell within
two knowledge types, procedural and metacognitive. The two procedural knowledge influences
related to communicating effectively and establishing credibility with prospective donors from
Hawaii, and the metacognitive knowledge influence was associated with self-monitoring to
create positive impressions with prospective donors from Hawaii (Bush et al., 2001; Evans et al.,
2012; Montagliani & Giacalone, 1998; Smith, 2010). The results and findings of this study
revealed that both procedural knowledge influences, communicating effectively and establishing
credibility with prospective donors from Hawaii, were stakeholder knowledge needed to achieve
the global goal. The participants deemed that knowing how to effectively communicate and
establish credibility with prospective donors from Hawaii was vital in fostering trust with them.
What was more, fostering trust was key to building relationships with them. Since eight of the
11 participants indicated that the procedural knowledge needs of communicating effectively and
establishing credibility were critical to fostering trust with prospective donors from Hawaii, both
needs strongly impact the ability of relocated professional fundraisers to achieve the global goal.
Thus, both needs were prioritized in the recommendations and planning of the implementation
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 101
and evaluation of a training program. In addition, the participants deemed the metacognitive
knowledge influence also needed to achieve the global goal. Accordingly, this need was also
prioritized in the recommendations and planning of the implementation and evaluation of the
training program. Based on the procedural and metacognitive knowledge needs, context-specific
recommendations grounded in theoretical principles have been provided. Table 9 illustrates an
overview of the theoretically-based recommendations to help address the knowledge needs.

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Table 9
Summary of Knowledge Needs and Recommendations
Knowledge Need Principle and Citation Context-Specific
Recommendation
Relocated professional
fundraisers must know how to
effectively communicate with
prospective donors from
Hawaii. (P)
Modeling to-be-learned
strategies or behaviors
improves self-efficacy,
learning, and performance
(Denler, Wolters, & Benzon,
2009).
Provide relocated
professional fundraisers with
training to know how to
effectively communicate
with prospective donors of
the local culture through
demonstration and modeling
by local professional
fundraisers during face-to-
face visits with donors.
Relocated professional
fundraisers must know how to
establish their credibility with
prospective donors from
Hawaii. (P)
To develop mastery,
individuals must acquire
component skills, practice
integrating them, and know
when to apply what they have
learned (McCrudden &
Schraw, 2006).
Provide relocated
professional fundraisers with
job aids that break down how
to establish credibility with
prospective donors of the
local culture and encourage
relocated professional
fundraisers to think about
content in strategic ways.
Relocated professional
fundraisers must assess their
ability to self-monitor to create
positive impressions with
prospective donors from
Hawaii. (M)
The use of metacognitive
strategies facilitates learning
(Baker, 2006).
Provide relocated
professional fundraisers with
job aids that break down how
to self-monitor to create
positive impressions with
prospective donors from
Hawaii in order to increase
their ability to self-monitor.

Increasing relocated professional fundraisers’ procedural knowledge about how to
communicate effectively with prospective donors from Hawaii. The results and findings of
this study revealed that all of the participants deemed that relocated professional fundraisers need
more in-depth procedural knowledge about how to communicate effectively with prospective
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donors from Hawaii. Accordingly, a recommendation rooted in social cognitive theory has been
selected to close the effective communication procedural knowledge gap. Denler, Wolters, and
Benzon (2009) found that modeling to-be-learned strategies or behaviors improves self-efficacy,
learning, and performance. This finding would suggest that providing relocated professional
fundraisers with guided practice and corrective feedback through training would support their
performance. The recommendation then is to provide relocated professional fundraisers with
training to know how to effectively communicate with prospective donors from Hawaii through
demonstration and modeling by professional fundraisers from Hawaii during face-to-face visits
with donors.
Based on Clark and Estes’ (2008) construct for improving organizational performance,
training was selected as the most likely type of solution to close the relocated professional
fundraisers’ procedural knowledge gap. The authors asserted that if the employees have limited
or no knowledge of the context but need to learn a new approach to tackle job tasks, then training
is the type of solution to close the knowledge gap. In this study, the relocated professional
fundraisers stated that they moved to Hawaii without the cultural knowledge to communicate
effectively with prospective donors from Hawaii, but need to communicate effectively with those
prospective donors to achieve their fundraising performance goals. The selection of training as
the type of solution to close the effective communication knowledge gap was reinforced by
Nixon and Dawson’s (2002) assertion that training can improve cross-cultural communication
effectiveness. Thus, training would be the type of solution most likely to help the relocated
professional fundraisers learn how to communicate effectively with prospective donors from
Hawaii.
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Recommendation 3: Increase the Self-Efficacy of Relocated Professional Fundraisers
Through Training to Develop Their Skills
In addition to the four knowledge types and organizational culture areas, Clark and Estes
(2008) explained that employees need motivation in three process areas—active choice,
persistence, and mental effort—to solve their performance problems and achieve their goals. In
this study, the literature revealed two assumed motivation influences that relocated professional
fundraisers need to achieve the global goal. These two influences fell within the three process
areas – active choice, persistence, and mental effort. The two influences were self-efficacy and
seeing the value (Eccles, 2006; Pajares, 2006; Rueda, 2011) in being culturally sensitive and
culturally aware in their interactions with prospective donors from Hawaii. The results and
findings of this study revealed that the first motivation influence, self-efficacy in being culturally
sensitive and culturally aware in their interactions with prospective donors from Hawaii, was a
stakeholder motivation needed to achieve the global goal. Since all of the participants’ identified
levels of confidence interacting with prospective donors from Hawaii correlated with their length
of time as professional fundraisers in Hawaii, this motivation need strongly impacts the ability of
relocated professional fundraisers to achieve the global goal. Thus, this motivation need was
prioritized in the recommendations and planning of the implementation and evaluation of a
training program. In addition, the participants deemed the second motivation influence, seeing
the value in being culturally sensitive and culturally aware in their interactions with prospective
donors from Hawaii, also needed to achieve the global goal. Accordingly, this motivation need
was also prioritized in the recommendations and planning of the implementation and evaluation
of the training program. Based on the motivation influences deemed as needed by participants,
context-specific recommendations grounded in theoretical principles have been provided. Table
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 105
10 illustrates an overview of the theoretically-based recommendations to help address the
motivation needs.

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Table 10
Summary of Motivation Needs and Recommendations
Motivation Need

Principle and Citation Context-Specific
Recommendation
Relocated professional
fundraisers must feel
confident that they can be
culturally sensitive and
culturally aware in their
interactions with prospective
donors from Hawaii.
Modeling and feedback
increases self-efficacy
(Pajares, 2006).
Provide relocated
professional fundraisers with
training to include a
demonstration with
opportunities for practice and
feedback in being culturally
sensitive and culturally aware
in their interactions with
prospective donors from
Hawaii.
Relocated professional
fundraisers need to see the
value in being culturally
sensitive and culturally aware
in their interactions with
prospective donors from
Hawaii in order to meet their
fundraising performance
goals.
Rationales that include a
discussion of the
importance and utility
value of the work or
learning can help learners
develop positive values
(Eccles, 2006; Pintrich,
2003).
Provide relocated
professional fundraisers with
job aids that include
rationales about the
importance and utility value
of being culturally sensitive
and culturally aware in their
interactions with prospective
donors from Hawaii.

Increasing self-efficacy of relocated professional fundraisers. The results and
findings of this study revealed that relocated professional fundraisers who have not been
professional fundraisers in Hawaii for many years were not confident that they could be
culturally sensitive and culturally aware in their interactions with prospective donors from
Hawaii. The stakeholder’s lack of confidence indicates a solution rooted in self-efficacy theory
would be most effective at overcoming this gap. Pajares (2006) found that modeling and
feedback increases self-efficacy. This would suggest that providing learners with a
demonstration of what they need to do and then providing feedback on their performance would
increase their self-efficacy. The recommendation then is for the organization to incorporate into
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their training a demonstration with opportunities for practice and feedback in being culturally
sensitive and culturally aware in their interactions with prospective donors from Hawaii.
Based on Clark and Estes’ (2008) construct for improving organizational performance,
feedback was selected as the most likely type of solution to close the relocated professional
fundraisers’ procedural motivation gap. The authors asserted that if the employees have a lack of
confidence to tackle job tasks, then feedback is the type of solution to close the motivation gap.
In this study, the participants’ identified higher levels of confidence being culturally sensitive
and culturally aware with prospective donors from Hawaii correlated with more extensive time
as a professional fundraiser in Hawaii. But for those relocated professional fundraisers who
stated that they lack the confidence to be culturally sensitive and culturally aware with
prospective donors from Hawaii, they still need to do so to tackle the job task of achieving their
fundraising performance goals. The selection of feedback as the type of solution to close the
self-efficacy motivation gap was reinforced by Dimotakis, Mitchell, and Maurer’s (2017)
assertion that feedback can improve self-efficacy. Thus, feedback would be the type of solution
most likely to help the relocated professional fundraisers learn how to be culturally sensitive and
culturally aware in their interactions with prospective donors from Hawaii.
Integrated Implementation and Evaluation Plan
Implementation and Evaluation Framework
Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2016) offered a construct for evaluating organizational
training programs. The premise of the construct is that organizations seeking to increase training
program outcomes should focus on four levels of training program evaluation beginning with the
most important level, Level 4 (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). The authors specified that this
critical level focuses on the organization’s desired results of the training program attained
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 108
through on-the-job performance of training participants. Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick further
explained that the next level for an organization to consider is Level 3, how well the participants
change their behavior to apply what they learned from the training on the job. The authors
described Level 2, the next level for consideration, as how well the participants learn the
“knowledge, skills, attitude, confidence and commitment” from the training (p. 15). Kirkpatrick
and Kirkpatrick identified the final level for consideration, Level 1, as the participants’ reactions
to the training measured by how much they found the training “favorable, engaging and relevant
to their jobs” (p. 17). This study used the Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2016) construct for
evaluating organizational training programs to design an integrated implementation and
evaluation plan for this study’s recommendations.
Organizational Purpose, Need, and Expectations
This study’s field-based global goal was that relocated professional fundraisers employed
by Hawaii organizations will implement culturally sensitive and culturally aware fundraising
strategies for all prospective donors from Hawaii in their individual portfolios. If professional
fundraisers in diverse cultural environments are unable to implement effective fundraising
strategies, then this inability can lead to poor fundraising performance and ultimately, hinders
their organization’s capacity to increase fundraising dollars from prospective donors from
Hawaii. The expectations of this study’s recommendations for relocated professional fundraisers
was to help them increase gifts from prospective donors from Hawaii and professional
satisfaction for themselves.
Level 4: Results and Leading Indicators
Five external and internal short-term observations would indicate whether relocated
professional fundraisers are implementing culturally sensitive and culturally aware fundraising
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 109
strategies for all prospective donors from Hawaii in their portfolios. The first external
observation would be a decrease in complaints by prospective donors from Hawaii about their
interactions with relocated professional fundraisers. This observation would be measured by the
number of formal complaints from prospective donors from Hawaii that are made to the
organization’s leadership via phone, email, mail, and in-person between fiscal quarters. An
increase in prospective donors from Hawaii who give gifts year-over-year would be the second
external observation. This observation would be measured by the number of prospective donors
from Hawaii who give gifts in year 1 and 2, 2 and 3, 3 and 4, and so on. The first internal
observation would be an increase in successful gift solicitations by relocated professional
fundraisers to prospective donors from Hawaii. This observation would be measured by the
close rate of gifts from prospective donors from Hawaii, the number of gift solicitations
compared to the number of gifts closed, made by relocated professional fundraisers between
fiscal quarters. An increase in personal visits between relocated professional fundraisers and
prospective donors from Hawaii would be the second internal observation. This observation
would be measured by the number of personal visits between relocated professional fundraisers
and prospective donors from Hawaii between fiscal quarters. The final internal observation
would be a decrease in voluntary turnover of relocated professional fundraisers. This
observation would be measured by the voluntary turnover rates of relocated professional
fundraiser employees between fiscal years. Table 11 illustrates an overview of the external and
internal observations, how the observations would be measured, and the methods to attain the
data required for the measures.

RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 110
Table 11

Outcomes, Metrics, and Methods for External and Internal Outcomes

Outcome Metric Method
External Outcomes
Decrease in complaints by
prospective donors from
Hawaii about their
interactions with relocated
professional fundraisers
Number of formal complaints
from prospective donors from
Hawaii made to the
organization’s leadership (via
phone, email, mail, and in-
person) between fiscal quarters
Report of formal complaints
from prospective donors from
Hawaii reviewed by the
organization’s leadership
Increase in prospective
donors from Hawaii who
give gifts year-over-year
Number of prospective donors
from Hawaii who give gifts in
year 1 and 2, 2 and 3, 3 and 4,
and so on
Fiscal year recurring donor
(year-over-year) data report
reviewed by the organization’s
leadership
Internal Outcomes
Increase in successful gift
solicitations by relocated
professional fundraisers to
prospective donors from
Hawaii
Close rate of gifts from
prospective donors from Hawaii
(measured by number of gift
solicitations to number of gifts
closed) made by relocated
professional fundraisers between
fiscal quarters
Fiscal quarterly close rate data
report reviewed by the
organization’s leadership
Increase in personal visits
between relocated
professional fundraisers
and prospective donors
from Hawaii
Number of personal visits
between relocated professional
fundraisers and prospective
donors from Hawaii between
fiscal quarters
Fiscal quarterly personal visits
data reviewed by the
organization’s leadership
Decrease in voluntary
turnover of relocated
professional fundraisers

Voluntary turnover rates of
relocated professional fundraiser
employees between fiscal years
HR to review relocated
professional fundraiser
employee turnover data at the
end of every fiscal year and
submit year-over-year report

Level 3: Behavior
Critical behaviors. In order to achieve the five external and internal outcomes, the
relocated professional fundraisers would have to demonstrate five critical behaviors—the on-the-
job actions that reflect an understanding of how to implement culturally sensitive and culturally
aware fundraising strategies. The first critical behavior that the relocated professional fundraisers
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must demonstrate is an understanding of how to effectively communicate with prospective
donors from Hawaii. Knowing how to establish their credibility with prospective donors from
Hawaii is the second critical behavior. The third critical behavior that the relocated fundraisers
must demonstrate is an understanding of how to self-monitor to create positive impressions with
prospective donors from Hawaii. Demonstrating an understanding of cultural norms and
behaviors in their interactions with prospective donors from Hawaii is the fourth critical
behavior. The fifth critical behavior is demonstrating an understanding of building relationships
with prospective donors from Hawaii. Table 12 illustrates an overview of the critical behaviors,
how the critical behaviors would be measured, the methods to attain the data required for the
measures, and the timing of acquiring the data.

RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 112
Table 12

Critical Behaviors, Metrics, Methods, and Timing for Evaluation
Critical Behavior Metric
Method
Timing
1. Relocated
professional
fundraisers
demonstrate an
understanding of how
to communicate
effectively with
prospective donors
from Hawaii
Effective intercultural
communication
discussed with
supervisor and
progress review form
signed by both the
supervisor and
relocated professional
fundraiser
Effective intercultural
communication progress
review form submitted
to the organization’s
leadership
After every visit
with prospective
donors from Hawaii
(done in conjunction
with Critical
Behaviors #2, #3,
#4, and #5)
2. Relocated
professional
fundraisers
demonstrate knowing
how to establish their
credibility with
prospective donors
from Hawaii
Establishing
credibility discussed
with supervisor and
progress review form
signed by both the
supervisor and
relocated professional
fundraiser
Establishing credibility
progress review form
submitted to the
organization’s
leadership
After every visit
with prospective
donors from Hawaii
(done in conjunction
with Critical
Behaviors #1, #3,
#4, and #5)
3. Relocated
professional
fundraisers
demonstrate knowing
how to self-monitor to
create positive
impressions with
prospective donors
from Hawaii
Self-monitoring to
create positive
impressions discussed
with supervisor and
progress review form
signed by both the
supervisor and
relocated professional
fundraiser
Self-monitoring to
create positive
impressions progress
review form submitted
to the organization’s
leadership
After every visit
with prospective
donors from Hawaii
(done in conjunction
with Critical
Behaviors #1,# 2,
#4, and #5)
4. Relocated
professional
fundraisers
demonstrate an
understanding of
cultural norms and
behaviors in their
interactions with
prospective donors
from Hawaii
Cultural norms and
behaviors discussed
with supervisor and
progress review form
signed by both the
supervisor and
relocated professional
fundraiser
Cultural norms and
behaviors progress
review form submitted
to the organization’s
leadership
After every visit
with prospective
donors from Hawaii
(done in conjunction
with Critical
Behaviors #1, #2,
#3, and #5)
5. Relocated
professional
fundraisers
demonstrate an
understanding of
Relationship-building
with prospective
donors from Hawaii
discussed with
supervisor and
Relationship-building
with prospective donors
from Hawaii progress
review form submitted
to the organization’s
After every visit
with prospective
donors from Hawaii
(done in conjunction
with Critical
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 113
building relationships
with prospective
donors from Hawaii
progress review form
signed by both the
supervisor and
relocated professional
fundraiser
leadership Behaviors #1, #2,
#3, and #4)

Required drivers. Organizational processes and systems that reinforce, monitor,
encourage, and reward performance of the critical behaviors are necessary to support the
achievement of the external and internal outcomes (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). In this
study, the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences needed to achieve the global
goal helped to determine these required drivers. The two procedural knowledge needs related to
communicating effectively and establishing credibility with prospective donors from Hawaii and
the metacognitive knowledge need was associated with self-monitoring to create positive
impressions with prospective donors from Hawaii (Bush et al., 2001; Evans et al., 2012;
Montagliani & Giacalone, 1998; Smith, 2010). The two motivation needs were self-efficacy and
seeing the value (Eccles, 2006; Pajares, 2006; Rueda, 2011) in being culturally sensitive and
culturally aware in their interactions with prospective donors from Hawaii. The two
organizational needs were that the organization provides a training program to support the
development of its relocated professional fundraisers’ skills related to cross-cultural norms and
behaviors (Guy & Patton, 1996; Smith, 2010) and the organization provides a mentoring
program that focuses on strengthening cross-cultural relationship-building skills of its relocated
professional fundraisers (Thomas, 2010). Table 13 illustrates an overview of the required drivers
necessary to drive the relocated professional fundraisers’ critical behaviors that support the
achievement of the external and internal outcomes, the timing or frequency needed of the
required drivers, and an identification of which critical behavior is driven by each required
driver.
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Table 13
Required Drivers to Support Critical Behaviors
Method Timing
Critical Behaviors
Supported
Reinforcing
HR manager provides
relocated professional
fundraisers with job aids that
break down how to
communicate effectively,
establish credibility, and self-
monitor to create positive
impressions with prospective
donors from Hawaii and
encourages relocated
professional fundraisers to
think about content in
strategic ways
During onboarding of
relocated professional
fundraisers
1, 2, 3
HR manager supplies a form
with instructions for
supervisors to review the
effective communication,
establishing credibility, self-
monitor, cultural norms and
behaviors, and relationship-
building progress of relocated
professional fundraisers
During onboarding of
relocated professional
fundraisers
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
HR manager provides a job
aid to supervisors for how to
conduct effective
communication, establishing
credibility, self-monitor,
cultural norms and behaviors,
and relationship -building
reviews
During onboarding of
relocated professional
fundraisers
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Encouraging
HR manager convenes and
facilitates a discussion with
relocated professional
fundraisers and local
professional fundraisers
related to effective
communication, establishing
credibility, self-monitor,
During onboarding of
relocated professional
fundraisers
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
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cultural norms and behaviors,
and relationship-building
successes and lessons learned
through their visits with
prospective donors from
Hawaii
Rewarding
Organization’s leadership
privately acknowledges
relocated professional
fundraisers’ improvements
related to effective
communication, establishing
credibility, self-monitor,
cultural norms and behaviors,
and relationship-building in
their interactions with
prospective donors from
Hawaii
During onboarding of
relocated professional
fundraisers
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Monitoring
Supervisors join in on visits
with relocated professional
fundraisers and prospective
donors from Hawaii to
observe effective
communication, establishing
credibility, self-monitor,
cultural norms and behaviors,
and relationship-building
During onboarding of
relocated professional
fundraisers
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Relocated professional
fundraisers meet with their
supervisors to discuss
challenges with their visits
with prospective donors from
Hawaii
Weekly 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Organizational support. Organizations should support relocated professional
fundraisers’ critical behaviors in two ways. First, organizations should institute indicators on
relocated professional fundraiser assessments related to cross-cultural norms and behaviors to
drive training instruction. Relocated professional fundraisers’ cross-cultural norms and
behaviors skills will then develop and their performance will increase. Second, organizations
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 116
should include indicators on relocated professional fundraiser assessments related to cross-
cultural relationship-building skills to enable their skills to develop and their performance to
increase.
Level 2: Learning
Learning goals. In order to perform the critical behaviors listed above, there are five
learning goals that the relocated professional fundraisers need to achieve—what they need to
know and be able to do—following the completion of participation in an organizational training
program:
1. Critique other relocated professional fundraisers as they practice communicating with
people from Hawaii;
2. Differentiate between how they established credibility with prospective donors when they
worked on the mainland U.S. and how they will establish credibility with prospective
donors from Hawaii is the second learning goal;
3. Implement strategies to self-monitor to create positive impressions with prospective
donors from Hawaii;
4. Explain Hawaii’s cultural norms and behaviors; and
5. Summarize the method of building relationships with prospective donors from Hawaii is
the fourth learning goal.
Program. Based on the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences needed to
achieve the global goal and recommendations of this study, a recommended organizational
training program will support the achievement of the four relocated professional fundraiser
learning goals. The recommended program will begin during the onboarding period with
relocated professional assessments related to cross-cultural norms and behaviors. The
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 117
assessments will drive the placement of individuals along a training instruction pipeline based on
identified training needs. Three training modules along the instruction pipeline will run for one
month per module.
The first training module will be related to how to effectively communicate with
prospective donors of the local culture through demonstration and modeling by local professional
fundraisers. The second module will be to walk through job aids that break down how to
establish credibility with prospective donors of the local culture and encourage relocated
professional fundraisers to think about content in strategic ways. The final module will focus on
strengthening relationship-building skills with prospective donors from Hawaii.
Evaluation of the components of learning. Table 14 illustrates an overview of the
methods and activities necessary to evaluate the components of learning for the training program
and the timing of the methods and activities. The first method or activity, review notes and
observations with supervisors at the end of the training modules, will be used to evaluate the
declarative knowledge of the relocated professional fundraiser. Role playing conversations with
prospective donors of the local culture is the second method or activity. This method or activity
will be used to evaluate the procedural skills of the relocated professional fundraiser during the
training modules. The third method or activity, instructor observations of active engagement in
the modules during the training modules, will be used to evaluate the attitude of the relocated
professional fundraisers toward the knowledge and skills being taught. Based on these
observations, the instructor can determine whether discussion is required related to the on-the-
job performance expectations. Discussion about application concerns and barriers and pre- and
post-training program survey related to confidence-level to interact with prospective donors from
Hawaii are the fourth methods or activities. These methods or activities will be used during the
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 118
training modules to evaluate the confidence of the relocated professional fundraisers to perform
the new skills on the job. The final method or activity, create an action plan of how they will
build relationships with prospective donors of the local culture, will be used to evaluate the
commitment of the relocated professional fundraisers to perform the new skills on the job. The
fundraisers will create their action plans at the end of the training program.

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Table 14
Evaluation of the Components of Learning for the Program
Methods or Activities Timing
Declarative Knowledge “I know it.”
Review of summarized notes and observations
from all modules with supervisor
After (completion of each training module)
Procedural Skills “I can do it right now.”
Role play conversations with prospective
donors of from Hawaii
During
Attitude “I believe this is worthwhile.”
Instructor observations of active engagement in
the modules (instructor can determine whether
discussion is required related to the on-the-job
performance expectations)
During
Confidence “I think I can do it on the job.”
Discussion in small groups about application
concerns and barriers
During
Pre- and post-training program survey related
to confidence-level to interact with prospective
donors from Hawaii
Before and After
Commitment “I will do it on the job.”
Create an action plan of how they will build
relationships with prospective donors from
Hawaii
After (completion of the entire training
program)

Level 1: Reaction
The quality of the training program and instructor is critical to support the achievement of
the program learning goals (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). In order to evaluate the quality of
the training program, the level that the relocated professional fundraiser participants find the
training program modules engaging, relevant, and favorable to their jobs will be evaluated.
Table 15 illustrates an overview of the methods or tools in three evaluation areas to measure the
reactions of the relocated professional fundraisers who participate in the training program and
the timing to implement the evaluation methods or tools. The first evaluation area is the
relocated professional fundraisers’ engagement level in the training module. The level of
engagement will be measured during each module by asking meaningful questions, active
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 120
participation in the role-playing scenarios and discussions, and an anonymous survey at the end
of each module. The relocated professional fundraisers’ perspective on whether the training
module content is relevant is the second evaluation area. The level of relevance will be
measured by the instructor doing a pulse check during the module if he or she senses there is a
problem and an anonymous survey at the end of each module. The final evaluation area is the
relocated professional fundraisers’ satisfaction of the training module. The level of satisfaction
will be measured by the instructor’s observation during each module and an anonymous survey
at the end of each module.

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Table 15
Components to Measure Reactions to the Program
Methods or Tools Timing
Engagement
Asking meaningful questions During each module
Active participation in role playing scenarios
and discussions
During each module
Anonymous survey End of each module
Relevance
Instructor pulse check if he/she senses there is
a problem
During each module
Anonymous survey End of each module
Customer Satisfaction
Instructor observation During each module
Anonymous survey End of each module

Evaluation Tools
Immediately following the program implementation. An anonymous survey is an
evaluation tool that can be used to evaluate the quality of the training program (Kirkpatrick &
Kirkpatrick, 2016). The authors affirmed that an effective survey administered immediately after
the conclusion of the training program evaluates multiple levels from numerous dimensions in
order to proactively understand what is in store when program participants apply what they
learned to their jobs. Appendix C illustrates a sample immediate evaluation survey to evaluate
all dimensions of Level 1 and Level 2 of this study. The survey uses a Likert 5-point response
scale for respondents to express how much they agree or disagree with various statements or
items and should be implemented to training participants immediately following the completion
of each training module.
Delayed for a period after the program implementation. According to Kirkpatrick
and Kirkpatrick (2016), when the training program participants have had a chance to apply what
they learned to their jobs, another anonymous survey can be used to further evaluate the quality
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 122
of the training program from all four evaluation levels. Appendix D illustrates a sample delayed
evaluation survey to evaluate Levels 1, 2, 3, and 4 of this study. The survey should be
implemented three months after the completion of the training program. A Likert 5-point
response scale is used again for respondents to express how much they agree or disagree with
various statements or items.
Data Analysis and Reporting
After administering the immediate and delayed evaluation surveys, the organization’s
human resources manager should collect and analyze the data at each of the four levels of
evaluation. Since specific target measures for this training program cannot be established
beforehand, the analysis should consider targets based on an educated guess and then refined
using pilot data (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). All targets will be calculated based on a
minimum outcome score expectation of a 4 on a 5-point Likert scale for each item of the
corresponding levels of evaluation. The outcome score expectation equates to the participant’s
response of at least an “agree” on each item. Thus, a 100% outcome score-to-target ratio is
needed to meet expectations. For example, the target for the Level 1 immediate evaluation
survey is 24 since there are six Level 1 items with a minimum score expectation of a 4. Where
survey outcome scores do not meet the identified targets, the organization should identify and fix
the issue before training program targeted results are not achieved. The organization can use the
responses to the Level 2 and Level 3 open-ended questions to identify possible issues.
Appendix E illustrates two sample dashboards to message the findings from the analysis
of the immediate and delayed evaluation surveys of this study. The first dashboard will highlight
the findings from evaluation Levels 1 and 2. The findings from evaluation Levels 3 and 4 will
be highlighted in the second dashboard. The organization’s human resources manager could
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disseminate the dashboards to the training program facilitators to adjust the direction of the
training modules for increased future results. The human resources manager can also share the
dashboards with the relocated professional fundraiser’s supervisor to support the on-the-job
application of knowledge and skills learned from the training program. Finally, the dashboards
can be disseminated to the organization’s leadership to assist in understanding the return on
investment of the implementation of the training program.
Summary
In order for organizations to optimize achievement of the global goal and the
organizational goal, this study employed the use of the Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2016)
construct for evaluating organizational training programs to design an integrated implementation
and evaluation plan for the recommendations of this study. The knowledge, motivation, and
organizational recommendations of this study influenced the design of the integrated
implementation and evaluation plan. One of the key advantages of integrating the
implementation and evaluation is to be able to evaluate the program as it is being implemented in
order to influence the direction of the program and maximize future results, and ultimately,
increase the training program’s value as a return on expectations. Through the integration of the
implementation and evaluation of the recommendations, the researcher of this study expects that
the training program will be more effective in achieving Level 4 organizational results and
thereby, the global goal.
Limitations and Delimitations
The researcher foresees three possible limitations of this study based on the researcher’s
inability to control factors in the execution of the methodology that impact the interpretation of
the findings of this study. Since the primary data collection method was qualitative interviews,
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 124
the first possible limitation is the dependency upon self-reported data. Specifically, the level of
bias and truthfulness of the professional fundraiser participants’ responses to the interview
questions. The researcher’s access to organizational documents is another possible limitation of
this study. Based on the recommendation of this study’s dissertation committee, the researcher
initially asked all participants for their organization’s annual fund solicitation letter documents to
analyze for cultural sensitivity and cultural awareness. However, the documents provided were
either impact reports or annual reports to donors where a direct solicitation was not necessarily
made. The third possible limitation is the longitudinal effect on the data collection for this study.
The timeframe for data collection was about one semester. When the researcher gathered and
interpreted the findings, two of the organizational influence were deemed not needed to achieve
the global goal. In order to confirm these findings, the researcher would have wanted to delve
deeper with participants into the reasons these were not needed via second interviews or small
focus groups.
The researcher also anticipates one possible delimitation of this study based on the
choices that the researcher made that have implications for the data that was collected and the
impact upon the interpretation of the findings of this study. The possible delimitation is the lack
of prior research related to the focus of this study. There was very limited research on the
importance of culturally sensitive and culturally aware fundraising strategies in diverse cultural
environments and its relationship to achieving professional fundraiser success. The literature
review revealed a gap in research and provided an opportunity to develop a new research
typology related to the sub-group of relocated professional fundraisers in Hawaii. However, due
to the very limited research available on the literature that provided the foundation for
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 125
understanding the research problem of this study and that the conceptual framework was
developed upon, there is a need for future research in this area.
Recommendations for Further Research
Future research could explore two areas based on the results and findings of this study.
The first area relates to the professional fundraiser individual productivity metrics implemented
in Hawaii organizations. Specifically, the results and findings revealed that the prospective
donors from Hawaii have a slower pace in their philanthropic process compared to prospective
donors from the mainland U.S. The current trend of professional fundraiser individual
productivity metrics implemented in Hawaii organizations follow that of mainland U.S.-based
organizations. However, the mainland U.S. organizations interact with mainland U.S.
prospective donors whose philanthropic process pace are faster than that of prospective donors
from Hawaii. Thus, the individual productivity metrics employed on mainland U.S. professional
fundraisers are reflective of the faster philanthropic pace of the mainland U.S. donor base.
Accordingly, do mainland U.S. donor-based individual productivity metrics foster the most
effective behavior and fundraising results of professional fundraisers interacting with prospective
donors from Hawaii? The second area for future research is to explore whether the results and
findings would vastly differ if the sample included more male professional fundraisers. The
sample of this study included 10 female professional fundraisers and one male fundraiser.
Conclusion
Based on Hawaii’s unique culture and history, professional fundraising in Hawaii is
complex and can be challenging to navigate as a newcomer to Hawaii from the mainland U.S. If
Hawaii organizations that employ relocated professional fundraisers want them to be successful,
then it has to provide them with training that helps them increase their knowledge and skills of
RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 126
how to communicate effectively and build credibility with prospective donors from Hawaii and
self-monitor to create positive impressions with them. Moreover, the training must help them
increase their self-efficacy in being able to be culturally sensitive and culturally aware in their
interactions with prospective donors from Hawaii and see the value in doing so.
While Hawaii was the cultural context for this study, the findings uncovered that it is
crucial for relocated professional fundraisers to understand the cultural context they are
fundraising in to be able to build relationships with local donors and implement effective
fundraising strategies in the new cultural environment. Thus, organizations across the U.S. that
employ relocated professional fundraisers must develop their cultural sensitivity and cultural
awareness unique to that specific, new cultural environment.

RELOCATED FUNDRAISERS 127
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Appendix A

Interview Protocol
The researcher provided the interviewee with an interview introduction to include a brief
overview of the study and guidelines for the interview. The interview introduction language
consisted of the following: Thank you again for agreeing to be a part of this study. Your
thoughts related to your experiences interacting with prospective donors from Hawaii are
invaluable to this study and I want to thank you for taking time for this interview today. I would
like to begin by providing you with a quick recap of the purpose of this study. I am focused on
discovering the knowledge, motivation, and organizational needs of the professional fundraisers
that Hawaii organizations recruit from outside of Hawaii related to their interactions with
prospective donors from Hawaii. Do you have any questions about the purpose of this study?
(Wait for a response and respond accordingly.) I would now like to provide you with a few
guidelines for this interview. First, please know that what you say today will be held in
confidence. I will use a pseudonym for your name in my notes and written reports. No one will
know the link between your name and that pseudonym except for me. Any quotes of what you
say that I use in my written reports will be attributed to that pseudonym. Even if your
organizational leadership asks to know who said a specific quote in my written report, I will not
provide that information to them. Also, if you mention the name of any prospective donors or
donors in response to any of the questions, then I will either use a pseudonym for that donor
name or refer to that person as the “prospective donor” or the “donor” in my notes and written
reports. Next, during this interview, please know that you can decide not to answer any question
for any reason. You can also withdraw from the study at any time during or after this interview
and for any reason. Finally, I want be sure that I accurately record what you say today. So,
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would you be okay if we audio record our session? Please know that the audio tape and any
written notes from today’s session will be kept in a locked safe in my home for two years from
the date I submit my final written report to USC and then I will destroy it. If you are okay with
the audio recording and all of the considerations I reviewed, then please sign this informed
consent form. (Once interviewee signed the informed consent form, the researcher proceeded
with the interview questions detailed in the next section.)
Interview Questions

(Interview questions in green font were asked only of the professional fundraiser
participants who were born and raised in Hawaii, while those in blue font were asked of the
relocated professional fundraiser participants. All participants were asked the other interview
questions.) My first set of questions is related to your experiences interacting with prospective
donors from Hawaii. What I mean by “from Hawaii” is that the prospective donors were born
and raised or just raised in Hawaii.
1. What has been your experience when interacting with prospective donors from Hawaii?
a. Follow-up question 1: What have you seen relocated professional fundraisers
struggle with when interacting with prospective donors from Hawaii?
(Knowledge—communicate effectively)
b. Follow-up question 1: What do you do particularly well in your interactions with
prospective donors from Hawaii? (Knowledge—communicate effectively)
c. Follow-up question 2: What have you struggled with in your interactions with
them? (Knowledge—communicate effectively)
2. What has influenced your ability to interact with prospective donors from Hawaii?
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a. Follow-up question 1: What about the role that communication plays?
(Knowledge—communicate effectively)
b. Follow-up question 2: What about the role that credibility plays? (Knowledge—
establish credibility)
c. Follow-up question 3: What about the role that your organization plays in your
ability to interact with them? (Organizational—cultural settings)
d. Follow-up question 4: Since you first began interacting with prospective donors
from Hawaii, how has your understanding about effectively interacting with them
changed? (Knowledge—self-monitor to create positive impressions)
e. Follow-up question 5: How did you approach understanding how to effectively
interact with prospective donors from Hawaii? (Knowledge—self-monitor to
create positive impressions)
3. How confident are you in being able to interact with prospective donors from Hawaii?
(Motivation—self-efficacy)
a. Follow-up question 1: What contributes to your confidence (or lack of
confidence)? (Motivation—self-efficacy)
b. Follow-up question 2: What about the role that your organization plays in your
confidence (or lack of confidence)? (Organizational—cultural settings)
My next set of questions focuses on exploring how you interact with prospective donors
from Hawaii. Again, what I mean by “from Hawaii” is that the prospective donors were born
and raised or just raised in Hawaii.
4. Please tell me about how you communicate with prospective donors from Hawaii?
(Knowledge—communicate effectively)
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a. Follow-up question 1: Why is it important to communicate with them in this
way? (Motivation—value)
5. Please describe how you build relationships with prospective donors from Hawaii that
you don’t already know? (Knowledge—establish credibility)
a. Follow-up question 1: Why is it important to build relationships with them in this
way? (Motivation—value)
6. Please tell me about how you ask a prospective donor from Hawaii for a gift?
(Knowledge—communicate effectively)
a. Follow-up question 1: Why is it important to ask them in this way?
(Motivation—value)
My final set of questions relates to general questions about fundraising in Hawaii.
7. If you were to train a new fundraiser to Hawaii, tell me what you would say is important
for them to do. (Knowledge—establish credibility)
a. Follow-up question 1: Why is this important for them to do? (Motivation—value)
b. Follow-up question 2: Please tell me about the role that your organization could
play in supporting that new fundraiser’s transition to fundraising in Hawaii.
(Organizational—cultural settings)
c. Follow-up question 3: What about the role your organization’s leadership can
play in reducing cultural shock effects of the new fundraiser’s transition?
(Organizational—cultural models)
d. Follow-up question 4: What about the role your organization’s leadership can
play in developing intercultural communication skills during the new fundraiser’s
transition? (Organizational—cultural models)
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8. How important is it that fundraisers in Hawaii use culturally aware and culturally
sensitive fundraising practices with prospective donors from Hawaii?
a. Follow-up question 1: Why is that important for them to do? (Motivation—value)
b. Follow-up question 2: What are some examples of culturally aware and culturally
sensitive fundraising practices?
c. Follow-up question 3: What fundraising practices are different than those you
used with donors on the mainland U.S.?

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Appendix B

Document Analysis Notes Template

Each document will be analyzed using the following notes template and guiding
questions.
Document Title:

Document Author: Organization ___

Document Analysis Date:

Document Analysis Focus: To examine whether the document communicates cultural awareness
and cultural sensitivity to the prospective donor audience.

Guiding Questions:

1. Does the content provide an educational aspect that demonstrates a respect for cultural
preference to exclusively monetarily support family members? (Cultural sensitivity)
2. Does the content reflect the humility of featured donors and the organization? (Cultural
awareness: Value of humility)
3. Does the content reflect the importance of the collective versus the individual? (Cultural
awareness: Value of collectivism)
4. Does the content reflect the importance of ancestors and family? (Cultural awareness:
Value of filial piety)
5. Does the content reflect Hawaii’s culture in visuals or words? (Cultural awareness:
Mission, policies, and practices reflective of local culture)
6. Does the content inform prospective donors of philanthropic opportunities without asking
directly for a gift? (Cultural awareness: Preserving one’s dignity by presenting an
opportunity and then waiting for a response)
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7. Does the content provide contact information for prospective donors to be able to follow-
up if interested in a philanthropic opportunity or does it state that the organization will
follow-up? (Cultural awareness: Preserving one’s dignity by presenting an opportunity
and then waiting for a response)

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Appendix C
Immediate Evaluation Instrument
Participant Survey
Instructions: Thinking about the training module that you just completed, please indicate to what
degree you agree with each item using the rating scale:
1 2 3 4 5
Strongly Disagree Neutral Strongly Agree

Item # Item Your Response (circle one)
1 I was encouraged by the facilitator to
participate throughout the training module.
1 2 3 4 5
2 I took responsibility for being involved in the
training module.
1 2 3 4 5
3 What I learned in this training module will
help me better interact with prospective
donors from Hawaii.
1 2 3 4 5
4 I am clear about what is expected of me when
interacting with prospective donors from
Hawaii as a result of participating in this
training module.
1 2 3 4 5
5 My learning was enhanced by the knowledge
of the facilitator of this training module.
1 2 3 4 5
6 The activities in this training module aided me
in learning the concepts.
1 2 3 4 5
7 I have all the knowledge I need to know how
to interact with prospective donors from
Hawaii in a culturally sensitive and culturally
aware manner.
1 2 3 4 5
8 I believe it will be worthwhile for me to apply
what I learned.
1 2 3 4 5
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9 I feel confident about applying what I learned
when interacting with prospective donors from
Hawaii.
1 2 3 4 5
10 I anticipate that I will receive the necessary
support from my supervisor to successfully
apply what I learned when interacting with
prospective donors from Hawaii.
1 2 3 4 5
11 I am committed to applying what I learned in
this training module during my interactions
with prospective donors from Hawaii.
1 2 3 4 5

12. What are the major concepts that you learned in this training module?

Comments:

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Appendix D
Delayed Evaluation Instrument
Participant Survey
Instructions: Thinking about the training program that you completed three months ago, please
indicate to what degree you agree with each item using the rating scale:
1 2 3 4 5
Strongly Disagree Neutral Strongly Agree

Item # Item Your Response (circle one)
1 The information provided in this training
program is applicable to my job interacting
with prospective donors from Hawaii.
1 2 3 4 5
2 Looking back, taking this course was a good
use of my time.
1 2 3 4 5
3 I was able to better interact with prospective
donors from Hawaii after completing this
training program.
1 2 3 4 5
4 I have successfully applied what I learned
from this training program in my interactions
with prospective donors from Hawaii.
1 2 3 4 5
5 My supervisor and I determined how I would
apply what I learned after this training
program.
1 2 3 4 5

6. Describe any challenges you are experiencing in applying what you learned from this training
program in your interactions with prospective donors from Hawaii, and possible solutions to
overcome the challenges.

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7. Please give an example of a positive outcome you have experienced in your interactions with
prospective donors from Hawaii since completing this training program.

Comments:

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Appendix E
Training Program Evaluation Data Analysis Dashboards
Below are two dashboards reporting the findings of the participant’s immediate and
delayed evaluation surveys for the training program. Where a checkmark (“ ✓”) is indicated in
the “Meets Expectations” box, the expectations for the indicated level of evaluation have been
met. If there is no checkmark in the “Meets Expectations” box, then the organization should
review the responses for the corresponding level of evaluation to determine and correct any
issues hindering the achievement of results.
During Training Program: Participant Reaction and Knowledge Demonstrated
Evaluation Level
Immediate Evaluation Delayed Evaluation
Meets
Expectations
Outcome Target % Outcome Target %
Level 1: Participant
Reaction
20 24 83% 7 8 88%

Level 2: Participant
Knowledge Demonstrated
15 20 75% 4 4 100% ✓

After Training Program: Participant Behavior and Organizational Results

Evaluation Level
Delayed Evaluation
Meets
Expectations
Outcome Target % Open-Ended
Level 3: Participant
Behaviors Performed
3 4 75% N/A

Level 4: Participant
Results
N/A
Positive Outcome*: 50%
increase in repeat visits
✓
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with donors from Hawaii
* Subjective assessment of “Meets Expectations”

Abstract (if available)

Abstract This dissertation served to address the problem of professional fundraisers in diverse cultural environments being unable to implement effective fundraising strategies with culturally diverse prospective donors, leading to poor fundraising performance, and ultimately, professional fundraiser turnover. The qualitative study examined the interview responses of 11 participants—six relocated professional fundraisers to Hawaii and five professional fundraisers from Hawaii—and analyzed the fundraising-related prospective donor communications of four Hawaii organizations. The findings suggest that relocated professional fundraisers need to know how to effectively communicate and establish credibility with the prospective donors from Hawaii in order to foster trust with them. Ways to foster trust included respecting their communication style, showing patience for the pace of their philanthropic process, practicing cultural norms and language, establishing roots to demonstrate commitment to community, and leveraging relationships to establish commonality. In addition, relocated professional fundraisers need to know how to self-monitor to create positive impressions with prospective donors from Hawaii, and have self-efficacy and see the value in implementing culturally sensitive and culturally aware in interactions with prospective donors from Hawaii. Furthermore, organizations can help relocated professional fundraisers increase their knowledge of Hawaii’s culture and history through organizational comprehensive training programs that support the development of cross-cultural norms and behaviors skills and increase their ability to navigate relationships with Hawaii’s unique prospective donor community through organizational mentoring programs that strengthen cross-cultural relationship-building skills. Recommendations for the field include organizations increasing the cultural knowledge and self- efficacy of relocated professional fundraisers through training to develop their skills.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Kunichika, Jamee K. (author)

Core Title Relocated professional fundraisers in Hawaii: the impact of cultural sensitivity and cultural awareness on fundraising performance

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Organizational Change and Leadership (On Line)

Publication Date 10/23/2019

Defense Date 07/10/2019

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag cultural awareness,cultural sensitivity,diverse cultural environments,Fundraising,Hawaii fundraising,OAI-PMH Harvest,relocated professional fundraisers

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Hirabayashi, Kimberly (committee chair), Cash, John (committee member), Datta, Monique (committee member)

Creator Email kunichik@usc.edu,kunichikaj@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-226409

Unique identifier UC11673873

Identifier etd-KunichikaJ-7875.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-226409 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-KunichikaJ-7875.pdf

Dmrecord 226409

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Kunichika, Jamee K.

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA