Factors related to grantee perception of service quality in the Community Chest of Korea

Foundations achieve their impact largely by working in partnership with their grantees. The foundation-grantee relationship provides a unique and critical lens for observation and evaluation of foundation performance and organizational effectiveness. That is, grantees function in an intermediary sphere between a foundation's resource base and its social impact. The ultimate beneficiaries of more productive foundation-grantee relationships are not just grantees and foundations, but also the groups they seek to help, including the public at large.;The main purpose of this study is to explore and identify key dimensions of foundation service quality, using Community Chest of Korea's (CCK) as a test case. Another purpose is to examine the effects of these key dimensions on grantee overall satisfaction and grantee perception of CCK's impact on the recipient organization, the field, and the community. In order to measure quality of service, grantee perceptions of service quality will be empirically investigated using an adapted instrument based on: (1) SERVPERF---a performance-based instrument measuring service quality, developed as an alternative to the disconfirmation-based SERVQUAL; (2) LIBQUAL+---an instrument measuring library service quality; (3) the Grantee Perception Survey instrument; and (4) consultation with CCK staff and grantees.;CCK is the largest grantmaking organization in Korea with features of public, fundraising, and quasi-government-linked foundations. Under these circumstances, the foundation-grantee relationship is more critical and complex in that it is driven by (1) competition for acquisition of scarce and valued resources; (2) donors' desires to know how their contributions make a difference; and (3) the satisfaction of the public at large.;The target population for this study was: (1) awarded grantees; and (2) declined applicants. Data collection was conducted by mail survey questionnaire. Final sample size for analysis was 651.;Hypotheses were tested using exploratory factor analysis, hierarchical regression analysis, and Pearson correlation. As a result, exploratory factor analysis identified four dimensions with 31 items. The four dimensions comprised Competence, Expertise, Affect, and Evaluation. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that higher level of service quality is associated with higher level of overall satisfaction and perception of impact. Pearson correlation found that higher level of overall satisfaction is strongly positively correlated to higher level of perception of impact.