Abstract
Commercialization is a primary interest within the nonprofit sector. Previous studies have investigated the relationship between commercialization and nonprofit donations in a wide variety of contexts. This meta‐analysis synthesizes the research on the relationship by using 295 effects from 25 primary studies and explains variations in effects within and across the studies by including a series of moderators in random‐effects meta‐regression models. The results indicate that commercialization crowds out donations. The crowding‐out effect is small. Moreover, the results indicate that mission‐driven commercial revenues return a more negative effect; international development and public benefit nonprofits return a more negative effect; and studies using longitudinal data demonstrate a more positive effect. This study suggests that nonprofit commercialization is more a question of how rather than whether. Devoting more scholarly attention to underlying mechanisms between commercial revenues and nonprofit donations is desirable.