Modeling the antecedents and outcomes of perceived relationship investment (PRI) in nonprofit organizations

•Financial bonding, interactivity, and information sharing contribute to the development of PRI.•PRI contributes to relationship quality and thus to positive behavioral intentions of stakeholders.•People value the financial or tangible rewards associated with their nonprofit relationship, such as free gifts for support.•Of the three antecedent tactics investigated here, information sharing was the most important.•Organizations that were perceived as keeping in touch and concerned with the needs of their social media stakeholders were perceived as investing more in the relationship and had stronger relationship quality indicators than those who did not.•The model developed herein suggests specific areas where nonprofits can direct this limited time resource for best effect. A lack of empirical studies prompted the development and testing of a model investigating the antecedents and outcomes of perceived relationship investment (PRI) in nonprofits. All parts of the model were supported including antecedent tactics of tangible rewards, interactivity, and information sharing, their effect on relationship quality, and positive behavioral intentions such as keeping the organization foremost in consideration of volunteer time or large gift allocation when time or financial resources allow.