Management Information Needs and Perceptions in Smaller Charities: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

This article explores the extent and nature of management information needs of trustees, as perceived by selected trustees of smaller charities. It links these perceptions to questions concerning charity performance, drawing on assumptions in the literature (often implicit) that the quality of management information can be gauged. Also, that there is a corresponding link between meeting management information needs and improving organisational performance. The research methodology comprised a general pilot study and trustee survey, followed by accounts analysis and in‐depth interviews in selected charities. From this, vignettes of trustees' perceptions were drawn up and case study accounts of three charities' approach to trusteeship, management information handling strategies, and self‐assessment of performance were developed. The study discovered the existence of an ‘expectations gap’between what charity trustees are supposed to do and what they can actually achieve.