Nonprofit Board Members Research Articles

‘Process’ key in board recruitment

In Hardy Smith's “Recruit Nonprofit Board Members with Purpose and Process” for BoardSource, Smith offers this advice for committing to a consistent process in board recruiting in his blog.

Beware potential pitfalls of dual roles for board member attorneys

Nonprofit Business AdvisorVolume 2017, Issue 335 p. 1-3 Articles Beware potential pitfalls of dual roles for board member attorneys First published: 21 July 2017 https://doi.org/10.1002/nba.30341Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Abstract The wealth of knowledge and expertise attorneys have to offer makes them prized as nonprofit board members. After all, the law is complicated and lawyers are expensive. Having someone that can offer pro bono or discounted advice into even simple legal matters—for example, how to attain a zoning variance for the construction of a new headquarters—is of great value to nonprofits. Volume2017, Issue335August 2017Pages 1-3 RelatedInformation

Beware potential pitfalls of dual roles for board member attorneys

The wealth of knowledge and expertise that attorneys have to offer make them prized as nonprofit board members. After all, the law is complicated and lawyers are expensive. Having someone that can offer pro bono or discounted advice into even simple legal matters—for example, how to attain a zoning variance for the construction of a new headquarters—is of great value to nonprofits.

Beware potential pitfalls of dual roles for board member attorneys

The wealth of knowledge and expertise that attorneys have to offer makes them prized as nonprofit board members. But for the board member attorneys and the nonprofits alike, such situations present a slew of complications, and it's best to understand how they will be addressed before nonprofits avail themselves of this valuable resource, according to Michele Berger, an attorney at San Francisco–based NEO Law Group.

Means, motive and opportunity: exploring board volunteering

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to better understand the conditions associated with serving on boards by investigating the factors that distinguish older volunteers who serve on nonprofit boards from those who only volunteer programmatically.Design/methodology/approachSurveys of 354 residents of Southeastern North Carolina over age 50. Measures include education, wealth, retirement status, public service motivation (PSM), patterns of residential mobility, secular and religious organization meeting attendance, and volunteer activity in the past year. Data were analyzed using a Heckman probit selection model.FindingsRespondents who have higher levels of education, are retired, or have lived in the community for longer periods are more likely to report board volunteering, but are not any more likely to volunteer programmatically. Those with higher levels of PSM are more likely to report general volunteering, but are not any more likely to volunteer on boards. Two measures reveal divergent findings based on type of volunteering: moving frequently in one’s lifetime and attending weekly religious services are associated with a greater likelihood of programmatic volunteering but a reduced likelihood of serving as a board member.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations include self-reported, cross-sectional data, and a geographically restricted American sample that is older, more educated, and more likely to own a second home than average.Practical implicationsIn order to better address board member recruitment, nonprofits should consider extending opportunities through strategies targeting retired community newcomers.Originality/valueThis study contributes an analysis of PSM among nonprofit board members, and identifies factors that distinguish programmatic and board volunteers, in order to better understand the conditions associated with board service.

Accountability in Nonprofit Governance: A Process-Based Study

Accountability is a crucial element of governance. Nonprofit organizations are typically accountable to multiple stakeholders and often “do” accountability in multiple ways. But what happens when a nonprofit organization is highly dependent on a single source of funding? This article provides an empirical exploration of this issue. It draws on a longitudinal case study of one nonprofit organization in the United Kingdom that is highly dependent on a single funder to examine how accountability is constructed and enacted, with a focus on the board. It critically examines accountability processes through direct observation of board and committee meetings and in-depth interviews with board members. The analysis shows how board members work to construct broader forms of accountability beyond accountability to the funder, but then struggle to enact them. This article provides in-depth insight into the challenges that nonprofit board members face and offers a rare example of observational research on board behavior.

Ten Basic Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards updated

BoardSource has released a new and updated version of its Ten Basic Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards, which has served as a core resource for nonprofit board members worldwide since its first edition was published in 1988.

A Heuristic Model to Measure Nonprofit Management Deficiency

A mathematical technique to measure nonprofit management performance has eluded researchers for more than three decades. Traditional, analytical techniques have failed to find a solution that has broad acceptance. This problem raised the following question: will heuristic methodology provide an acceptable, approximate solution to the measurement of individual management deficiency in a nonprofit organisation? The purpose of this study was to demonstrate that a heuristic methodology can be used to build a model that will measure individual management deficiency and produce an assessment of management strengths and weaknesses for the board members of nonprofit organisations. The heuristic methodology known as simulated annealing was adopted in an attempt to find an acceptable, approximate solution to the measurement of individual management deficiency. A heuristic model was built and tested and satisfactory results were obtained. The results were validated by demonstrating that there was an alignment of the results produced by the heuristic model and those obtained by an alternate method. Therefore, it has been established that this heuristic model will produce an acceptable, approximate solution to the measurement of management deficiency across a wide range of factors in non-profit board members.

Top Corporate Officers as Board Members: The Impact on Nonprofit Executive Compensation

The apparent weakness in nonprofit executive pay-for-performance links and perceived excessiveness of pay are two key reasons cited by critics demanding greater board action. Agency theorists assert that boards address potentially misaligned managerial incentives by strengthening pay-for-performance links. Hence, if board members are experienced with financial monitoring, then the link between financials-based metrics and executive pay will be stronger. Further, resource dependency theorists purport that nonprofits rely on board members in part to provide scarce and/or specific human capital. Hence, if board members provide expertise in organizational management, then executive pay raises will be smaller. To test these predictions, we identify ‘top corporate officers as board members’ as nonprofit board members who are also named top executives in the SP and smaller changes in pay. These results are economically significant, and robust to possible correlated omitted variables, potential self-selection bias, and two alternative explanations: top corporate officers as board members in small boards or who may be major donors. Our findings highlight how board members playing both oversight and operational roles impact executive pay practices.

What Nonprofit Board Members Don't Know Can Hurt Them (and Their Organizations)

The author dedicates this article to current and future board members of the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (AAPB), the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA), and the International Society for Neurofeedback and Research (ISNR); their related foundations; state and regional societies; and any other nonprofits who serve our field. This article explores the advantages and disadvantages of self-management versus the use of a for-profit management company, explains the value of board orientation, identifies what new and established board members should understand, and stresses the importance of board service with integrity.

Diversity perspectives and minority nonprofit board member inclusion

Purpose – Using survey data of nonprofit board members from racial/ethnic minority groups, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how the three work group perspectives toward diversity theorized by Ely and Thomas (2001) – discrimination-and-fairness (P1), access-and-legitimacy (P2), and integration-and-learning (P3) – are associated with minority group members’ inclusion experiences. Design/methodology/approach – The paper investigates how an organization's motivations for board diversity, as perceived by racial/ethnic minority board members, drive various organizational- and board-level practices and behaviors, and ultimately impact their experience of inclusion. The paper uses two different operationalizations of the diversity perspectives to assess their impact on minority board members’ inclusion experiences. The hypothesized model was tested using partial least squares analyses on the responses of 403 racial/ethnic minority nonprofit board members. Findings – Regardless of the measure used, racial/ethnic minority board members experienced increased feelings of inclusion as the perceived operating perspective for board diversity changed from P1 to P2 to P3, while concurrently the mediating factors influencing inclusion experiences changed in significance. Findings support the importance of the integration-and-learning perspective for the experience of inclusion by racial/ethnic minority board members. Practical implications – Findings indicate that organizations that employ an integration-and-learning approach to diversity and focus on encouraging their majority group members to engage in inclusive behaviors, rather than on policies and procedures, will engender the racial/ethnic minorities’ experience of inclusion. Originality/value – The paper quantitatively investigated how three organizational diversity paradigms are associated with the individual inclusion experiences of minority nonprofit board members.

Environmental Reviews and Case Studies: Conflicts of Interest: An Overview for Nonprofit Board Members

Environmental professionals are often asked to serve on boards of nonprofit groups that pursue programs dealing with professional, conservation, or environmental matters. They are sought for their ...

Factors That Influence Monitoring and Resource Provision Among Nonprofit Board Members

This article explores antecedents of nonprofit directors’ self-reported confidence and participation in two board functions: monitoring (executive performance appraisal, selection, fiscal operations, and implementation of strategy) and the provision of resources (advice and counsel, fundraising, and ties to external constituents). We propose that board member’s experience and background in conjunction with other factors such as commitment to the mission, a sense of community with other board members, and training will influence confidence and participation in board functions. Data were collected via a survey from 591 board members in 64 different nonprofit organizations. Regression analyses showed that gender, experience as a nonprofit board member, service on other nonprofit boards, mission attachment, and training were the most consistent predictors of confidence and participation in board activities. Implications are noted for enhancing the contribution of board members to nonprofit organizations.

Nurse Leadership: Making the Most of Community Service

Nurses are expected to demonstrate professionalism through service leadership, but it is unlikely they have been prepared to understand the responsibilities associated with taking leadership roles in the community. The authors have had a variety of experiences serving on nonprofit health care boards and have obtained information about board roles and responsibilities that would be helpful for practicing nurses who want to be board members. Nurses can make vital contributions to the nonprofit sector of the nation's health care, but must know how to make wise choices to maintain their commitments. This article provides nurses with basic information about the roles and responsibilities of nonprofit board members and some lessons about board service from the authors' experiences.

A corporate executive's short guide to leading nonprofits

PurposeBy introducing business people to the frustrations of leadership roles in nonprofits and showing how executives with corporate experience have dealt with these challenges, the authors provide a guide for volunteers who serve as board members, executives, donors, consultants or partners in the nonprofit sector.Design/methodology/approachMcKinsey & Company consultants interviewed executives who have served as both corporate and nonprofit leaders.FindingsCorporate executives working with nonprofits need to take the time to get to know the organization and all its stakeholders before proposing any new practices or initiatives. They should avoid unilateral decisions – instead involving board, staff and key stakeholders as appropriate.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample interviewed was small, about a dozen top executives. However, as more corporate executive take leadership positions in nonprofits, there will be an opportunity to survey a much larger sample.Practical implicationsBusiness leaders serving as nonprofit board members will better understand their nonprofit roles. Donors will learn to use their financial clout to improve nonprofit performance. Cross‐sector partnerships – which are central to addressing society's most intractable problems – can anticipate and solve roadblocks caused by the nonprofit sector's different culture and demands. Top business executives will gain a better understanding of what makes the nonprofit world tick.Originality/valueThis article assesses the factors for nonprofit sector leadership success based on the first‐hand experience of top executives who have run major corporations.

Commitment and performance of nonprofit board members

AbstractBoards of nonprofit organizations are entrusted to oversee and ensure that the organization remains true to its mission, functions within the confines of state and federal laws, and operates in a financially responsible manner. This critically important oversight is carried out by volunteers. This study examined the relationships between board member commitment and individual performance. Commitment was assessed using Meyer and Allen's Three‐Component Model of Commitment: Affective, Continuance, and Normative (1991). The population in this study was volunteer board members of midsized, social service nonprofit organizations in the Orange County, California, area. The strongest findings were between affective commitment and performance in board roles. Committed board members reported more involvement and are perceived by the executive to be more engaged and valuable. Analysis revealed that executive judgments of participation are based on both board member behavior and Affective commitment expressed by the board member.

The Board as a Monitor of Organizational Activity: The Applicability of Agency Theory to Nonprofit Boards

AbstractMonitoring, as an important function for boards of directors in both the private and nonprofit sectors, receives widespread attention throughout the empirical (Chait, Holland, and Taylor, 1996; Eisenhardt, 1989; Golden‐Biddle and Rao, 1997; Kosnik, 1987) and normative literature (Axelrod, 1994; Block, 1998; Carver, 1997; Houle, 1997; Ingram, 1989). Despite the consensus about the significance of this crucial board responsibility, scholars know little about the ways in which a nonprofit board actually performs its monitoring function. In this article I report on an empirical study of the monitoring behavior of twelve nonprofit boards of directors. Agency theory provides the framework for this analysis. I show that the way in which individual board members define their relationship with the chief executive and understand the scope of the monitoring function influences how, or if, they monitor agency action. The findings also show that, given ambiguous rules of accountability and unclear measures of performance, nonprofit board members tend to monitor in ways that reflect their professional or personal competencies rather than paying attention to measures that would indicate progress toward mission‐related goals and initiatives.

Social Diversity Within Nonprofit Boards: Members' Views on Status and Issues

This study explores the views of nonprofit agency board members about current status and issues related to board diversity. Trends in agency growth and complexity and turbulence in agency environments are described. Board members view their responsibilities, especially fund raising, as associated with board diversity. Diversity issues focus on the involvement of groups that have not traditionally been involved, including low-income persons, clients, ethnic minorities, and inexperienced board members. Diversity is valued by some respondents, tolerated by others, and its value is questioned by some. Extensive use of quotations provides insights into the manner in which board members frame their views of diversity. The relationships between board diversity and agency culture are explored.

Female Participation in Public Interest Nonprofit Governance: Yet Another Glass Ceiling?

Women are disproportionately represented in staffing of nonprofit organizations yet are found much less frequently in positions of organizational governance: executive directorships and board memberships. Using data collected from more than 200 public interest nonprofit organizations and from semistructured personal interviews with public interest nonprofit board members, this empirical analysis provides insights into the organizational biases and candidate attributes that inhibit women in their efforts at attaining governing positions in the nonprofit sector.

Effective nonprofit board members as seen by executives and board chairs

AbstractThis article examines the personal and professional attributes of nonprofit board members‐their values, behaviors, and skills‐as seen through the eyes of chief executives and board chairs. In the study reported here, an inductive research methodology was employed in order to bring to the surface the underlying assumptions of executive directors and chairs regarding their expectations of board members.