Commitment and performance of nonprofit board members

Boards 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.     

Board practices and board effectiveness in local nonprofit organizations

This study of sixty-four locally governed nonprofit charitable organizations used a social constructionist perspective to investigate the relationship between the extent to which nonprofit boards use prescribed board practices and stakeholder judgments of the effectiveness of those boards. A social constructionist perspective implies that different stakeholders use and evaluate different kinds of information in making judgments about board effectiveness. The results suggest that there is wide variation in the use of the prescribed board practices, that judgments of board effectiveness often differ substantially, and that chief executives' judgments of the effectiveness of their boards is moderately related to the extent of use of recommended board practices.     

Conducting culturally competent evaluations of child welfare programs and practices

As the population of the United States has changed over the last two decades, so has the population of children who come to the attention of the child welfare system, resulting in increasing calls for cultural competence in all aspects of child welfare programming and practice. Given the changing demographics among children involved in the child weltare system and the increasing need to address the racial and ethnic disparities observed in this system, the need for culturally competent approaches to evaluate the outcomes of services for children and families is essential. This article discusses the challenges in conducting culturally competent evaluations and provides strategies to address those challenges within a child welfare context.     

Effective nonprofit board members as seen by executives and board chairs

This 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.     

Regular and irregular earnings of unwed fathers: Implications for child support practices

This paper estimates the regular and irregular earnings of unmarried fathers, using data from the first seven cities of the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study. The results indicate that these fathers earn about $17,000 on average, a figure comparable to previous estimates of the earnings of nonresident and/or unmarried fathers. The paper also explores the relative importance of these fathers' irregular economic activity. The findings indicate that almost three in ten fathers participate in the irregular sectors, and that most of these fathers combine irregular with regular sector work. Also, among fathers reporting informal activity, irregular earnings serve to increase total earnings by 20 percent. However, among all unmarried fathers, irregular earnings increase total earnings by only 6 percent.     

Colonialization and community: Implications for first nations development

First Nations' communities have been a major focus for the longhistory of colonial action in Canada. The results have beendisastrous for Native cultural, identity and pride. Four majorcommunity institutions – political, economic, religiousand educational and the family – have been devastated.This has robbed Aboriginal Nations of their identity and theirsense that they have the ability effectively to manage theirenvironments and has contributed significantly to their disadvantagedposition within Canada. If community development is to be utilized in First Nationscommunities, four objectives must be addressed: (1) strengtheningcommunity traditions and culture; (2) development of culturallyappropriate community-based organizations; (3) reflection onthe importance of land for local communities; (4) the forgingof links between local and national issues.     

Best practices in board governance: Evidence from South Carolina

In June 2003, a large‐scale survey was conducted among South Carolina nonprofit agencies to gather information on a range of board governance issues. Some of the survey questions dealt with how each agency's board contributes to the organization. More than 80 percent of the responding agencies were registered as 501(c)(3), with the largest number of respondents in the human services category. Statistical analysis reveals where actual roles differ from “best practices” as prescribed in the literature. Discussion then focuses on how these trends in governance affect management and operations. In particular, we look at best practice regarding the separation of board and staff duties.     

Addressing spiritual development in youth development programs and practices: opportunities and challenges

If strengthening children's moral and spiritual selves is the most important challenge facing youth-serving organizations in the United States today, three things are required to respond: a clear road map of where to go and how to get there, a critical mass of champions prepared to lead the way, and candid readiness assessments and strategies for individuals and organizations ready to take on this work. More clarity is needed on defining the concepts of spiritual development and spirituality, the boundaries and bridges needed between religious and secular organizations, and the activities and practices that are both effective and allowable under separation of church and state. Immediate steps to take include engaging frontline workers across sectors and identifying strategies for integrating spiritual development into youth practice.     

Youth-centred practice: Positive youth development practices and pathways to better outcomes for vulnerable youth

This paper reports on a longitudinal study of 1012 youth (aged 13–17 years). Half were clients of two or more services and were followed for three years to enable analysis of the impact over time of services delivered using positive youth development practices (PYD). Youth completed self-report questionnaires administered by trained interviewers. It was hypothesised that youth reporting two positive service experiences at Time 1 would report better wellbeing and resilience and lower risk at Time 3 than youth reporting inconsistent or two negative service experiences at Time 1. MANCOVA was used to determine the relationships between service quality and wellbeing, resilience, and risk, with three covariates that assessed the presence of positive relational resources (with caregivers, friends and school) around youth. Results indicated that service quality at Time 1 had a positive effect on wellbeing and resilience at Time 3, but not on risk levels. The importance of consistent use of PYD approaches across services is discussed, as is the need for services to more directly address risk levels for vulnerable youth.     

Spouse support and the retention intentions of air force members: A basis for program development

Drawing upon a probability sample of 700 couples (1,400 spouses) in the U.S. Air Force, the present study examines the direct and indirect impacts of spouse support on the retention intentions of enlisted men, officer men, and enlisted women. In addition, exploratory analysis is conducted to identify variables associated with variations in spouse support. Restricting the sample to members with less than 10 years of service, spouse support is found to have a significant and positive effect on the retention intentions of the three respondent groups via path analysis. The results are discussed in the context of empirically validating the assumptions for program planning and development that are partially based on the assumed importance of spouse support to the retention intentions of members. Implications are suggested for future research.     

Women rebuilding lives post-disaster: innovative community practices for building resilience and promoting sustainable development

Disasters result in devastating human, economic, and environmental effects. The paper highlights women's active participation in community-based disaster recovery efforts drawing from the results of the ‘Rebuilding Lives Post-disaster: Innovative Community Practices for Sustainable Development’ by an international research partnership. Two case studies are presented from Pakistan and the USA to demonstrate how women contribute to building resilience and promoting sustainable development in diverse post-disaster contexts. The policy and practice implications are relevant for discussions regarding the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals and framework.     

Child-rearing practices of two generations of Punjabis: development of personality and independence

This paper reports the findings of two studies on the child-rearing practices of Punjabis living in Britain. The research for the first project was carried out during the years 1970–3 and for the second during 1995. A small number of white mothers was also included in the present sample for comparison. The data were collected through face-to-face interviews and the topics explored included the development of personality and independence. The findings show that the process of enculturation has brought about many changes in the attitudes of the nineties' generation of Punjabi mothers to child rearing. Despite this, they still hold on to the family value of fostering interdependence rather than rugged individualism in their children. Extracts from the interviews are used to give the reader both the nuance and flavour of the mothers' feelings and attitudes.     

Evaluating health services research capacity building programs: Implications for health services and human resource development

Evaluation of research capacity building programs presents challenges, including defining “research capacity building” and measuring it. The present study evaluates infrastructure capacity-building strategies and barriers and facilitators of two federally funded health-related research capacity building programs within the United States. We developed a conceptual framework and abstracted 223 data elements from existing project files. We administered questionnaires to 17 principal investigators and conducted 2-h interviews of 15 principal investigators. Finally, we conducted one-and-a-half-day site visits with five projects. We aggregated data and analysis results across the two programs. Impacts and strategies were also analyzed as to whether host institutions had little or no existing research infrastructure (“seed projects”) or had well-developed research infrastructure (“fertilizer projects”). Projects were associated with increases in publication and presentation rates by Principal Investigators and staff, increases in research funding, changes in organizational research culture, and positive impacts on the community. Project characteristics and activities associated with each of these outcomes were identified. It was also noted that the correlations between these outcomes were small and non-significant.     

Developing culturally competent marriage and family therapists: guidelines for working with Hispanic families

As the Hispanic population of the United States continues to grow, so will the need for therapists who have been trained to work with Hispanic families. This content analysis of the available treatment literature generated several specific guidelines that can be used in training and evaluating culturally competent therapists. Guidelines included: Use family therapy, act as advocate for the family, assess immigration experience, assess acculturation, respect father, interview family subsystems separately, do not force changes, provide concrete suggestions, and warmly engage the family. Empirical and conceptual support for each guideline is discussed and several conclusions are made regarding culturally competent therapy with Hispanic families.     

Incorporating human sexuality content into a positive youth development framework: Implications for community prevention

As approaches to positive youth development (PYD) gain momentum, the issue of sexuality – a critical component of human development – is being subsumed by ideological debates. In the current political climate, sexuality education is often relegated to biological and/or values-based approaches, neglecting essential relational and collective aspects of sexuality. Through the explication of sexuality as an important component of youth's social ecology, this paper provides a conceptual link between the goals of the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States' (SIECUS) Guidelines for comprehensive sexuality education and those of PYD. We argue that sexuality, as a normative part of human development, culture, identity, and relationships, be approached from an asset-based perspective, rather than a deficit-based perspective. We propose a framework that illustrates how aspects of sexuality are embedded within PYD contexts, and demonstrates how a sexuality education program rooted in SIECUS guidelines can further PYD goals across community contexts.