A contingency approach to nonprofit governance

A number of contingency factors may be relevant for effective nonprofit organizations and their boards. Although all boards must fulfill certain critical roles and responsibilities, strategic choices can be made about adopting different governance configurations or patterns. These choices can be meaningfully informed by understanding organizational contingencies such as age, size, structure, and strategy—and, even more important, by external contingencies and environmental dimensions such as degree of stability and complexity. This article extends or layers contingency thinking beyond its traditional focus on an alignment between the external environment and the organization's structure to focus as well on the alignment of the organization's governance configuration with its structure and environment. Structural contingency theory in general, and specifically within nonprofits, is reviewed. Two cases are presented of organizations that used an approach based on contingency theory in an action research process to examine and change their governance configurations. The steps they followed may help other nonprofits adapt their governance structures and practices and fulfill their responsibilities for board assessment and reflection.     

Voluntary contributions and wages in nonprofit organizations

Voluntary work provides a major source of labor for many nonprofit organizations. Consequences of volunteers and paid staff working alongside each other in nonprofits are well documented. This article contributes to this strand of literature and investigates whether the presence of volunteer work influences paid employees' wages in nonprofit organizations. We estimated a multilevel wage equation accounting for personal characteristics of workers and characteristics of nonprofits. The analysis revealed that nonprofit organizations engaging volunteers pay lower wages to their employees. Our findings contribute to the understanding of wage‐setting behavior of nonprofits and improve the methodological approach of empirical research in this field.     

Building and valuing global brands in the nonprofit sector

Global nonprofit brands are the world's new “super brands” (Wootliff and Deri, 2001). Nonprofit organizations command unprecedented levels of trust, and nonprofit brand valuations are on par with major international corporations. Leaders and managers of nonprofits face new challenges in the stewardship of their brands. Based on current thinking in nonprofit management and detailed interviews with close to one hundred executives of ten international nonprofit organizations, this article draws strategic lessons on brand building and brand valuation activities of international nonprofits. The multiple roles and stakeholders that global nonprofit brands must address make nonprofit brand building complex and challenging. In particular, differences between advocacy and relief organizations must be explained. Despite the complexity, international nonprofit organizations may have an advantage over for‐profits in leveraging public trust and brand communication. Advocacy organizations in particular successfully link brand and cause to good effect. The valuation of nonprofit brands is a new strategic challenge with significant appeal, but also significant concerns for international nonprofits. In addition to providing nonprofit leaders and managers with a better understanding of brandbuilding activities, imperatives, and best practices in the field, this article outlines the opportunities and threats associated with the valuation of nonprofit brands.     

The use of performance measurement in South Carolina nonprofits

Performance measurement is touted by nonprofits as the newest method of ensuring accountability. Knowing the value of the process while having an appreciation for the downside with regard to volume of work can help organizations make more educated decisions about how deeply they want to get involved with performance or outcome measurement. This article provides background information on performance measurement and examples of how it is being used in nonprofit organizations. Next, it presents methods of an exploratory study conducted in South Carolina. Finally, a discussion of results focuses on the effect of outcome measurement on management and funding as well as the need for more in‐depth research.     

Interorganizational network portfolios of nonprofit organizations: Implications for collaboration management

Increasingly, nonprofit organizations engage in interorganizational collaboration to address large‐scale social problems. Scholarship typically focuses on the characteristics of both within‐sector and cross‐sector partnerships of two collaborating organizations or all partnering organizations involved in a collaboration, but we know little about the patterns of interorganizational relationships that single nonprofit organizations maintain. This research draws upon surveys from 452 nonprofits and introduces nonprofit network portfolios, which we define as the number, integration, intensity, and duration of relationships that nonprofits purposefully develop with other organizations. Using 12 network measures, Ward cluster analysis revealed three distinct network portfolios: restricted within‐sector (n = 319, 70.58%), which included limited collaboration and prioritized within‐sector partnerships; robust within‐sector (n = 80, 17.70%), which included more nonprofit partnerships than restricted within‐sector portfolios; and cross‐sector (n = 53, 11.72%), which had a rich assemblage of integrative partnerships with nonprofits, businesses, and government agencies. Further, nonprofits that maintained each type of portfolio differed in their revenue and social mission, suggesting these factors are related to the types of collaboration that nonprofits maintain. This study makes contributions to existing research on interorganizational networks and cross‐sector collaboration and suggests practical and policy implications for nonprofit network management.     

Engaging stakeholders through social networking: How nonprofit organizations are using Facebook

Since social networking sites, such as MySpace and Facebook, began allowing organizations to create profiles and become active members, organizations have started incorporating these strategies into their public relations programming. For-profit organizations have used these sites to help launch products and strengthen their existing brands; however, little is known about how nonprofit organizations are taking advantage of the social networking popularity. Through a content analysis of 275 nonprofit organization profiles on Facebook, this study examines how these new social networking sites are being used by the organizations to advance their organization's mission and programs. Solely having a profile will not in itself increase awareness or trigger an influx of participation. Instead careful planning and research will greatly benefit nonprofits as they attempt to develop social networking relationships with their stakeholders.     

The economics of performance management in nonprofit organizations

This article analyzes whether and how private‐sector notions of performance management apply to nonprofit organizations. To this end the author shows that each concept of performance management used in the private sector is based on a specific economic theory of the firm and its environment. Before transferring concepts and tools derived from a certain model of the firm and its environment to nonprofit organizations, one must determine whether the assumptions underlying this model are also adequate for nonprofit organizations. Otherwise, one must first adjust those assumptions and analyze whether the derived concepts and tools are still meaningful in the new context; if not, one must determine how to modify them accordingly. The analysis elaborates on the differences between for‐profit and nonprofit organizations that are important for applying performance management concepts. Moreover, the author discusses the practical implications for the use of balanced scorecards in nonprofits.     

Managing stakeholder relationships and nonprofit organization effectiveness

This research examined how nonprofit organizations manage their relationships with stakeholders and how these practices relate to perceived organization effectiveness. We conducted semistructured, open‐ended interviews with executive directors of nonprofit organizations (NPOs) to discover whom they see as their stakeholders, the types of expectations they encounter from stakeholders, and the practices they use in managing stakeholder relationships. The two nonprofits that were evaluated as most effective used a consistent, thematic rationale in dealing with stakeholder issues: one organization discussed its actions in terms of its mission and core values, the other based its actions in terms of building relationships and networks. Our study suggests that organizations that ground their external relations in issues that are recognized as good nonprofit management, and do so consistently across stakeholder groups, will tend to be rated as more effective by multiple, external evaluators.     

Succession planning in nonprofit organizations

Executive leadership is a critical component in the success of nonprofit organizations. An upcoming period of leadership transition is anticipated as substantial numbers of baby boomers, now at the peak of their careers, reach retirement age. With nonprofit organizations growing in both size and number, an impending leadership deficit is a concern. To help prepare for these important transition events, this study focuses on planning for executive succession. A survey exploring details of succession planning was undertaken of executive directors of 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofits and CEOs of 501(c)(4) cooperative organizations—the more business‐oriented user‐owned and controlled nonprofit organizations prominent in agricultural, utility, and finance sectors. We found that planning and preparation do not match the level of interest and concern for executive succession. Although the replacement of long‐serving leaders is acknowledged as difficult, few proactive steps are undertaken.     

Accountability and nonprofit organizations: A historical perspective

American nonprofit organizations first developed in the nineteenth century as the organizational instruments through which Americans put their First Amendment freedoms of religion and political belief into practice. For one hundred years American nonprofits were held accountable by relatively small, compact communities of people who shared religious or other highly defined beliefs and values. In the twentieth century, many nonprofit organizations have grown very large and have adopted a scientific, general-service-to-the-community ethos. The legal, institutional, and cultural ideas and practices through which traditional nonprofits were, and are still, held accountable no longer seem to work equally well for the larger, more universal nonprofits of the late twentieth century.     

U.S. nonprofit organizations' demand for temporary foreign professionals

This article examines the demand by nonprofits in the United States for foreign professionals to fill a variety of specialized and managerial positions on a temporary basis. Our study contributes to understanding the demand side of the trend toward a more contingent workforce. We test predictors of nonprofit employers' pursuit of foreign labor for professional expertise and show an association between strategy to insource foreign labor and organizational resource level, mission, occupational need, and wage offer. Our findings suggest that government visa policies and practices affect labor pools for nonprofit organizations. Given that our study reveals varied interest by nonprofits in pursuing temporary foreign professionals, we end with a brief review and discussion of how the use of temporary and foreign professionals may influence the dynamics of nonprofit organizations and suggest additional research questions.     

Interorganizational relations of nonprofit organizations: An exploratory study

In their several roles as appropriators, redistributors, and providers, nonprofit organizations are involved in complex transactions with organizations in the nonprofit, for-profit, and public sectors. The purpose of this exploratory investigation, based on a sample of New York State nonprofits, is to explain variation in the extent of intrasector and intersector transactions. Various kinds of prevailing environmental complexities, coupled with the ways in which organizations are structured to deal with these complexities, help explain variation in the extent of organizational transactions. Another important predictor is directors' perceptions of main problems affecting the activities of their agencies. These findings are consistent with the conclusion that environmental uncertainties and perceptions about them affect the nature and extent of interorganizational contact.     

Exploring the link between government funding and efficiency in nonprofit colleges

Previous literature has suggested that federal funding can hinder the efficiency of nonprofit organizations, but this has yet not been empirically tested. This study used a two‐stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) model to measure the efficiency of a set of private nonprofit teaching‐oriented colleges, then estimate the impact of federal and state funding on organizational efficiency. The findings indicate that, on average, increases in neither state nor federal funding effect efficiency of nonprofit colleges. Increasing state funding negatively impacted the efficiency of public colleges (N = 799). This study suggests that the challenges for nonprofits that accompany government funding may not rise to a quantifiable negative effect on efficiency.     

Understanding nonprofit missions as dynamic and interpretative conceptions

Missions are central to all nonprofit organizations, and establish their purposes. However, formal mission statements can fail to provide a true picture of a nonprofit’s mission. This article draws on prior scholarship on missions, including the role of interpretation and change, to propose two new concepts: personal and dominant mission conceptions that introduce a dynamic, socially‐constructed understanding of nonprofit mission. Personal mission conceptions are the interpretations that individuals within a nonprofit hold of the mission, while the dominant mission conception is the collective interpretation guiding a nonprofit during a specific time. Examples from two specific nonprofits are provided to demonstrate the conceptions, along with some guidance for how mission conceptions can inform future research and practice.     

A social identity model of prosocial behaviors within nonprofit organizations

This study draws on social identity theory, while developing and testing the Social Identification Model of Prosocial Behavior among voluntary participants in nonprofit organizations. This model posits relationships between organization identification, commitment, satisfaction, and prosocial behavior among nonprofit volunteers. Path analysis results indicate successful identification of the model. Specifically, when volunteers identified with their nonprofit, they had higher levels of prosocial behaviors, commitment, and satisfaction. This study provides several important extensions to social identity theory and nonprofit literatures while highlighting the need for further research examining motivations behind prosocial behaviors within nonprofits.     

When the management is the message: Relating values to management practice in nonprofit organizations

The values-expressive character of many private, nonprofit organizations is what distinguishes them from business and government organizations. The distinctive character of these organizations creates a special context for their management. This article examines the origins and development of private nonprofits in the religious realm and explores the implications of this character for management and for education of nonprofit managers.     

Managing amidst mosaic: Integrating values and rationalization in the nonprofit arts

This ethnographic study of visionary art environment Philadelphia's Magic Gardens (PMG) draws on theories of rationalization in nonprofits to explore factors that influence the impact of this process on organizations. Responding to theories that rationalization attenuates expressive drivers of nonprofit activity, an analysis of PMG is used to explore and contextualize a literature‐derived theoretical framework that suggests variables that may influence the outcome of rationalization processes in organizations. The PMG case supports and adds nuance to a notion that the strength of expressive and rationalizing impulses and the convergence or divergence of intra‐organizational values influence whether growing nonprofits are able to integrate instrumental structures and expressive motivations.     

Cause-related marketing,fundraising, and environmental nonprofit organizations

This article provides policy guidance to environmental nonprofit organizations, and, secondarily, to other nonprofits, that are considering entering into a cause-related marketing (CRM) alliance. Toward that end, insights into establishing CRM committees, sponsorship development, and regulatory awareness are offered to environmental nonprofit managers. The author argues that strong consumer support for local environmental concerns translates into strategic fundraising opportunities for regional, state, and local environmental organizations that have underutilized CRM in the past.