Survival in local voluntary associations

This article uses longitudinal data to explore the antecedents of survival among local voluntary associations. The literature distinguishes between deterministic and voluntaristic accounts of organizational survival. In a deterministic perspective, external selection processes determine whether organizations persevere. In a voluntaristic approach, strategic choices and organizational design are paramount. The analyses show that both perspectives have explanatory power. When it comes to avoiding organizational death, organizations can influence their destiny substantially by being extroverted, selecting a diverse and qualified board, and establishing ties to higher organizational levels.     

Nonprofit versus corporate governance: An economic approach

This article proposes a new theoretical concept of nonprofit governance using transaction cost economics and the economic theory of contracts. After a short review of economic approaches to corporate governance, I clarify the specific nature of the governance problem in nonprofit organizations. Based on this analysis, I derive criteria for selecting an organization's relevant stakeholders. If stakeholders provide valuable specific resources without the protection of a comprehensive contract that details exactly how the organization is to use these resources, then such stakeholders seek decision and control rights in order to direct the use of the resources they have provided. I argue that the core problem of governance is how to enhance valuable specific contributions of the relevant stakeholders while keeping the costs of bargaining between stakeholders and the costs of collective decision making low. The theory developed is then applied in a discussion of practically relevant governance mechanisms, and the concept of governance is used to contribute to the discussion on the strengths and weaknesses of the nonprofit character of organizations from a governance perspective.     

Changes in local voluntary associations in Denmark

This article analyses the changes in the voluntary sector in Denmark at the local level, and compares associations in the ‘cultural field’ with those in the ‘social field’. The analyses, which are primarily based on research conducted in 1993, show that the voluntary sector changed significantly during the 1980s and the 1990s. First, over a third of the associations were established after 1979, and this has resulted in changes in the overall composition of the sector. Traditional value-oriented associations and associations that work for others have declined in relative terms, while narrow-interest associations that work for the members themselves are increasing. Second, the number of associations that are based and operate in a clearly-defined local area has declined. Third, despite professionalisation in some types of associations, more people than ever before are engaged in voluntary work in associations. Fourth, while public subsidies to the voluntary associations have increased, this has not changed the fundamental ‘political autonomy’ of the associations. Fifth, even though there are great differences in the political context of which the ‘cultural field’ associations and ‘social field’ associations are part, the associations in the two fields have many common features.     

Patterns of governance structures in trade associations and unions

Most research on the governance of nonprofit organizations concentrates on welfare‐oriented organizations and disregards other types of nonprofits. This article examines the governance structures of trade associations and unions as a special type of nonprofit organization. Analysis is based on a qualitative case study survey of thirty Swiss trade associations. The results distinguish four categories of governance: satellite governance, delegate governance, executive governance, and inner‐circle governance.     

Nonprofit sustainability during times of uncertainty

Nonprofit organizations in the United States depend on a diverse set of funding streams to sustain their operations. This study examines the ability of nonprofits to leverage funds from the private sector during the current economic downturn within four areas receiving federal funding for community and economic development. Both survey research and individual interviews were used to examine how nonprofits within these areas are incorporating their board members and community leaders to continue services during a time of resource scarcity.     

Interpersonal trust and voluntary associations: examining three approaches

The relationship between interpersonal trust and membership in voluntary associations is a persistent research finding in sociology. What is more, the notion of trust has become a central issue in current social science theorizing covering such diverse approaches as transaction costs economics or cognitive sociology. In different ways and for different purposes, these approaches address the role of voluntary organizations, although, as this paper argues, much of this thinking remains sketchy and underdeveloped. Against an empirical portrait of this relationship, the purpose of this paper is to assess such theorizing. We first set out to explicate major approaches to trust in economics, sociology and political science, using the non-profit or voluntary organization as a focal point. We then examine the various approaches in terms of their strengths and weaknesses, and, finally, identify key areas for theoretical development. In particular, we point to the social movement literature, the social psychology of trust, and recent thinking about civil society.     

On the malfunction of the generic approach in small voluntary associations

Management and marketing techniques that are of great value in private firms may not prove as important in voluntary and nonprofit organizations. The author highlights problems in the direct application of the so-called generic approach to third sector organizations by examining small voluntary organizations in the Danish sports sector. He argues, first, that it may be unnecessary to apply generic management techniques; second, that it may be dysfunctional with regard to leadership and management; and, third, that the consequences of the chosen (generic) strategies may be detrimental to the function and image of the associations. Instead, theories of organization, strategic management, and marketing should recognize the special mix of competing, complementary, and overlapping values, rationales, and evaluation criteria that characterize small voluntary organizations.     

Social capital exchanges in voluntary associations and work organizations: A network perspective

Organizations have been an important setting in which social capital exchanges (SCEs) occur, but little work has been done to distinguish two predominant species of organizations in the social network literature: voluntary associations and formal work organizations. Addressing this lacuna, this article comparatively examines how the two organizational species differ in (1) how two prominent types of SCEs operate (restricted and generalized exchange), as well as (2) the analytical approaches and methodological tools for studying SCEs (boundary-specification, sampling, network designs, tie-recording methods) and their adherent implications for network structure (networking conditions and homophily). This article concludes by identifying methodological and theoretical challenges for studying SCEs in organizations (conceptualizing organizations as units, underappreciating meaning-making and methodological triangulation, and examining contagion in organizational networks in an age of digitalization) and developing recommendations for overcoming them.     

Construction of organizational identity claim and understanding in nonprofits: Evidence from Pakistan's voluntary organizations

There is a substantial research literature on nonprofits identity claim and identity understanding but much less on how these identities are constructed in the first place. This article explores how identity claim and identity understanding are constructed in the nonprofits and reasons for such constructions. Exploratory multiple case study analysis was conducted with two voluntary organizations. The results showed that three factors play a significant role in construction of identity claim; founders, funding, and power of stakeholders. The construction of identity understanding is influenced by the claim and is often in sync until the funding source changes leading to a dissimilar identity understanding. The members, however, showed reluctance to embrace the new identity due to the power of stakeholders and fear of mission drift. The unsynchronized claim and understanding caused confusions among the members as they juggled between adopting the new identity understanding and keeping a dissimilar claim. This confusion hinders the nonprofits growth and they struggle to answer what they want to be in future.     

The influence of organizational social responsibility on involvement behavior in community sport membership associations

Membership‐based associations are critical to their local communities and the overall social impact of the nonprofit sector. This study examines how organizational social responsibility within nonprofit membership associations influences positive member involvement behaviors, including volunteering, speaking positively about the club, and member loyalty. Self‐administered online questionnaires were completed by 735 members within seven grassroots membership associations in Ontario, Canada offering community‐based sport programs. Results show that members are somewhat aware of and felt positively about their organization's socially responsible efforts. Awareness of these efforts had a positive direct effect on the involvement behaviors of members, including intention to stay involved with their club and speaking positively about their club to others (i.e., word of mouth). Members' level of social consciousness was found to have a positive direct effect on word of mouth. Furthermore, members' positive evaluation of sport clubs' socially responsible initiatives was found to partially mediate the positive relationship between social consciousness and involvement behavior, as well as partially mediate the positive relationship between awareness of those efforts and involvement behavior. Results of this research provide grassroots membership associations with an in‐depth understanding of how their organization's efforts toward social responsibility influence member perceptions and behaviors, which may help them focus their efforts and more effectively manage their social change agenda moving forward.     

Balancing strategy and accountability: A model for the governance of professional associations

An erratum has been published for this article in Nonprofit Management and Leadership 15(4) 2005, 487 [ ]. Professional associations are operating in a context of uncertainty and change, with which their traditional governance structures struggle to manage. After describing this context and presenting a brief overview of relevant governance literature, a project aimed at supporting the redesign of governance structures and procedures among five professional associations in the United Kingdom is outlined. Three specific governance issues are examined: size of councils (council is the term used for a governing body of a U.K. professional association), their composition in relation to electoral processes, and the development of inner councils, or executive boards, within councils. Finally, we present a normative model, the cupped hands model, that has arisen from the research. This model offers a possible means of balancing the representation required by their status as membership associations with the requirement that professional associations become more strategic and proactive.     

Accountability in Nonprofit Organizations

Accountability, Performance Reporting, Comprehensive Audit: An Integrated Perspective, by Guy LeClerc, W. David Moynagh, Jean-Pierre Boisclair, and Hugh R. Hanson. Ottawa: CCAF-FCVI (Canadian Comprehensive Auditing Foundation- Fondation Canadienne pour la Verification Integral), 1996. 373 pp., $85.00 (Canadian, plus shipping) cloth. Managing for Accountability: Preserving the Public Trust in Public and Nonprofit Organizations, by Kevin P. Kearns. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1996. 255 pp., $27.95 cloth.     

Worker perceptions of organizational support and return-to-work policy: associations with post-injury job satisfaction

This study evaluates the psychometric properties of an industry-based employee measure of employer responses to injuries (i.e., organizational support and return-to-work policies) and explores the relationship of these variables to post-injury job satisfaction. Survey data were collected from 1438 employees with work-related injuries in 13 construction companies and 13 transportation companies. Factor analyses supported the two-factor structure of the scale, and both organizational support and return-to-work policies were independently associated with post-injury job satisfaction. The results suggest a need for understanding organizational responses to injuries, employee perceptions of injury response, and the impact of both on organizational outcomes.     

Resolving Accountability Ambiguity in Nonprofit Organizations

Accountability is a much studied subject in the social sciences and is known for its complexity, context dependence, and ambiguity. By conducting a comprehensive literature review and analysis across nonprofit, public, and private sector literatures, this article identifies the causes of ambiguities present in many accountability frameworks and describes the trend toward understanding accountability as a constructed concept combining both instrumental and interpretive elements. The relationship between legitimacy and accountability is considered. The authors develop a holistic accountability framework that facilitates defining and implementing accountability in complex, multi-stakeholder environments, by providing a means to operationalize commonly encountered but ambiguous accountability goals through a social process of deliberative dialogue. The authors conclude by summarizing limitations of the approach and describing future research needed.     

Open Innovation in Nonprofit Sports Clubs

This research paper investigates open innovation—that is, the use of purposive inflows and outflows of knowledge in order to innovate—in the context of nonprofit sports clubs, and is based on the content analysis of semi-structured interviews held with representatives of eleven sports clubs. The study develops a framework that describes open innovation activities in nonprofit sports clubs as facets of four superordinate dimensions, namely permeability of the club’s boundary, application and implementation of open innovation practices, managerial competencies, and the environmental and organizational surroundings in which the club operates. Within these dimensions, subordinate facets such as commitment of the club’s president and the strategic use of coopetitive environments explain how and why sports clubs are successful at implementing innovations and how their nonprofit status (e.g., volunteer work) contributes to (or is in conflict with) innovation. The findings provide implications for nonprofit organizations inside and outside the sports sector.     

Stakeholder Performance Measurement in Nonprofit Organizations

According to recent findings, nonprofit organizations should address the relationships of nonprofit service quality, satisfaction, loyalty, and organizational identification when planning and evaluating donor surveys. This article presents a donor satisfaction barometer that can be used to gain insights into the strength of these key relationships and thereby establish a basis for calculated relevant indices. With such indices, nonprofit organizations can compare stakeholder performance over time and benchmark themselves against other organizations. Data from 2,599 blood donors to one section of the German Red Cross, collected through the proposed donor satisfaction barometer, show that service quality drives satisfaction, and donor satisfaction and organizational identification both exert significant positive effects on donor loyalty. Therefore, nonprofit organizations should use a combined strategic approach that improves both donor satisfaction and organizational identification to increase donor loyalty. The successful application of the donor satisfaction barometer also suggests its value for other nonprofit industries and offers important insights for managers.     

Nonprofit management in Europe and Asia

The State and NGOs: Perspective from Asia, edited by Shinichi Shigetomi. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asia Studies, 2002. $28.50 cloth. The Emergence of Social Enterprise, edited by Carlo Borzaga and Jacques Defourny. New York: Routledge, 2001. $120.00 cloth.     

Disabling governance: Privatisation of city markets and implications for vendors’ associations in Kampala, Uganda

Contemporary international models of governance prescribe the devolution of service provision to a range of non-state actors and the adoption of market-oriented policies. This paper explores the politics that have arisen from changes in the governance framework in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. The focus is on the privatisation of the management of city markets and on the relations between the multiple actors involved—private contractors, vendors’ associations, cooperatives and state actors. In particular, the paper looks into the implications of the privatisation process for vendors and their associations. It argues that, while the latter have sometimes adjusted to the changes by turning into cooperative societies or creating their own management firms, increasingly, however, private interests external to the markets are taking over the management functions, sidelining or even repressing, vendors’ associations. The general picture is one of weakening associations and endangered possibilities for broad-based organising and interest representation.