Nonprofit Governance

The Effect of Ownership in NGOs' Commercial Ventures

by Pierre Ly

Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Forthcoming.

"Civil Society and Social Capital in Australia and New Zealand"

by Garth Nowland-Foreman

Co-authored with Mark Lyons.  Chapter in Helmut Anheier & Stefan Toepler(2009). International Encyclopedia of Civil Society. Springer Reference: New York.

An overview of civil society organisations and the concepts of 'civil society' and 'social capital' in Australian and... more An overview of civil society organisations and the concepts of 'civil society' and 'social capital' in Australian and New Zealand research, politics and wider usage.  Similarities and differences between the two countries are noted, and basic descriptive data are also provided on the size and scope of civil society organisations in the two countries, along with some indicators of citizen engagement.

The Revitalization of a Popular Movement: Case Study Research from Sweden

by Stefan Einarsson

Published in Voluntas (2011) Volume 22 Number 4 pp 658-681

This article tries to enhance knowledge about organizational characteristics and processes that are important for... more This article tries to enhance knowledge about organizational characteristics and processes that are important for mitigating oligarchic tendencies in the governance of CSOs, and to discuss the factors that condition the operation of these characteristics and processes. Civil society is frequently seen as an important part of societal governance and discussed as the intermediary link between the individual and society. This connection is often made through the aggregate function of civil society organizations (CSOs). Currently there are discussions regarding the decline of traditional cross-class federative CSOs and the possible effect of this on democracy in society.

This article presents a longitudinal case study of the governance within a large, membership-based federative CSO and illustrates the revitalization of a CSO and its mission through the influx of a new group of members from the surrounding environment. The author argues that this revitalization process was possible partly because the proposed changes were in keeping with the organization’s original ideological core and partly because of the organization’s open democratic governance system. This permeability is found at two levels: first, the borders are open for individuals to enter the organization as members, and second,
the borders of the internal governance system are open for members to take part in the decision-making process. This enabled ideas to percolate up from the members through the democratic decision-making system to the top of the organization, and some ideas are translated into statutes and policies, which then trickle down to the members again through the executive structure.

The conclusion is that a functioning democratic governance system, which is able to stay true to the organization’s ideological core at the same time as it is able to modify it in light of societal change, seems imperative for this kind of organization. By doing this, the organization is not just staying true to its original mission but also actively contributing to democracy in society by including new groups into the decision-making process.

Public-Private Partnerships in Early Childhood Education and Preschool Preparedness Programs

by Texas State PA Applied Research Projects

Carson, Elizabeth D., "Public-Private Partnerships in Early Childhood Education and Preschool Preparedness Programs" (2011). Applied Research Projects, Texas State University-San Marcos. Paper 376.
http://ecommons.txstate.edu/arp/376

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to gauge the United Way Capital Area's Success-By-Six early childhood education... more Purpose: The purpose of this study is to gauge the United Way Capital Area's Success-By-Six early childhood education program's partnerships with private and public collaborators (partners) against the practical ideal type partnership design. A practical ideal type partnership has three main categories: 1) partnership purpose, 2) partnership accountability, and 3) partnership communication.

Methodology: A case study of the Capital Area's Success-By-Six partnership was conducted. Information is collected using face-to-face structured interviews and document analysis. Information was evaluated according to a scoring system. Relevant documents were also analyzed to supplement the interview notes.

Findings: The study finds that the Capital Area's Success-By-Six partnership generally met or exceeded standards in all three key areas, but should work toward improving a few key partnership elements. Based on these findings, the following recommendations are made. Partners should: create a partnership contract or written document that states the mission statement and specific goals of the partnership; develop a comprehensive document outlining the partnership's desired outcomes, how the leadership came up with those goals, and how they plan to achieve them; develop a documented evaluation plan; enhance the measurable goals they currently have in place by determining specifically how they are going to evaluate programs and measure success; and finally, develop a joint partnership budget for early childhood needs in Austin.

Social networking for membership engagement in nonprofit organisations: a trade union study

by Panos Panagiotopoulos

Americas Conference on Information Systems AMCIS 2011

Similar to the majority of public authorities internationally, many non-profit organisations are considering using Web... more Similar to the majority of public authorities internationally, many non-profit organisations are considering using Web 2.0tools to establish online interactions with their members. However, such organisations encounter practical difficulties withassessing the impact of Web 2.0 tools and aligning them with the expectations of their audience. The limited availability ofrelevant empirical work provides the motivation to reflect on the findings of a research survey conducted with the membersof a Greek trade union organisation. Guided by the survey results, union officials are able to better consider an onlineengagement strategy. For example, contrasting preliminary expectations, most union members did anticipate benefits fromthe union’s presence on Facebook and appeared willing not to draw fixed boundaries between their personal and workinglife. The study illustrates how research and continuous monitoring can contribute to realising the value of networkingtechnologies within the naturally complicated socio-political environment of such organisations.

Wage effects of recruitment methods: The case of the italian social service sector

by Francesco Pastore

Co-authored with Michele Mosca
In S. Destefanis and M. Musella, Paid and Unpaid Labour in Social Utility Services, Physica Verlag, Heidelberg (also available as IZA dp, n. 3422).

This paper uses a unique data set containing detailed micro-information on organisations, managers, workers and... more This paper uses a unique data set containing detailed micro-information on organisations, managers, workers and volunteers belonging to public, private forprofit and private nonprofit institutions delivering social services in Italy. The analysis aims to estimate the determinants of wages across organisations at a sector level focusing on the role of hiring and job search methods, including informal networks. We find that, independent of the organisation type, being hired through public competitions brings with it a substantial wage premium (ranging from 7 to 32%). Informal networks bring with them a wage penalty (-6.5%) in the state sector, where formal hiring methods are common, and a wage premium (6.3%) in social cooperatives and religious institutions, where formal hiring methods are not common. Interestingly, the differences in hiring and in job search methods between state and private organisations explain from 50% to 100% of the conditional wage differentials across organisation types. Our interpretation of these findings is that nonprofit organisations prefer informal recruitment methods not for nepotistic reasons, but to better select the most motivated workers, those who share the nonprofit mission. This paper adds to the previous literature by suggesting that in addition to lower than average monetary compensations, informal recruitment methods are part of the process of self-selection of motivated workers in nonprofit organisations.

Beyond the Disciplinary Role of Governance: How Boards Add Value to Spanish Foundations

by Pablo de Andres Alonso

Co-authored with V. Azofra and M. Elena ROmero, published British Journal of Management, Vol. 21, 100–114 (2010)

Due to the significant role of non-profit organizations in the development of modern societies, these organizations... more Due to the significant role of non-profit organizations in the development of modern societies, these organizations must adjust their boardrooms. Since traditional theories
of corporate governance appear to be limited in explaining the changing non-profit world, we propose an extended model of governance that integrates the traditional arguments of agency theory with a cognitive dimension. Based on a sample of Spanish
foundations, we present evidence on the effect of the board composition on foundations’ organizational efficiency. We show that board size and independence do not have a definitive effect on the entity’s efficiency. Instead, the knowledge diversity inside the boardroom and the active character of trustees have a positive influence on resource allocation. The cognitive dimension of the extended model of governance is critical to explaining how boards impact on organizational performance.

On Civil Society Governance: An Emergent Research Field

by Filip Wijkström

Stiftelseväsendets betydelse i det svenska samhället

by Stefan Einarsson

Exploring the talk action gap: a qualitative investigation of foundation practices across three regime types

by Stefan Einarsson

Co-authored with McGinnis, J. & Schneider, H.

Culture transformed from organizational goal to organizational tool – longitudinal case study of a civil society organization

by Stefan Einarsson

In Wijkström and Zimmer (2011) "Nordic Civil Society at a Cross-Roads
Transforming the Popular Movement Tradition"

Civil society is often seen as an important part of societal governance, and often discussed as the intermediary link... more Civil society is often seen as an important part of societal governance, and often discussed as the intermediary link between the individual and society. There is a plethora of studies about how the surrounding society enables and limits the agency of the organizations that make up civil society. This chapter presents a longitudinal case study of the governance within a large, member-based, federative Swedish civil society organization – IOGT-NTO. The study illustrates how one of the major original goals of the organization – to provide and promote cultural activities for members and non-members alike –is transformed into an organizational tool. This development is first propelled by the merger between the larger IOGT and the smaller NTO in 1970. It is further enhanced by the outsourcing of cultural activities to other organizations within the wider movement and the subsequent narrowing of the organization’s own remaining activities. This chapter tells the story of the activities that were pushed aside when the IOGT-NTO organization was radicalized.

‘Don’t have time to drain the swamp; too busy dealing with alligators’: Defining the governance skills sets that enhance volunteer retention and recruitment in small arts and cultural organisations.

by Peter Bryant

co authored with Natalie Pozdeev.

please cite as BRYANT, P. & POZDEEV, N. 2011. ‘Don’t have time to drain the swamp; too busy dealing with alligators’: Defining the governance skills sets that enhance volunteer retention and recruitment in small arts and cultural organisations.  AIMAC - the 11th international conference on arts & cultural management. Antwerp, Belgium.

Small arts and cultural organisations are facing a number of significant challenges through the on-going austerity... more Small arts and cultural organisations are facing a number of significant challenges through the on-going austerity programmes impacting on their funding and practices.  These challenges are made more complex and problematic through the isolation and time poverty they experience as a result of small budgets, less paid staff and through primarily volunteer run governance.  There is a contradiction in inherent in the importance of recruiting and retaining volunteers and the on-going capacity of volunteer governance.  This paper seeks to identify and explore these tensions and contradictions by identifying governance skills sets that can support the volunteer function, and inform a training process that is practice-based and overcomes the limitations of isolation, funding and time. 

The impacts of governance practices and knowledge on the participation of grassroots communities in community broadcasting

by Peter Bryant

Bryant, Peter and Pozdeev, Natalie (2010), presented at the International Association of Media and Communications Research Conference, 18th – 22nd of July, Braga, Portugal