Governance and Charities: An Exploration of Key Themes and the Development of a Research Agenda

Abstract

The concept of governance has been widely discussed in both the business and non‐business sectors. The debate has also been entered into within the charity sector, which comprises over 169,000 organizations in the UK. The UK‐based Charity Commission, which describes itself as existing to ‘promote sound governance and accountability’, has taken a lead in this debate by promoting greater regulation and producing numerous recommendations with regard to the proper governance of charitable organizations. However, the concept of what is meant by governance is unclear and a myriad of ideas are placed under the umbrella of ‘good governance’. This paper explores the major themes that form the basis of much of this discussion, examining both the theoretical underpinnings and empirical investigations relating to this area (looking from the perspective of the key stakeholders in the charity sector). Based on an analysis of the extant literature, this paper presents a broad definition of governance with respect to charities and outlines a future research agenda for those interested in adding to knowledge in this area

The Contextual Impact of Nonprofit Board Composition and Structure on Organizational Performance: Agency and Resource Dependence Perspectives

“…2 Papers in the last 10 years that provide good overviews of the non-profit governance literature include Hyndman and McDonnell (2009), Ostrower (2007), Miller-Millesen (2003), Green et al (2001), Ostrower and Stone (2001), Murray and Cutt (2000), and Stone et al (1999). Academic papers view board performance through a variety of perspectives, including Agency Theory, Resource Dependence, Institutional Theory, and Transaction Cost models.…”

Improving Charity Accountability: Lessons From the Scottish Experience

“…123) also examined the effectiveness of nonprofit regulation in the US and found that the Nonprofit Integrity Act (NIA) of 2004 had the "effect of increasing accounting fees, while providing limited improvement in financial reporting quality in the first year of implementing the Act." Hyndman and McDonnell (2009;see also Cordery, 2013) posit that charities may become more accountable to the regulator at the expense of their donors and beneficiaries. Onerous reporting requirements can force charities to divert time and resources away from achieving objectives (Szper & Prakash, 2011) and discourage innovation (Johnson et al, 1998).…”

The donor–beneficiary charity accountability paradox: a tale of two stakeholders

“…These include donors, the accounting profession, regulators, beneficiaries, government and the public (Hyndman and McDonnell, 2009). This array of stakeholders presents charities with complex and often competing needs to meet (Codery and Baskerville, 2011).…”