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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explain that corporate citizenship refers to the specific activities that an organisation engages in to meet social obligations, and which has become an issue of growing importance within the business community. A key area in academic literature concentrates on justifying corporate citizenship initiatives to the corporate sector by illustrating a range of strategic benefits that a firm can achieve. This study is located within this body of work and aims to illustrate the strategic benefits that a football club can gain from the implementation of corporate citizenship activities through the community trust model of governance.Design/methodology/approachThe study draws from qualitative primary and secondary data gathered from Charlton Athletic and Brentford football clubs.FindingsAnalysis of the data resulted in the identification of six strategic benefits that a football club can realise through the creation of a community trust model of governance. These are the removal of commercial and community tensions; reputation management; brand building; local authority partnerships; commercial partnerships; and player identification.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper considers the importance of these findings for a generic business audience, discussing how organisations can also benefit from the creation of partnerships with football clubs focused on the delivery of corporate citizenship initiatives.Practical implicationsThe paper provides information regarding the application of management practice evident in football to other forms of business organisation.Originality/valueThe paper is the first to consider how corporate citizenship initiatives in football can assist firms in other sectors to achieve a range of strategic benefits.

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Accountability is a crucial element of governance. Nonprofit organizations are typically accountable to multiple stakeholders and often “do” accountability in multiple ways. But what happens when a nonprofit organization is highly dependent on a single source of funding? This article provides an empirical exploration of this issue. It draws on a longitudinal case study of one nonprofit organization in the United Kingdom that is highly dependent on a single funder to examine how accountability is constructed and enacted, with a focus on the board. It critically examines accountability processes through direct observation of board and committee meetings and in-depth interviews with board members. The analysis shows how board members work to construct broader forms of accountability beyond accountability to the funder, but then struggle to enact them. This article provides in-depth insight into the challenges that nonprofit board members face and offers a rare example of observational research on board behavior.

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