Re-Thinking Nonprofit Organization Governance: Implications for Management and Leadership

Managing stakeholder relationships and nonprofit organization effectiveness

“…Harlan and Saidel (1994) suggest that the board of directors should play a vital role in the organization' s external relations as a boundary spanner between the organization and its environment. According to McClusky (2002), the board serves as a two-way link between the two. Its members can serve as both "ambassadors" and "antennas," positively representing the organization to a wide variety of constituencies and bringing important views, beliefs, and perceptions from those constituencies back to the organization (McClusky, 2002).…”

“…According to McClusky (2002), the board serves as a two-way link between the two. Its members can serve as both "ambassadors" and "antennas," positively representing the organization to a wide variety of constituencies and bringing important views, beliefs, and perceptions from those constituencies back to the organization (McClusky, 2002). These initial findings suggest the need for future research that examines how executive directors use members of the board to build relationships with other stakeholder groups and how board involvement affects stakeholders' perceptions of effectiveness.…”

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

“…There are differences between smaller associations largely run by volunteers and those with substantial resources and relatively large secretariats. We recognize that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to effective governance and that our model will require adaptation to the circumstances and contexts of individual professional associations (see also McClusky, 2002). We also stress that the model is applicable in the current context where associations are challenged by an unstable environment and are themselves undergoing a phase of rapid change in response.…”

Building institutional capacity for environmental governance through social entrepreneurship: lessons from Canadian biosphere reserves

“…First, the age of the organizations varies from 14 to 4 years at the time of analysis. Indeed the age of the organization affects its life-cycle stage, which may impact how the organization is governed, as well as its productivity (McClusky 2002). The BRs identified are located in three different Canadian provinces.…”