Exploring Emerging Forms of Nonprofit Governance

An article in the January 2013 Nonprofit Quarterly makes the point that boards are an essential piece of a larger puzzle that makes up nonprofit governance. Boards have fiduciary responsibility for the organization, but determining what the organization does to fulfill its mission in the community is collectively a stakeholder decision. Nonprofit stakeholders include the board, the executive director, staff, volunteers, funders and an increasing number of socially interested parties. Social stakeholders can sometimes exert their influence when the organization’s mission is no longer keeping step with common social values. Recent examples of how social stakeholders influence nonprofits have been theSusan G Komen Foundation and the Boy Scouts of America. The article suggests that organizational leaders should encourage forms of governance that include the broader perspective of stakeholders in the decision-making process.

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As seen in the February 2013 issue of LeadTime.