Interlocking Boards of Trustees and Grant Acquisition Among Homeless Service Organizations

Abstract

Research on trustee effectiveness has traditionally focused on board attributes like size and demographics, but networks are a better mechanism to consider the implications of boards for resource procurement. This research utilizes board of trustee interlocks from a sample of 523 nonprofit organizations that specialize in assisting the homeless. These organizations rely heavily on government and community funding, and interlock data from 1999 and 2003 are used to predict first-time grant acquisition in 2006. The findings suggest that board of trustee interlocks provide nonprofits with access to information and legitimacy, and ultimately increase the likelihood of receiving a grant.

Keywords:

• interlocking boards
• interorganizational networks
• nonprofit