A Board Coaching Framework for Effective Nonprofit Governance: Staff Support, Board Knowledge, and Board Effectiveness

ABSTRACT

Nonprofit boards of directors are responsible for the governance of their organizations. Despite a wide literature on board governance, empirical studies have focused primarily on board characteristics such as board size, frequency of board meetings, or board member characteristics. Building on prior literature, we use qualitative interview and survey data from nonprofit board members and executive directors, respectively, to develop a board coaching framework to better understand how board dynamics, in particular staff support for board activities, can influence overall board performance. Our findings suggest the need to recognize the central role executives and staff play in nonprofit governance.

KEYWORDS:

• Governance
• nonprofit
• management

Practice points

1. Human service organizations and other nonprofits must recognize the important role that executive directors and staff have in supporting effective governance, and executive director job descriptions should explicitly outline a role in board coaching.

2. Regular and frequent communication between the board and executive directors as well as staff can help board members feel engaged and informed.

3. Leaders at human service organizations as well as in other nonprofits should recognize that there is a disconnect between the understanding of nonprofit governance and the practical reality of many small-mid size organizations.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.