Nonprofit Arts Organizations’ Pursuit of Public Interests: The Role of Board Diversity

Although nonprofit organizations are expected to contribute to public interests, their tax exemption does not necessarily entail serving the broader public. What, then, makes nonprofit organizations orient their work externally, serving the broader public, instead of internally, pursuing private goals? This paper examines this question by studying the link between nonprofits’ board governance, with a specific focus on boards’ racial diversity, and their contribution to public interests. The analysis of the 2015 US Local Arts Agency Census reveals that boards’ racial diversity is closely related with nonprofit arts organizations’ participation in serving the broader public through civic engagement and community development activities. The findings offer insights on how nonprofit boards, which are neither publicly elected nor publicly accountable, can be trusted to attend to broader issues of the public interest.

Nonprofit Hero: Five Easy Steps to Successful Board Fundraising by Valerie M. Jones

Nonprofit boards play a key role in organizational sustainability. They are relied on for leadership, oversight, and strategy and to ensure that financial resources are in place to carry out the mission of the organization. Yet, for many boards, fundraising is the most challenging aspect of their role. In Nonprofit Hero: Five easy steps to successful board fundraising, author Valerie Jones applies more than 20 years of experience as a nonprofit consultant helping nonprofit boards unlock their ability to raise funds. Jones outlines a step-by-step, realistic process that is immediately useful for nonprofit boards of all shapes and sizes to become fundraising heroes.

Leadership and Governance in Times of Crisis: A Balancing Act for Nonprofit Boards

How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the roles of nonprofit boards? We reflect critically on the leadership and management activities of boards to understand the implications of the current crisis on governance. Employing a contingency approach to governance, we present a model of boards of directors’ leadership and management roles under four governance configurations as organizations navigate through the stages of the pandemic. We suggest that organizations with governance configurations that are more suited to predictable environments will generally experience greater shifts between management and leadership activities as they move through the stages of the COVID-19 crisis.

Public Service Motivation Among Nonprofit Board Members and the Influence of Primary Sector of Employment

Although considerable research has developed exploring effective management of nonprofit boards of directors, there is limited understanding of the motivations of nonprofit board members to serve on boards. Using a sample of nearly 700 nonprofit board members, this study examines antecedent conditions and dimensions of public service motivation (PSM) as they apply to nonprofit board members and the differences in levels of PSM between board members who have worked primarily in the nonprofit, public, or private sectors. Board members with primary employment in the public sector show the highest levels of PSM. This study illustrates that nonprofit board members who work in the private sector exhibit fewer values associated with public service motivation. Other variables that predict public service motivation among board members include gender, level of education, and formal volunteering activity, among several others.