In the face of increased accountability pressures, nonprofits are searching for ways to demonstrate their effectiveness. Because meaningful tools to evaluate effectiveness are largely absent, financial ratios are still the main indicators used to approximate it. However, there is an extensive body of literature on determinants of nonprofit effectiveness. In this study, we test the extent to which these assertions in the literature align with practitioner views. To increase the practical value of our comparative exercise, we create a self-assessment survey on the basis of the practices that find support in both academia and practice. This provides managers with a tool to assess the extent to which the identified practices are present in their organizations and with suggestions, which might lead to improvements in their effectiveness. Intermediaries can use the tool to provide better information to donors. Funders can use it in their selection of grantees, and capacity-building efforts.
AbrahamsonE. (1996). Management fashion. Academy of Management Review, 21, 254-285.
2.
AlexanderJ.BrudneyJ. L.YangK. (2010). Introduction to the symposium: Accountability and performance measurement: The evolving role of nonprofits in the hollow state. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 39, 565-570.
3.
AllisonM.KayeJ. (2003). Strategic planning for nonprofit organizations: A practical guide and workbook. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.
4.
AnheierH. (1994). Internationalization of the nonprofit sector. In HermanR. D. & Associates (Eds.), The Jossey-Bass handbook of nonprofit leadership and management (pp. 100-116). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
5.
ArmstrongJ.OvertonT. (1977). Estimating nonresponse bias in mail surveys. Journal of Marketing Research, 14, 396-402.
6.
AxelrodN. R. (1994). Board leadership and board development. In HermanR. D. & Associates (Eds.), The Jossey-Bass handbook of nonprofit leadership and management (pp. 119-136). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
7.
BaruchY. Y.RamalhoN. (2006). Communalities and distinctions in the measurement of organizational performance and effectiveness across for-profit and nonprofit sectors. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 35, 39-65.
8.
BeamonB. M.BalcikB. (2008). Performance measurement in humanitarian relief chains. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 21, 4-25.
9.
BejarH.OakleyP. (1996). From accountability to shared responsibility: NGO evaluation in Latin America. In EdwardsM.HulmeD. (Eds.), Beyond the magic bullet: NGO performance and accountability in the post-cold war world (pp. 91-100). West Hartford, CT: Kumarian Press.
10.
BellP. D. (1993). Fulfilling the public trust: Ten ways to help nonprofit boards maintain accountability. Washington, DC: National Centre for Nonprofit Boards.
11.
BernardC. (1938). The functions of the executive. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
12.
BhattacharyaR.TinkelmanD. (2009). How tough are better business bureau/wise giving alliances financial standards?Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 38, 467-489.
BrownW. A. (2005). Exploring the association between board and organizational performance in nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit Management & Leadership, 15, 317-339.
15.
BrysonJ. M. (2010). Strategic planning and the strategy change cycle. In RenzD. O.HermanR. D. (Eds.), The Jossey-Bass handbook of nonprofit management and leadership (3rd ed., pp. 230-261). San Francisco, CA: John Wiley.
16.
BuckmasterN. (1999). Associations between outcome measurement, accountability and learning for non-profit organizations. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 12, 186-197.
17.
BushouseB. K.SowaJ. E. (2012). Producing knowledge for practice: Assessing NVSQ 2000-2010. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 41, 497-513.
18.
ByingtonD. B.MartinP. Y.DiNittoD. M.MaxwellM. S. (1991). Organizational affiliation and effectiveness: The case of rape crisis centers. Administration in Social Work, 15, 83-103
19.
CallenJ. L.KleinA.TinkelmanD. (2003). Board composition, committees, and organizational efficiency: The case of nonprofits. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 32, 493-520.
20.
CameronK. S. (1982). The relationship between faculty unionism and organizational effectiveness. Academy of Management Journal, 25, 6-24.
21.
CameronK. S. (1986). A study of organizational effectiveness and its predictors. Management Science, 32, 539-553.
22.
CarmanJ. J. G. (2010). Evaluation capacity and nonprofit organizations: Is the glass half-empty or half-full?The American Journal of Evaluation, 31, 84-104.
23.
ChaitR. P. (1993). How to help your board govern more and manage less. Washington, DC: National Centre for Nonprofit Boards.
24.
ChaitR. P.HollandT. P.TaylorB. E. (1991). The effective board of trustees. New York, NY: American Council on Education.
25.
ChengW. (2009). Doing good well: What does (and does not) make sense in the nonprofit world. New York, NY: Wiley.
26.
CoppsJ.VernonB. (2010). The little blue book: NPC’s guide to analysing charities, for charities and funders. London, England: New Philanthropy Capital.
27.
CrittendenW. F.CrittendenV. L.HuntT. G. (1988). Planning and stakeholder satisfaction in religious organizations. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 17, 60-73.
28.
DalsimerJ. P. (1991). Understanding non-profit financial statements: A primer for nonprofit boards. Washington, DC: National Centre for Non-Profit Boards.
29.
De HooghA. H. B.Den HartogD. N.KoopmanP. L. (2005). Linking the Big Five-factors of personality to charismatic and transactional leadership; perceived dynamic work environment as a moderator. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26, 839-865.
30.
DelugaR. J. (2001). American presidential Machiavellianism: Implications for charismatic leadership and rated performance. The Leadership Quarterly, 12, 339-363.
31.
DillmanD. A. (2000). Mail and Internet surveys: The tailored design method. New York, NY: Wiley.
32.
DonaisT. (2009). Empowerment or imposition? Dilemmas of local ownership in post-conflict peacebuilding processes. Peace & Change, 34, 3-26.
33.
EbrahimA. S. (2003). Accountability in practice: Mechanisms for NGOs. World Development, 31, 813-829.
34.
EbrahimA. S. (2010). The many faces of nonprofit accountability. In RenzD. O.HermanR. D. (Eds.), The Jossey-Bass handbook of nonprofit management and leadership (3rd ed., pp.101-124). San Francisco, CA: John Wiley.
35.
EbrahimA. S.RanganV. K. (2010, August). Putting the brakes on impact: A contingency framework for measuring social performance. Best Paper Proceedings of the Academy of Management, Montréal, Quebec, Canada.
36.
EdwardsM. (1999). International development NGOs: Agents of foreign aid or vehicles for international cooperation?Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 28, 25-37.
37.
EdwardsM.HulmeD. (Eds.). (1996). Beyond the magic bullet: NGO performance and accountability in the post-cold war world. West Hartford, CT: Kumarian Press.
38.
EisingerP. (2002). Organizational capacity and organizational effectiveness among street-level food assistance programs. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 31, 115-130.
39.
EtzioniA. (1964). Modern organizations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
40.
FloodA. B. (1994). The impact of organizational and managerial factors on the quality of care in health care organizations. Medical Care Research and Review, 51, 381-429.
41.
ForbesD. P. (1998). Measuring the unmeasurable: Empirical studies of nonprofit organization effectiveness from 1977 to 1997. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 27, 183-202.
42.
FowlerA. (1996). Continuous system simulation as a learning and evaluation facility in BPR. In BruzzoneA. G.KerckhoffsE. J. H. (Eds.), Simulation in industry (pp. 187-191). Ghent, Belgium: SCS.
43.
GandiaJ. J. L. (2011). Internet disclosure by nonprofit organizations: Empirical evidence of nongovernmental organizations for development in Spain. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 40, 57-78.
44.
GeorgopoulosB. R.TannenbaumA. S. (1957). A study of organizational effectiveness. American Sociological Review, 22, 534-534.
45.
GibbsC.FumoC.KubiT. (1999). Non-governmental organizations in World Bank Supported programs. Washington, DC: The Word Bank.
46.
GlissonC. A.MartinP. Y. (1980). Productivity and efficiency in human service organizations as related to structure, size, and age. Academy of Management Journal, 23, 21-37.
GordonT. P.KnockC. L.NeelyD. G. (2009). The role of rating agencies in the market for charitable contributions: An empirical test. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, 28, 469-484.
49.
GreenJ. C.GriesingerD. W. (1996). Board performance and organizational effectiveness in nonprofit social services organizations. Nonprofit Management & Leadership, 6, 381-402.
50.
GreenhalghT.PeacockR. (2005). Effectiveness and efficiency of search methods in systematic reviews of complex evidence: Audit of primary sources (Clinical research ed.). British Medical Journal, 33, 1064-1065.
51.
GrossmanA. (1999). Philanthropic social capital markets: Performance driven philanthropy (Social Enterprise Series No. 12). Boston, MA: Harvard Business School.
52.
HakT.van der VeerK.JansenH. (2008). The three-step test-interview (TSTI): An observation-based method for pretesting self-completion questionnaire. Survey Research Methods, 2, 143-150.
53.
HermanR. D.HeimovicsR. (1994). A cross-national of a method for researching nonprofit organizational effectiveness, Voluntas, 5, 86-100.
54.
HermanR. D.RenzD. O. (1997). Multiple constituencies and the social construction of non-profit organization effectiveness. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 26, 185-206.
55.
HermanR. D.RenzD. O. (1999). Theses on nonprofit organizational effectiveness. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 28, 107-126.
56.
HermanR. D.RenzD. O. (2000). Board practices of especially effective and less effective local nonprofit organizations. The American Review of Public Administration, 30, 146-160.
57.
HermanR. D.RenzD. O. (2004). Doing things right: Effectiveness in local nonprofit organizations: A panel study. Public Administration Review, 64, 694-704.
58.
HermanR. D.RenzD. O. (2008). Advancing nonprofit organizational effectiveness research and theory: Nine theses. Nonprofit Management & Leadership, 18, 399-415.
59.
HollandT. P.JacksonD. K. (1998). Measuring the effectiveness of nonprofit boards. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 27, 159-182.
60.
HooleE.PattersonT. (2008). Voices from the field: Evaluation as part of a learning culture. In CarmanJ.FredericksK. (Eds.), Nonprofit evaluation, new directions for evaluation (pp. 93-113). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
61.
HoytW. T. (2000). Rater bias in psychological research: When is it a problem and what can we do about it?Psychological Methods, 5, 64-86.
62.
IngramR. T. (1989). Ten basic responsibilities of nonprofit boards. Washington, DC: National Centre for Nonprofit Boards.
63.
JobsonJ. D.SchneckR. (1982). Constituent views of organizational effectiveness: Evidence from police organizations. Academy of Management Journal, 25, 25-46.
64.
KanterR. M.SummersD. (1987). Doing well while doing good: Dilemmas of performance measurement in nonprofit organizations. In PowellW. (Eds.), Handbook of nonprofit organizations (pp. 154-166). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
65.
KaplanR. (2001). Strategic performance measurement and management in nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit Management & Leadership, 11, 353-370.
66.
KushnerR. J.PooleP. P. (1996). Exploring structure-effectiveness relationships in nonprofit arts organizations. Nonprofit Management & Leadership, 7, 119-136.
67.
LecyJ. D.SchmitzH. P.SwedlundH. (2012). Non-governmental and not-for profit organizational effectiveness: A modern synthesis. Voluntas, 23, 434-457.
68.
LecyJ. D.SearingE. A. M. (2012, November1). Anatomy of the nonprofit starvation cycle (Andrew Young School of Policy Studies Research Paper No. 12-27). Retrieved from http://ssrn.com/abstract=2170740
69.
LeRouxK. K. (2009). Managing stakeholder demands: Balancing responsiveness to clients and funding agents in nonprofit social service organizations. Administration & Society, 41, 158-184.
70.
LettsC. W.RyanW. P.GrossmanA. (1999). High performance nonprofit organizations: Managing upstream for greater impact. New York, NY: John Wiley.
71.
LoevinsohnB.HardingA. (2005). Buying results? Contracting for health service delivery in developing countries. The Lancet, 366, 676-681.
MillerD.HartwickJ.Le Breton-MillerI. (2004). How to detect a management fad—And distinguish it from a classic. Business Horizons, 47, 7-16.
74.
MillerL. E.WeissR. M.MacLeodB. V. (1988). Boards of directors in nonprofit organizations: Composition, activities, and organizational outcomes. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 17, 81-89.
75.
MinkoffD. C.PowellW. W. (2006). Nonprofit mission: Constancy, responsiveness, or deflection? In PowellW. W.SteinbergR. (Eds.), The nonprofit sector: A research handbook (2nd ed., pp. 561-610). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
76.
MitchellG. E. (2013). The construct of organizational effectiveness: Perspectives from leaders of international nonprofits in the United States. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 42, 324-345.
77.
MohrL. B. (1982). Explaining organizational behaviour. San Fransisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
78.
MurrayV. (2005). Evaluating the effectiveness of nonprofit organizations. In HermanR. D. & Associates (Eds.), The Jossey-Bass handbook of nonprofit leadership and management (pp. 345-370). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
79.
MurrayV. (2010). Evaluating the effectiveness of nonprofit organizations. In RenzD. O.HermanR. D. (Eds.), The Jossey-Bass Handbook of Nonprofit Management and Leadership (3rd ed., pp. 431-460). San Francisco: John Wiley.
80.
MurrayV.TassieB. (1994). Evaluating the effectiveness of nonprofit organizations. In HermanR. D. & Associates (Eds.), The Jossey-Bass handbook of nonprofit leadership and management (2nd ed., pp. 303-324). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
81.
O’ConnellB. (1985). The board’s members book: Making a difference in voluntary organisations. Washington, DC: The Foundation Centre.
82.
OsterS. M. (1995). Strategic management for nonprofit organizations: Theory and cases. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
83.
OstroffO.SchmittN. (1993). Configurations of organizational effectiveness and efficiency. Academy of Management Journal, 36, 1345-1361.
84.
OstrowerF.StoneM. M. (2006). Governance: Research trends, gaps, and future prospects. In PowellW. W.SteinbergR. (Eds.), The nonprofit sector: A research handbook (2nd ed., pp. 612-628). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
85.
PackardT. (2010). Staff perceptions of variables affecting performance in human service organizations. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 39, 971-990.
86.
PriceJ. K. (1972). The study of organizational effectiveness. The Sociological Quarterly, 13, 3-15.
87.
ProvanK. G. (1980). Board power and organizational effectiveness among human service agencies. Academy of Management Journal, 23, 221-236.
88.
QuinnR. E.RohrbaughJ. (1983). A spatial model of effectiveness criteria: Towards a competing values approach to organizational analysis. Management Science, 29, 363-377.
89.
RaineyH. G.SteinbauerP. (1999). Galloping elephants: Developing elements of a theory of effective government organizations. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 9, 1-32.
90.
Rey GarciaM. (2008). Evaluating the organizational performance and social impact of third sector organizations: A new functional realm for nonprofit marketing. Paper presented at the 8th International Conference of the International Society for Third Sector Research and published in the Conference Working Papers Volume. Available from www.istr.org
SaxtonG. D.GuoC. (2011). Accountability online: Understanding the web-based accountability practices of nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 40, 270-295.
93.
SchumacherP. D. (1980). The effectiveness of military tactics in contemporary urban protest. Journal of Voluntary Action Research, 9, 131-148.
94.
SheehanR. R. M. (1996). Mission accomplishment as philanthropic organization effectiveness: Key findings from the excellence in philanthropy program. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 25, 110-123.
95.
ShilburyD.MooreK. A. (2006). A study of organizational effectiveness for national olympic sporting organizations, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 35, 5-38.
96.
SicilianoJ. I. (1997). The relationship between formal planning and performance in nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit Management & Leadership, 7, 387-403.
97.
SilkT. (1994). The legal framework of the nonprofit sector in the United States. In HermanR. & Associates (Eds.), The Jossey-Bass handbook of nonprofit leadership and management (pp. 65-82). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
98.
SloanM. F. (2009). The effects of nonprofit accountability ratings on donor behaviour. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 38, 220-236.
99.
SmithD.ShenC. (1996). Factors characterizing the most effective nonprofits managed by volunteers. Nonprofit Management & Leadership, 6, 271-289.
100.
SowaJ.SeldenS.SandfortJ. (2004). No longer unmeasurable? A multidimensional integrated model of nonprofit organisational effectiveness. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 33, 711-728.
101.
SpeckbacherG. (2003). The economics of performance management in nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit Management & Leadership, 13, 267-281.
102.
StoneM. M.Cutcher-GershenfeldS. (2001). Challenges of measuring performance in non-profit organizations. In FlynnP.HodgkinsonV. A. (Eds.), Measuring the impact of the nonprofit sector (pp. 33-57). New York, NY: Kluwer Academic.
103.
StorkD. (2007). Nonprofit organizations: An introduction to charity rating sources and cautions in their use. The International Journal of Applied Management and Technology, 6(4), 1-122.
104.
TandonR., (1996). Board games, governance and accountability in NGOs. In EdwardsM.HulmeD. (Eds.), Beyond the magic bullet: NGO performance and accountability in the post-cold war world (pp. 151-182). West Hartford, CT: Kumarian Press.
105.
TassieB.MurrayV.CuttJ. (1998). Evaluating social service agencies: Fuzzy pictures of organizational effectiveness. Voluntas, 9, 59-79.
106.
TinkelmanD.DonabedianB. (2007). Street lamps, alleys, ratio analysis and nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit Management & Leadership, 18, 5-18.
107.
WainwrightS. (2002). Measuring impact: A guide to resources. London, England: NCVO Publications.
108.
WandersmanA.Snell-JohnsJ.LentzB. E.FettermanD. M.KeenerD. C.LivetM.ImmP. S.FlaspohlerP. (2005). The principles of empowerment evaluation. In FettermanD. M.WandersmanA. (Eds.), Empowerment evaluation, principles in practice. New York, NY: Guilford.
WhiteH. (2010). A contribution to current debates in impact evaluation, Evaluation, 16, 153-164.
111.
WingK.HagerM. A. (2004a). Getting what we pay for: Low overhead limits nonprofit effectiveness (Nonprofit Overhead Cost Project). Washington, DC: Urban Institute.
112.
WingK.HagerM. A. (2004b). The quality of financial reporting by nonprofits: Findings and implications (Nonprofit Overhead Cost Project). Washington, DC: Urban Institute Centre on Nonprofits and Philanthropy.
113.
WolfP. J. (1993). A case survey of bureaucratic effectiveness in U.S. Cabinet agencies: Preliminary eesults. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 3, 161-181.
114.
YatesH. (2004). The impact of impact assessment: The experience of rural voluntary and community organizations in evaluating change. London, England: NCVO Publications.
115.
YuchtmanE.SeashoreS. E. (1967). A system resource approach to organizational effectiveness. American Sociological Review, 32, 891-903.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
