Studies in Public and Non-Profit Governance (SPNPG) publishes in a growing area of governance research. SPNPG allows for the establishment of an engaged community of researchers. It contributes to the definition of the theoretical components that assign an innovation role to governance systems in public and non profit organizations.

The first volume of the series aims to give an outline of the state of the art and the most recent research being done on public and non profit governance at the international level (with particular emphasis in Europe).

This innovative book sheds light on two key questions at the forefront of government-nonprofit partnerships: How are nonprofits performing? And does the involvement of nonprofits in a public service add public value?

While boards acknowledge they bear ultimate responsibility and accountability for their organizations' affairs, governance quality is often far from optimal. The High- Performance Board offers pragmatic and candid advice about what your board must do to maximize performance and contributions. The authors provide sixty-four principles designed to help your board achieve peak performance. They describe every principle in detail and present best practices and practical applications for each one. Each section of the book concludes with a board check-up-a set of questions that can be used to assess your board in light of the principles. A quick read for busy board members, this book is the ultimate board "drivers' manual."

Governing boards play a crucial role in ensuring that public and non-profit organizations are publicly accountable and perform well. Until now, there have been relatively few detailed empirical studies of what boards do in practice, but this book fills that gap by bringing together analyses based upon some of the best recent empirical studies.Using

With increased competition for external funding, technological advancement, and public expectations for transparency, not-for-profit and non-governmental organizations are facing new challenges and pressures. While research has explored the roles of accounting, accountability, and performance management in nonprofit organizations, we still lack evidence on the best practices these organizations implement in the areas of accountability and performance management. This book collects and presents that evidence for the first time, offering insights to help nonprofits face these new challenges head-on. Performance Management in Nonprofit Organizations focuses on both conventional and contemporary issues facing nonprofits, presenting evidence-based insights from leading scholars in the field. Chapters examine the design, implementation, and working of accounting, accountability, governance, and performance management measures, providing both retrospective and contemporary views, as well as critical commentaries on accounting and performance related issues in nonprofit organizations The book's contributors also offer critical commentaries on the changing role of accounting and performance management in this sector. This research-based collection is an interesting and useful read for academics, practitioners, students, and consultants in nonprofit organizations, and is highly accessible to accounting and non-accounting audiences alike.

The current fashion for rolling back the state has seen the nonprofit or third sector playing an increasing role in what were previously the heartlands of the public sphere. The growing significance of the sector and its increasing reliance on public funds mean it has also attracted increased scrutiny. From outside the sector concerns have been raised about the accountability and performance of nonprofit organizations. From within the sector there has been considerable debate about whether the increased reliance on government contracts is in danger of undermining the sector’s independence. As a result the spotlight has fallen on governance arrangements and whether they are adequate to ensure that nonprofit organizations are effective and accountable for their actions, and able to retain their independence. This collection offers a comprehensive assessment of research on the governance of nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit governance research has been dominated by the study of boards of unitary organizations and has paid insufficient attention to the multi-level nature of governance, governance relationships and dynamics, and the contribution of actors other than board members, to governance processes. Drawing on the research of leading scholars in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, this book presents new perspectives on non-profit governance, which help to overcome these weaknesses. Written in an accessible manner the book will be of value to scholars, researchers, students, reflective practitioners and governance consultants and advisers.

The current fashion for rolling back the state has seen the nonprofit or third sector playing an increasing role in what were previously the heartlands of the public sphere. The growing significance of the sector and its increasing reliance on public funds mean it has also attracted increased scrutiny. From outside the sector concerns have been raised about the accountability and performance of nonprofit organizations. From within the sector there has been considerable debate about whether the increased reliance on government contracts is in danger of undermining the sector’s independence. As a result the spotlight has fallen on governance arrangements and whether they are adequate to ensure that nonprofit organizations are effective and accountable for their actions, and able to retain their independence. This collection offers a comprehensive assessment of research on the governance of nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit governance research has been dominated by the study of boards of unitary organizations and has paid insufficient attention to the multi-level nature of governance, governance relationships and dynamics, and the contribution of actors other than board members, to governance processes. Drawing on the research of leading scholars in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, this book presents new perspectives on non-profit governance, which help to overcome these weaknesses. Written in an accessible manner the book will be of value to scholars, researchers, students, reflective practitioners and governance consultants and advisers.

This innovative book sheds light on two key questions at the forefront of government-nonprofit partnerships: How are nonprofits performing? And does the involvement of nonprofits in a public service add public value? International contributors approach these questions through the conceptual lens of the "hollow state", highlighting the diminished role of government and the implications of the growing reliance on nonprofits in delivering public service. Through a set of empirical studies in public education, public health, urban sustainability, public parks and public social welfare services, chapters identify contributing factors to the success of nonprofits in mitigating public problems through performance measurement. Identifying challenges encountered by nonprofits in their roles as government partners, as well as the challenges posed to public organizations in generating nonprofit accountability, this insightful book takes stock of performance and public value of the hollow state. This methodologically-rigorous book is critical reading for scholars, researchers and students of public governance and public management, particularly those focusing on the long-term effects of the New Public Management. Its practical insights will also benefit policymakers, as well as managers of nonprofits interested in the implications of new partnerships with government bodies.

Organizational governance has become a popular and important topic in third-sector research. This review focuses on the governance of paid-staff nonprofit organizations (also called nonprofit agencies), which are characterized by a hierarchical structure where the board has the power and the responsibility to ensure that governance functions are carried out. In this review, Van Puyvelde discusses previous literature on nonprofit organization governance. Next, a wide array of theoretical perspectives are presented that may be useful when studying the governance of nonprofit organizations. In order to analyze a number of important contemporary governance challenges, some of these theories are integrated by using a paradox perspective. The underlying idea is that depending upon the governance challenge under consideration, a different combination of theoretical perspectives may be required. Van Puyvelde concludes that different theoretical frameworks can co-exist in the literature, each addressing a different issue in nonprofit governance.