Whats Research Got to Do with It

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Whats Research Got to Do with It?

• Katherine Mandusic Finley, CAE, CFRE
• ISAE Annual Convention
• July 16, 2003

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Types of Research

• Applied or internal done by association or done
  for a specific association
• Academic done by professional researcher
  examining issues related to all associations or
  nonprofits

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Benefits of Applied Research

• Provides an association with information about
  its members needs and wants
• Helps an association design effective programs
  and services
• Helps an association provide assessment of
  marketplace trends
• Provides an assessment of image
• Limited use beyond one association

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Benefits of Academic Research

• Many academic centers, universities, and students
  studying this area
• Not all of this research is useful, but
• Some research can give credence to various
  theories of leadership and governance
• Can provide insight into various problems so we
  can better manage our association

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Benefits of Academic Research

• Contributes to better understanding of a
  particular topic
• Can help an association institute a program or
  form of governance
• Gives the entire field credence

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What is Being Studied?

• In one word EVERYTHING!
• 460 papers at one conference alone
• Over 245 programs in nonprofit management (either
  degree or certificate)
• Numerous think tanks devoted exclusively to
  this
• Doctoral program in association mgt.

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Sampling of Research
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Effectiveness of Board Training or Development
Programs

• Study by Thomas P. Holland and Douglas K. Jackson
  of University of Ga.
• Study of 10 boards that had three-year
  developmental programs
• Identified these board competencies contextual,
  interpersonal, analytical and strategic
• Boards that employed developmental training
  improved effectiveness significantly

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Effectiveness of Board Training or Development
Programs, cont.

• Competencies that improved most were ones
  specifically targeted for attention
• Boards will not change if change is imposed must
  want to develop
• Board development has to be considered a
  long-term investment

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Why Do Nonprofits Fail?

• Study by Mark Hager, Urban Institute Wolfgang
  Bielefeld, IU and Joe Galaskiewicz, University
  of Arizona
• Studied Minneapolis area from 1984-94 to see why
  nonprofits failed
• Found that size and age related to organizational
  survival. The older, larger and more established
  organizations were more likely to survive

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Why Do Nonprofits Fail, cont.

• Reasons for closure were organization too small
  too young instability (personnel loss or goal
  changes) lack of managerial acumen (financial
  difficulties, personnel capabilities, conflict
  among staff, power struggles on board, unclear
  mission) and success (mission completed)

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Why Do Nonprofits Fail, cont.

• Under managerial acumen, financial difficulties
  and personnel loss were major reasons for closing
• Some closed because executive director died or
  left founder left or died

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Effectiveness of the Carver Governance Model

• Study by Patricia Dautel Nobbie, University of
  Georgia
• Carver model board drives organization through
  policies related to ends, executive limitations,
  and governance policies
• CEO allowed to advance ends without violating
  means

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Effectiveness of the Carver Governance Model,
cont.

• Data collected from 234 board members of 32
  organizations using model control groups of
  those not using any model and those using another
  model
• Those studied were those that totally implemented
  and understood model
• Study found that perception by board was that
  they did operate more effectively

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Effectiveness of the Carver Governance Model

• However, there was no evidence to support that
  performance is actually higher under this model
  as compared to other models
• The effectiveness really depends on training of
  board members and length of using the model

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How Well Do Boards Approach Executive Transitions?

• 1998 a study conducted by CompassPointe in San
  Francisco Bay area.
• Looked at 28 organizations
• Executive directors in 501-c-3 stayed three
  years most first-timers (Leadership Lost study)

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How Well Do Boards Approach Executive
Transitions, cont.

• Study found that boards underestimate risk of bad
  hires
• Also, boards are woefully unprepared for task
• Moreover, board does not use transition as an
  opportunity

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Weird Management Techniques that Work

• Robert Sutton of Stanford University, School of
  Business and Engineering
• Research on what techniques spark innovation
  within organizations and companies
• Wrote book outlining 11 ½ techniques that work in
  companies found three work in nonprofit setting

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Weird Management Techniques that Work, cont.

• Hire people who make you uncomfortable. Seek
  competent people with different beliefs and
  skills. This tends to spark innovation
• Find happy people and get them to fight.
  Conflict over ideas is good, especially in
  creative organizations. Study showed that when
  fighting over conflicting ideas, employees
  provoked to weave ideas together to come up with
  best idea

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Weird Management Techniques that Work, cont.

• Reward success and failure, punish inaction.
  Study found that you cannot generate good ideas
  without bad ones. Reward smart failures not
  dumb ones.

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Is a Merit Pay System Always Good?

• Study by John R. Deckop, Temple University and
  Carol C. Cirka, Urisinus College
• Study of a private northeastern college that is
  religiously affiliated
• 126 responses to questionnaire
• Implemented a merit pay system in mission-based
  organization

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Is a Merit Pay System Always Good?, cont.

• Study found that implementing a merit pay system
  in a mission-based organization can cause a
  decline in intrinsic motivation
• Plan to implement this must be communicated
• If organization cannot continue merit pay
  increases, this poses a danger to organization

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Are Nonprofit Organizations Ready for Downsizing?

• Study by Russ Cargo and Deborah Barfield of
  Nonprofit Enterprise Institute at Virginia
  Commonwealth University
• Study found nonprofits unprepared for downsizing
• Nonprofits need strategy to address structure
  (staffing), communications and to assist affected
  employees
• Nonprofits particularly lack legal knowledge to
  make right decisions

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Is There a Tie Between Strategy and Financial
Performance?

• Study by William Crittendon of Northeastern
  University study done over three-year time
  period of 31 organizations
• There is a definite correlation between success
  of organizations and degree to which they engage
  in strategic planning
• There is a definite correlation between success
  of organization and those that have financial
  orientation

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Is There a Tie Between Strategy and Financial
Performance?, cont.

• There is a correlation between success of
  organization and degree to which organization has
  a marketing orientation
• Unsuccessful organizations are basically unfocused

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Do Organizations Engaged in Formal Strategic
Planning Perform Better than Others?

• Study by Julie I. Siciliano of Western New
  England College in Springfield, MA
• Based on 240 questionnaires from YMCAs and 66
  telephone interviews
• Factors identified with more formal strategic
  planning strategic planning committee of board
  takes responsibility, use of consultants and
  financial performance

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Do Organizations Engaged in Formal Strategic
Planning Perform Better than Others?, cont.

• Findings The more formal the strategic planning
  process, the higher the organizations
  performance
• In particular, activity of setting goals,
  objectives, action plans and monitoring linked to
  better performance
• Formalizing analysis of environmental trends
  associated with better social performance

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Do Organizations Engaged in Formal Strategic
Planning Perform Better than Others?, cont.

• Formalizing competitive analysis was associated
  with better financial performance
• Development of a unique mission statement was not
  associated with any performance measure
• Less formal strategic planning done when an
  executive committee involved rather than a
  strategic planning committee

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Do Organizations Engaged in Formal Strategic
Planning Perform Better than Others?, cont.

• No evidence that use of outside consultant
  resulted in more formal planning process
• More financially stable organizations are more
  likely to engage in formal process, rather than
  those in financial crisis who need planning the
  most

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Philanthropy - 2002

• American Association of Fund Raising Counsel
  (AAFRC) prepares Giving USA each year
• Giving is at record 240.9 billion, an increase
  of 1 percent. Adjusted for inflation, this
  represents a decrease of .5 percent
• Giving by individuals increased slightly
• Bequests increased to 18.1 billion
• Giving by foundations decreased
• Giving by corporations increased

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Philanthropy 2002, cont.

• Most giving comes from individuals (76.3),
  foundations (11.2), and corporations (5.1)
• Most giving goes to religion (35), followed by
  education (13.1), foundations (9.1), health
  (7.8) and human services (7.7)
• Environmental/animal rights, arts culture and
  public-society-benefit get least

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New Studies

• Executive transitions in associations (Union
  Institute Doctoral Program)
• Diversity in associations (Union Institute
  Doctoral Program)
• Best practices for small associations (Union
  Institute Doctoral Program)
• Volunteers the cost of hiring UPS Foundation
  and Urban Institute
• Indiana nonprofit database study (all nonprofits,
  economic impact mapping the sector IU study)
• MORE

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Journals and Magazines with Latest Research

• Center for Association Leadership launching a
  new journal
• Chronicle of Philanthropy
• NonProfit Times
• Philanthropy (AFP)
• Nonprofit World
• Board Member (BoardSource)
• Voluntas
• Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly

• Social Science Innovation Review (Stanford
  University)
• The Nonprofit Quarterly (Third Sector New
  England)
• ARNOVA News, E-News and abstract database
• Snapshots, Aspen Institute
• Nonprofit Management Leadership

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New Books

• William B. Werther, Jr and Evan M. Berman, Third
  Sector Management The Art of Managing Nonprofit
  Organizations (Georgetown Univ. Press, 2001)
• Robert B. Denhardt, Janet Vinzant Denhardt, and
  Maria P. Aristigueta, Managing Human Behavior in
  Nonprofit Organizations (Sage Publications, 2002)

• Ronald A. Landskroner, The Nonprofit Managers
  Resource Directory, 2nd ed. (John Wiley Sons,
  2002)
• Paul C. Light, Pathways to Nonprofit Excellence
  (Brookings Institution, 2002)
• Byron L. Tweeten, Transformational Boards (Jossey
  Bass, 2002)

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New Books, cont.

• Lester M. Salamon, The Resilient Sector The
  State of Nonprofit America (Brookings
  Institution, 2002)
• Bruce R. Hopkins, The Law of Intermediate
  Sanctions (John Wiley Sons, 2003)
• Michael ONell, Nonprofit Nation A New Look at
  the Third America (Jossey Bass, 2002)

• John Carver, John Carver on Board Leadership
  (Jossey-Bass, 2002)
• Robert I. Sutton, Weird Ideas That Work (Free
  Press, 2002)
• Peter Frumkin, On Being Nonprofit A Conceptual
  and Policy Primer (Harvard, 2002)

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Research-Related Organizations

• AFP Research Council
• Center on Philanthropy at IU
• Aspen Institute
• Urban Institute
• Brookings Institution
• BoardSource
• Institute for Nonprofit Organization Management,
  San Francisco

• Center for Association Leadership
• ASAE
• Independent Sector
• Amherst Wilder Foundation
• Mandel Center
• Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations, Harvard

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Research-Related Organizations, Cont.

• Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations
• ARNOVA
• International Society for Third-Sector Research

• National Alliance for Nonprofit Management
• National Center on Nonprofit Management
• Academy of Management

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THANK YOU!

• Any questions?