Voluntary Regulation of NGOs and Nonprofits: An Accountability Club Framework

Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Dedication......Page 7
Contents......Page 9
Figures......Page 11
Tables......Page 12
Contributors......Page 13
Preface......Page 17
The Club framework......Page 19
1 Voluntary regulation of NGOs and nonprofits: an introduction to the club framework......Page 21
Accountability and agency in nonprofit organizations......Page 23
Agency dilemmas among firms and public bureaucracies......Page 29
Agency dilemmas among nonprofits......Page 30
Signaling as a response to agency dilemmas......Page 32
Voluntary clubs among nonprofits......Page 34
Mitigating collective action dilemmas in clubs......Page 37
Club standards......Page 38
Club monitoring and enforcement......Page 39
Research questions and case selection......Page 41
Book outline......Page 43
References......Page 51
Part I Club emergence......Page 57
2 Filling the gaps in nonprofit accountability: applying the club perspective in the US legal system......Page 59
The varying accountability baselines......Page 60
Financial accountability......Page 61
Organizational accountability......Page 63
Mission accountability......Page 66
The complementary potential of accountability clubs......Page 69
Limited gains in financial accountability......Page 71
Greater potential gains in organizational accountability......Page 73
Greatest relative gains in mission accountability......Page 75
References......Page 79
3 Trends and patterns in third-party accreditation clubs......Page 82
Research method......Page 84
Historical trends in club monitoring and verification......Page 87
Patterns in club standards: monitoring and verification......Page 90
Standards......Page 91
Case study: the Joint Commission......Page 94
Further thoughts......Page 97
Appendix: Survey......Page 100
References......Page 101
4 Self-regulation at the state level: nonprofit membership associations and club emergence......Page 103
Differences across states in nonprofit membership associations......Page 105
Preliminary findings......Page 110
Signaling in response to information asymmetries......Page 112
Member self-interest......Page 113
Discussion......Page 114
References......Page 115
Part II Club sponsorship and club design......Page 117
5 Nonprofit infrastructure associations as reluctant clubs......Page 119
Nonprofit clubs......Page 120
The Nonprofit Academic Centers Council (NACC)......Page 122
Independent Sector (IS)......Page 128
Clubs and the life cycle of infrastructure associations......Page 138
References......Page 141
6 Foundation accountability clubs and the search for philanthropic standards......Page 143
Origins of foundation accountability clubs......Page 144
Impacts of the Tax Reform Act of 1969......Page 147
Structure and function of foundation clubs and associations today......Page 151
Training newcomers to the field and professionalization......Page 152
Defining and promulgating norms and standards......Page 153
National-level groups......Page 155
Regional associations......Page 158
Affinity groups......Page 162
Foundation accountability clubs and associations: then and now......Page 164
References......Page 168
7 Do self-regulation clubs work? Some evidence from Europe and some caveats from economic theory......Page 170
Accountability clubs in a transition economy......Page 172
The Czech Donors Forum......Page 174
The economics of self-regulation and some anecdotal evidence about the (non)feasibility, and (non)desirability of self-regulatory clubs......Page 179
Challenges to self-regulatory clubs in transition economies......Page 182
References......Page 184
8 NGO accountability clubs in the humanitarian sector: social dimensions of club emergence and design......Page 187
Overview of the humanitarian sector......Page 190
Accountability in the humanitarian sector......Page 191
Club emergence: the rise of an accountability culture......Page 196
Club emergence: changing performance expectations for humanitarian NGOs......Page 198
The humanitarian responses in Biafra and Rwanda in comparative perspective......Page 199
Biafra......Page 200
Rwanda......Page 203
Design of accountability clubs......Page 207
Conclusions......Page 213
References......Page 215
Part III Club design and effectiveness......Page 219
9 The impact of sponsorship on club standards and design......Page 221
Method and data sources......Page 222
Building philanthropy (1946–1960)......Page 225
CRC as a donor service: nonprofit institutionalization (1960s–early 1980s)......Page 228
CRC as watchdog/consumer protection club (later 1980s–1990s)......Page 229
Consumer education and nonprofit capacity (1993–2008)......Page 232
Emergence and design of the MCN club (1994-resent)......Page 236
Complementary clubs?......Page 238
Conclusions......Page 243
References......Page 244
10 The emergence and design of NGO clubs in Africa......Page 246
NGO accountability concerns in Africa......Page 247
The emergence of accountability clubs in Africa......Page 249
Types of accountability clubs in Africa......Page 250
The emergence of national-level clubs......Page 258
The emergence of voluntary certification clubs in Africa......Page 262
Conclusions......Page 266
References......Page 268
11 The benefits of accreditation clubs for fundraising nonprofits......Page 271
The trust problem in philanthropy......Page 274
The fundraising problem......Page 276
Who benefits from participation?......Page 277
The effect of accreditation on giving by households......Page 278
Differential effects on giving to religion and other causes......Page 281
The effects of learning about the accountability club on attitudes toward fundraising organizations......Page 283
The effect of accreditation on fundraising income......Page 285
Who benefits most?......Page 288
Discussion......Page 290
Giving in the Netherlands Panel Survey......Page 293
CBF database......Page 295
References......Page 296
Future research and conclusions......Page 299
12 Conclusions: nonprofit accountability clubs......Page 301
The empirics of club design......Page 305
Research findings......Page 307
Sponsorship and club design......Page 310
Club design and effectiveness......Page 313
Future work......Page 315
References......Page 320
Index......Page 321