Successful Nonprofit Board Governance. Resources and Research.

Building off the steam generated on the ARNOVA listserv several days ago with the question about Why Nonprofits Fail? I decided to ask the List for research and resources related to successful nonprofit board governance. My question was “What are some of the quintessential pieces on board governance or getting the board successfully involved in the organization?” The list responded with some great resources, which I have compiled below. They are presented in random order as they came into my email inbox 😀

• Gazley, Beth and Bowers, Ashley. 2013. What makes high-performing boards: Effective governance practices in member-serving organizations.   Washington, DC:  ASAE Foundation.
• www.boardsource.org
• http://www.irs.gov/file_source/PUP/charities/Good%20Governance%20PPT%20(all%20edits)%201.17.pdf – Link to IRS training about governance responsibilities in 501(c)3 organizations. Thanks to Michael Wyland. 
• http://www.irs.gov/Charities-&-Non-Profits
• http://pollyannaprinciples.org/ – Hildy Gottlieb (@HildyGottlieb on Twitter).
• Board Recruitment and Orientation: A step-by-Step, Common Sense Guide.
• http://blogs.creatingthefuture.org/leadership/2014/01/08/expectations-of-board-members/
• Corbett, Christopher (2011). Advancing nonprofit stewardship through self-regulation: Translating principles into practice. Sterling, VA: Kumarian Press. (link to his book here).
• Free tutorial about nonprofit Boards at http://managementhelp.org/freenonprofittraining/boards.htm
• Additional Resources at http://managementhelp.org/boards/index.htm – Thanks to Carter McNamara.
• You and Your Nonprofit Board: Advice and Practical Tips from the Field’s Top Practitioners, Researchers and Provocateurs, published by CharityChannel in 2013.  Edited by Terrie Temkin. (Link to the book on Amazon)
• Middleton, M. (1987). Nonprofit boards of directors: Beyond the governance function. The nonprofit sector: A research handbook, 141-153.
• Ostrower, F., & Stone, M. M. (2006). Governance: Research trends, gaps, and future prospects. The nonprofit sector: A research handbook, 2, 612-628.
• Renz, D. O. (ed.) (2012). The Jossey-Bass handbook of nonprofit leadership and management. John Wiley & Sons.
• Cornforth, C, Brown, WA (eds.)  (2013)  Nonprofit governance: Innovative perspectives and approaches. Abingdon, Routledge.

Again, I understand that there is a lot of research out there on successful board governance so this list is in no way comprehensive. It may offer a good starting point or not, but I hope that it is helpful. I know as a member of a nonprofit board that I will be looking into these resources to help my organization (and board) become more successful in the future.