Governance and accountability in the not-for-profit sector

Purpose: This study (i.e. paper 1) aims to better understand not-for-profit (NFP) organizations’ accountability to their stakeholders. Originality: The study adds to the existing literature by applying Mitchell, Agle, and Wood (1997) stakeholder salience model into NFP organizations, to investigate managerial perception of the prominence of the various stakeholders. Key literature/ theoretical perspective: The Mitchell, Agle, and Wood (1997) stakeholder salience typology identifies stakeholders based on three attributes: power, legitimacy, and urgency. This framework has been largely applied in the existing literature, both in the for-profit and NFP arenas. Design/methodology/approach: Data will be collected by a mail-based questionnaire and further insight will be obtained by follow-up interviews with the NFPs. Findings: It is expected that managerial perception of stakeholder salience will vary among NFP organizations of different sizes, sources of income, and legal form. Research limitations/implications: The survey approach employed will not be able to capture the dynamism of stakeholder salience, which could be varied from time to time. Practical and Social implications: Identifying and prioritizing stakeholders will provide strategic feedback to NFP management on how to better engage with stakeholders in order to address their needs. In addition, stakeholders will be informed of their current status in the sector, which will help them improve their salience.