This study draws on organizational ecology perspective to explore the environmental and organizational factors associated with the performance of community foundations. Performance was conceptualized as fiscal efficiency and grant-making performance. Analysis was conducted on a national survey of 117 community foundations. Results revealed that increased organizational density was positively associated with fiscal efficiency but negatively associated to grant-making performance. Specialist foundations (i.e., foundations that serve a smaller sized community and those with smaller asset size) outperformed their generalist counterparts in fiscal efficiency and grant-making performance. The percentage of unrestricted funds was negatively associated with fiscal efficiency but not grant-making generosity. Board performance was positively associated with fiscal efficiency but not grant-making generosity.
Ben-Ner, A., & Van Hoomissen, T. (1992). An empirical investigation of the joint determination of the size of for-profit, nonprofit and government sectors. Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, 63(3), 392-415.
2.
Boone, C., Carroll, G. R., & Witteloostuijn, A. van. (2004). Size, differentiation and the performance of Dutch daily newspapers. Industrial and Corporate Change, 13(1), 117-148.
3.
Bothwell, R. O. (1989). Are they worthy of the name? A critic’s view. In R. Magat (Ed.), An agile servant: Community by community foundations (pp. 155-165). Washington, DC: Foundation Center.
4.
Bradshaw, P., Murray, V., & Wolpin, J. (1992). Do nonprofit boards make a difference? An exploration of the relationships among board structure, process, and effectiveness. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 21, 227-249.
5.
Brown, W. A. (2005). Exploring the association between board and organizational performance in nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit Leadership and Management, 15(3), 317-339.
6.
Burbridge, L. C., Diaz, W. A., Odendahl, T., & Shaw, A. (2002). The meaning and impact of board and staff diversity in the philanthropic field: Findings from a national study. Joint Affinity Groups. Available at www.lgbtfunders.org/lgbtfunders/JAG/diversity_study.htm
7.
Carman, J. G. (2001). Community foundations: A growing resource for community development. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 12(1), 7-24.
8.
Carroll, G. R., & Hannan, M. T. (2000). The demography of corporations and industries. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
9.
Carson, E. D. (2003, September). Making waves to build community and raise assets: A 21st century strategy for community foundations. Keynote address at the Community Foundation Network Annual Meeting, London.
10.
Certo, T., Daily, C., & Dalton, D. (2001). Signaling firm value through board structure: An investigation of initial pubic offering. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 26, 33-50.
11.
Corbin, J. J. (1999). A study of factors influencing the growth of nonprofits in social services. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 28, 296-314.
12.
Cornforth, C. (2001). What makes boards effective? An examination of the relationships between board inputs, structure, processes and effectiveness on non-profit organizations. Corporate Governance, 9, 217-227.
13.
Council on Foundations. (2002). National standards for U.S. community foundations. Available at www.cof.org
14.
Diaz, W. A., & Shaw, A. (2002). Community foundations and progressive grantmaking public charities. In L. C. Burbridge, W. A. Diaz, T. Odendahl, & A. Shaw (Eds.), The meaning and impact of board and staff diversity in the philanthropic field: Findings from a national study (pp. 103-120). Joint Affinity Groups. Available at www.lgbtfunders.org/lgbtfunders/JAG/diversity_study.htm
15.
Eisenberg, P. (1997). A crisis in the nonprofit sector. National Civic Review, 86(4), 331-341.
16.
Ferraro, P. (2000). Legal and organizational practices in nonprofit management. The Hague, The Netherlands: Kluwer Law International.
17.
Forbes, D. P. (1998). Measuring the unmeasurable: Empirical studies of nonprofit organization effectiveness from 1977-1997. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 27, 183-202.
18.
Freeman, J., Carroll, G. R., & Hannan, M. T. (1983). The liability of newness: Age dependency in organizational death rates. American Sociological Review, 48(5), 692-710.
19.
Freeman, J., & Hannan, M. T. (1983). Niche width and the dynamics of organizational populations. American Journal of Sociology, 88(6), 1116-1145.
20.
Galaskiewicz, J., & Bielefeld, W. (1998). Nonprofit organizations in an age of uncertainty: A study of organizational change. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
21.
Garonzik, E. (1989). Community foundations and civil society. In R. Magat (Ed.), An agile servant: Community by community foundations (pp. 16-20). Washington, DC: Foundation Center.
22.
Green, J. C., & Griesinger, D. W. (1996). Board performance and organizational effectiveness in nonprofit social service organizations. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 6, 381-402.
23.
Gronbjerg, K., & Paarlberg, L. (2001). Community variations in the size and scope of the nonprofit sector: Theory and preliminary findings. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 30, 684-706.
24.
Gronbjerg, K. A. (in press). Foundation legitimacy at the community level: The case of community foundations in the U.S. In K. Prewitt, M. Dogan, S. Heydemann, & S. Toepler (Eds.), Foundations and the challenge of legitimacy in comparative perspective. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
25.
Hamilton, R., Parzen, J., & Brown, P. (2004). Community change makers: The leadership roles of community foundations [Discussion Paper]. Chicago: Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago.
26.
Hammack, D. C. (1989). Community foundations: The delicate question of purpose. In R. Magat (Ed.), An agile servant: Community by community foundations (pp. 23-50). Washington, DC: Foundation Center.
27.
Hannan, M. T., & Freeman, J. (1977). The population ecology of organizations. American Journal of Sociology, 82(5), 929-964.
28.
Hannan, M. T., & Freeman, J. (1987). The ecology of organizational founding rates: The dynamics of foundings of American labor unions, 1836-1975. American Journal of Sociology, 92, 910-943.
29.
Herman, R. D., & Renz, D. O. (1997). Multiple constituencies and social construction of nonprofit organizational effectiveness. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 26, 185-206.
30.
Herman, R. D., & Renz, D. O. (1999). Thesis on nonprofit organizational effectiveness. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 28, 107-125.
31.
Hero, P. (1999). Early stage development of community foundations: Challenges to growth. In Bertelsmann Foundation (Ed.), Community foundations in civil society (pp. 70-80). Güterslog, Germany: Bertelsmann Foundation Publishers.
32.
Hillman, A., Zardkoohi, A., & Bierman, L. (1999). Corporate political strategies and firm performance: Indicators of firm specific benefits from personal service in U.S. government. Strategic Management Journal, 20, 67-82.
33.
Hillman, A. J., & Dalziel, T. (2003). Boards of directors and firm performance: Integrating agency and resource dependence perspectives. Academy of Management Review, 28, 383-396.
34.
Jackson, D. K., & Holland, T. P. (1998). Measuring the effectiveness of nonprofit boards. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 27, 159-182.
35.
Judge, W. Q., Jr. (1994). Correlates of organizational effectiveness: A multilevel analysis of a multidimensional outcome. Journal of Business Ethics, 13, 1-10.
36.
Leonard, J. (1989). Creating community capital: Birth and growth of community foundations. In R. Magat (Ed.), An agile servant: Community by community foundations (pp. 89-90). Washington, DC: Foundation Center.
37.
Li, J., & Guisinger, S. (1991). Comparative business failure of foreign-controlled firms in the United States. Journal of International Business Studies, 22(2), 209-224.
38.
Luke, J. L., & Feurt, S. L. (2002). A flexible and growing service to donors: Donor-advised funds in community foundations. Available at Council on Foundations’s Web site: www.cof.org
39.
McIlnay, D. (1998). How foundations work: What grantseekers need to know about the many faces of foundations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
40.
Minkoff, D. C. (1995). Organizing for equality: The evolution of women’s and racial-ethnic organizations in America, 1955-1985. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
41.
Monroe, H. (2001). Community foundation asset development. In P. Walkenhorst (Ed.), Building philanthropic and social capital: The work of community foundations (pp. 63-92). Gütersloh, Germany: Bertelsmann Foundation Publishers.
42.
National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy. (1989). Community foundations: At the margin of change, unrealized potential for the disadvantaged. Washington, DC: Author.
43.
National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy. (1994). Community foundations and the disenfranchised: A summary study of ten top community foundations’ responsiveness to low income and other historically disenfranchised groups in America. Washington, DC: Author.
44.
Noland, M. C. (1989). Grants: Giving life to the public trust. In R. Magat (Ed.), An agile servant: community by community foundations (pp. 121-136). Washington, DC: Foundation Center.
45.
Olson, D. E. (2000). Agency theory in the not-for-profit sector: Its role at independent colleges. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 29, 280-296.
46.
Ostrower, F., & Stone, M. M. (in press). Governance research: Trends, gaps, and prospects for the future. In W. W. Powell & R. Steinberg (Eds.), The nonprofit sector: A research handbook (2nd ed.) New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
47.
Podolny, J. M., Stuart, T. E., & Hannan, M. T. (1996). Networks, knowledge and niches: Competition in the worldwide semiconductor industry, 1984-1991. American Journal of Sociology, 102(3), 659-689.
48.
Popielarz, P., & McPherson, J. M. (1995). On the edge or in between: Niche position, niche overlap, and the duration of voluntary association memberships. American Journal of Sociology, 101, 698-720.
49.
Provan, K. G. (1980). Board power and organizational effectiveness among human service agencies. Academy of Management Journal, 23(2), 221-236.
50.
Ritchie, W. J., & Kolodinsky, R. W. (2003). Nonprofit organizational financial performance measurement: An evaluation of new and existing financial performance measures. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 13(4), 367-381.
51.
Saxton, G. D., & Benson, M. A. (2005). Social capital and the growth of the nonprofit sector. Social Science Quarterly, 86(1), 16-35.
52.
Sorenson, O. (2003). Interdependence and adaptability: Organizational learning and the long-term effect of integration. Management Science, 49(4), 446-463.
53.
Stinchcombe, A. L. (1965). Social structure and organizations. In J. G. March (Ed.), Handbook of organizations (pp. 42-193). Chicago: Rand McNally.
54.
Swaminathan, A. (2001). Resource partitioning and the evolution of specialist organizations: The role of location and identity in the U.S. wine industry. Academy of Management Journal, 44(6), 1169-1185.
55.
Tucker, D. J., Singh, J. V., & Meinhard, A. G. (1990). Organizational form, population dynamics, and institutional change: The founding patterns of voluntary organizations. Academy of Management Journal, 33, 151-178.
56.
Westphal, J. (1999). Collaboration in the boardroom: Behavior and performance consequences of CEO-board social ties. Academy of Management Journal, 42, 7-25.
57.
Ylvisaker, P. N. (1989). Community and community foundations in the next century. In R. Magat (Ed.), An agile servant: community by community foundations (pp. 51-61). Washington, DC: Foundation Center.
