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How Does Accountability Affect Mission? The Case of a Nonprofit Serving Immigrants and Refugees

• Christensen, Rachel A
• Ebrahim, Alnoor

Abstract

This article examines accountability processes in a nonprofit organization serving immigrants and refugees, with special attention to their impacts on mission-based activities. The research finds that upward accountability requirements of donors do not necessarily yield improved mission achievement, and practitioners thus have to navigate a complex environment of pressures. We identify a series of strategies that nonprofit executives and staff use to manage the tensions between upward accountability and mission: a prioritization of lateral accountability, staff empowerment through organizational slack, and a tight coupling of evaluation with job tasks. The findings suggest that funders and nonprofits might gain more from investing in internal grantee capacities for lateral communication and coordination than by soliciting more detailed reporting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved) (Journal abstract)

Journal

Nonprofit Management and Leadership

(Winter 2006)
vol17 no2 pages195-209

Categories

1. Nonprofit Organizations (Theory)  
2. Structures and Processes  

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