An Examination of Various Dimensions Associated with Nonprofit Board Member Diversity: The Significance of Organizational Factors

Background: This study examined how leadership and organizational factors influence nonprofit board diversity. In the US and across the globe, nonprofits assume major social, political, and economic responsibilities, particularly related to the development and implementation of services to various marginalized populations. From a historical perspective, nonprofits have struggled with increasing board member diversity and understanding the critical importance of broad representativeness. Today’s empirical data on compositional diversity shows that NPO board membership is primarily White (84%) and male (52%). In nearly forty years, the percentage of members of BIPOC communities serving on NPO boards has not eclipsed 18% of the total board population in the US, and 1 out of 4 NPO boards in the US is comprised solely of White board members. The goal of the research was to expand the data available in the social service sector associated with understanding the role of board member diversity within nonprofit organizations with the application of critical race, gender, queer, social environment, general systems, agency, institutional and resource dependency theories. t
Methods: Utilizing data from BoardSource’s Leading with Intent (2017) dataset, which included responses from 1,378 nonprofit Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), board racial, gender, and total diversity, along with several organizational factors, were included for descriptive and inferential analysis. Organizational factors included CEO racial and gender demographics, organization type, geographical location, revenue, personal contribution of board members, CEO perception of mission and board diversity. Quantitative analysis included the use of ANOVAs, chi-squares, and logistic regressions to explore the relationships that existed between organizational characteristics and board racial, gender, and total diversity.
Results: Findings identified that significant positive relationships existed between racially diverse boards and CEO perception of board diversity and organizational mission, organizations with revenues of $1 million to $4.9 million and $ million to $9.9 million, and organizations with women CEOs. Significant positive relationships were also noted between organizations with women CEOs and board gender and total diversity. Organizations with women CEOs were remarkably 778% more likely to have board diversity than organizations that had CEOs who identify as men. Significant negative relationships were noted between board racial diversity and organizations that are foundations, organizations that require a personal contribution of board members, and non-White CEOs. The study includes cross-sectional data analysis, which occurred at a single timepoint, allowing for the exploration of significant relationships but not the opportunity to discuss causation.
Conclusion: Major implications exist for nonprofits, including that CEOs and boards alike need to understand the connection between organizational factors, such as mission, type, and revenue, and diversity if they are serious about addressing issues with board diversity. The summation of study findings also points to several key realities facing NPOs that are vital to discuss within the lenses of applicable theories. Additional implications exist for social work education and practice, including a collective need for the social work profession to explore ways to increase racial, gender, and total diversity on NPO boards whether through ongoing discussion within organizations, in boardrooms, and via research.