ABSTRACT
Nonprofit organizations (NPOs), also known as civil society and non-governmental organizations (CSOs; NGOs) and a myriad of other designations depending on context, are private, voluntary organizations that are self-governed and legally required to apply surplus (“profit”) to the pursuit of their mission rather than distributing it to members, officers, or directors (Anheier, 2014). Over the past three decades or so, these organizations have experienced significant growth in terms of their socio-economic importance. As increasingly indispensable providers of key social, healthcare, educational and cultural services, they account for significant shares of overall employment and economic value generation in many parts of the world (Salamon et al., 1999). Simultaneously, the stature of nonprofits and NGOs has also grown in the context of civic participation, social engagement, giving voice to minority interests, and the promulgation of values. The resurgence of civil society concepts and the evolution of neo-Tocquevillean thought, triggered by Robert Putnam’s social capital argument (2000), placed additional spotlights on nonprofits and led to a worldwide increase in the visibility of the sector, but also brought a new set of challenges and expectations (Anheier, 2014). In a way, this has been both a boon and a bane for nonprofits. While favorable political rhetoric and expressions of support for the sector have increased, so have public scrutiny and critical media coverage of misconduct and management scandals (Eng et al., 2016; Smith, 2017).
