The facilitators and impediments to nonprofit boards of directors’ understanding their roles and responsibilities

In the nonprofit sector, boards of directors are vested with the legal power to manage all parts of the organization from setting mission and vision to hiring and reviewing executive level leadership and all aspects in between (Greenleaf, 1974/2009). Given the wide latitude and deep authority that board members are provided to manage an organization, it is critical to understand the factors that influence their knowledge and motivation as well as the influences that the organization, itself, may impress on the board. The purpose of this study was to understand these influences on Theta Gamma Psi Fraternity, International’s board of directors by utilizing Clark and Estes’ (2008) gap analysis framework. This study’s assumed influences were developed after an extensive literature review; the influences were then tested through interviews and a document analysis. The study participants were the fraternity’s board of directors. Findings from this research indicated that the participants were not formally trained on board-level governance issues and that the organization, historically, places little value on boards of directors that actively monitor performance indicators for areas of concern. The study provides recommendations on how to bridge the gaps identified in the research to help the board operate efficiently and effectively 100% of the time as it works towards long-term organizational sustainability. The recommendations were developed using the New World Kirkpatrick Model (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016) and were based on those influences that were validated by the research.