Corporate governance has received substantial scholarly attention for decades, although the focus of this research has by and large been on publicly traded for-profit organizations. However, agency problems are increasingly recognized in nonprofits. As such, we examine the application of corporate governance logic in the context of nonprofits. Our study relies on nearly a decade of data spanning 6853 US-based charities and comprising nearly US$346 billion in total revenue. Our results show that common corporate governance practices—such as independent boards, chief executive officer oversight, and transparency—enhance the degree to which donor contributions are allocated toward a charity’s mission. Overall, we assess the broader applicability and benefits of corporate governance and build on literature highlighting links between for-profit and nonprofit organizations. In doing so, we demonstrate the usefulness of governance in this economically and socially consequential context.

尽管数十年来这项研究的重点一直集中在公开交易的营利性组织上，但公司治理在学术上一直受到广泛关注。但是，代理问题在非营利组织中越来越得到认可。因此，我们研究了非营利组织中公司治理逻辑的应用。我们的研究依据的是近十年来的数据，这些数据涵盖了6853个美国慈善机构，总收入近3460亿美元。我们的结果表明，共同的公司治理实践（例如独立董事会，首席执行官监督和透明度）提高了捐助者对慈善机构的使命分配的程度。总体，我们评估了公司治理的广泛适用性和收益，并基于强调营利性组织和非营利性组织之间联系的文献为基础。通过这样做，我们证明了在这种具有经济后果和社会后果的背景下进行治理的有用性。