The governance-performance relationship: Examining the impact of nonprofit governance on financial performance in medium-sized nonprofit organizations

As the nonprofit sector has grown rapidly in size and significance in recent decades, the role and impact of governance of nonprofit organizations have become increasingly important and popular topics among nonprofit scholars and practitioners.;Extensive research and practice in nonprofit governance are based on the premise that a well-performing governance function coincides with effective and high-performing organizations, yet the empirical assessment and knowledge about the mechanisms that links governance to performance are still limited.;This dissertation focuses on how nonprofit governance, and the boards entrusted to fulfill this critical function, impacts nonprofit organizational performance by examining how three critical governance elements---board composition, funding strategy, and planning and evaluation practices---affect the financial performance in 152 medium-sized nonprofit agencies.