Do board characteristics and good governance practices affect charity performance?

In recent years there has been a proliferation of 'good governance' initiatives among charitable organizations to encourage increased accountability towards their stakeholders. Despite their diffusion, the efficacy of these best practice guides has not been object of extensive academic research. In this study, we examine the interrelations amongst board characteristics, governance structure and charity efficiency following the initiation of 'good governance' practices. Data is gathered from publicly available annual reports in the code post-implementation phase (2005-2010) with a sample of 1508 observations from 270 unique organizations. We find that board characteristics (board size, board meeting frequency) and governance structure (two-tier board, audit committee) interact and jointly affect charity performance. The paper discusses implications in this area and concludes with directions for further research.