Examining Nonprofit Executive Director – Board Relations in Two Countries as they Relate to Perceptions of Board Effectiveness: Executive Director Perspectives

• Michael Ford, Assistant Professor of Public Administration, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
• Douglas Ihrke, Professor and Chair, Department of Public and Nonprofit Administration, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• Todd Ebling, Ph.D. Candidate (Anthropology), University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

This study examines the factors that influence Executive Directors’ perceptions of the relations between boards of directors and executives in Wisconsin and Nova Scotia, and the extent to which these relations influence executive director perceptions of board effectiveness. The results of the study are based upon a random sample of these executives representing nonprofit organizations in the State of Wisconsin and the Province of Nova Scotia. Our results indicate that board demographics, board structures, and small group dynamics all have an influence on the perceptions of executives within and across the different populations of actors surveyed and within and across nonprofits in two countries.