Purpose

The COVID-19 global pandemic has caused significant disruptions to the non-profit sector, highlighting the issues that the narrowly focused, traditional conception of governance fails to address. The purpose of this paper is to propose a contingency-based framework with its theoretical underpinnings in the existing literature, in order to support future empirical research on non-profit governance and accountability practices.

Design/methodology/approach

From a theoretical perspective, this paper synthesizes relevant existing literature and proposes a contingency-based accountability and governance framework in the non-profit sector. This paper draws on Ostrower and Stone’s (2010) contingency-based framework on boards and Hyndman and McDonnell’s (2009) conception of governance systems. This paper engages with the New Zealand and Australia context while reviewing relevant literature and relevant regulations.

Findings

The global pandemic has caused severe worldwide disruptions both socially and economically. There have been dramatic changes to the ways in which non-profit organisations (NPOs) operate. There is an urgent need to understand how such changes in the external environment impact on NPOs’ governance and accountability practices. In this context, the contingency-based accountability and governance framework proposed in this paper has important implications for non-profit research, while opening up an avenue for future research in this field.

Research limitations/implications

This paper does not involve empirical analysis.

Practical implications

This paper contributes by facilitating better understanding on how external contingencies like the COVID-19 global pandemic affect the external and internal environment of an NPO, how they impact on stakeholders and their interplay with an NPO’s governance and accountability systems. It also suggests that regulators of the non-profit sector, umbrella support organisations, and funders proactively encourage and guide NPOs to embrace a wider scope of governance and strengthen the level of governance in the sector.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the literature by proposing a contingency-based accountability and governance framework in the non-profit sector to support future research in this field. It also sheds light on competing theoretical debates relating to the conceptualisation and operationalization of accountability and governance.

中文翻译：

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后 COVID-19 时代非营利部门基于应急的问责制和治理框架

目的

COVID-19 全球大流行对非营利部门造成了重大破坏，突出了狭隘的传统治理概念未能解决的问题。本文的目的是提出一个基于权变的框架及其在现有文献中的理论基础，以支持未来对非营利组织治理和问责制实践的实证研究。

设计/方法/途径

从理论的角度，本文综合了现有的相关文献，提出了非营利部门基于权变的问责制和治理框架。本文借鉴了 Ostrower 和 Stone（2010 年）关于董事会的权变框架以及 Hyndman 和 McDonnell（2009 年）的治理系统概念。本文结合新西兰和澳大利亚的情况，同时回顾了相关文献和相关法规。

发现

全球大流行在社会和经济方面造成了严重的全球破坏。非营利组织 (NPO) 的运作方式发生了巨大变化。迫切需要了解外部环境的这种变化如何影响非营利组织的治理和问责制实践。在此背景下，本文提出的基于权变的问责制和治理框架对非营利研究具有重要意义，同时为该领域的未来研究开辟了道路。

研究局限性/影响

本文不涉及实证分析。

实际影响

本文有助于更好地理解 COVID-19 全球大流行等外部突发事件如何影响 NPO 的外部和内部环境、它们如何影响利益相关者以及它们与 NPO 的治理和问责系统的相互作用。它还建议非营利部门的监管机构、保护伞支持组织和资助者积极鼓励和引导非营利组织接受更广泛的治理并加强该部门的治理水平。

原创性/价值

本文通过在非营利部门提出基于应急的问责制和治理框架来支持该领域的未来研究，从而为文献做出贡献。它还阐明了与问责制和治理的概念化和操作化相关的相互竞争的理论辩论。