Skip to Content

Center for Social Innovation

 

Stanford Project on the Evolution of Nonprofits (SPEN): Interviews

SPEN's multi-disciplinary team of researchers developed an interview protocol that covered a broad array of organizational topics, eliciting both quantitative data and discursive qualitative responses. The protocol was tested and improved through more than 20 pilot interviews, with an emphasis on collecting data that is comparable across organizations. Researchers then used the protocol in extensive interviews lasting about 60-120 minutes with the leaders of a randomly selected, representative sample of 200 operating charities in the San Francisco Bay Area. Organizations represent the full spectrum of nonprofit activity. They range from volunteer-based grassroots organizations to multi-million dollar organizations with more than 100 employees. They are distributed in urban, suburban, and rural settings across the 10-county Bay Area. Executive directors were interviewed for the staffed organizations and board presidents were interviewed for the volunteer-based organizations. Our thanks go to these leaders for so generously sharing their time as well as their perspectives and information about their organizations. Information on the following areas was collected:

 

Organizational Founding & Structure
  • Founding catalyst
  • Initial financing
  • Structure, including chapters, affiliations, multiple sites
  • Staffing, paid and volunteer
  • Mergers, acquisitions or spin-offs and other changes over time
Identity & Programs
  • Mission and niche
  • Programs
  • Clients and membership
  • Competition and benchmarking
  • Reach
  • Religious affiliation
Leadership and HR
  • Leader's education
  • Leader's career trajectory
  • Management team and key staff
  • Recruitment and retention
  • Fundraising staff
  • Volunteers
Management Practices
  • Evaluation and grant reporting
  • Advocacy
  • Use of consultants
  • Auditing
  • Strategic planning
  • Key management challenges, internal and external
Financing
  • Revenue sources
  • Fundraising activities
  • Donor relations
  • Revenue generation activities
  • Effects of economic downturn
Governance
  • Board structure and role
  • Board composition
  • Communication with the board
  • Board chair's background and affiliation
  • Financial support and fundraising
  • Governance challenges
External Relations
  • Marketing, reporting, communication, and media
  • Website purpose and functionality
  • Collaborations
  • Networks and professional associations
  • Professional development
  • Leader's board affiliations