A survey of the 500 largest charities has revealed that their governance would be improved by focusing on their leaders’ behaviour, rather than structures and processes.

The new research, Delivering effective governance – insights from the boards of larger charities, was conducted by Compass Partnership and the Cass Business School’s Centre for Charity Effectiveness. It concerns a group of charities that account for £27bn – almost half of the income of the sector, and received a response rate of 228 (46 per cent).

The detailed survey took an empirical approach, pinpointing the 50 essential characteristics of the governance of large charities to identify the 20 that have the greatest impact on governance performance.

It then organised these characteristics into four ‘pillars’ of governance: structures, behaviours, processes and meetings.

One conclusion made by author Mike Hudson, a director at Compass Partnership and visiting fellow at Cass Centre for Charity Effectiveness, was that while structures and processes are often necessary prerequisites for making improvements, any significant enhancement of governance would only come from a focus on behavioural characteristics.

Participants were also asked how well their organisation delivered 12 key roles of governance. Ensuring economic viability of the organisation and discharging leagal and regulatory duties came high in the list of good performance areas; conversely, there was less confidence in boards' abilities to resolve the interests of difference stakeholders and to bring novel or creative ideas to the charity. 

You can read Mike Hudson's summary of the report in September’s issue of Governance magazine, or on civilsociety.co.uk.