Understanding Nonprofit Transparency: The Limits of Formal Regulation in the American Nonprofit Sector

Kathleen Hale

International Review of Public Administration, 2013, vol. 18, issue 3, 31-49

Abstract: This article describes and analyzes the regulation of transparency in American nonprofit organizations in comparison to similar regulation of American public sector agencies. Transparency is a symbol for accountability and a critically important dimension of nonprofit organizations, which are private and voluntary but chartered by government for public purposes. Federal policy aimed at nonprofit transparency relies on formal regulation, and some guidance can be drawn from examining nonprofit regulation in comparison to the formal regulatory schemes designed to ensure transparency of public sector government agencies. However, formal transparency regulation of nonprofits is not as extensive as that of the public sector, and current illustrations from the nonprofit arena indicate that formal regulation does not address typical public concerns about nonprofit transparency. Instead, nonprofits may need to turn to normative sector values, including trust and collaboration, in order to be considered transparent in the current environment.

Date: 2013
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DOI: 10.1080/12294659.2013.10805262

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