What Skills Do Nonprofit Managers Need? A Systematic Review

• In Event: Teaching Nonprofit Management Skills

Abstract

Rationale and Background
DiMaggio (1988) once asked: “Is there a set of generic skills that managers of nonprofits … find necessary and sufficient to perform their duties effectively?” (p. 51). Our core research question takes its cue from this and asks: What skills do non-profit managers need? This paper is the first deliverable in a sequential multi-method study, and undertakes a systematic review of all extant research which identified the skills nonprofit leaders need.

Methodology
A systematic review of all available literature was undertaken (Rosseau, Manning and Denyer 2008). In a literature synthesis, empirical research publications provide the information from which data is collected, and are treated as cases (Whittemore and Knafl 2005). There were surprisingly few published studies on the skills nonprofit managers need. Initially, twenty-seven were found. Cross checking bibliographic data in these documents together with wider search terms, identified an additional 20 sources (some of which are unpublished) giving 47 in total. Skills identified in each of the sources were coded into a data base, along with related data (e.g. methodology of research).

Initially the skills identified in each source were identified. This initial data was then converted into a co-occurrence matrix, which mapped the number of times specific skills were mentioned together in the published research. This matrix was then analyzed using multi-dimensional scaling (Borgatti, Everett and Freeman 2002.). Multi-dimensional scaling is a form of correspondence analysis which visualizes similarities in data in a virtual space (Myers and Mullet 2003). Additional quantitative correlation analysis was undertaken.

Findings and Discussion
A core set of skills were identified (including human resource management, management, advocacy, marketing, planning and evaluation). Some skills were supporting (e.g. history and values of the third sector, statistical analysis). Some skills (e.g. epidemiology, youth development), were specific to sub-sectors. Caution is needed in the analysis, as some skills appearing as peripheral (e.g. social media), will be increasingly important over time. Thus small numbers is a result of the age of literature, not importance of skill. Thus in response to the question posed by DiMaggio, there are indeed a set of skills which seem generic to nonprofit managers as these are consistent across a range of studies undertaken with different methods, and a range of contexts. However, some skills (e.g. epidemiology) are context specific, and are therefore not generic. Future steps in the research will utilise sequential multi-methodology (qualitative --> quantitative) to examine whether the skills nonprofit managers need, vary according to size, field or stage of their organisation (DiMaggio 1988), or according to their level of management. There were also surprising correlations between method and skills found – which underscores that methods matter in research. The practical utility of this study is ensuring university curricula meets the training needs of nonprofit managers (Wang & Ashcroft 2012), and for HR professionals working in nonprofit organisations.

Authors

• Craig Furneaux, Queensland University of Technology

• Stuart Tooley, QUT Business School