The propensity of governing boards to plan

This article examines the relationship between board characteristics and formal organizational planning in forty‐four nonprofit organizations. The study found that ongoing and beginning planners were more likely than those with no planning experience—or those that had abandoned planning after an initial experience with the process—to have well‐understood missions, boards that concentrated on higher‐level policy issues, and boards that had clear structures for decision making. The data suggest that a coalition consisting of top management and board members needs to exist if a move toward the formalization of organizational structures and processes is to be sustained.