The support that BoardSource provides to individual nonprofit leaders and organizations is strengthened by our broader research to identify and map trends within the nonprofit sector and to unleash the full potential of boards and board leaders to advance the public good through board service.

BoardSource is challenging itself to provide greater leadership to the sector by deepening our own understanding of board leadership and inspiring action on critical sector issues.

As the leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, BoardSource occupies a unique vantage point and leadership role within the social sector from which to identify trends, opportunities, challenges, and solutions. We do this by going deep into the boardroom experience —  gathering data, making observations, and developing and rigorously testing and evaluating various approaches to strengthening governance — and then translating our learning into a call to action for boards across the country and around the globe.

We have been conducting our signature study, Leading with Intent: BoardSource Index of Nonprofit Board Practices, biennially for more than 25 years. It provides important information about current board composition, practices, and performance and charts important trends and changes in board leadership.

Leading with Intent is the only survey to gather information from both chief executives and board chairs on their experiences in nonprofit boardrooms. Who serves on nonprofit boards? How are boards structured? What are their policies and practices? What challenges them? Are they providing the leadership needed? The answers to these and many more questions can be found in our most recent Leading with Intent report.

Read the full article about nonprofit board practices and research at BoardSource.