Social Purpose Organisations (SPOs) play a vital role in India’s development journey. As expectations of transparency and accountability increase, SPOs must navigate an expanding range of statutory, financial, donor and reporting requirements while remaining responsive to their missions and communities.

Governance in Action: What SPOs Think Beyond Compliance looks beyond compliance and reporting to understand how governance works as an organisational capability within SPOs. Artha Global provided technical assistance on the analysis and the report – which was undertaken by the Centre for Good Governance (CFGG) at the Indian School of Development Management (ISDM), in partnership with the Centre for Social Impact and Philanthropy (CSIP) at Ashoka University.

The study used an exploratory, cross-sectional mixed-methods design. It examined governance at the interface of Boards and executive leadership through a primary survey of 120 SPOs in India. Separate interviews helped interpret patterns seen in the survey. As a part of the analysis, we created 

• Four organisational archetypes were developed using organisational age and annual operating budget as the organising dimensions. They allow governance patterns to be compared across different organisational contexts.
• Thirteen governance practices were mapped against four indicators of organisational preparedness: Board crisis response, succession readiness, reserve-policy maturity and multi-year financial planning. Selected practice–outcome relationships were examined using association tests.

• SPOs report stronger adoption of practices such as Board attendance, job descriptions and KPI tracking. Forward-looking preparedness, including succession planning, reserve policies and multi-year financial planning, remains the exception rather than the norm.
• Who leads shapes how governance works. CEO-led organisations report stronger formal accountability practices, Board-led organisations report stronger financial-governance practices, and founder-led organisations show greater concentration of decision-making.
• Board–executive delineation shows the most consistent association with the readiness outcomes tested, and is significantly associated with both crisis response and succession readiness.
• KPI definition shows the strongest association with financial readiness: reserve-policy maturity and multi-year financial planning.