Stakeholders play a major role in the nonprofit sector as they are entities that have some sort of interest in a particular organization. To simplify, stakeholders can be another organization, a group or an individual. However in class, we further analyzed different types of stakeholders and the type of influence these examples exert to an organization. Some of the examples discussed in class were:

-board members: share hiring/firing, budgeting privileges  

-donors: provide money in particular ways which shape activities

-government institutions: regulation

-management team: shaping the mission, and identifying goals

-funders: shape activities and open doors

-volunteers: ambassadors

-other nonprofits

-IRS

-the staff and so on…

On a micro level, we discussed the leadership challenges and opportunities stakeholders may exert by influencing the outcome and objectives of an organization. They influence what the organization holds themselves accountable to such as the mission, activities and infrastructure as well. On a macro level, stakeholders hold system level influence. This means that they can be involved in social issues, civic and/or corporate processes, and funding.  

In order to successfully work with stakeholders, it is imperative to seek feedback from all the stakeholders of an organization-especially within the immediate structure of an organization. It’s important to have communication with constituents and building trust to develop powerful ambassadors. Advisors and alternative structures may also help shaping stakeholder influence, along with coalition/partnership building with other organizations in the sector.

To mitigate stakeholder influence, MOUs (memorandum of understanding) play a crucial role. MOUs are written articulation os of how institutions plan to work together, which in turn clearly states how a stakeholder can influence the organization. At times, funders may slightly alter funding to people who may or may not fall into the scope of an organization’s constituents, leading to “mission creep”. The last resort to reduce the negative impact of stakeholders would be the willingness to forgo funding, which may create conflict with stakeholders on a horizontal level.