Despite the nonprofit sector’s significance in economic contribution, workforce, and social impact, it faces unique innovation hurdles and is not well positioned for sustainability, growth, and prosperity. However, with only a partial, disconnected view from the extant research, we do not understand the relationship between boards and nonprofit innovation for growth. To address this problem, we conducted a systematic literature review drawing on 27 studies published since 2000 to provide a first-in-field and comprehensive integration of disparate, mono-factorial research. We conceptualize a new, multifactorial model that depicts a blend of board composition, relations and practice factors, and organizational and environmental characteristics that influence nonprofit innovation for growth.

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