Accountability and legitimacy of non-profit organisations: Challenging the current status quo and identifying avenues for future research

Issues of accountability, legitimacy and trust have remained at the forefront of debate surrounding non-profit organisations and their activities. The purpose of this study is to review the literature on non-profit accountability from the lens of organisational legitimacy. Specifically, we ask what we can learn from the literature on non-profit organisation (NPO) accountability and consider what further work needs to be done to strengthen NPO legitimacy. We attempt to go beyond mere gap-spotting and seek to challenge the current status quo within this body of literature.