Beth Kanter

Beth Kanter is a consultant, author, influencer. virtual trainer & nonprofit innovator in digital transformation & workplace wellbeing.

Resources for Measuring What Matters

Filed Under: Measurement

[slideshare id=21621705&doc=measuringwhatmattersmay2013final-130521135935-phpapp01]
I’ve been curating resources on nonprofit measurement over on Scoop.It, with eye towards collecting useful material related to social media and social impact measurement.
Last week, I came across this excellent deck and blog post from the Knight Foundation’s VP of Strategy and Assessment, Mayur H. Patel.   The presentation was prepared for the Miami Philanthropy Conference and addresses a familiar issue:   Many nonprofits feel that demonstrating impact through performance measurement is a top priority for their programs and communications efforts including social media.  Despite this, when it is times to do measurement, many  feel that it is a daunting task.    How can we improve our measurement practice?
The deck and blog summarizes some key points and methods from three resources:
A lot of what we shared was drawn from three resources that we’ve found valuable in our work. Each comes at the topic of measurement from a different angle. Together they offer a great starting point on various approaches, techniques and tools for using data to make progress towards your goals.

  • Measuring the Networked Nonprofit (Beth Kanter and Katie Delahaye Paine) – Provides strategies and step-by-step guides for measuring relationships, social connectivity and engagement in nonprofits.
  • Lean Analytics (Alistair Croll and Benjamin Yoskovitz) – Offers a guide on how to use data to build a better startup, by tracking indicators that help you iterate and understand market needs and user engagement.
  • Leap of Reason: Managing to Outcomes in an Era of Scarcity (Mario Morino) – Provides a call to action and a set of case studies that highlight the importance of outcomes-based management in the nonprofit sector.

The resource also includes some case studies.
Are you measuring what matters to your organization’s mission?   What methods are you using?  What have you learned?

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Comments

  1. How much money and/or volunteer time is spent getting something done is only half the story. Measurements of outputs or accomplishments is only half the story.
    There are many reason to measure and each can have a different approach, but when it comes to measuring the ROI of resources invested, all of the above needs be processed in the same equation.
    It is taking time but the Scarce Resources Model (as described related to volunteer management at http://www.volunteer2.com/ROI) is starting to get some traction.

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