• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Beth Kanter

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

  • About Beth
    • Awards
    • Profiles
    • Press
    • Books & Projects
  • How Can I Help You?
    • Keynotes & Workshops
    • Training & Facilitation
    • Resources
  • Books & Projects
  • Beth’s Blog
  • TwitterTwitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram
  • CONTACT ME

Can You Measure Love?

February 14, 2013 Filed Under: Measurement


Happy Generosity Day!    The idea of moving Valentine’s Day away from dinner reservations and singles awareness towards a day of generous acts began in 2011 by Sasha Dichter, Scott Case, Ellen McGirt, and Network for Good’s Katya Andresen. The premise is simple. Today, think about you can be generous and then…just…be generous.
[slideshare id=16530292&doc=measurementwebinar-feb13bethkanterfinal-130214103651-phpapp01]
My way of being generous is to share and facilitate sharing of knowledge about nonprofits effective use of social media and networks.   Later today,  I’ll be doing a webinar hosted by Hubspot called “I love Measurement.”   I hope you’ll join me.   (Check out their “Make Love, Not Spam e-book on how to get better results with email marketing) Here’s how many nonprofits are being generous and leveraging love!
That got me thinking about measurement and how you measure difficult stuff.   During this week’s Measuring Networked Nonprofit events in Seattle that included fantastic conversations about measurement, data, and impact, I’ve been reflecting on the “too hard to measure.”    Don’t give up or use that as an excuse.
I think about this quote:  “Anything can be measured in a way that is superior to not measuring it at all”   – Gilbs Law
Tom Gilb, an engineer and measurement guru.  In his work, he suggests the process of describing something that is difficult to measure can help you get clear on what to measure.  In Glib’s book, Scales of Measures: How To Quantify, he suggests:

You should learn the art of developing your own tailored scales of measure for the performance and resource attributes, which are important to your organization or system. You cannot rely on being ‘given the answer’ about how to quantify. You would soon lose control over your current vital concerns if you waited for that!.

His point that some intangible may be quantified, but it takes some discussion around the attributes.  He gives an example of quantifying love (tongue and check)


Many nonprofits can easily identify success and results, but they have trouble linking that to their social media use – and finding the right metric that is meaningful to measuring progress.    Think about this:

  • Quantify the value of social media by identifying and translating the financial costs and benefits as related to your overall mission.
  • Spend time brainstorming the “chain of events” of how your organization’s strategic use of social media can be a pathway to your organization’s overall definition of success or mission.
  • Some benefits are intangible and difficult to quantify or may not be quantified or be able to show cause and effect.   It is useful to focus on a “benefits discovery” session – without immediately jumping into the “prove it.” conversation and getting stuck.   When attempting to quantify intangibles like engagement or learning, it is important to obtain consensus among decision-makers about what constitutes a meaningful measurement metric.
  • It is important to allocate a team meeting time for a conversation to establish the chain, get agreement on the social media’s contribution to the mission  or program  improvement, and get on the same page about how what metric is meaningful.

 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Erica Mills (@ericamills) says

    February 18, 2013 at 10:42 am

    Hooray!! You did this post. The Glib’s quote went directly into my Collection of Fav Quotes. Thanks for this love-ly (har har) post, Beth!

    Reply
  2. Beth says

    February 19, 2013 at 7:52 am

    Erica: Just love your comment!! Glib is an engineer and measurement expert of a different kind, but thought the advice about discussing what you’re trying to measure even if it seems to difficult to at first will help you in your understanding of what to measure and what not to measure. KD Paine always says don’t try to measure stuff that is not measurable – but sometimes you can’t get to that unless you discuss it.

    Reply
  3. Website design Toronto says

    February 20, 2013 at 8:11 am

    Gib! advice was very wonderful! you have a great post! thanks for this!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Can You Measure Love? | Nonprofit Donor Cultivation and Management | Scoop.it says:
    February 14, 2013 at 5:06 pm

    […] Happy Generosity Day! The idea of moving Valentine’s Day away from dinner reservations and singles awareness towards a day of generous acts began in 2011 by Sasha Dichter, Scott Case, Ellen McGirt, and Network for Good's Katya Andresen.  […]

    Reply
  2. Take Five Friday: We Survived Valentines Day Edition | Sara Lingafelter says:
    February 15, 2013 at 9:38 am

    […] Can You Measure Love? by Beth Kanter […]

    Reply
  3. Social Media as a Voice for Texas Public Education | Nonprofits of Austin + Social Media says:
    February 17, 2013 at 4:27 pm

    […] difficulty of linking an organization’s success to their social media efforts in her blog post, Can You Measure Love?. Kanter outlines a few key points to quantify a meaningful way for nonprofits to measure […]

    Reply
  4. A Rally for Texas Public Education: Through the Social Media Lens | Nonprofits of Austin + Social Media says:
    February 17, 2013 at 4:31 pm

    […] difficulty of linking an organization’s success to their social media efforts in her blog post, Can You Measure Love?. Kanter outlines a few key points to quantify a meaningful way for nonprofits to measure […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Categories

Never miss a post!
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide
Powered by FeedBlitz

Related Posts

Try Exercise Snacking for Improving #WFH Mental Health

#Fakecommute: A Ritual for Work-Life Balance When You #WFH

New Year’s Rituals for Nonprofits To Improve Resilience in 2021

#AI4Good: Artificial Intelligence & Wellbeing, Ethical Dilemmas, and More

Philgorithms: Two Examples of Data Mapping to Guide Donor Decisions

Future of Giving: Coordination, Donor Retention & Artificial Intelligence

Simple Ways To Reduce Virtual Fatigue for Nonprofit Leaders

Footer

Trainer, Speaker, Author

About Me
Books & Projects
Beth’s Blog
Keynotes & Workshops
Training & Facilitation
Resources

TwitterLinkedInInstagram

Beth Kanter

Copyright © 2021 · by Beth Kanter. All right reserved. Graphic design by Eve Simon Creative. Website development by Cindy Leonard Consulting.