You've done an evaluation and you're doing ongoing performance measurement.  You are on top of your measurement game.  You have all this hard data that suggests what you're doing works and that your model deserves to be grown to scale.  But you're struggling to get people to listen.  You believe you deserve their support, but can't seem to get potential funders, policy makers, etc. to see it the same way.  Why?

We've all read an annual report that lists each grant made in detail, page after page of painful details in some cases.  Ok, so they gave $2,000,000 to the Mr. and Mrs. Do-good Foundation.  I wonder what they were able to do with that money.   I wonder why they chose $2,000,000. If it's such a good cause, why not $3,000,000?

In a March 8, 2010 Education Sector article, author Bill Tucker discussed the disparity between the billions of dollars spent on upgrading schools data systems and the actual use of data at the classroom level stating, ..despite states' and districts' tremendous progress in building data systems, policymakers are not yet routinely using these new data to improve accountability systems, support performance management processes, evaluate programs, or influence resource allocation decisions. And most importantly, the data is not yet being used where it matters most—in the classroom.

At the beginning of our work with a client, we often bring together a team of staff including executives and managers to construct a framework which describes the mission of the organization and the priority intermediate outcomes which combine to producing that impact.  It's an interesting process as a wide range of interests, needs, and responsibilities perspectives come together to form a cohesive whole.  It not only provides a context for ongoing strategic conversations, but it also helps each person see the value of their worth in the context of the organization.

At last week’s sySTEMnow Conference in Milwaukee, a convening of math and science educators and the businesses funding their efforts, I was a panelist for a session titled The ROI for STEM Outreach Efforts: Quantifying Corporate Social Responsibility. Several conferences have begun hosting sessions like this to help employees in CSR departments measure the business impact of their corporate philanthropy and volunteerism.  

Often met with a dreadful shudder or apathetic roll of the eyes, measurement can be an unfriendly topic among leaders of nonprofit organizations or program officers.  It can be seen as academic exercise that yields little useful information or, worse yet, a way for innovative and likely effective programs to be pushed off the table because measuring their impact seems impossible to do without unlimited time and resources.

FSG recently published an excellent report that profiles the state of nonprofit measurement.  It points to key trends in the sector such as the adoption of web-based data collection mechanisms and the burgeoning importance of operational performance monitoring in a sector that has typically equated “measurement” with longitudinal evaluations.