Designing and Measuring Outcomes
- Decide which outcomes are important. Think about what your goals are with your program.
- Figure out how you will know if you achieved your outcomes. In other words, set outcomes indicators.
- Design a measurement system or way to track your indicators.
OUTPUT AND OUTCOME MEASURESNPOs are very accustomed to reporting input measures. For example, they report the financial resources dedicated to specific programs in their financial statements. Many also report nonfinancial information about the effort they expend, such as the hours spent meeting a program goal.
In general, NGOs can assess their performance through creating performance indicators and then gathering information related to these indicators. Carman (2007) saw that the most utilized performance indicators by NGOs incorporate efficiency, effectiveness, fundraising, costs, audits and beneficiaries' satisfaction.
Nonprofit organizations are accountable to the public and close associates such as sponsors, for their ethical behavior, and compliance with the set standards. Questions are always raised on nonprofit leaders when a distrustful or unethical situation arises.
Deduct total expenses from total income and divide the result by total income. This will give you the net operating ratio of income to expenses, which tells you how efficiently the organization is using its money to fund operations.
Two best metrics to measure the financial performance of a company in terms of profitability are the net profit and the return on assets. The percentage of net profit is the amount of net profit divided by the amount of sales times 100.
Nonprofit organizations must measure their success by double bottom line.
The main difference between non-profits and for-profits is related to their tax codes. Other differences are found in their mission, governance, finances, and type of labor. The true essence of the nonprofit sector is in its philanthropic purpose.
The program efficiency ratio is calculated by taking the organization's program expenses and dividing it by the total expenses of the organization. This will result in a percentage or ratio of an organization's program expenses to total expenses. Ideally, this percentage will be greater than 75%.
Below are the 15 key management KPI examples:
- Customer Acquisition Cost. Customer Lifetime Value. Customer Satisfaction Score. Sales Target % (Actual/Forecast)
- Revenue per FTE. Revenue per Customer. Operating Margin. Gross Margin.
- ROA (Return on Assets) Current Ratio (Assets/Liabilities) Debt to Equity Ratio. Working Capital.
The results of factor analysis and internal reliability produced five broad measures of performance of charities: (1) financial measures; (2) client satisfaction; (3) management effectiveness; (4) stakeholder involvement; and (5) benchmarking, indicating that the overall performance of charities is best measured by a
Key performance indicators (KPIs) in project management consist of various specific measurement tools for indicating how well teams are achieving specific goals. Project management KPIs are generally agreed upon early in the project.
A financial key performance indicator (KPI) is a leading high-level measure of revenue, expenses, profits or other financial outcomes, simplified for gathering and review on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis. KPIs drive strategic decision making.
Specific – The goal is to raise $25,000. Measurable – The goal is quantifiable and measurable (dollars raised). Ambitious/Attainable – It's more than last year, but not overly ambitious – especially with the new recurring donations program. Relevant – The goal will help the nonprofit's target audience – young girls.
Your fundraising ROI is a measure of how much money you raise for each dollar you spend on fundraising. many non-profits fail to include staff time in their return on investment calculations, which is a serious mistake, as your staff time can often be a significant investment for some of your development tactics.
A development audit is an assessment of your fundraising program and your readiness to embark on new development ventures. It involves your board, staff and volunteers throughout the process and ultimately offers recommendations on how to best use your resources available to the organization.