This is the first in a series of six articles that discuss outcome measurement: what it is, how to do it, and most importantly, how it will help your organization. The content of these articles draws heavily on a framework designed by the United Way of America, in addition to the author’s experience and research. While this is not the only system for measuring outcomes, it has been proven effective by many organizations in both Canada and the United States.

Efficiency is not mission delivery

If you are reading this article you are likely involved in a not-for-profit and have a desire to make meaningful change in the world. After all, that’s what a not-for-profit organization is designed to do: create change. The nature of that change will depend on the mission and vision of your organization, but whether it is improving the health or capacity of an individual, or the awareness and habits of a population, creating change is always fundamental to delivering the mission and vision.

To create that change, we run programs and provide services, while trying to maximize what we are able to do with the resources available. As we work with money and other resources that have been entrusted to us, we strive for efficiency. Efficiency, however, is meaningless if it fails to bring about the change we are mandated to provide. We could offer countless workshops that are widely attended and enjoyed, at no cost, but if the participants leave without gaining the lasting change we seek, we simply can’t call it a job well done.

Showing your work isn’t just for math class

Measurement is essential to the proper management of an organization. “What gets measured, gets managed” is an adage perhaps better known than its author. (It was Peter Drucker, by the way.) What is less quoted is what Drucker had to say about the dangers of measurement misapplied; if you measure the wrong things you will manage in the wrong direction. If our purpose is mission delivery through some nature of change, then measurement of that change is essential. If we fail to measure the change we create, we cannot know if we have fulfilled our purpose.

In a not-for-profit organization, time and money are always highly prized commodities. There is always a surplus of great ideas, and never enough time and money to implement them. So why, you may wonder, would you want to adopt more measurement work? The answer is that by showing how your work is delivering your mission, you make your organization more accountable, more likely to receive funding, and more attractive to staff, volunteers, members, and donors. Most importantly, by measuring the extent to which your work succeeds, you will be able to improve your programs in concrete and measurable ways that make a real difference to the people you serve. Without this, improvement is ad hoc guesswork, at best.

The basics of measurement

Before we look at the process of measuring how well your work is delivering your mission, let’s take a quick look at traditional measurement methods. If you are not already measuring the following aspects of your work, you should definitely consider doing so. Traditional measurement prevents wasted effort by tracking inputs, activities, and outputs:

• Inputs are the resources used to deliver the mission and can include money, time, facilities, and expertise.
• Activities are the actions performed with those resources to deliver the mission.
• Outputs are the products of those activities; often tangible and easily measured, such as the number of people helped, the time it took to help them, and the cost per person helped.

 

These traditional measurements are a necessary tool in the management of any organization, but they can not tell us if our work is creating the change needed to deliver our mission. The change we want to measure is achieved through incremental steps we can call outcomes.

• Outcomes are the incremental changes that happen as a result of the work performed by an organization. Outcomes are the small victories by which an organization fulfills its mission, and are unique to the work being performed.

 

Understanding outcomes

To better understand outcomes, think of a program or service in which you are involved. Now think of the people affected by this work. If the program or service has been a success, how have these people changed? Perhaps they have learned something? Perhaps they are healthier in mind, body, or spirit? How will their change impact the way they live? How will their lives be different in one year, or five years, or ten years?

Some outcomes occur immediately, while others occur later as a product of the earlier outcomes. As a result, outcomes can be organized into a sequence. Initial outcomes make the achievement of intermediate outcome possible, and intermediate outcomes make longer-term outcomes possible. The time frame for this progression will vary depending on the work being performed, but the outcomes will always be related in an if-then relationship.

Measuring outcomes

Because these outcomes are often intangible, and internal to the individuals we reach, their measurement can provide some unique challenges. Because it can be difficult or impossible to measure outcomes directly, we can use measurements that indicate whether or not the outcome has been achieved. These are known as outcome indicators.

• Outcome indicators are measurable characteristics that change in a predictable way when an outcome is achieved. By tracking changes in outcome indicators, we can be assured that the related outcome has likely been achieved.

 

Selecting outcome indicators that are meaningful, reliable, and objective is critical to the success of your outcome measurement efforts. Depending on the indicators you choose, you may be seeking data from records, professionals, or the clients themselves. The nature of the work and the capacity of your organization will determine the amount of data you collect and the time frame you investigate. In any case, by carefully identifying the outcomes you want to track, and thoughtfully assigning meaningful outcome indicators, you will be able to demonstrate how your work is making a difference to the people you serve.

Conclusion

Over the next five articles, we will look at how to incorporate outcome measurement into your existing management practices. Whether you are a part of a multi-million dollar health charity, or a small organization with only one paid staff member, there is a place for outcome measurement in your practice. By taking the time to measure the difference that your work is having on the people you serve, you will increase the service capacity of your organization, improve the quality of service you provide, and ensure your work is strategically aligned with your organization’s mission, vision, and values.

Eli Bennett has been serving the Canadian philanthropic sector for seven years. A graduate of Humber’s Fundraising and Volunteer Management postgraduate program under Ken Wyman, Eli has extensive experience raising millions of dollars through various media across Canada. Currently, Eli is applying his passion for objective management to service provision and program design. If you have any questions on applied measurement in the philanthropic sector, please contact Eli at elibennett@gmail.com.