Giving Compass' Take:

• The Center for High Impact Philanthropy reports on the importance of measurement in nonprofit work, and what tools we can use to collect data more efficiently and effectively.

• This guide can help close the gap on how we measure our work and the actual information needed to enhance impact.

• Here's why philanthropy and measurement are inextricably intertwined.

At their best, systems for monitoring and measuring nonprofit performance illuminate what an organization is accomplishing, where its resources are going, and how that organization might address weaknesses and build on successes.  At their worst, such systems become an expensive compliance exercise, diverting resources from program delivery without returning a greater understanding of how to achieve an organization’s goals.

With that context in mind, we undertook to answer a question central to effective philanthropy: How do nonprofits and donors measure and manage results? What tools exist, whom do they serve, which questions do they answer, and what are the challenges in aligning donor and non-profit measurement and management strategies? Finally, how can we do better — and what can we accomplish by getting measurement right?

Key findings from this assessment include:

  • An (over)abundance of resources for funders and nonprofit organizations, sometimes leading to
    confusion.
  • Tension between organizational and donor measurement goals.
  • The need to tailor reporting requirements to grantees’ capacity and the state of current evidence.

Donors and nonprofits alike are deeply invested in creating the change they seek, as efficiently and effectively as possible. There are difficulties in communication and expectations, but the central questions are the same: Did I do what I set out to do? Is it making the difference I seek? How can I do it better?

Read the full report about nonprofit management from The Center for High Impact Philanthropy.