measuring what matters

MEASURING WHAT MATTERS Miami Philanthropy Conference2013

@mayurhpatel

Getting to know each other…

Pair up: What’s your burning measurement question?

Helping nonprofits deliver greater benefits to the people they serve

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Source: http://www.amazon.com

Where to Start? Three Great Guides

The slides that follow draw on concepts in these books

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Gut + Data = Insight

From Lean Analytics (Croll and Yoskowitz)

Data-Informed Culture

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ONE METRIC THAT MATTERS

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TIPS – One Metric that Matters

# If you collected this metric, how many people in your organization would care

1. No one…………..5. everyone

# To what extent would tracking this help you make better decisions

1. Not at all………..5. A great deal

# If you’re not collecting it, don’t panic

GOOD METRICS are:

Comparable

Understandable

Ratio or a rate

Change your behavior*

* Most important

4 Case Studies

1. Prisons Metrics shape incentives

Occupancy rates vs Recidivism

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2. The Nature ConservancyWhat you count might hide your impactAcres under Management vs Biodiversity

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1. Prison

3. Harlem Children’s ZoneManaging the present for future impactLeading vs Lagging Indicators

Photo: http://www.hcz.org

“The only benchmark of success is college graduation. That’s the only one: how many kids you get in college, how many you get out.”

Geoffrey CanadaCity Limits

4. Global GivingThe power of storytellingQualitative vs Quantiative Information

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Managing Funder Relationships

*

*

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* Funder or nonprofit

One final resource

Source: http://trasi.foundationcenter.org/

Don’t overwhelm with dozens of metrics

Do align your multiple funders

Don’t rely on “people touched”

Do be realistic about scope of influence

Don’t allow qualitative data to be dismissed

Do talk about your investment costs