Are You Counting or Are You Measuring?
The benefit of benchmark reports is that they can help you compare your organization’s performance to others'. But if you are counting and not measuring, then they are of absolutely no value. How others are doing doesn’t matter if you don’t have a firm grasp on your own performance.
Keep in mind that measuring something is more important than measuring everything. Start with the core metrics. Expand over time, and begin to test different scenarios, time frames and constituent groups. Share your results internally and with other nonprofit organizations. Focus on lessons learned and how to improve results by turning raw data into useful information.
- People:
- Steve MacLaughlin
Steve MacLaughlin is the vice president of data and analytics at Blackbaud and best-selling author of “Data Driven Nonprofits.” Steve has spent 20-plus years driving innovation with a broad range of companies, government institutions and nonprofit organizations. He serves on the board of the Nonprofit Technology Network and is a frequent speaker at conferences and events. Steve earned both his undergraduate degree and a Master of Science degree in interactive media from Indiana University.
