Today's Featured Blog Posts

Using Imperfect Metrics Well: Tracking Progress and Driving Change
"Not being able to afford the time and money to develop excellent metrics, nonprofits often have to glean whatever value they can from using imperfect metrics. To be more precise about the term imperfect, we mean metrics that are anecdotal, subjective, interpretive, or qualitative. Or perhaps the metric relies on a small sample, uncontrolled situational factors, or cannot be precisely replicated. For most nonprofits, it is nevertheless a great leap forward from doing nothing to using even seriously flawed by reasonably relevant measures for their critical goals. Aside from technical requirements, the most critical requirement is that both the board evaluator and the operating manager agree that the process is reasonable and that the outcomes from it constitute fair and trustworthy information. With that goal in mind, we can explore how to use an imperfect metric well." Read the full post.