With the right implementation, nonprofits have a straightforward tool for measuring success at their fingertips.

By Joel Zimmerman

Your mail-list manager also might give you many statistics describing the demographics of your donors. What about using those data for a balanced scorecard? Sure, these measures are readily available, but do you need them? The question is not, “What statistics are available?” The questions are, “What have we planned to do this year and how have we planned to do it?” and then, “Does this statistic help us answer either of those questions?”