03 Sep How to Measure Your Mission
“If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.”
-Peter Drucker, management guru
If there’s one thing that makes most folks cringe, it’s being held accountable. Whether on the job, at home or school, or even in sports, people rarely enjoy having their performance measured.
And while accountability is a tough topic for many, measuring performance is a much-needed conversation that Christian-led nonprofits are starting to take seriously.
Why? Because performance measurement is a tool to get us to where God is calling us to go—faithfulness in stewardship. And because donors are drawn to where God is working and want to see a return on investment in the form of successful nonprofits and transformed lives.
Given this Biblical call to good stewardship, Mission Triangle focused its recent 3rd quarter workshop on helping participating nonprofits embrace accountability and learn to track and improve performance—in order to expand their Kingdom impact.
Led by Area Director Daniel Alexander, Performance Measurement: Faithfully Stewarding Resources and Tracking Outcomes, was presented three times over the summer and attended by 160 people from 96 nonprofits.
Here’s a breakdown of the main topics presented:
- The Importance of Measurement—and the evolving vocabulary of organizational accountability
- Areas of Measurement—mission statements, operations, programs and revenue
- Intricacies of Outcome Measurement—inputs, outputs, outcomes and impacts
- How to Measure—identity statements, theory of change and SMART goals
- Applying Results—discerning prayer about the data, honest and transparent communication, and celebrating the results
- Creating a Measurement Plan—key tasks and assigned roles
Digging deeper into the truth that better data leads to better decisions and a better world, workshop participants were inspired by stories shared by their colleagues in nonprofit leadership and encouraged to know they are not alone in tackling the challenges that come with implementing performance measures in their organizations.
And while measuring performance is not easy, the process can be energizing and clarifying—just like the Biblical stones of remembrance, which reminded God’s people of His great works.
Good Biblical stewardship requires us to measure the impact of our resources and provide donors with confidence in knowing that they are being used wisely for the good of all involved.
For more helpful resources on excellence in nonprofit management, click here.