Outcomes Management and Measurement (Non-Profit Specific)

Outcomes Management is the precursor to any credible effort at building accountability within an organization. In its most basic sense, outcomes management is about tracking an organizations performance against its mission and business objectives. Of course, strategic alignment becomes a critical issue in this process. For alignment to take place, there must be a clear vision and mission driving the process and a focused commitment to achieving measurable results. One approach is to use the balanced scorecard methodology created by Robert Kaplan to drive this process. We prefer not to dig deeply into programmatic outcomes, but instead focus our efforts on understanding the organization wide (macro) goals and objectives and transferring this into leadership/management initiatives. However, if needed, we do provide guidance on traditional non-profit measurement issues using methodologies developed by the Urban Institute and others.

Assessment Questions: What are the measurement objectives of the organization; what is success? How is the organization tracking the relevancy of its programs/services to its target client populations? How is the organization tracking the efficacy of its programs/services? Who owns the measurement process? Are there outside stakeholders driving the measurement process and what are their objectives? Is there clarity and consistency throughout the organization on what to measure (and value)? Are outcomes measures aligned with the vision and mission of the organization? Are outcomes measures aligned with existing management systems? Are there business-oriented measures to complement traditional mission oriented measures? Do existing measures effectively inform the decision making process? Are we measuring activities or outcomes? Is the measurement process driven from the top down or bottom up or is it two-way? Is the process dynamic and flexible or static and fixed? How often are measures reevaluated to ensure relevance and efficacy? What is the communications strategy in place to support the outcomes management system?

Intervention: A balanced scorecard influenced methodology that establishes measures at the macro and micro levels of the organization around four measurement categories: 1) financial sustainability; 2) operational performance 3) external market impact; and 4) mission accomplishment

Miscellaneous: Effective measurement takes time and is an iterative process. Moreover, it is important that the leadership team drives the process, but they must allow time for discussion and feedback from other constituencies. Identifying performance benchmarks and establishing targets is only part of the process. It is equally important that an organizational dialogue takes place to build buy-in for the measures with all pertinent stakeholders. It is also important to remember that while external benchmark comparisons are good, they aren’t always critical and internal best practices will often suffice for targeting and management purposes. Lastly, any measurement process needs to be viewed as a dynamic process that is flexible enough to make adjustments as needed to reflect the internal and external environments.

Approach:  

• Review and assess existing program and business outcomes measures including performance tracking over a 3-5 year time horizon 
• Conduct 1:1 interviews with the leadership team and key board and staff members 
• If not already available, facilitate use of Balanced Scorecard influenced assessment tool with the senior management team 
• Create a steering committee to lead outcomes management process for assessment, development and tracking purposes 
• Conduct research to identify relevant industry benchmarks 
• Review and assess performance management process to gauge alignment with outcomes management process 
• Create communication and training infrastructure to support outcomes management objectives 
• Create outcomes management plan for the organization using a balanced scorecard influenced methodology as the foundation for the process