Social Media and Nonprofits: Measurement

Curated by Beth Kanter

http://www.bethkanter.org  

I like the term "embedded measurement," although the term I've been using is "stealth measurement"

Similarly, one solution to measurement’s frictions and missed opportunities is what we call embedded measurement—an approach that spreads the ownership of measurement efforts, results, and learning throughout an organization by integrating data collection, analysis, and action into the daily processes, of the program itself. When this happens, measurement shifts from feeling burdensome to being beneficial for everyone involved.

Embedded measurement has several key characteristics. First, data collection is part of the standard service delivery. In other words, data requests are timed and structured to feel part of (not in addition to) services provided to participants. Instead of separate surveys, for example, staff use ongoing interactions with participants to collect data. Second, when data is collected by front-line staff in streamlined ways, it directly benefits their daily work. This typically includes real-time, simple analyses that lead to immediate decisions and actions, primarily oriented toward improving the very next interaction with the participant. And third, participants themselves receive rapid feedback and analysis they can use to accelerate their own progress.

Curated by Beth Kanter

http://www.bethkanter.org

This is why generic "tips" won't always work and measurement sklls are very much needed.

The point that caught my eye:

• Engagement planning is based on audience insights. Engagement planning begins with understanding audience needs and wants in real time. The use of social media performance data, conversation data, search data, and site analytics data can be gathered and analyzed to help answer critical questions: who is our audience? What do they need and want? What are they searching for and talking about, and how do they discover what they want?

Curated by Beth Kanter

http://www.bethkanter.org

This interview comes from Harvard Business School’s Working Knowledge newsletter.  The interview is with Professor Alnoor Ebrahim and Mario Marino on improving nonprofit performance.

Quote from Alnoor Ebrahim:

"Many nonprofit boards see their work as simply looking after the financial integrity of the organization and following the letter of the law.  Equal if not greater priority is actually focusing on the mission of the organization and making sure there’s a strategy that can be implemented and measured in terms of performance targets."

Quote from Mario Morino:

That's not to say that nonprofits don't have a core sense of purpose. Many do. Many are strongly committed, are driven by their missions, and have a highly devoted and committed staff. But ultimately that needs to be extended to the willingness to look critically at what you're doing well and what you're doing poorly and then trying to improve it.

Researcher at Stanford looking at evaluation and metrics in the nonprofit sector.  He also has a research interest in networks.

Are you measuring your marketing efforts?

I have the 101 version of this for beginners.  This is a more advanced process.  I'm still skeptical that all that data is useful ....  I'd go for more is less

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Curated by Beth Kanter

http://www.bethkanter.org

Report profiles six charities using performance measurement using basic steps of measurement - set goals, plan, benchmarks, collect data, anlayze, reflect, improve.

I like the measurement plan that says "What we don't measure and why" - that might be useful for all measurement plans.

The framing of the report:

Many people mistakenly judge charities based on admin costs or chief executives’ salaries, but what really matters is the change they create for the people they help: in other words, their impact. To demonstrate that your charity is really changing people’s lives, you need some way of assessing your work, or measuring your impact, to prove to supporters, funders and beneficiaries exactly what you are achieving.

But measurement remains a challenge for many charities, with pressure from commissioners and funders and resistance from frontline staff. If done well, impact measurement can be a benefit rather than a burden. In this report, we highlight six organisations at the forefront of charity impact measurement in the UK and the US. These ‘bright spots’ are committed to high quality impact measurement and have reaped the rewards of putting it into practice.

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