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This free guide has insights, tips, and real-life case studies showcasing how nonprofits have and can use research to amplify their good work, demonstrate meaningful impact, and show a return on investment that justifies continued or increased funding.

Is an article written for The NonProfit Times. The article offers tips for organizations assessing website performance and tracking performance.

Strategic, mission-critical decisions require a clear understanding of program performance, but for most nonprofits, making decisions on facts rather than gut feelings is easier said than done. As a way to better understand program performance and become more responsive to changes, organizations are increasingly turning to dashboards-custom utilities that gather, organize and present information in an accessible way.

Is an article written by Saphira M. Baker and Anita McGinty for Stanford Social Innovation Review. The article discusses how collaboration between nonprofit evaluators and organizational consultants can increase efficiency and lead to deeper results.

Is an article by Jeffrey L. Bradach, Thomas J. Tierney and Nan Stone of The Bridgespan Group for the Harvard Business Review. In it they explore four important questions every nonprofit should use to evaluate their performance: Which results will we hold ourselves accountable for? How will we achieve them? What will the results really cost, and how can we fund them? How do we build the organization we need to deliver those results?

For centuries, women have struggled to break free of oppression and second-class citizenship. While charitable giving to address this problem is on the rise, philanthropic support for women's and girls' organizations is still less than 2% of overall charitable giving, according to a report released by the Women's Philanthropy Institute. So why has the concept of targeting philanthropy to elevate women been so slow to catch on? Lack of critical data—or in some cases, the failure to make use of

What is really being asked for when nonprofits are requested to produce data on performance, effectiveness and impact? While the surface logic is clear- this information needs to be known-the full context and set of assumptions surrounding the request bears closer examination.

Increasingly, funders want to know exactly how their money is being used, and as nonprofits undertake rigorous evaluations to prove their programs work and attract funding for growth. But one of the most important uses of measurement is too often overlooked, and that is measurement for the purpose of learning and improving performance, or performance measurement. The Bridgespan Group has put together a guide on this topic.

A reflection of learning, hopes, and the opportunities when partnering with measurement professionals to center equity, diversity, inclusion, and antiracism (EDIAR) in the work.

In this article, Matthew Forti, Director of One Acre Fund USA, explores whether social sector organizations are thinking too narrowly about the whole paradigm of measurement.

In their article, "Nonprofit Starvation Cycle", Ann Goggins Gregory and Dan Howard exhort nonprofit finance professionals to report to funders the real costs of running nonprofits. Using advice from sector thought leaders, this ebook explores the metrics needed to ensure that a nonprofit is financially healthy, spending dollars wisely, and creating mission impact efficiently.

In the face of increased accountability pressures, nonprofits are searching for ways to demonstrate their effectiveness. Because meaningful tools to evaluate effectiveness are largely absent, financial ratios are still the main indicators used to approximate it. However, there is an extensive body of literature on determinants of nonprofit effectiveness. This study tested the extent to which such assertions in the literature align with practitioner views. Results include a self-assessment survey

Tracking and measuring data can give nonprofits a better understanding of the populations they serve and how they serve them, and help them identify areas to improve their reach and the efficiency of their programs. But many nonprofits struggle to track data--or even to define what data they should be tracking. Here are seven case studies on different ways nonprofits are tracking and using data to operate more efficiently.

Performance Evaluations Shouldn’t Be Uncomfortable is an article by Paul Clolery written for The Nonprofit Times, which discusses the discomfort many nonprofit managers experience when providing performance evaluations for employees - especially if the evaluation is unfavorable. A lot of managers would rather avoid them altogether, but they need to be treated with the same importance as any other business meeting, and they need to be well-prepared but not sound scripted in their presentation.

Former Cheesecake Factory National HR director John McLaughlin, now a nonprofit human resources consultant, recently spoke to a VNR workshop. His two handouts provide an overview of an approach nonprofits can use to measure performance and improve it, and a definition of human resources functions in an organization.