Measuring Nonprofits' Effectiveness

Determining the impact of major gift investments can be difficult for many nonprofit organizations. How many students were served by university? Did the students learn anything? How people were fed by a food bank? Was this just a temporary fix or did the food allow the families' young children to learn more effectively in school?

In a recent article by The Chronicle of Philanthropy October 4. 2007, a new book by Leslie R. Crutchfield and Healther McLeod Grant reported on their research of 12 nonprofits that were identified as excellent. In Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits (Wiley & Sons), Crutchfield & McLeod note that what distinguishes these organizations is their achievements:

• ". . . outside their own walls -- shaping government policy, spurring changes at corporations, inspiring individuals to become advocates for their cause, sharing ideas and money with other charities to kick-start entire movements."

The authors surveyed 2,800 charity leaders, conducted interviews with 60 experts, and finally studied the 12 nominated nonprofits in depth with a team of MBA students using $750,000 of grant funding from several foundations.

• ". . . foundations and philanthropists must work harder than ever to uncover charities that deserve support. The work charities do apart from their own programs can be expensive, and it often doesn't show up as a concrete 'outcome' that can be neatly measured against the charity's budget."

I love books like this that go into deep research to come up with real evidence. It's definitely on my "to get" list. Let me know if you've read it and have reactions to their findings.

This issue came up with one of my clients, California Dental Association Foundation as we were preparing a report to the CDA Foundation board. In addition to the great fundraising year with individual gifts and foundation grants, we began thinking about the indirect dollars CDA Foundation had helped funnel to dental access to care issues. We began discussing this article and found it useful in describing the full philanthropic impact of both the direct and indirect programs of the Foundation. While CDA Foundation doesn't spend some $30 million for fluoridation, it helped to get this funding in place.

To see the entire article Chronicle subscribers click http://www.philanthropy.com/premium/articles/v19/i24/24003501.htm


Tom Wilson
Author, Winning Gifts

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