Often when small and mid-sized nonprofit organizations think about evaluation, it stands out as something that they would like to do, but can’t afford. Other times program evaluation is something they only do when a funder requires it. I recently came across an article that asks nonprofits to think about the ways that evaluation can be a benefit to their programs and change their organizational culture.
Fact: Performance Measures Increase Revenues and Improve Morale shares the results of a study by Measurement Resources Company exploring how nonprofits use evaluation results. It turns out that evaluation can help organizations:
- Increase organizational efficiency
- Use data to lead effective organizational change
- Communicate with external and internal stakeholders
- And the Holy Grail of them all, Increase Revenues
Of course, much more than just evaluation data is needed to lead change, but this study definitely makes the case that “we can’t afford it” is no longer a good reason to avoid evaluation.
