A finance professional’s guide to measuring effectiveness of non-profit organisations
Overview of Measurement
What you’ll learn
- Background to measuring social outcomes and Impact (effectiveness).
- Differences between efficiency and effectiveness measures.
- Characteristics of high performing organisations.
- Utilise various measurement frameworks and methods, how to apply them to context, benefits of each technique and limitations.
- Benefits and challenges to measuring effectiveness.
- Understand the role of funder in capacity building and measurement for sustainable relationship with non-profit organisations.
- Explore the role of finance function in the measurement process and the upskilling required for this process.
Course Content
- Overview of Measurement of Social Outcomes and Impact –> 6 lectures • 25min.
- Measurement Frameworks and Methods –> 8 lectures • 1hr 7min.
- Planning and Key Considerations in Measurement –> 6 lectures • 24min.
- Conclusion –> 1 lecture • 2min.
Requirements
Overview of Measurement
o Background to measurement of social outcomes and Impact
o Efficiency and effectiveness measurers
o The results chain
o Characteristics of high performing organisations
Measurement Frameworks and Methods
An exploration of features, application, benefits and limitations of each f the following
o Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting and Improvement (MERI)
o Program Logic
o Theory of Change
o Social Accounting and Auditing
o Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
o Social Return on Investment (SROI)
o Most Significant Change
Getting ahead with Measurement
o Benefits of measurement
o Steps in choosing measurement framework
o Challenges to measurement
Capacity and Effectiveness
o Funder and capacity building
o Funder and measurement
Role of Finance function
o Paradigm shift from efficiency focus to effectiveness measures
o Upskilling and business partnering.
Why are we Studying this?
There is a growing interest in the measurement of social impact across the non-profit sector. It is therefore timely that we equip ourselves with the knowledge and skills required for measuring a non-profit organisation’s journey to reaching its mission. Non-profits play a huge role in ‘enhancing the economic, social, cultural and environmental wellbeing of society” (as cited in C. Morgan 2012). It is therefore important that we measure these contributions both as a matter of learning and influence government policy towards the sector.