DeShele Dorsey Taylor

Chief Strategist Officer

Dorsey Impact Solutions

Webinar Objectives

• Examine how measurement is used to demonstrate return on investment

• Highlight current trends and how practitioners are responding

• Share tools and resources to support effective measurement

• Provide steps to advance your company’s measurement journey

Measurement Is Great But Challenging!

Where did all our funding go?

Is this all we accomplished?

Are we measuring the right things?

Nothing has changed through our partnership?

Did we “move the needle”?

Is this data right?

Measurement Among Nonprofits

92% of nonprofits engaged in evaluation in 2016, compared to 90% in 2012

28% of nonprofits exhibited promising evaluation capacities in 2016, as in 2012

12% of nonprofits spent 5% or more of budget on evaluation, compared to 27%

in 2012

State of Evaluation Report 2016

Measurement Among Corporations

77% of companies who measure social impact have fewer than five years of

grant-evaluation experience

33% of companies have developed an internal resource to evaluate strategic

grants

87% of companies say grant monitoring to support funding decisions is their

top reason for data collection

CECP Giving In Numbers: 2016 Edition

Measurement’s Relevance: “SSAVE Effect”

• Success

• Scalability

• Accountability

• Validation

• Excellence

Dorsey Impact Solutions 2017

Measurement’s Influences & Driving Forces

• Resource diversification

• “Investor” mentality

• Sector monitoring

• Big data and analytics

Measurement’s Influences & Driving Forces

• Competition for funding

• Pay for performance or pay by

results social investing

• Growing standards and

frameworks

What Are The Questions?

Informs us about

outcomes and impact

Provides information about

quality and satisfaction

Gives a sense of

scope and quantity

Sets reality on resources

needed for change?

What is the real

cost for impact?

How much did

we do?

How well did

we do?

What difference

did we make?

Done Right, Measurement…

• Creates meaningful and actionable

information

• Provides clarity of purpose

• Aids organizational development

• Facilitates transparency

• Contributes to field knowledge

• Strengthens public policy

Point of Focus!

“Organizations need to be more focused on

what data should be collected and only

collect that data that will aid in the

decision making and reporting of

impacts rather than collecting large

amounts of data that will not be useful for

improving the organizational impacts.”

Marc J. Epstein, Jones Graduate School of

Business, Rice University

The ROI Success Formula

Definition

of Success

Reasonable Reality

Dorsey Impact Solutions 2017

+Path for

Success

Attainment

OptimalOpportunity

Measures of

Success

Achievement

Intentional Inquiry

+ =Sustainable &

Substantive

Success

Learning Loop

Learning Loop

So Much At Your Fingertips

RESOURCESToolkits

PeriodicalsExperts

TechnologyField Data

TOOLSLogic ModelsDashboardsScorecards

InfographicsStories/Anecdotes

KNOWLEDGE:Peer Groups

Benchmark StudiesFunder

CollaborativesDatabases

Diversity of Industry Providers

LBG Model

Results Based Accountability

Kinds of accountability plus language discipline

• Population accountability: results & indicators

• Performance accountability: performance measurement

Kinds of performance measures

• How much did we do? How well did we do it? Is anyone better off?

Questions from ends to means in less than an hour

• Baseline and Turning the Curve

2

7

3

Blackbaud + MicroEdge

Tips For Moving Forward: Internal

Review philanthropic mission and vision

Investigate grant portfolio success

Consider strategy and funding priorities

Validate commitment to measurement

Prioritize data uses

Tips For Moving Forward: External

Benchmark peers’ approach to measurement

Evolve current or potential grantee conversations

Establish or join learning community

Determine vendors’ ability to strengthen capacity

Communicate refined measurement objectives

Thank You For Joining Today!

DeShele Dorsey Taylor

Chief Strategist Officer

Dorsey Impact Solutions

deshele@dorseyimpactsolutions.com