Benchmarking for Nonprofits: How to Measure, Manage, and Improve Performance

by Jason Saul

Overview

The no-cost way to improve your organization on a daily basis Most nonprofits are already benchmarking informally. This unique book defines a formal way to benchmark. You'll learn how to prepare your organization, measure performance, and implement best practices as well as learning the five key steps of benchmarking, the arguments against benchmarking—and why you should disregard them, how benchmarking differs from evaluation and assessment, how to form a benchmarking team, how to create a “success equation” that helps you measure your organization’s performance, how to make sure to measure what matters, how to choose your benchmarking partners—and what you can learn from the “wrong” partner, and how to overcome staff resistance to benchmarking. Practical tools help you benchmark what matters Real-world examples illustrate benchmarking in action. Exercises and worksheets guide you through processes such as drafting a benchmarking plan; identifying and analyzing the things in your organization that need improvement; prioritizing which processes to focus on; identifying your CTQ (critical to quality) outcomes; and more. The way to survive as a nonprofit in today’s market is to thrive. With so many organizations seeking the same dollars, only the best will endure. Benchmarking ensures that your organization is always operating at peak performance. It’s something you can’t afford not to do—especially since you can do it for free!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781618589101
Publisher:	Turner Publishing Company
Publication date:	10/30/2004
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	110
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Jason Saul is one of the nation’s leading experts on measuring social impact. He is the founder and CEO of Mission Measurement LLC, a strategy consulting firm that helps corporations, nonprofits and public sector clients to measure and improve their social impact. He has advised some of the world’s largest corporations, government agencies and nonprofits, including: Walmart, Starbucks, McDonald’s, Kraft Foods, Levi Strauss&Co., Easter Seals, American Red Cross, the Smithsonian and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Prior to founding Mission Measurement, Jason practiced as a public finance attorney at Mayer Brown LLP in Chicago. Jason serves on the faculty of Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, where he teaches corporate social responsibility and nonprofit management. He also serves on the faculty of Boston College’s Center for Corporate Citizenship. Jason is the founder of the Center for What Works, a national nonprofit focused on benchmarking and performance measurement. He is the author of numerous books and articles on social strategy and measurement, including: Benchmarking for Nonprofits: How to Manage, Measure and Improve Performance (Fieldstone Press 2006); Social Innovation, Inc.: Five Strategies to Drive Business Value through Social Change (Jossey-Bass, October 2010); and The End of Fundraising: How to Raise More by Selling Your Impact (Jossey-Bass, March 2011). Jason was awarded the Harry S. Truman Scholarship for leadership and public service and was selected as a Leadership Greater Chicago fellow. In 2008, Jason was recognized as one of Crain’s Chicago Business “40 under 40” business leaders, and in 2010, he was named by Businessweek Magazine as one of the Nation’s 25 Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs. In 2011, Jason was appointed as an academic advisor to the Chief Marketing Officer’s Council and Advisory Board. Jason holds a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, an M.P.P. from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a B.A. in Government and French Literature from Cornell University.