Years ago, we wrote a post titled “It’s Just a Database,” emphasizing that a database is just a tool, and it’s only as good as the data you put in it. Now, we are revisiting that theme in response to a common request we receive. Nonprofits often reach out to us seeking help to transition[…]
Tools are Just Tools In our first years, The IllumiLab’s work was focused almost exclusively on building tools nonprofits could use to measure their performance (logic models, measures, data collection tools, performance management plans, etc.). This was the pain point organizations experienced, and this was the service they requested. But we soon realized that without[…]
If I had a nickel for every time I heard a nonprofit professional say they were building the plane while flying it, I could buy my own fully-built jet! In the context of program design, what does this even mean? Is “building the plane while flying it” just code for “making it up as we[…]
This is our third and final post in this series. We believe outcome statements should be meaningful, measurable, and manageable, and we recommend that organizations evaluate their outcomes against those criteria in that order, because each serves as a more narrow filter than the one before. The universe of meaningful outcomes is big, complex, abstract,[…]
We believe outcome statements should be meaningful, measurable, and manageable. This is our second post in this series, examining the second M. Organizations often struggle to identify outcomes that are both meaningful and measurable. But, because they are required to measure their outcomes, they sacrifice meaningfulness and just count what is easy to count. Sound[…]
Outcome statements should be . . . We believe outcome statements should be meaningful, measurable, and manageable. If an outcome statement cannot meet all three of those criteria, we don’t recommend it. Further, as you brainstorm possible outcomes, they should be evaluated against those criteria, in that order. Oftentimes, organizations arrive at the outcomes they[…]
Measuring outcomes is difficult. I’ve written about this before (here). However, there are many ways that nonprofits make life even harder for themselves than it has to be. You’re probably familiar with many of them: The grant-writer works in isolation and promises outcomes that the program cannot measure and/or achieve. Outcomes are written so broadly,[…]
We’re continuing our series on performance management by handing the mic back to Megan Ondr-Cooper of CASA of St. Louis. This week, Megan will share the questions she and her teammates asked along their journey toward a meaningful performance management system. As Sarah shared in her post last week, performance management is a system and[…]
Last week, guest contributor Megan Ondr-Cooper kicked off this four-part series on performance management by defining what it means to her organization: “the use of data about program operations and participant outcomes to learn, make decisions, and improve.” I (Sarah) am jumping in this week to share what The IllumiLab sees as the unique value[…]
The IllumiLab is excited to present a second blog series from our contributor and client Megan Ondr-Cooper from CASA of St. Louis. This summer, she shared some fun Excel tips with us. This month, she’s sharing her experience with performance management. Too often, nonprofits struggle to demonstrate meaningful impact. They collect data, but only really[…]