MISSIONS MATTER FOR MEASURING IMPACT
Many organizations struggle to measure their impact. Often this difficulty arises because the organization has not developed (and implemented) a mission statement. A mission statement is so much more than a declaration of an organization’s purpose. Internally, a mission statement serves as a blueprint, guiding the organization’s activities and, ultimately, provides a basis for measuring the organization’s impact.
In this post, I demonstrate how to go from mission to measurement of impact in three key steps.
1. Determine what your organization aims to achieve; that is, develop a mission statement. Answer the following questions while developing your organization’s mission statement:
a. Why does your organization exist?
For organizations with a social purpose, the question to answer here would be: what change does your organization hope to bring about?
b. What target population does your organization serve?
c. What activities does your organization undertake?
i. Where do these activities take place?
2. Establish indicators of success. After developing your mission statement, consider what indicators would best demonstrate ‘success’ or that your organization has been successful in meeting its mission.
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Gather evidence (over time). After developing a set of indicators to measure success, it is essential to track those indicators over time from baseline to some future point. During this step, you should consider what data collection methods should be used to measure the indicators you have established. Is it enough to gather quantitative metrics, or are qualitative measures needed to assess change and determine impact? Do you need to identify a population (or setting) similar to your target population who did not receive your services to serve as a comparison group? Keep in mind that the evidence you collect will help you make the case that your organization, and, more specifically, its activities, has contributed to an