Measuring impact doesn’t need to be complicated

You run a great nonprofit but don’t know how to use data to prove it. Or you fund nonprofits and you’re determined to have measurable results, but don’t understand measuring performance. No one on your team majored in statistics and the experts sound academic.

The path to clarity actually is straight-forward. Decide what you want to measure, find ways to measure it, then execute the plan. The field is called evaluation capacity building, or ECB, and it certainly can be made as complex as it sounds. However, ordinary people are learning ECB principles and putting them to work every day, sometimes without even knowing the term exists.

Thomas P. Miller & Associates has led several high-level organizations through the ECB process with results including renewed funding streams and more focused impact. Many TPMA projects involve helping nongovernment and government organizations with AmeriCorps programs thrive at state and local levels, but TPMA has assisted institutions of higher education as well.

When TPMA assists a client such as Serve Indiana, the state’s administrator of AmeriCorps funding, we first talk with the grant making organization and its funded agencies to learn their goals and challenges. The next step is to talk one-on-one with each agency to address their specific questions. During the discussions, we follow through with suggestions on tasks as basic as building surveys or writing intake forms and interview guides.

Serve Indiana initially asked TPMA for guidance in helping its grantees do a better job of gathering data to show their collective impact. A year later TPMA returned to take the initiative to the next level.

Thomas P. Miller & Associates prefers a collaborative approach of guiding and supporting clients. We listen and suggest. It’s about offering advice everyone can understand.

Funding sources increasingly are asking for data to aid in decision making. You can build confidence in your organization by implementing an ECB process.