Nonprofit Organizations and Universities

For the final reading assignment of the semester, "Measure What Matters" explained how nonprofit organizations and universities need to measure in order to be the most successful. Both nonprofits and universities rely heavily on voluntary support and they must maintain strong relationships to grow and become more well known. The seven steps of measurement can be applied to both groups in similar ways, and it is important to understand how measurement can help an organization grow.

Nonprofit organizations are strongly based on relationships because they typically require mostly volunteer work and these relationships are the foundation for reputation and awareness. You probably have heard the bells ring at stores and malls to encourage people to donate spare change to the Salvation Army. These bell ringers consist of volunteers who decide they want to help out a good cause and stand in the cold to hopefully convince passers-by to drop money into the little red towers. People volunteer because the Salvation Army has built a strong reputation, and the system is working.

The main steps to measurement in a nonprofit are to define objectives using main mission, prioritize your audience, establish a benchmark. choose a metric, select measurement tool, analyze results and repeat. While planning a project, it is especially important for a nonprofit to stay within the boundaries of the organization's overall mission. Anything that goes against its core values will lead the audience to wonder what the organization actually wants to accomplish.

Universities are similar to nonprofits and need to establish strong relationships. Alumni, parents, prospective students and faculty are the main audience for universities. It is important to measure what people are saying about you, use of social media in an academic environment, what people think about you and behavior. Universities are unique because there is one main goal to achieve and measure.

Attending a university or showing interest in a nonprofit begins the relationship and the organization will need to maintain that relationship in order to be successful. Think about some of the nonprofits you are familiar with and understand that without support of volunteers and members, that organization would not be present in your mind.