6 Tips to Improving Measurement for Non-Profits

Your mission. Be able to articulate how PR and marketing efforts support the organization’s mission. How do your daily activities help accomplish the mission, be it raising money or finding volunteers?

Stakeholders. Nonprofits have many stakeholders, including volunteers, donors, sponsors, employees, and the people they service. It’s essential to concentrate measure results involving each category of stakeholder.

Metrics. Select at least three specific metrics for analyzing various categories of communications including email, marketing, public relations and social media. Select metrics that are quantifiable, with a number such as an amount of money or percentage and that can be compared to another number such as past performance or competitors. It’s also vital to include date by when the goal will be achieved.

Leadership. Obtaining support for measurement from the organization’s leadership will make life easier both immediately and over the long term.

Current data. Surveying departments can reveal data and tools you already have. Nonprofits often have more data than they think they do.

So what? Asking “So what?” can provide context to data. So social media activity spiked one month and donations spiked the following month. So what? Determining why it spiked and learning how to repeat the performance makes measurement valuable.