Problem: Board does not monitor results
6.05.2025
If a governing board has ambiguous or missing ends policies, it will have a difficult time monitoring organizational results. What are they supposed to measure, satisfaction level of clients? Most organizations resort to reporting on output rather than outcomes. Output is a measure of activity in the black box. For example, an organization can report that they had 752 children enrolled in their summer program, an 18% increase from the previous year. But did the children learn anything? Results for many nonprofits will mean life change for individuals, families, or communities. Life change can be difficult to describe and measure, but meaningful life change will certainly show itself in changed behavior. These behaviors and other indicators can be identified and tracked. In general, a rough measure of a significant result is better than an accurate measure of an inconsequential result.
