Proposal for a Volunteer Program
WEBC20 04/18/2015 4:7:16 Page 269
Chapter 20
Measuring the Volunteer Program
Beth Kanter Author and Master Trainer
When my first book, The Networked Nonprofit, came out in 2010, a lot of people in the nonprofit world wondered how its ideas could ever be applied to volunteer engagement. Facebook and Twitter may make sense for fundraising campaigns and awareness building, I heard, but they don’t quite fit with the needs of volunteer programs. Now, four years later, many of those naysayers use those exact tools to strengthen volunteer relationships and leverage connections for greater impact.
My second book, Measuring The Networked Nonprofit, which was awarded the Terry McAdam Nonprofit Book Award in 2013, focused on what nonprofits can do to measure and assess their social networking. Again, I heard from many nonprofit professionals in volunteering that these ideas didn’t really apply to them. Yes, they were tracking and measuring key metrics such as volunteer hours worked, but those metrics were far removed from the insightful, social-media-oriented data points I was talking about.
In this case, although I see some changes happening, more remains to be done to help the volunteer engagement field adopt a culture of data-informed decision- making. Collecting data to measure success is essential—but often, we only see
269 Rosenthal, R. J. (Ed.). (2015). Volunteer engagement 2. 0 : Ideas and insights changing the world. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. Created from ashford-ebooks on 2022-05-20 10:21:46.
C o p yr
ig h t ©
2 0 1 5 . Jo
h n W
ile y
& S
o n s,
I n co
rp o ra
te d . A
ll ri g h ts
r e se
rv e d .
WEBC20 04/18/2015 4:7:16 Page 270
part of the equation done well. Sometimes they’re not even collecting the right data!
Why Measure Your Volunteer Program?
According to the 2014 Volunteer Impact Report from Software Advice and VolunteerMatch, a bit more than half (55 percent) of all nonprofits1 collect volunteer engagement data with the intention of measuring it. Many respondents reported that they didn’t really have a formal process for collecting volunteering data. They might, for example, collect numbers such as how many people showed up for a volunteer event, but there was no way to get a sense of the specific social impact of an individual volunteer or group of volunteers.
But even that is better than not measuring at all. Which begs the question— why aren’t more nonprofits focused on measurement? Here’s why:
• Lack of resources and tools.
• Lack of skills or knowledge.
• Lack of time.
• And some just don’t see the value of gathering data.
Before this chapter is over, I plan to combat each of the preceding items to show you what they actually are: limiting beliefs that have no place in an innovative volunteer program. In fact, insight always improves outcomes—and those improvements are directly proportional to the care taken when planning for, gathering, and evaluating volunteer program data. This chapter will help you understand what kind of information is persuasive based on the story you’re trying to tell. And it will help you better understand and communicate impact.
More importantly, I’ll also do my best to break through the misconception that data-informed decision-making may be “right” for some functions at a nonprofit . . . just not volunteering.
Measurement Helps You Understand Impact
No matter your role, understanding how to pull meaningful insight from your efforts helps your organization make smarter investments, achieve its mission
270 VOLUNTEER ENGAGEMENT 2.0
Rosenthal, R. J. (Ed.). (2015). Volunteer engagement 2. 0 : Ideas and insights changing the world. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. Created from ashford-ebooks on 2022-05-20 10:21:46.
C o p yr
ig h t ©
2 0 1 5 . Jo
h n W
ile y
& S
o n s,
I n co
rp o ra
te d . A
ll ri g h ts
r e se
rv e d .
WEBC20 04/18/2015 4:7:16 Page 271
with fewer resources, and helps you become just a little bit better at saving the world. And then there’s this:
Measurement Helps You Understand Volunteer Impact At a basic level, the right data can hone in on volunteer hours
donated and the dollar value for that work, and help you make sense of the impact of their work, the cost per volunteer to run your program, and when it makes sense to change headcount.
Measurement Improves Your Volunteer Relations Struggling to listen and engage with your volunteer community?
Measurement helps you understand how your community perceives you, what they do with the information you send out to them, and where to direct your volunteers’ efforts.
Measurement Helps You Exceed Expectations Boards and senior management increasingly expect results expressed in
the language of measurement—and funders require data to evaluate impact (and not just any data; they want to see standardized measurement criteria, because data without insight is just trivia). Communicating the actual value of volunteer engagement is one of the more difficult challenges that nonprofits face. Hours donated is an important metric, but other important metrics, like the amount of trees planted, meals served, or young minds opened, need to be quantified in a way that demonstrates the value of the work and impact on the community. Measurement offers that.
Measurement Recognizes Incremental Success Some ideas simply don’t work, others see dramatic results—but most
find success with baby steps. Being able to measure even small changes will put your volunteer program on a steady climb.
Measurement Helps Tell Your Story Insight breeds insight. Understanding how the big picture of your
volunteer program breaks out into smaller, successful (and unsuccessful) chunks can result in additional funding and more staff to support your efforts. How? Because you’ll be able to provide a data-informed story detailing your efforts.
Gathering the right data and then making sense of it and applying it requires a balance of “left brain” (number crunching) and “right brain” (creative thinking). And it’s the first step toward becoming a data-informed organization.
MEASURING THE VOLUNTEER PROGRAM 271
Rosenthal, R. J. (Ed.). (2015). Volunteer engagement 2. 0 : Ideas and insights changing the world. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. Created from ashford-ebooks on 2022-05-20 10:21:46.
C o p yr
ig h t ©
2 0 1 5 . Jo
h n W
ile y
& S
o n s,
I n co
rp o ra
te d . A
ll ri g h ts
r e se
rv e d .
WEBC20 04/18/2015 4:7:16 Page 272
Becoming a Data-Informed Organization
So what is a data-informed volunteer organization, specifically—and what are the skills required to become one?
First, a distinction: Being “data-informed” is very different from being “data- driven.” Data-driven is relying on cold, hard data to make decisions. Data- informed takes that cold, hard data and combines it with information from multiple sources to make informed decisions.
Data-informed cultures assess, revise, and learn as they go. Every aspect of their work is tied tightly to the concept of continuous improvement. And their KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) reflect this commitment, offering mileposts that don’t simply reflect activity (as many organizations’ KPIs do), but measure progress toward a goal. Data-informed cultures design measurement into their projects; they do not just do it so they have measurable outcomes. They provide the data necessary to improve them over time.
And this brings us to the biggest challenge for organizations, and it is not collecting or organizing data (though that takes planning, too)—the biggest challenge is how to make measurement a part of your organization’s DNA and encourage data literacy skills for your staff.
For example, one of my favorite data-informed nonprofits, DoSomething.org (whose millennial engagement ideas you can read about in Chapter 5), was only able to create such a data-friendly culture because it understood the need to get buy-in from the top first. If the CEO isn’t onboard and supportive of making data- informed decisions, it won’t happen.
Other key elements of DoSomething’s success include:
Being transparent. Nancy Lublin, DoSomething’s CEO, recognizes the value of “being “transparent about sharing our dashboards, [as] it generates feedback and discussion from our stakeholders that leads to improvement.”
Listening to the data and experimenting. When things aren’t working, Lublin isn’t afraid to take action to change it. Her team will also frequently “state a specific hypothesis with a number and measure against that,” relying on various methods like A/B testing to figure out what’s working and where they can improve.
Embracing failure. DoSomething is fearless about failing. We’ll speak to this more at the end of the chapter, but know that failure isn’t the end of the world—and it can actually be inspirational.
272 VOLUNTEER ENGAGEMENT 2.0
Rosenthal, R. J. (Ed.). (2015). Volunteer engagement 2. 0 : Ideas and insights changing the world. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. Created from ashford-ebooks on 2022-05-20 10:21:46.
C o p yr
ig h t ©
2 0 1 5 . Jo
h n W
ile y
& S
o n s,
I n co
rp o ra
te d . A
ll ri g h ts
r e se
rv e d .
WEBC20 04/18/2015 4:7:16 Page 273
How to Build Capacity and Gain Skills
You can’t be a data-informed organization if your staff doesn’t have skills to collect, organize, and make sense of data! Most nonprofits can’t afford to hire their own data scientist, so the goal is to build this capability in-house. Being data-informed and data-literate must become part of your organization’s DNA.
How does this look? First, it’s an attitude of intense curiosity where leadership is always asking, “What does this data mean?” and using data to dig beneath the surface of a problem, hypothesize, formulate questions, and learn. But it’s also shifting from ad-hoc analysis and simple (though detailed) recordkeeping to a systematic approach to improvement. And although this competency can’t (shouldn’t) be outsourced to consultants, you can seek additional help:
• Find experts through existing connections.
• Check out LinkedIn’s Board Connect.
• Read blogs that cover data. Try Lucy Bernholz’s Philanthropy 2173 Blog, MarketsForGood.org, and NTEN’s Change Journal.
• Get online training. NTEN, Leap of Reason, and Ann K. Emery’s free video tutorials are good places to start.
• Attend a data or measurement panel at your next conference.
• Explore free help options. The Analysis Exchange (web analytics), DataKind (pro bono data scientists), and the SumAll Foundation (data analysts) may be worth checking out.
• Engage a student volunteer. Nearby colleges may require capstone projects where students demonstrate skills in data and measurement.
Now you have some ways to master your data, so let’s get a little granular and explore how to define outcomes.
The First Step: Defining and Getting Buy-In on Outcomes
Typically, volunteer programs share results that consist solely of numbers. These results would be much more telling if someone had asked this question: “So what?”
For example, if 10 volunteers put in 500 hours this quarter, and that’s an increase of 5 percent over last year—so what? Why is this significant? What change did they accomplish?
MEASURING THE VOLUNTEER PROGRAM 273
Rosenthal, R. J. (Ed.). (2015). Volunteer engagement 2. 0 : Ideas and insights changing the world. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. Created from ashford-ebooks on 2022-05-20 10:21:46.
C o p yr
ig h t ©
2 0 1 5 . Jo
h n W
ile y
& S
o n s,
I n co
rp o ra
te d . A
ll ri g h ts
r e se
rv e d .
WEBC20 04/18/2015 4:7:16 Page 274
When asking “So what?” you’ll come up with answers that can be evaluated, measured, and used to build organizational capacity. These answers will speak to your volunteer program’s vision, resources, actions, short-term results, and the sustained outcome and impact your efforts accomplished. And these answers will elevate the conversation by demonstrating powerful, data-informed, and results- oriented volunteer engagement that both inspires and informs ongoing strategy.
But how does asking “So what?” help you measure the impact of your efforts, specifically? You need to define a framework to follow, a set of outcomes and metrics designed to comprehensively measure this impact.
Expressing Your Results to Speak to Organizational Goals
You need to express your results clearly and powerfully, showing how your programs helped your organization achieve its mission. And it’s important to share both successes and failures.
And you need to keep specific outcomes top of mind. Why? Outcomes are important. Activities help accomplish outcomes, but they are not end results to be measured on their own. Outcomes speak to long-term impact, with activities working to accomplish measurable milestones along the way. These outcomes should fall into two major buckets—volunteer outcomes and nonprofit outcomes:
1. Volunteer Outcomes. How are your volunteers benefiting personally and professionally? This will help encourage future participation—track it!
2. Nonprofit Outcomes. How efficient is your operation? Are you continuously improving your capabilities? And how is your program perceived? Map out separate outcomes and metrics for each.
Before you get to those outcomes, though, you need to develop a mindset of thinking strategically about your program from the start.
How to Think Strategically About Your Program
Have a clear vision of both short- and long-term results and how you’ll measure success along the way. And don’t just think in terms of tactics—know how your plan will create value for your organization. (One way to do this is listing your objectives and having your team brainstorm the ultimate value and work backward.)
274 VOLUNTEER ENGAGEMENT 2.0
Rosenthal, R. J. (Ed.). (2015). Volunteer engagement 2. 0 : Ideas and insights changing the world. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. Created from ashford-ebooks on 2022-05-20 10:21:46.
C o p yr
ig h t ©
2 0 1 5 . Jo
h n W
ile y
& S
o n s,
I n co
rp o ra
te d . A
ll ri g h ts
r e se
rv e d .
WEBC20 04/18/2015 4:7:16 Page 275
Not everything will have a direct causal relationship to tangible or “hard results.” Tangibles are pretty straightforward when it comes to measurement— they’re objective, easy to quantify, and easy to assign money or time values to. Soft results (intangibles) can be difficult to measure, yet they are just as important when it comes to understanding impact. They’re often measured with transfor- mational metrics, like building awareness, increasing trust, generating new ideas, and deepening relationships. As you can imagine, these intangibles can be viewed as less credible—unless you can demonstrate a logical path of progression from intangible to tangible.
With those basics in mind, let’s talk about how to express your results in a way that makes sense for your organization.
Theory of Change (Demonstrating the Value of Soft Results)
A theory of change is a conceptual map, often laid out visually, that identifies the steps toward a long-term goal with “soft” results. You can have a theory of change for a specific initiative, or for your organization overall. Either way, it forms the basis for ongoing decision-making, measurement, and learning.
The goal is to create an objective that answers “So what?” with clear “So that . . .” statements. “We will do this so that we will achieve that end.”—and then defining the steps along the way toward results.
And whether tangible or intangible, the actual data you decide to collect in your organization makes all the difference in the world. It can mean the difference between stakeholder buy-in or volunteers merely going through the motions, unheard.
When stakeholders buy in they’re also tuned in—and when they’re not, you’ve got trouble. It is often easier for nonprofit staff to describe results and match a key performance indicator (KPI), but it can be much harder to get consensus, because your board, fundraising directors, and staff all may have different interpretations of the data based on what they’d like to see. This is dangerous because it can completely bottleneck a process.
You can avoid organizational politics by using consensus-building techniques to come to an agreement around defining these outcomes ahead of time. When facilitating this discussion, be sure to make use of tips from Sam Kaner’s book, The Facilitator’s Guide to Participatory Decision-Making, about facilitated listening. In some cases, it may be worth it to hire an outside facilitator to facilitate the meetings.
MEASURING THE VOLUNTEER PROGRAM 275
Rosenthal, R. J. (Ed.). (2015). Volunteer engagement 2. 0 : Ideas and insights changing the world. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. Created from ashford-ebooks on 2022-05-20 10:21:46.
C o p yr
ig h t ©
2 0 1 5 . Jo
h n W
ile y
& S
o n s,
I n co
rp o ra
te d . A
ll ri g h ts
r e se
rv e d .
WEBC20 04/18/2015 4:7:16 Page 276
Now that you’ve made some decisions about what to measure, let’s talk about how to measure.
A Simple Formula for Measuring Your Program
Proper measurement requires sticking to seven basic steps if you want valid and actionable results (and, of course, you do, or why bother?). These are the steps to measuring anything, whether it is your social media strategy or the outcomes of your volunteer program:
Step 1: Define your goals. Ever heard of the “Fire, Ready, Aim” approach? It’s very common
unfortunately—and ultimately fatal to your efforts. Remember to always ask “To what end, and why?” If your planning doesn’t include clearly defined time frames, audiences, and outcomes, you cannot objectively recognize success.
Once you’ve identified your outcomes or intent, translate them into SMART objectives (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely). SMART thinking answers questions such as “How many?” and “By when?”
Step 2: Define your audience. You will never be able to measure everything you want to measure, so
you need to be selective and set priorities—and defining your audience is chief among them. Who are you are trying to reach and how will connecting with them help to achieve your goals?
List all the various groups that influence the success or failure of your volunteer program and ways in which having a good relationship with each contributes to that success or failure. Consider that list prioritized!
Step 3: Define your benchmarks. Who or what will you compare your results to? Measurement is a
comparative tool, so understanding whether a new number is bigger or smaller than the previous quarter’s number (or, say, your opposition’s number) is crucial. Decide who or what you are going to compare yourself to.
Peer organization comparisons are telling—or you can refer to your organization’s past performance. Either can prove difficult initially,
276 VOLUNTEER ENGAGEMENT 2.0
Rosenthal, R. J. (Ed.). (2015). Volunteer engagement 2. 0 : Ideas and insights changing the world. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. Created from ashford-ebooks on 2022-05-20 10:21:46.
C o p yr
ig h t ©
2 0 1 5 . Jo
h n W
ile y
& S
o n s,
I n co
rp o ra
te d . A
ll ri g h ts
r e se
rv e d .
WEBC20 04/18/2015 4:7:16 Page 277
particularly if you don’t have any stats (from your organization to start with as a baseline). Making a best guess works initially, if that’s the case. You’ll have more accurate results to compare against the next time around. And when comparing yourself to peer organizations, looking at share of volunteer hours or share of wallet, for example, is helpful with time—and becomes more informative with time! The most important benchmark is what matters to your organization—and your executive director.
Step 4: Define your metrics. What are the Key Performance Indicators that you will use to judge
your progress toward your goal(s)? (Remember, KPIs are meaningful, actionable, and relevant metrics used to chart progress toward your SMART objectives—and there are thousands you could potentially collect.)
After completing the first three steps, your KPIs should be apparent, though. You just need to translate your priorities and goals into a number you can calculate, such as:
• Percent increase in donations.
• Percent increase in new donors or members.
• Percent increase in number of conversations expressing support for the cause.
• Percent increase in conversations that contain your key messages.
Step 5: Define your time and costs. What is your investment? It’s important to identify the true costs
involved in your programs. Most of the cost is going to be in staff time, so you’ll need to find out how much time your volunteer program or specific campaign requires, and determine how much time you’re going to invest. And then the kicker—are your expected results reasonable for the time investment?
Sometimes you’ll have to manage either the time commitment or the expectations, if not both. And be sure to consider opportunity cost and whether potentially shifting resources to accommodate for a promising endeavor makes sense. There may also be alternative ways to achieve your goals. You’re much better off being honest with yourself and sorting this out now than later!
MEASURING THE VOLUNTEER PROGRAM 277
Rosenthal, R. J. (Ed.). (2015). Volunteer engagement 2. 0 : Ideas and insights changing the world. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. Created from ashford-ebooks on 2022-05-20 10:21:46.
C o p yr
ig h t ©
2 0 1 5 . Jo
h n W
ile y
& S
o n s,
I n co
rp o ra
te d . A
ll ri g h ts
r e se
rv e d .
WEBC20 04/18/2015 4:7:16 Page 278
Step 6: Select your data collection tool(s). Tools are useless if they aren’t helping you connect your activities, their
impact on your audience, your progress toward objectives, and, ultimately, your goals. There are three general types of measurement tools:
• Content analysis of social or traditional media.
• Primary audience surveys via online, mail, or phone.
• Web and social media analytics.
Will you use Google or other web analytics, surveys, or content analysis maybe? To sort out which tool you need, consider your goals and your KPIs.
Step 7: Collect your data, analyze it, turn it into action, and repeat. Continuous improvement can only happen when results are
consistently assessed and changes are made depending on results. It’s a never-ending process. Establish a regular reporting schedule and stick to it.
And do not give in to the temptation of focusing on the best results. Being proud of successes is one thing (and expected), but do not let it blind you to the big picture. Get rid of things that aren’t working—even if they provided one flash-in-the-pan moment of awesome.
Measurement can be a tough sell. And the planning process can seem a bit overwhelming to organizations new to the process. So what can you do to ease your volunteer program into the land of hard and soft data?
Simple Tools
If you aren’t fortunate enough to have a central database that can handle everything you need to track, you’ll want to explore some auxiliary options like spreadsheets and custom databases:
Spreadsheets The spreadsheet is your most powerful tool because it can capture
strategy, outcomes, tactics, KPIs, and other metrics—and it is relatively easy to organize. Collecting data from free or paid measurement tools is the easy part—the tough stuff starts when you’re sorting out how to work with the data. It just takes a little elbow grease!
But be careful: Making sure you’re using your spreadsheet correctly is really important.
278 VOLUNTEER ENGAGEMENT 2.0
Rosenthal, R. J. (Ed.). (2015). Volunteer engagement 2. 0 : Ideas and insights changing the world. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. Created from ashford-ebooks on 2022-05-20 10:21:46.
C o p yr
ig h t ©
2 0 1 5 . Jo
h n W
ile y
& S
o n s,
I n co
rp o ra
te d . A
ll ri g h ts
r e se
rv e d .
WEBC20 04/18/2015 4:7:16 Page 279
My colleague, David Geilhufe, points out that 85 percent of spreadsheets contain errors, so be sure to crosscheck totals and formulas.2
Custom Databases Depending on your technological savvy, there are also custom
database options that are relatively inexpensive and flexible, like Microsoft Access and Filemaker Pro—but you’ll need to invest time to make sure everyone knows how to use these tools effectively.
There are also proactive data-gathering options, where you ask your community for feedback by way of surveys, apps, and texts.
Online Surveys Surveys are certainly cost effective, but can be hit or miss as survey
participation can be a tough sell unless your community is particularly engaged. To encourage higher levels of participation, make sure they’re timely (sent immediately after an event, for example). There are lots of free or low-cost survey tools available like SurveyMonkey and PollDaddy.
Apps Mobile apps can encourage community members to “check in” at
your event or location (with the best offering a social share option to help spread the word) and provide data about who is participating. They can also be used to take attendance at events. Event Check-in from Constant Contact is one example of a popular attendance app.
Texts SMS (text messaging) is a fantastic option for programs seeking to
reach constituents immediately and they work very well for demographics that are text-friendly. Unfortunately, most nonprofits don’t maintain robust lists of phone numbers anymore (but there’s no time like the present to start, right?).
Data visualization tools are probably the most exciting of the pack. Data visualization is a fantastic way to make sense of data. I spend 30 percent of my measurement time collecting and organizing data and 70 percent thinking about what it means. Seeing it helps me—a lot.
Consolidating your insights with a DIY infographic requires some inspiration and a little bit of perspiration. For inspiration, check out Pinterest and search for
MEASURING THE VOLUNTEER PROGRAM 279
Rosenthal, R. J. (Ed.). (2015). Volunteer engagement 2. 0 : Ideas and insights changing the world. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. Created from ashford-ebooks on 2022-05-20 10:21:46.
C o p yr
ig h t ©
2 0 1 5 . Jo
h n W
ile y
& S
o n s,
I n co
rp o ra
te d . A
ll ri g h ts
r e se
rv e d .
WEBC20 04/18/2015 4:7:16 Page 280
infographics. Or learn some basic design skills! PiktoChart and Infigr.am both offer popular infographic-making tools for free. Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Publisher are also both great data visualization options, because each has layout tools that make infographic or chart projects a snap.
The goal, ultimately, is to create an executive dashboard that pulls your metrics together to create a visually appealing, easy-to-understand snapshot of your efforts. Deciding which metrics to present is key—and it isn’t as time- consuming as you’d think.
Keep Calm and Document
Capturing what actually happens as a volunteer event or initiative unfolds is important because it offers ways to reflect and debrief meaningfully afterwards. It can be as simple as keeping a journal and taking quick notes during the event. Dana Nelson from GiveMN, one of the most successful giving days, tells me her team is always “writing it down as they go.” Here’s how to capture relevant info for an “After Action Review:”
• Capture the lessons learned (big or small).
• Use a collaborative social site where all members of your team can add and access (a Google document works great for this).
• Ask team members to reflect on their lessons learned and to share stories from the event that speak to best practices as well as things they’d do differently.
• Review it together in a meeting and summarize into a series of “do, improve (say how), don’t do.”
With reflection comes the realization that you’d do some things differently, of course—and that is valuable info that should be celebrated, not feared. When you identify opportunities for improvement, it’s time to take a failure bow!
Failing Forward
No one likes to make mistakes and placing blame is counterproductive, so smart organizations are finding ways to make failure productive and fun—one of my favorites being the “failure bow.”
280 VOLUNTEER ENGAGEMENT 2.0
Rosenthal, R. J. (Ed.). (2015). Volunteer engagement 2. 0 : Ideas and insights changing the world. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. Created from ashford-ebooks on 2022-05-20 10:21:46.
C o p yr
ig h t ©
2 0 1 5 . Jo
h n W
ile y
& S
o n s,
I n co
rp o ra
te d . A
ll ri g h ts
r e se
rv e d .
WEBC20 04/18/2015 4:7:16 Page 281
It was developed by Seattle-based improvisation teacher Matt Smith, and is transformative because it alters our physiological response to failure by removing the demons of self-doubt and self-judgment.3
You raise your hand, share your failure, take a bow, and move on. Trapeze artists, acrobats, and other athletes are trained to take a failure bow after a stumble because it releases them from the fear of making a mistake.
MomsRising, a grassroots organization that runs online campaigns to promote family-friendly policies, holds “joyful funerals” where they give unsuccessful initiatives a formal burial and eulogy during which they surface new ideas to improve future campaigns. Executive Director Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner says removing the stigma from failed campaigns encourages people to take risks and try new things.4
People won’t try out new ideas or approaches if failure is seen as a career-killer. But when it’s treated like what it is—an opportunity to learn—it can be a fun and rewarding process.
Summary
As I said at the start of the chapter, many volunteer engagement teams say they don’t measure because—like a lot of nonprofit staff—they don’t believe they have time, resources, or training to measure. But if you’ve read this far, you can probably now see that the real barrier to effective measurement is simply not seeing the value of gathering data on what’s working and what isn’t.
Fortunately, I am meeting fewer and fewer nonprofit people who believe this every year. But while it’s true that those who work with volunteers have tended to be some of the last to embrace a culture of collecting data, assessing programs, and failing forward, I firmly believe volunteer programs could see some of the biggest gains from shifting in the direction of measurement.
Just remember that measurement is not a one-time add-on to your planning process. Much like those ideas that are successful in small steps, so too is measurement—and it’s an effort that builds social proof (and enhances your organization’s credibility) with time.
And be sure to have time set aside to reflect and do something meaningful with what you discover. Make measurement your first measurable goal, in fact— and get ready to chart your success!
MEASURING THE VOLUNTEER PROGRAM 281
Rosenthal, R. J. (Ed.). (2015). Volunteer engagement 2. 0 : Ideas and insights changing the world. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. Created from ashford-ebooks on 2022-05-20 10:21:46.
C o p yr
ig h t ©
2 0 1 5 . Jo
h n W
ile y
& S
o n s,
I n co
rp o ra
te d . A
ll ri g h ts
r e se
rv e d .
WEBC20 04/18/2015 4:7:16 Page 282
Beth Kanter is an international leader in nonprofits’ use of social media. Her first book, The Networked Nonprofit, introduced a new way of thinking and operating in a connected world, and her follow-up, Measuring the Networked Nonprofit, is a practical guide for using measurement to achieve impact. She is the author of Beth’s Blog, the go-to source for using networks and social media for social change. Beth has 30 years of experience in nonprofit technology, training, and capacity and has facilitated trainings on every continent in the world (except Antarctica). Named one of the most influential women in technology by Fast Company and one of Business- Week’s Voices of Innovation for Social Media, Beth was visiting scholar at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation 2009–2013.
Notes
1. Software Advice and VolunteerMatch, “Volunteer Impact Report,” 2014, www.softwareadvice .com/nonprofit/industryview/volunteer-impact-report-2014.
2. For spreadsheet examples, see: www.bethkanter.org/spreadsheet-sm_re. 3. Matt Smith has a great video on how to take a failure bow: http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/
The-Failure-Bow-Matt-Smith-at-T. 4. Beth Kanter, “Likes on Facebook Are Not a Victory: Results Are!,” August 9, 2011, www
.bethkanter.org/momsrising-key-results/.
282 VOLUNTEER ENGAGEMENT 2.0
Rosenthal, R. J. (Ed.). (2015). Volunteer engagement 2. 0 : Ideas and insights changing the world. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. Created from ashford-ebooks on 2022-05-20 10:21:46.
C o p yr
ig h t ©
2 0 1 5 . Jo
h n W
ile y
& S
o n s,
I n co
rp o ra
te d . A
ll ri g h ts
r e se
rv e d .