Measuring Performance by Nonprofits

Measuring Performance

Performance measurement is one of the critical components in the success and growth of an organization regardless of whether it’s a nonprofit or for-profit organization. Measuring performance is critical towards organizational growth and success since it provides an avenue for an organization to examine its progress towards achieving its goals/objectives (Success Factors, 2017). Given the importance of performance measurement in organizational success/growth, there are several performance measures out there. While these measures focus on examining different aspects of performance, they are considered equal (Success Factors, 2017).
One of the performance measures used by a nonprofit organization is relief chain performance measurement, which focuses on inputs rather than outputs (Beamon & Balcik, 2008). Through this performance measure, nonprofit organizations evaluate financial and non-financial inputs as part of enhancing their visibility and accountability. The second performance measure utilized by a nonprofit organization is random assignment, which involves cherry-picking projects randomly and examining the general performance of its portfolio (Savedoff, 2012). Random assignment enables a nonprofit organization to enhance its likelihood of identifying things that its employees might not have anticipated.
The most effective performance measure used by a nonprofit organization is relief chain performance measurement given its role in enhancing organization accountability and visibility (Beamon & Balcik, 2008). This performance measurement is strong and effective since it enables a nonprofit to examine the use of its resources vis-à-vis its desired goals and objectives. On the contrary, random assignment is weak since it’s based on randomization, which may not be a structured process towards performance measurement. Additionally, this performance measure is weak because it does not enable an organization to examine the use of its resources.
References
Beamon, B. M., & Balcik, B. (2008). Performance measurement in humanitarian relief chains. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 21(1), 4–25. Retrieved from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.463.8702&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Savedoff, W. (2012). Impact evaluations everywhere: What’s a small NGO to do? Center for Global Development. Retrieved from http://www.cgdev.org/blog/impact-evaluations-everywhere-what%E2%80%99s-small-ngo-do
Success Factors. (2017). Performance Management – The Key to Outperforming Your Competition. Retrieved October 14, 2017, from https://www.successfactors.com/en_us/lp/articles/automate-performance-management.html