Episode 10 | Strategic Planning Step Six: Establish Your Measurement

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Nonprofit Executive Podcast with Joel Kessel and Mary Valloni

Business


On today’s episode, we are discussing step six of the Strategic Planning process, Establish Your Measurement.  How are you measuring the progress of the objectives and initiatives of the organization?  Starting with the end in mind and setting quantifiable goals is great, but you must also create targets and get those numbers on paper.  One way to measure your progress is, did you do it or not?  For example, if your objective is to increase the awareness and education of your audience, an initiative might be to create a marketing/communications plan that provides direction to achieve that objective.  The simplest measurement is whether or not you developed a plan.  But what about the metrics?  The second way to measure your progress is to use key performance indicators (KPIs) to show if your activities made an impact and whether or not you produced the outcomes you set out to accomplish.  It’s easy to fall into the trap of overanalyzing every piece of data.  You do have to measure, but measure what matters.  Be realistic about what you’re measuring and don’t get so far into the weeds that you are no longer progressing toward your objectives. Once you have a one-page strategy in place, it’s time to develop the work plans.  A great tool to develop KPIs is called Klipfolio.  This tool starts with a list of questions that will help you start to track your progress throughout the year.  Here are the questions: What is your desired outcome and where do you want to be at the end of the campaign/year? Why does this matter? How are you going to measure progress? How can you influence the outcome? Who is responsible for this outcome? How will you know if you achieved that outcome? How often will you review progress toward the end goal? Don’t get analysis paralysis!  It’s easy to become overwhelmed by all of the data so make sure you are measuring what matters.  To do this, your entire team must be aligned on the overall objectives and initiatives you determined in step five (Tighten Your Focus).  We know being a nonprofit executive is a lonely job and we want you to know that you are not alone as you work toward your mission.  If you like the content of the podcast, as well as the work we do, we invite you to join the Nonprofit Executive Club.  The Executive Club is a monthly training program that gives you the ability to increase your influence through strategic planning and fundraising support.  For more information and to join the Club, go to nonprofitexecutiveclub.com. Download the Strategic Plan Toolkit For more information about Mary Valloni, visit maryvalloni.com and to download our free Fundraising Freedom Roadmap, go to maryvalloni.com/roadmap. Get a copy of Mary’s book, Fundraising Freedom. Interested in learning more about Joel Kessel?  Visit kesselstrategies.com to find out how Joel helps growth-minded leaders gain clarity.