The Nonprofit Outcomes Toolbox: A Complete Guide to Program Effectiveness, Performance Measurement, and Results

377 Pages·2011·6.129 MB·English

by  Robert M. Penna, Ken Berger(auth.)

Additional Praise for The Nonprofi t Outcomes Toolbox
“Captures the essence of what you need to know about managing with outcomes, and it
does it in an entertaining manner.”
—Dr. Len Bickman, Professor of Psychology,
Psychiatry and Public Policy,
Associate Dean for Research; Director, Center for
Evaluation and Program Improvement,
Vanderbilt University
“The Outcomes Toolbox is an outstanding resource for funders and nonprofi ts who need to
build their capacity to: understand the language of outcomes, the measurement of out-
comes, the use of outcomes information. It is a little like ‘everything you wanted to know
about outcomes but were too afraid to ask.’ It draws upon the ‘best practices’ approaches
to outcomes that are available in the literature, and it does it in an entertaining way. It is
a good read.”
Dr. Abe Wandersman
(Co-author of the Getting to Outcomes model),
University of South Carolina
“This is an incredible work . . . the information just keeps on coming. It does not disap-
point.”
Keith Pickett,
Executive Director,
Family and Children’s Services of the Capital Region
“…accessible and practical.”
Gary Bagley,
Executive Director,
New York Cares, Inc
“The Nonprofi t Outcomes Toolbox is an excellent tutorial on the practical and effective
use of outcomes. Penna’s presentation demonstrates how critically important it is for an
organization’s leadership to clearly understand the outcomes it seeks to achieve, and to
institutionalize outcome assessment within the culture of the organization. Practitioners
will fi nd this a must read; and the use of these tools will result in a profound benefi t for
those who fully embrace the message.”
C. T. O’Donnell II, PhD,
President & CEO,
Byrnes Health Education Center
“While the primary audience for this rich compendium is the nonprofi t community, it is
arguably even more important for those leading and managing government. Since govern-
ment implements many of its programs through contract relationships with not profi t
groups, it is incumbent on them to understand the most effective ways to insure outcomes
for citizens from these relationships. This resource is an essential aid to that mission.”
William J. Phillips, Associate Commissioner,
Outcome Management and System Investment,
New York State Offi ce of Alcoholism and
Substance Abuse Services
“I have had the pleasure of reading an advanced copy of The Outcomes Toolbox. It defi -
nitely represents a signifi cant contribution to what I would call ‘thinking about outcomes.’
Penna has laid out the landscape in a far more comprehensive way than anyone else has
to date. His exposition allows nonprofi ts at any stage of thinking about outcomes to place
their understanding and assessment needs within a rich and universal framework. It allows
those charged with making method decisions to be far better informed about approaches
and the logic behind them, as well as better positioned to explain their thinking and
recommendations to co-workers and stakeholders. Then, having descriptions and contact
information regarding some of the best tools available is icing on the cake.”
Dr. Barry Kibel
(Author of Journey Mapping),
Co-Director, SEED
“Anyone who is looking to plan, design, and implement a successful and effective program,
or looking to improve a program’s effectiveness should read this book. It will be extremely
benefi cial in helping to create quality programs that can answer the ‘so what’ question.”
Andrea L. Reynolds,
President and CEO,
Community Foundation of Dutchess County
nonprofi t
The
outcomes toolbox
The Wiley Nonprofi t Authority series provides practical information, tools, and
insights to nonprofi t professionals responsible for the fi nancial administration &
legal compliance of their organizations, as well as the advisors who serve them
(e.g., attorneys, accountants, fi nancial planners).
nonprofi t
The
outcomes toolbox
A Complete Guide to Program Effectiveness, Performance Measurement, and Results
Robert M. Penna, PhD
Foreword by Ken Berger,
President & CEO of Charity Navigator
The Rensselaerville Institute
the think tank with muddy boots
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Copyright © 2011 by Robert M. Penna. All rights reserved. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,
Hoboken, New Jersey. Published simultaneously in Canada.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Penna, Robert Mark.
The nonprofi t outcomes toolbox: a complete guide to program effectiveness, performance
measurement, and results / Robert M. Penna; foreword by Ken Berger.
p. cm.—(Wiley nonprofi t authority ; 1)
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-118-00450-0; ISBN 978-1-118-04444-5 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-04445-2 (ebk);
ISBN 978-1-118-04446-9
1. Nonprofi t organizations—Management—Evaluation. 2. Social service—Evaluation.
I. Title.
HD62.6.P46 2011
658'.048—dc22 2010053524
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS
Image Credits x
Foreword xiii
How to Use This Book xv
Author’s Notes xvii
Acknowledgments xix
Introduction 1
PART ONE: THE BASICS
Chapter 1: Approaching Outcomes 7
Outcomes: The Third Stage of Management 8
The Problem Approach 10
The Activity Approach 11
The Process Approach 12
The Vision Approach 13
In Summary 15
Chapter 2: The Language of Outcomes 17
Understanding the Language 17
Shifting Perspectives 27
From Funder to Investor 28
From Activity to Results 31
From Service to Change 32
Chapter 3: The Shape of Outcomes 35
The Importance of a Target 35
Characteristics of Well-Defi ned Outcome Statements 36
Positive Improvement 36
Meaningful 38
Sustainable 39
Bound in Time 42
Bound in Number 43
Narrowly Focused . . . 47
vii
. . . and Doable (with a Stretch!) 48
Measurable 49
Verifi able 54
Chapter 4: Finding Your Outcomes 57
You Get What You Measure 57
Results-Based Accountability (RBA) 62
A Common Outcome Framework 65
Outcomes and Indicators 66
Knowledge/Learning/Attitude 66
Behavior 66
Condition/Status 67
PART TWO: WORKING WITH OUTCOMES
Chapter 5: Planning with Outcomes 73
Outcome Management Framework 76
Another Approach 84
Chapter 6: The Capacity for Outcomes 93
Another Tool: SEED 116
Chapter 7: Tracking with Outcomes 121
Chapter 8: Learning with Outcomes 135
Data versus Information versus Knowledge 135
Chapter 9: Communicating with Outcomes 155
The Smart Chart 159
Chapter 10: Communicating Our Outcomes 171
Scales and Ladders 174
The Program Results Story 184
Three Core Questions: Audience, Content, and Flow 197
The Story Pyramid 200
PART THREE: ADVANCED TOOLS
Chapter 11: The Power of Six Sigma 211
Chapter 12: Keeping It All in Balance 241
viii CONTENTS
Typical Scorecard 242
The Public Sector Scorecard 243
A Governmental Scorecard 245
A Social Sector Scorecard 246
An OASAS Scorecard 247
Chapter 13: Budgeting with Outcomes 255
Chapter 14: Outcomes in Administration 261
Writing the Results Description 264
PART FOUR: OTHER TOOLS
AND PERSPECTIVES
Chapter 15: A Different View of Nonprofi ts 271
Chapter 16: Thinking about Value 279
Chapter 17: Building Value In 291
Chapter 18: A Few Final Tools . . . 305
Looking for Trouble: FMEA 305
Gone Fishin’: A Cause and Effect Analysis 312
TRIZ: Considering the Contradictions 316
One Final Tool: Process Management 319
Process Documentation 320
Process Mapping 324
Value Stream Mapping 326
CONCLUSION
Wrapping It All Up 333
Appendix 335
Notes 338
About The Rensselaerville Institute 346
About Charity Navigator 347
About the Author 348
Index 349
CONTENTS ix
IMAGE CREDITS
“City of Tomorrow” image courtesy of the Frank R. Paul Estate, and Texas A&M
University Cushing Memorial Library (page 14)
Tom Sawyer image Film still from Tom Sawyer: Interstate Collection, Harry Ransom
Humanities Research Center. The University of Texas at Austin (page 22)
Tinkertoy image TINKERTOY® & ©2011 Hasbro, Inc. Used with permission.
(page 83)
“Art Is a Journey” image: © Goh I-Ming (page 123)
Puzzlemania image © 2010 USAopoly, Inc. used with Permission (page 135)
Superman “S” shield ™ & © DC Comics (page 137)
“If a tree . . .” cartoon © Glenn Foden. www.CartoonStock.com (page 161)
Smart Chart: © Spitfi re Strategies LLC [2005] Smart Chart is a registered trademark of
Spitfi re Strategies, LLC and is used in this work under license. Excerpts and images
from the Smart Chart are reprinted with permission. (page 162)
Vintage United Airlines image courtesy of the John Hartman Center for Sales,
Advertising and Marketing History of Duke University (page 189)
Batman image © DC Comics (page 193)
“Story fl ow” graphs By permission of the Kurt Vonnegut Copyright Trust, Donald C.
Farber, Trustee (page 207)
No Exit image © Andy Singer (page 216)
Crayola Crayon image: Image courtesy of Crayola, LLC, used with permission. © 2008
Crayola (page 233)
PEANUTS image Peanuts: © 2010 Peanuts Worldwide LLC., dist by UFS, Inc.
(page 262)
Bazooka Joe characters © The Topps Company, Inc (page 318)
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