Shared Measurement Still Not ‘Common’ for NFPs - Report
14 March 2013 at 1:57 pm
There is a way to go before shared measurement becomes common practice in the charitable sector according to a new UK report by Not for Profit consultant New Philanthropy Capital (NPC).
The report called Inspiring Impact: Blueprint for shared measurement says charities, funders and sector bodies all have a role to play in delivering shared measurement.
The report reviews existing literature in the UK and US, and analyses 20 shared measurement projects. From this it identifies a number of factors that are key to developing successful shared measurement.
The success factors look at the pre-conditions necessary for shared measurement, as well as key factors in developing, designing, scaling and sustaining shared approaches.
The report recommends that:
• Charities should look at whether shared approaches exist in their area, think about whom they could collaborate with, and encourage their funders to support a shared measurement approach.
• Funders should develop shared measurement approaches to improve consistency and reduce duplication in reporting. This should involve grantees, particularly front-line staff.
• Sector bodies should consider the demand for shared measurement in their sectors and consider championing shared measurement approaches.
“Developing and maintaining a shared measurement approach across a number of charities, no matter how closely aligned their aims, is not an easy task,” Dan Corry, the Chief Executive of NPC said.
“This research is the first of its kind in the UK to help us understand the steps to developing a successful shared measurement approach. We hope this will stimulate further work on shared measurement and provide guidance to those hoping to develop a shared approach themselves.”
Shared measurement involves charities and social enterprises working on similar issues, and towards similar goals, reaching a common understanding of what to measure, and developing the tools to do so.
“Shared measurement is a process—understanding a sector’s shared outcomes and mapping out its theory of change—and a product—any tool used by more than one organisation to measure impact.
