Impact & Excellence: Data–Driven Strategies for Aligning Mission, Culture and Performance in Nonprofit and Government Organizations

PRAISE FOR IMPACT & EXCELLENCE “With Impact & Excellence, Sheri Chaney Jones makes the case that great leadership, a highperformance culture, and the right success measures are three essential ingredients for impact and effectiveness. Organizations that focus on only one will struggle, do harm, or ultimately fail.” —Mario Morino, Chairman, Morino Institute; author, Leap of Reason: Managing to Outcomes in an Era of Scarcity “ Impact & Excellence reveals the fragile situation that now exists within the social sector, but also gives us a practical guide for nonprofit leaders to transform their organizational cultures to ‘data informed.’ This book will help all nonprofits make better decisions with their data that lead to better outcomes for the programs, stakeholders, and communities.” —Beth Kanter, co–author, Measuring the Networked Nonprofit; www.bethkanter.org “ Impact & Excellence is more than a ‘how to’ primer. It helps you to dream bigger, think harder, and be better. Sheri Chaney Jones has conceptualized and captured essential and easy–to–understand steps in creating a performance culture that can improve results for any organization. More importantly, these strategies will help nonprofit leaders increase their impact. She provides clear examples through case studies, assists leaders in asking the right uestions, and offers clarity for action.” —Jim Mahoney, Executive Director, Battelle For Kids “ Impact & Excellence is an important contribution to the field for nonprofit leaders who not only want to make more of a difference in their communities, but want all of the members of their communities to know they did. Jones shows us how to implement the old management maxim, ‘You can’t manage what you don’t measure,’ and then goes beyond that to demonstrate how great nonprofits can transform themselves by measuring their impact at every level.” —Peter Brinckerhoff, award–winning author, Mission–Based Management “In Impact & Excellence, Sheri Chaney Jones has outlined the risks of hanging onto the status quo. Her insights allow you to form a plan for the realignment of priorities and practices within a nonprofit that will lead to sustainability and long–term growth. Every social sector leadership team, regardless of size, should read this book and follow its proven path to success. ‘Business as usual’ will never be the same.” —Donna S. Collins, Director, Ohio Arts Council

Foreword by Barbara Riley vii Preface xi Introduction xv 1 Social–Sector Impact and Excellence: The Call to Be More Strategic 1 2 The Imperative Future State: High–Performance Measurement Cultures 8 3 The Reality: We Are Not as Good as We Think We Are 25 4 Nonprofits and Measurement Cultures 38 5 Government and Measurement Cultures 58 6 Letting Go of Excuses: The “Five C’s” of Easy and Effective Impact and Excellence 78 7 Culture and Leadership 94 8 Clarify Mission 119 9 Capture Impact: Getting Started 147 10 Capture Impact: The Next Steps 170 11 Communicate Value 194 12 Change and Celebrate 215 13 Taking the First Step 229 Appendix A Leadership and Culture Self–Assessment 241 Appendix B Measurement Resources’ Measurement Culture Study Results 243 References 251 Acknowledgments 257 About the Author 259 Index 261

SHERI CHANEY JONES is the president and founder of Measurement Resources Company. She has over 15 years of experience helping government and nonprofit organizations achieve performance and budgetary goals. At the Ohio State University, Sheri teaches Creating Measurement Cultures as part of the Ohio Certified Public Manager’s Program. She holds a master’s degree in industrial and organizational psychology from Central Michigan University and is a member of the American Evaluation Association and the Ohio Program Evaluators Group.