Module 12- Measurement Plan for Non-Profit

Choose a non-profit and follow the steps in KDP's reading to setup a measurement plan.  In a blog post, explain each step and back up any recommendations you make

In February of 2011, I attended Alternative Spring Break with Lawrence Tech Leadership program. We went to Grayling, Michigan and volunteered at River house, Inc. which is a non-profit agency that serves victims of sexual abuse, domestic violence, and homelessness. I am going to use this agency to come up a measuring plan.

 Use your mission to define your objectives

Here is River house mission that is listed on their page:

“The mission of River House, Inc. is to provide safety and services to survivors of domestic and sexual abuse and the homeless population while promoting empowerment through education and advocacy. River House, Inc. has been serving local communities since 1986, by providing crisis counseling, emergency shelter, group counseling and support, as well as legal advocacy and community education.”

Based off of their mission, an objective might be to have the right professionals to provide the right type of counseling to make a positive impact on all of the victims that uses River house facility. They might want to incorporate advertisements that publicize their strengths and there specialty services.

Identify and prioritize your audience

Audience may be geared towards anyone that knows someone that is affected by domestic, sexual violence, and homelessness. River house may also want to partner up with other firms or through other programs that support these types of victims. They also might want to publicize at schools, churches, and even on city council websites in the surrounding area.

Establish a benchmark & Metrics

I think the best approach for this particular organization is to compare its progress from last year. These types of non-profit organization are all working towards the same purpose. These things could also be used as metrics. The things that they would compare to the previous year would be:

·         How many victims did they get on the right track with an success story?

·         How many victims returned after they left?

·         Victims can only stay for 6 months, how many asked for an extension?

·         How many new victims registered each year?

Pick measuring tool

Simply keeping logs of victims, the amount of children registered, and how effective the programs are can all be great measuring tools for these type of non-profits.  We also can measure donations from the outside community and other firms to help support our non-profits. We can also can measure the effectiveness of the website because the website is supposed to help with support of the victims.

“Our website is designed to serve victims and survivors, volunteers willing to help victims and those looking for information about domestic and sexual abuse services in the region served.”