TACTICAL PHILANTHROPY
Probing Questions All Donors Should Ask
Before Making a Significant Gift
By Sean Stannard-Stockton
ONE OF THE HOLY GRAILS of nonprofit evaluation is to be able to compare
nonprofits with different missions. Concepts like “social return on investment” strive to
quantify how much “good” an
organization is creating, regardless of whether it is a soup kitchen or a job-training program.
Given the difficulties of comparing the results of different types
of organizations, it makes more
sense for potential donors to ask
a specific set of questions of all
organizations.
Successful programs often
look quite different from one another. However, high-performing organizations, those that
have the ability to carry out successful programs, have similar
characteristics. These organizations base their programs on
research about what works, actively collect information about
the results of their programs,
systematically analyze this information, adjust their activities in response to new information, and focus all their energy
on producing results.
To figure out whether non-
profits meet those
standards, donors can
ask specific questions
that will help them de-
cide whether a group
is worth supporting.
Each answer must be
interpreted in the con-
text of the nonprofit’s
operations.
THE CHRONICLE OF
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tion design its programs? Whether you
are evaluating a local
after-school tutoring
program or a global
disaster-relief program, a high-performing nonprofit should
be able to speak about
the evidence and research that
shaped its programs. While
many organizations have not
conducted extensive evaluations of their programs’ results,
all programs should at least be
based on knowledge about what
works. When a nonprofit is exploring an unproven approach,
it is critical that the program is
treated as a research project to
test an idea—and that donors
are told that.
What information does the
nonprofit collect about the
results of its programs? For-profit organizations can track
their revenue and expenses to
determine exactly how much
profit they are producing. Non-profits need to track not only
their financial transactions but
also the social results that their
programs achieve. The relevant
information will vary at different organizations. However,
all high-performing nonprofits
should be making a consistent
effort to collect the information
that they believe is most relevant to measuring progress toward their goals.
How does the organization systematically analyze
the information it collects?
It is not enough simply to collect
information; the whole point of
gathering data is to better understand a situation. Whether
information analysis takes the
form of sophisticated statistical analysis or simply regularly
scheduled reviews and discussion among the board and staff
members, high-performing non-profits should diligently attempt
THE CHRONICLE OF PHILANTHROPY
“Annual membership drive?
Go ahead and renew us at the monarch level.”
MARK LI TZLER
to understand the meaning of
the information they collect.
How has the nonprofit adjusted its activities in response to new information?
Unfortunately, knowing what
should be done is not enough to
spur every organization to action, just as knowing that eat-
All programs
should at least
be based on
knowledge about
what works.
ing less and exercising more
are the keys to losing weight
does not guarantee a successful
diet. Nonprofits must be ready
and able to adjust their activities as needed. High-performing
nonprofits should be able to discuss specific instances in which
they responded to new information by stopping or significantly
altering their activities.
Does the organization
have an absolute focus on
producing results? In the
business world, the intended re-
sult—a profit—is also the fuel
that sustains the organization.
In the nonprofit world, program
results don’t usually pay the
rent. That means that nonprof-
its are at risk of giving high-
er priority to fund raising and
other revenue-generating activ-
ities than producing program
results. Producing the revenue
needed to run an organization
is critical, but it is a means to
an end. Sustaining an organiza-
tion is useful only to the extent
that it enables the delivery of
program results. High-perform-
ing nonprofits should be able to
speak convincingly to their ab-
solute focus on results.
Sean Stannard-Stockton is
chief executive of Tactical Philanthropy Advisors, in Burlingame, Calif., and author of the
Tactical Philanthropy blog. He
is a regular columnist for The
Chronicle of Philanthropy.
THE CHRONICLE OF PHILAN THROP Y SCO T T ARTHUR MASEAR “Give it to me straight, doctor. Just how famous is the spokesman for my disease?”
