Peter York Senior Partner Chief Research & Learning Officer TCC Group

2

Agenda

1. Nonprofit Effectiveness: Who Are We Talking About?

2. Effectiveness for All

3. Sustainability: How Leading, Adapting and Managing Matter

4. Growth & Scaling: How Program Codification, Replication & Resource Generation Matter

5. Strategic Learning: The Key to Effectiveness

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The Micro and Macro Impact Ecosystem

Social Problem

or Desired Impact

Macro Strategies Change populations en masse through

adding, changing, monitoring and/or evaluating system and/or institutional laws, regulations, funding allocations, standards,

practices and/or policies

Micro Strategies Change individuals, families and small groups,

through implementation of funded programs, and on-the-ground enforcement and/or adherence

programs for new or improved laws, regulations, policies

Types of Nonprofits:

1. Macro – Policy/Advocacy, Systems

2. Micro – Direct Service

3. Hybrid

4.  Intermediaries

5

Types of Nonprofits

Mom & Pops 70%

Small Businesses

20%

Scalers 10%

Neighborhood Organizations Grassroots organizations •  Serves local neighborhood •  Either macro or micro, narrow set of

services •  Addresses basic needs •  <$150K Community Organizations •  Serve multiple neighborhoods •  Broader array of services •  Macro, micro and/or hybrid •  Employ multiple strategies •  Reach $1M+ Scaling Organizations •  Work across many communities •  Develop replicable models w/in macro

and/or micro •  Codify way to achieve goals •  Networked/affiliated

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External Environment

Resources

Organization Adaptive Capacity

the ability of a nonprofit organization to monitor, assess and respond to internal and external

changes .

Organizational Culture

His

tory

La

ngua

ge

Technical Capacity the ability of a nonprofit organization to implement all of

the key organizational and programmatic functions

Key Resources the one or more critically needed resources

that most directly support programs and services

Finances/ Funding

Program Design and

Model

Time Technology

Facilities Human Resources

Management Capacity the ability of a nonprofit

organization to ensure the effective and efficient use of

organizational resources

Leadership Capacity the ability of all organizational leaders to create and sustain

the vision, inspire, model, prioritize, make decisions,

provide direction and innovate, all in an effort to achieve the

organizational mission.

The Four Core Capacities Model

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The Lifecycle Model

All organizations go through stages of development and have to “get their house in order” (achieve lifecycle stage 3) before they are ready for collective action.

Impact expansion through sharing, collaboration and/or

collective action

Infrastructure/business development to sustain and grow results from the core

program/strategy model

Core program or strategy development for direct targets:

Micro = individuals, small groups Macro = populations, system change agents, etc.

Stage 3

Stage 2

Stage 1

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Impact Expansion

Infrastructure Development

Core Program Development

Organizational Effectiveness

Leaders Get Resources &

Direct

Leaders Design & Plan

Managers Deploy the Resources

Collaborative Resources

Operational Resources

Program (Micro)/ System (Macro) Resources

Social Impact

Sustain & Grow

Client/Target Changes

Impact Expansion

Business Processes

Program Delivery/ Strategy Deployment

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Challenged 30%

Strong 28%

Satisfactory 42%

Organizational Resource Sustainability of CCAT Orgs

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The Sustainability Formula

Leadership Adaptability Program Capacity Sustainability

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The Sub-Capacities that Matter

Internal Leadership •  Applying a mission-centered,

focused, and inclusive approach to making decisions, as well as inspiring and motivating people to act on them

Fundraising Skills •  Developing resources

necessary for efficient operations, including management of donor relations

Program Staffing •  Making staffing changes as

needed to increase and improve programs and service delivery

Empowering •  Promoting proactivity, learning,

and a belief in the value and ability of staff and client

Leader Vision •  Formulating a clear vision and

motivating others to pursue it

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There’s More to Leadership…

•  Effectively communicating mission and vision

•  Engaging all stakeholders in planning

•  Making decisions on cost-effectiveness

•  Implementing quick fixes

•  Holding leaders accountable for recipient/target results

Only one in four nonprofit organizations are well led…

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The Key to Leading Is Learning

•  Gathering sophisticated program and business data

•  Determining formulas for success

•  Engaging in data-driven planning

•  Measuring and managing performance

Only one in four nonprofit organizations are effective learners…

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There’s More to Program Capacity…

•  Effective staffing

•  Infrastructure growth to keep up with program growth

•  Continuous program delivery improvement

•  Continuous program management improvement

•  Facilities

Only one in seven organizations have strong program capacity...

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Some Nonprofits Grow Faster than Others

•  Only 1 in 2 nonprofits grow faster than the annual inflation rate over a three-year period.

•  Five measures of organizational capacity explain 20% of the reasons why an organization grows faster than inflation:

1.  Program Design (Strategic Learning/R&D) 2.  Program Replication 3.  Independent Program Resource Generation 4.  Program Sustainability 5.  Growth Rate Stability

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How Well Are Nonprofits Doing?

Independent Program Resource Generation (1 in 50)

Program Reliability (1 in 50)

Program Design (1 in 25)

Program Sustainability (1 in 3)

Organizational Stability (1 in 2)

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The Building Blocks of Nonprofit Growth & Scaling

•  Centralized Program Design Leadership

•  Program-Centered Independent, Sustainable and Diversified Resource Generation

•  Program Reliability and Expansion Management

Centralized Program Design

Leadership

Program-Centered,

Independent, Sustainable, & Diversified

Resource Generation

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Program Reliability & Expansion

Management

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The Program Design Leader’s Checklist

q  Gather data directly from program recipients to determine how to improve services

q  Decide on outcome metrics by first listening to, documenting, and sharing actual client success stories and results.

q  Engage key leaders and staff in making meaning out of client-derived data.

q  Identify patterns and themes in program data that show which program ingredients worked, for whom, and how.

q  Bring program design leaders together to address the resources needed to deliver programs effectively.

q  Leverage insights to inform the program implementation team.

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The Resource Generator’s Checklist

q  Make sure the strategic plan is anchored in resourcing, strengthening and improving program impact, which is a significant predictor of plan implementation.

q  Diversify the funding streams - particularly if your organization depends on a few large grants from funders who have a say in how programs are delivered.

q  Acquire numerous repeat givers, donors or buyers

q  Invest your resources into strengthening and improving your programs/program models, and don’t invest in non-programmatic infrastructure until program growth hurts.

q  Keep your board and funders “out of the kitchen,” including raising or providing program funding, unless they agree to a “no strings attached” policy.

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The Program Manager’s Checklist

q  Train staff to deliver the program as it is designed.

q  Invest in ongoing training for program improvements and/or modifications.

q  Assess program implementers based on client results.

q  Leverage program data to measure and monitor program delivery.

q  Invest in program managers as implementers (staff or volunteers) grow.

q  Have clear guidelines to make difficult staffing decisions based on program data.

q  Develop cost-per-result metrics to manage accountability.

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The Developmental Model for Growth & Scaling, and The Learning Tools to Get There

Build the Program Model for Those We Serve

Build the Business Model to Grow the Program in Our Community

Build the Expansion Model to Replicate the Model In More Communities

Strategic Learning/Research &

Development

Performance Measurement & Management

Evaluation & Community Impact Studies

Growth

Codification

Scaling

strategies to achieve social impact

The Key to Effectiveness

strategies to achieve social impact

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The Metrics, Methods & Analyses Are Wrong

•  There’s NO outcome synchronicity between the investor and investee

•  There’s NO Research & Development for programs/initiatives

•  Effectiveness and accountability HAVE TO BE viewed through the measurement of proximate effect

•  Proximate cause-and-effect is the ONLY way!

•  Learning REQUIRES understanding the cause, NOT the effect

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The Outcome Synchronicity Problem – A Comparative Example

Investors (Funders)

Business Leaders

Consumers

For-Profit Accountability: Just Give Me (or Show Me) the Direct Results, Please…

Nonprofit Accountability: Just Give Me the Direct Results, But Somehow Prove to “Them” That We Can Do Much More…

Recuperation, parent-child bonding, healthy adjustment to family change, tools for care and

feeding, stress-reducing routines and habits, better communication skills with providers

•  Same Direct Results as the For-Profit Business

•  Child Development, School Readiness, Crime Reduction

•  Parental Reduction in Child Abuse & Neglect, Maternal Health

Nonprofit Business Leaders &

Clients

Funders (Investors)

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Resources Strategies Short-Term Outcomes

Long-Term Outcomes

Community / Social Impact

Evaluation: Using the Wrong Model

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Resources Strategies Achievable Outcomes

Research says…

Community / Social Impact

Strategic Learning: Changing the Model

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The Problems with Comparison Groups C

ontr

ol

Gro

up

Inte

rven

tion

Gro

up

Evaluator It made a significant difference…the

program worked

Yeah! But, three of us

would have

succeeded anyway

What About Us?

Why did the girls do

better?

What About All

of Us?

We Did It On Our

Own

strategies to achieve social impact

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Five Guiding Principles for Strategic Learning

1.  Listen to the client

2.  Quantify, then qualify

3.  Measure backgrounds, program experiences and direct outcomes

4.  Don’t describe, analyze 5.  Don’t report, design and re-design

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The Seven Steps to Strategic Learning

1. Determine the “real” outcomes

2. Find or create the metrics

3. Gather data, quant then qual

4. Make meaning out of patterns

5. Create/modify program models

6. Re-design programs

7. Repeat steps 2-6

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First, Uncover the “Real” Outcomes

•  It’s all about the path to behavior change: –  Awareness + –  Knowledge + –  Attitude + –  Motivation + –  Skills + –  Opportunity + –  Behaviors = ___________________

Habits =

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Analyze Data

Hold one or more meetings and go through the following process:

1. Create outcome buckets – high, medium, low.

2. Ask of this sorted data the following questions:

•  What program components and combinations worked? •  What background factors played a role? •  What preconditions (readiness factors) made a

difference?

3. Finalize conclusions about what worked, for whom and why.

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Make Meaning

Hold one or more meetings to discuss the following:

1. How should we change our program formulas? What do we leave in, what do we improve and what do we take out?

2. What resources do we need or need to change to improve the program?

3. How can we leverage findings to garner more and/or better resources?

4. How do we better “manage to outcomes,” moving forward?

strategies to achieve social impact

Types of Nonprofits

42

The Micro and Macro Impact Ecosystem

Social Problem

or Desired Impact

Macro Strategies Change populations en masse through

adding, changing, monitoring and/or evaluating system and/or institutional laws, regulations, funding allocations, standards,

practices and/or policies

Micro Strategies Change individuals, families and small groups,

through implementation of funded programs, and on-the-ground enforcement and/or adherence

programs for new or improved laws, regulations, policies

Types of Nonprofits:

1. Macro – Policy/Advocacy, Systems

2. Micro – Direct Service

3. Hybrid

4.  Intermediaries

43

Types of Nonprofits

Mom & Pops 70%

Small Businesses

20%

Scalers 10%

Mom & Pops •  Grassroots organizations •  Serves local neighborhood •  Either macro or micro, narrow set of

services •  Addresses basic needs •  <$250K Small Businesses •  Serve multiple neighborhoods •  Broader array of services •  Macro, micro and/or hybrid •  Employ multiple strategies •  $250K - $1M Scalers •  Work across many communities •  Develop replicable models w/in macro

and/or micro •  Codify way to achieve goals

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•  Education •  Training

•  Resources •  Tools •  Consulting

•  Coaching •  Mentoring •  Technical Assistance •  Technical Support

•  Awareness •  Know-How •  Motivation

Capacity Building Effectiveness = “Ready, Set, Go”

Awareness, Knowledge, Attitude, Motivation, Skills Opportunity, Behavior, Habit

Ready Set Go!

“Go” Services ensure that behaviors happen, habits are formed, and changes are sustained

•  Plans •  Tools •  Resources •  Instructions

•  Assisting •  Showing •  Doing •  Feedback

Skills:

Support:

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Seven Steps for Capacity Strategy

1.  Determine what type of org you are – Mom and Pop, small nonprofit business, or scaler.

2.  Assess your organization’s size.

3.  Assess your organization’s lifecycle.

4.  Assess your organization’s capacity needs.

5.  Determine who needs to change.

6.  Determine whether the individuals or group are “ready to go” or “need to get ready.”

7.  Determine a cost-effective model for supporting capacity building.

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The Lifecycle Model

All organizations go through stages of development and have to “get their house in order” (achieve lifecycle stage 3) before they are ready for collective action.

Impact expansion through sharing, collaboration and/or

collective action

Infrastructure/business development to sustain and grow results from the core

program/strategy model

Core program or strategy development for direct targets:

Micro = individuals, small groups Macro = populations, system change agents, etc.

Stage 3

Stage 2

Stage 1

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The New Lifecycle Model: Size Matters

Infrastructure Reduction

Program Reduction

Infrastructure Development

Program Development

$250

,000

$500

,000

$1,0

00,0

00

$3,0

00,0

00

$5,0

00,0

00

$10,

000,

000

$10,

000,

000

$5,0

00,0

00

$3,0

00,0

00

$1,0

00,0

00

$500

,000

$250

,000

of nonprofits sustain at or

below this level

of nonprofits reach or

exceed this point

75%  

10%  Only  

The

Sky

is th

e Li

mit

48

Assessing Lifecycle Stage and Capacity Needs

Core Program Infrastructure Development Collective Impact

Cap

acity

Nee

ds

Leadership Internal leadership and vision to design, sustain and grow program model

Internal leadership to sustain and grow business model

Scalable models for community impact and

system change

Adaptive Needs assessment and ongoing evaluation (SL/

R&D) to sustain and grow

Organizational assessment for

sustainability and business planning for independent resource generation for growth

Evaluation, planning, and process

implementation for community alliances, collaborations, and

system reform efforts

Management Strong program

management and implementation for

sustainability and growth

HR and infrastructure management and

performance measurement for

sustainability and growth

Alliance and partner management

Technical Program delivery,

resources and tools for sustainability and growth

Operational and administrative facilities;

skills and tools for sustainability and growth

Relationships, networks, and resources

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Who Needs to Change and How?

Who? Does Not Know

How (Ready – Awareness &

Knowledge)

Does Not Want To

(Ready – Attitude and Motivation)

Needs Instructions,

Tools, Systems, Resources (Set)

Needs Practice and Confidence

(Go)

•  Executive Director •  Board Members •  Program Directors •  Program Managers •  Operational Directors •  Operational

Managers •  Program

Implementers •  Operational

Implementers •  Community Outreach

Directors •  Community Outreach

Managers •  Community Outreach

Implementers

Inform ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ Educate ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

Counsel _______________ _______________ _______________ _______________ Direct _______________ _______________ _______________ _______________

Instruct _______________ _______________ _______________ _______________ Resources _______________ _______________ _______________ _______________

Mentor _______________ _______________ _______________ _______________ Coach _______________ _______________ _______________ _______________ Support _______________ _______________ _______________ _______________

The End