Measuring Outcomes vs. Outputs: Why Leadership in the Nonprofit Sector Needs to Head in This Direction

Source: CSRwire

By Steve Delfin, President and CEO, America’s Charities

They filled Capital Hilton ballroom in Washington, DC, leaders of large and small charities throughout the country trying to build higher performing organizations “managing to outcomes.” The “After the Leap” Conference was the brainchild of Mario Morino, Founding Chairman of Venture Philanthropy Partners and Chairman of the Morino Institute, where Morino, who made his fortune in the early days of the tech boom, has for the past two decades turned his innovative mind and business acumen toward helping the philanthropic sector embrace meaningful outcomes.

His ground-breaking book, Leap of Reason: Managing to Outcomes in an Era of Scarcity (2011), urges leaders government, business and the philanthropic sectors to take “bold action” in order to focus increasingly limited resources where they do the most good in addressing pressing social needs. I’ve been following Morino’s work for over 15 years and have watched his influence begin to move the discussion from “why” should we do this to “how.” And just as importantly, I watched the symposia and conferences discussing outcomes- and evidence-based philanthropy grow from gatherings of a couple dozen thought leaders, to what is now truly becoming a movement of change and impact.

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Additional Resources 

• Leap of Reason.org
• Venture Philanthropy Partners
• Center for Effective Philanthropy 
• Center for High Impact Philanthropy
• Lucy Bernholz Blog
• Stanford Social Innovation Review
• NYT Blog on Nurse Family Partnership  
• Philadelphia Social Innovations Journal 
• Urban Institute