1. ROI, Nonprofits & Technology
Initiatives
Beyond “How Much
Does It Cost?”
Beth Kanter, Beth’s Blog
Legal Services Corporation: TIG Conference
January 31, 2008
39. If Charlie, Jim, and Sharon had used
a ROI thinking the endings to these
stories would have been different …
40. Why Use ROI
• Measures contribution to mission
• Helps you understand the cultural change
issues for successful adoption
• Helps you decide whether to invest or not
• Focus on results, not tools and features
• Helps with forecasting staffing patterns,
available resources
• Alters management and program staff
perceptions of technology
41. ROI = Return on Investment
What does ROI really mean?
46. ROI = Return on Investment
A pre and/or post evaluation process
and analysis of benefits, costs, and
value of a specific technology
investment over time.
57. How much time will staff members save with laptops?
How does access to technology andProject Pilot
Laptop information improve services to client?
58.
59. Cost of travel time from monthly time sheet
Mileage
# Trips Needed w/out laptop
# Trips Needed w/laptop
Value of Shifted Time
60. Use ROI if Project …
• Long Life Cycle
• Mission Critical
• Linked to Strategic Goals
• Large Investment
• Visible or Controversial
• Large Target Audience
• And ….
64. Efficiency
• Improves the ability to maintain
a system
• Eliminates duplicate systems
• Accommodates increases in
workload or demand without
additional costs
• Reduces manual operations
• Improves efficiency
• Reduces Travel Cost/Time
65. Effectiveness
• Improves ability to deliver
• Improves access to services
• Improves access to information
• Improves accuracy
• Improves effectiveness of
information delivered
66. Keep in Mind
• Effectiveness and Efficiency go
hand in hand
77. Job Satisfaction
Productivity
Job Commitment
Work Environment
Morale
Typical Employee Retention
Innovation
Intangibles Competencies
Leadership
Team work
Cooperation
Decision-making
Communication
Client satisfaction
Client complaints
Client response time
78. Keep in Mind
• When gathering ROI data,
include all benefits regardless of
whether or not they initially
appear difficult to support or
quantify
79. Conversion Test
1. Does an acceptable, standard metric
exist for the measure?
2. Can the conversion be accomplished
with minimum resources?
4. Can the conversion process be described
to an executive director and secure their
buy-in in two minutes?
80. “Anything can be measured
in a way that is superior to
not measuring it at all“
85. Staff Surveys
Staff Interviews
Client surveys
Clients Interviews
Data from system
Task Analysis
Times Sheet Analysis
Articles
Field research
Observation
Secondary research reports
Benchmark studies
Budget and Financial Analysis
89. •Compare the total costs
of different solutions
•Compare the total costs
with the benefits
•Compare the costs
of not doing the project
•Identify pilot the goal to identify
cost/benefit
110. Summary
Focus on benefits, not features
Resist fondling the hammer
Don’t ignore intangibles
Don’t just present numbers only
Compare costs of alternatives,
cost/benefit, and cost of not doing
Pilot project to get credible numbers
Collect the data you need
Get buy-in by using a committee
111. Special thanks to
Marc Lauritsen
Douglas Simpson
Ed Marks
Michael L. Monahan
Cynthia A. Vaughn
Ron Wilhoite
Wayne Pressel