This presentation addresses effectiveness, performance measurement, and results - collectively referred to as "outcomes." Robert M. Penna, Ph.D., esteemed author and outcomes expert, gives an introduction to outcomes for nonprofits based on his well-known book "The Nonprofit Outcomes Toolbox."

1. An Introduction to Outcomes:
Robert M. Penna, Ph.D.
Author: The Nonprofit Outcomes Toolbox

2. Today’s topics:
An Introduction to Outcomes
1.
Placing Outcomes in a Historical Context
a)
i.
What are “Outcomes”?
The Language of Outcomes
What Makes an “Outcomes Approach” Different?
Three Essential Changes in Thinking
The Characteristics of a Good Outcome
The Outcomes Statement
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
i.
ii.
What is it?
Why use it?
An Introduction to Outcome Frameworks: the view from 30,000 feet
2.
a)
b)
c)
d)
3.
What has the nonprofit sector traditionally focused upon?
Tools for Planning
Tools for Tracking & Managing
Tools for Reporting
Tools for Learning & Assessment
Building An Outcomes Tree
2

3. In the beginning…
“Do you wish to be
anonymous?”
“I wish to be left alone!”
3

4. “Assessment” in the 20th Century
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Doing the “Good Work”
The “Field of Dreams” perspective
The New Deal and the Dawn of Counting
The 60’s to the 70’s: Service Units and
more Counting
The 70’s and 80’s: Being “Accountable,”
and Living In Compliance
4

5. Things are changing
Government, Nonprofits,
& NGOs vs. the Rest of
the World
5

6. Finally, even the nonprofit caboose….
6

7. Where things stand today: investors
increasingly asking for it, but
Not using outcomes,
or not doing it correctly
Using outcomes correctly
7

8. So, what is an “outcome”?
8

9. The “Language” of Outcomes
Väljund
Proce
ssus
Ingresso
‫השפעת‬
Επιπτώσεις
‫نتائج‬
9

10. What makes an “outcomes approach”
different?
10

11. The Problem Approach
11

12. The Activity Approach
12

13. The Process Approach…
13

14. The Vision Approach…
14

15. The Outcomes Approach
15

16. Compare this……
16

17. To this…. What’s different??
17

18. Even better…..
18

19. Three Changes in Thinking
1.
2.
3.
From Funder to Investor
From Activity to Effectiveness
From Services to Change

The BACKS Measures
19

20. The Characteristics of a Good Outcome


Are some outcomes “better” than others?
What does a “good” outcome look like?







Positive Improvement
Meaningful
Sustainable
Bound in Time
Bound in Number
Narrowly Focused and “Doable” (with a stretch!)
Measurable




Clearly Definable
Discernable…can be “evinced”
Quantifiable…according to an agreed-upon scale!
Verifiable
20

21. The “Outcomes Statement”
 What
is it?
 Why Use it?
21

22. An Introduction to “Outcomes Tools”:
a view from 30,000 feet…..


What are “outcome tools”?
4 sets:




Tools for Planning
Tools for Tracking & Managing
Tools for Reporting
Tools for Learning & Assessment
22

23. Tools for Planning


You Get What You Measure
A Common Outcomes Framework
23

24. Tools for Tracking and Managing






The Logic Model
RBA
TOP
GTO
TRI Outcomes Management
Results Mapping
24

25. Snapshot: The Logic Model
32
25

26. A Detailed Logic Model
33
26

27. But it gets tricky when….
27

28. Snapshot: Results-Based Accountability
4228

29. Snapshot: TOP
Targeting Outcomes of Programs (TOP)
Model
Program Development
(Goals/Objectives)
Program Performance
(Evaluation Measures)
SEEC
SEEC
Practices
KASA
Reactions
Practices
KASA
Reactions
Participation
SEEC:
Activities
S = Social
Resources
E = Economic
E = Environmental
C = Conditions
Participation
Activities
KASA:
Resources
K = Knowledge
A = Attitude
S = Skill
A = Aspiration
Source: Claude Bennett & Kay Rockwell, 1994
29

30. Snapshot: GTO
30

31. Snapshot: TRI/Outcomes Management
31

32. Snapshot: Results Mapping
MLS7
MLS6
ACT5
>
LEV5
MLS4
ACT3
>
LEV3
ACT2
>
LEV2
ACT1
>
LEV1
3832

33. Snapshot: A Balanced Scorecard
33

34. Building Your Outcomes Tree
Outcome
Performance Targets
Milestones
34

35. Thanks!
35