Seth Merritt

Leap of Reason: Managing to Outcomes

It is practically cliche to say that "nonprofits should be run more like businesses". While there is some wisdom hiding in this phrase, it has always seemed vague at best, if not patronizing or even misguided. Why is that a good idea? What would it mean in practice? At last, we have some compelling answers from someone who knows what they're talking about.

Leap of Reason: Managing to Outcomes in an Era of Scarcity is Mario Morino's call to action for nonprofit leaders and funders. There is something worth reading here for almost anyone involved in the social sector, whether nonprofit staff, leadership, board, donor, foundation, or even volunteers. The questions Morino poses will hopefully make you see your work in a new way, and may open up new dialogs between funders and organizations, and between organizations and the people they serve.

Morino sees a number of forces threatening the effectiveness of most nonprofits and the people they serve:
* Public sector funds are being slashed; safety net programs are threatened.
* Demands for many nonprofit services are growing, due to economic distress.
* Nonprofits don't always have good data to manage from, or the skills to use it, and may rely on intuition and anecdote instead.
* Funders want more transparency into the real impact of their investments.

The way to meet these challenges, according to Morino, is for all the players in the social sector to adopt a framework of "Managing to Outcomes". In particular, Morino believes nonprofits must reach clarity on what change they're trying to create, acquire specificity on how they will accomplish that change, determine what information they need to track how they're doing, and then use this feedback to make continuous improvements.

Morino also lays down some challenges for funders. "We funders need to help our grantees define, create, and use the information they need to be disciplined managers," says Morino, "rather than foisting unfunded, often simplistic, self-serving mandates on our grantees." In particular, he points out that when funders insist that every dollar go only to programs, they starve their grantees of the operational support they need to become more effective. Unfortunately, many nonprofits jump through reporting hoops set by funders, but that data is often not used by the nonprofit itself to improve program outcomes. This risks bureaucratic waste on one side, and hollow self-justification on the other.

This well-edited volume is slim but packed with useful examples and exercises. Morino speaks with candor from nearly two decades as a pioneer in venture philanthropy and outcome-based management. He and his co-authors offer candid and nuanced reflections on what has worked and what hasn't, and incorporate those lessons learned into a framework for action. Leap of Reason and its companion site provide a gateway to resources that can help nonprofits start Managing to Outcomes, and hopefully do more with less.

What do you think? Can "Manage to Outcomes" displace the "run your nonprofit like a business" meme?

Making Grants Data Work: Nonprofit Data Jam, May 10

No, "Nonprofit Data Jam" is not the label on the mix CD you listen to while deduping your donor data file. :) It's an upcoming event in DC, hosted by the New America Foundation, on the topic of how funding and grants data could be shared and used in other ways. It should be pretty interesting - a brainstorming session of sorts about what could be done with data from philanthropic foundations.

Much has been made of the power of open data provided by governments, but the aim of this get-together is to push the discussion into how data gathered by foundations and other funders could be republished, mashed up, or otherwise used for new purposes and serve the common good.  Read the "modest manifesto" by Lucy Bernholz that started it all: http://philanthropy.blogspot.com/2010/03/open-philanthropy-modest-manifesto.html

Information on the event from New America Foundation: http://www.newamerica.net/events/2010/open_data

Imagine if communities, donors, journalists, and funders had easy access to grants information from foundations. What new insights could we gather about needs and opportunities in our communities? How might foundations and individual donors work together, or foundations and public funders? What untold stories about local heroes might the media tell?

Please join us on May 10 from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. at the New America Foundation (1899 L Street, NW) for a rapid-fire brainstorming, networking, and idea jam on philanthropic data as the fuel for the future. We will livestream the event. Twitter #GiveData.

Bombers, biopsies and brown M&Ms – it’s all part of the Checklist Manifesto

Bombers, biopsies and brown M&Ms – what do they all have in common?  They each tell an interesting story about checklists, a simple notion whose time has come, according to Atul Gawande in his recent book The Checklist Manifesto.

Gawande is a surgeon who, as leader of a World Health Organization taskforce, developed a general checklist for surgery that has prevented thousands of deaths and reduced complications by more than a third.  Using examples from aviation, construction, and finance, he shows that checklists, when developed thoughtfully and used with discipline, can avoid errors and free us to perform with greater confidence in almost any field. In effect, checklists can be a critical bulwark against information overload and complexity that challenge all of us. 

The book is a quick read, with several engaging stories.  For example, one of the icons of the Allied victory in World War II was the B-35 bomber.  It was a big leap in aviation technology at the time, with 4 engines, long range, and large payload capacity – the war probably couldn’t have been won without it.  However, I didn’t know that this airplane was almost rejected by the US military when it was first tested in the 1930s, when it failed catastrophically during its first public test.  The military cancelled their order and Boeing nearly went bankrupt. However, a group of pilots and engineers worked to develop a set of checklists that helped prevent pilot errors. It was primarily the adoption of checklists, not major technological changes that made the difference.

These checklists are a critical part of aviation today. Anyone who has flown a commercial flight has probably heard the cabin crew running through cryptic elements of a larger pre-takeoff checklist with the pilots.  Remember the “miracle on the Hudson” last January?  Gawande reviews the important role pilot checklists made in saving all the passengers and crew.

OK, biopsies is an alliterative stretch here, but Gawande discusses his development of a surgical checklist, based largely on the successes of Dr. Peter Pronovost in reducing hospital infections. Pronovost reveals some interesting points about institutional and individual resistance to change in his recent NYT interview.

The “brown M&M” story is a classic rock and roll urban legend – one which turns out to be true.  Van Halen’s contract with venues and promoters included a clause that there would be “no brown M&Ms in the backstage area”.  This is typically explained as adolescent ego-tripping, but it turns out it was part of a checklist.

As the band explained it, their touring show required a lot of technical support – heavy equipment, lots of electricity, sturdy stages, etc.  They had been burned a few times where concert venues promised to have everything needed for Van Halen to put on their show, but when the band arrived, there were serious issues – a door on the loading dock not being large enough, for example.  To solve this, they put a clause in the fine print requiring the brown M&Ms. They didn’t really care about the candy, but it was a proof point that the venue was serious about meeting their conditions.

Most of us already use checklists in some form. As a personal example, I have adopted two checklists that have made my life much easier.  I adapted a version of David Allen’s Travel Checklist for work trips, and then created a separate list for things I take to the gym.  Each is just a list of things I should think about bringing – the actual contents will vary from trip to trip.  The list helps me pack more quickly, avoids (or mostly avoids) forgetting important items, and helps keep me calm and focused.

The point of Gawande’s book (and this post), is to think more creatively about the challenges of complexity in our life and work, and how we can in effect “avoid the avoidable errors.”  Checklists are one important tool we can all use to standardize and “error-proof” our work and life. How are you managing complexity?  Are you using checklists?

Crowdsourcing, old school: the Great Backyard Bird Count

If you live in one of the many areas blanketed by snow the past few weeks, you might be looking for a cure for cabin fever. The Great Backyard Bird Count is this weekend, February 12 - 15, 2010, and it's great way to get outside with family and friends, have fun, and help birds—all at the same time. #GBBC happens once a year, when tens of thousands of bird watchers of all ages create a snapshot of where the birds are across the U.S. & Canada.

All you have to do to participate is spend at least 15 minutes on one or more of the four days counting birds anywhere you like, and then report your results on www.birdcount.org by March 1, 2010. You can count birds from your window, balcony or backyard, from a park, a lake, a river or the ocean, from a bus stop or an office or anywhere at all. (Hint: you don’t actually have to go outside if you don’t want to!)

The project web site allows you to generate a checklist of birds likely to be present in your region, which you can also print and use to record your observations. There is also a photo contest and plenty of educational content to help involve young folk in this important citizen science project. You can even download a certificate if you submit your results online – how’s that for show and tell?

The GBBC is sponsored in part by the National Audubon Society, which also coordinates the annual Christmas Bird Count. 

Well, I’m off to get some more bird seed.  Happy Counting!

Twitter: #gbbc

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Bragging on my Farmer's Market - Williamsburg wins American Farmland Trust contest

Williamsburg, Virginia is America's #1 Farmers Market! And I have the tote bag to prove it.

Even as summer winds down, lovers of produce know that the bounty is still flowing at your local Farmers Market (if you are lucky to live near one).  And this past weekend was particularly bountiful at my local market: Williamsburg was crowned this year as America's Favorite Farmers Market!  In a summer-long contest by American Farmland Trust, nearly 30,000 Americans voted for their favorite local farmers market, and Williamsburg swept the medium category (31-55 vendors). 

About the Contest

The America's Favorite Farmers Market™ contest is designed to build excitement and awareness of farmers markets, and to recognize markets that provide outstanding quality and variety of local produce.  Plus, the effort has resulted in increased awareness of AFT's mission and helped garner new subscribers and donors. 2009 was the first year of the contest, which was the brainchild of Gretchen Hoffman and Jane Kirchner in AFT’s Marketing department, and Julia Freedgood, Director of AFT's Growing Local Campaign.  It was a complex effort, including outreach to managers of farmers markets (mostly via phone), promoting the contest through news media, encouraging existing supporters to participate and spread the word using Convio eCards, and social media (a Cause on Facebook). In addition, AFT built an online map of participating farmers markets using Google Maps. 

According to Hoffman, the contest has been a great success and succeeded beyond their original expectations.  The number of markets that participated was more than twice what they had hoped, and web traffic was up over 150% from summer months the previous year.  Local media has provided coverage of the awards, and local supporters have helped to spread the word through private email lists and handing out fliers at farmers markets.

Why it's important

As Freedgood said in her remarks at the award ceremony, farmers markets are "part of a growing movement, a new kind of food system that brings farms and people together".   The benefits are many: farmers have new markets to maintain income, and consumers have direct access to the freshest possible produce.  Plus, it helps to lower fossil fuel consumption by reducing the distance food travels from a farmer’s field to our dinner table.

Farmers markets are a critical link in our food chain, and one of the best ways to support farms, farmers, and our local economies.  American Farmland Trust is dedicated to saving farm and ranch land, and keeping farmers farming.  Supporting farmers markets is an important way to support AFT's mission.

The Takeaway

To all of you feeling a tad wistful about the end of summer, I encourage you to do one thing this weekend – go spend at least $10 at a farmers market in your community.  It will help the planet, it will help a local farmer, it will boost your local economy, and most of all you will enjoy it.  If you already go, try to take a friend this time.

PS: To my esteemed colleagues in Austin I say, being in the top 20 ain’t bad, but try harder next year! :)

AFT Staff at Williamsburg Farmers Market. (L-R) Gretchen Hoffman, Julia Freedgood, and Jane Kirchner	My tote bag - one of only 500 printed for the occasion - a collector's item!