There are around 1 million nonprofits in the United States. Many of them struggle creating value-driven metrics.
The vast number of nonprofits shows how difficult it may be to find funding if you are considering a nonprofit. You may realize that in order to succeed as a nonprofit, you need to find resources and people who are interested in contributing to your cause.
Another study stated that around 30% of nonprofits failed after 10 years. With such a high risk of failure, it’s important for nonprofits to figure out how to be successful.
Part of nonprofit success is dependent on reporting metrics. Value-driven metrics are what current and potential funders might be interested in when looking to fund your nonprofit.
Here are some key reporting metrics you need to keep an eye out for if you want to attract funders. Ultimately, this is how you create value-driven reporting metrics.
Return on Investment: Creating Value-Driven Metrics
One of the most critical reporting metrics is the return on investments. This is your ROI and how much you are making from your nonprofit.
It’s one of the metrics you can look at and decide how successful it is and if it’s getting the funding it needs to make a difference.
This is where you compare the cost of raising the event and paying for catering and a place to host the event and then compare it to how much was actually raised. You may have broken even, made a profit, or had a loss.
If you want to calculate your ROI for a nonprofit, you would want to divide total costs by total funds raised. This gives you an idea of how much is making from your nonprofit.
It can also give your investors or funders an idea if your nonprofit is successful and attracting interest.
Average Gift Price: Creating Value-Driven Metrics
Another metric to look at is how much a gift is when someone donates to a nonprofit. You want to see how much each gift on average is worth, which gives you an idea of how much people are giving to your nonprofit.
You can also see how many gifts in a specific time frame. You may know the average price per gift, but you still need to know how often you are receiving these gifts.
You can also see how many gifts you are receiving from specific donors. This allows you to segment your donors and see what donors in a specific market donate to your nonprofit.
Conversion Rate: Creating Value-Driven Metrics
The conversion rate is how many people actually gave your cause based on how many you asked.
You want to see how many of your target markets is giving to your nonprofit if you asked them over email or set up a link online.
Another way to look at the conversion rate is to see how many people are giving based on your outreach. You want to see how many people are donating on social media, email, websites, referrals, and more.
You can see how many people actually clicked on your link and committed to donating to your cause. You can then measure your conversion rate and compare it to other nonprofit organizations.
Another valuable way to look at the conversion rate is to see what channels provide you the most donors. If you discover that some channels provide more contributors to your nonprofit, it may be best to focus more on your content and marketing on fewer channels that are more successful.
Website Visits: Creating Value-Driven Metrics
If your nonprofit has a website where people can choose to visit and donate, you need to make sure you have Google Analytics are some other measuring tool to see what’s happening on your website.
Funders who are evaluating your nonprofit may look at website visits and see how many people you are attracting to your nonprofit. They will want to see how many clicks you are generating and how many pageviews there are.
These metrics are important because you want to see if people are engaged with your mission and what you are trying to do in your nonprofit. The better your website is designed and the easier it is to use, the more likely people will hang around longer on your website.
You’ll also want to see if people are specifically clicking on your call to action. Also, you will want to see if they are donating to your cause. This will provide insight on if you need to change the call to action or there’s a general lack of interest in your nonprofit.
Email Marketing Metrics
The final value-driven metric you need in your nonprofit that can give you insight on how to improve any part of your nonprofit is email metrics.
If you have an email list and send emails asking people to donate to your nonprofit, you need to look at the open rate, the click-through rate, and how much you are earning per email.
You want to see if your subscribers are donating based on the emails you are sending. These metrics can give you insight into whether you need to make any changes with your emails regarding a subject line or body content.
Now You Know Everything About Reporting Metrics for Nonprofits
Value-driven reporting metrics are a great way to analyze the success of your nonprofit. It can help you determine what changes need to be done. This way, you can attract more investors.
While these metrics can be overwhelming, learning can help you increase funding. You will be able to optimize ways to ensure the success of your nonprofit.
Contact us if you want help with your nonprofit.
Tosha Anderson is the founder of The Charity CFO, an organization offering accounting and thought leadership skills to nonprofit agencies. Tosha created The Charity CFO after realizing the need for specialized skills in nonprofits with limited financial resources and increasing pressure to keep costs low despite mounting compliance and financial reporting needs. With nonprofit experience as an auditor, a CFO, a board member, a volunteer, and a consultant, Tosha works with non-profits with on-going accounting needs. www.thecharitycfo.com
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