Assessment of Service Outcomes

1. Assessment of Service Outcomes Thomas P. Holland, Ph.D., Professor UGA Institute for Nonprofit Organizations

2. Nonprofits can assess many aspects of their programs and services • Documenting how consumers benefited by receiving a service • Financial accountability: documenting how funds were spent • Program outputs: assessing what services are provided and to whom • Adherence to standards of quality in service delivery • Participant-related assessments: characteristics of consumers and their concerns • Key indicators of performance: inputs, services, outputs, costs • Views of consumers and other organizations with our program accessibility, timeliness, courtesy, condition of facilities, overall satisfaction with services

3. Distinguishing Outcomes from Inputs • Outcomes are documented benefits or changes for participants as a result of their involvement with a program. • May include aspects such as changes in participants’ knowledge, attitudes, values, skills, behaviors, or conditions • Inputs (resources, services, staffing) are used to bring about expected results or outcomes. • Merely participating says nothing about results of participation. • Outcomes may be immediate or longer-term changes.

4. Growing National Attention to Outcomes • Many national nonprofit organizations and associations support studies of the outcomes of their programs and services. • Some of them provide resources and tools for use by local organizations. • Managed-care companies stress service results for reimbursement. • Accrediting bodies increasingly require outcome assessments as review criteria. • Grant-makers want evidence of results, not just efforts.

5. Benefits of Assessing OutcomesHave any of those characteristics made any difference? • Clear definitions of intended results provides focus for the organization’s work and guidance on improving it. • Understanding current level of outcome achievement provides basis to examine progress and plan for future. • Knowledge of results motivates staff and volunteers by showing if efforts make a difference. • Information about results motivates people in deciding how to use their time. • It helps the organization identify training needs. • It helps justify budget changes and fundraising purposes. • Information positions organization as successful, leading to greater recognition and financial support.

6. Benefits of Outcome Assessments emphasized by users of them • It showed us what difference the program really made for our consumers. • The information helped us do a better job, improve our services and their value to our clients. • It helped us get everyone focused in the same direction. • Our organization benefited in many ways • documenting results to board, staff, and donors • redirecting attention to more productive activities • attracting new consumers, collaborators and funders.

7. Effective Implementation Requires • Commitment of leaders and staff • Clear identification of results intended and indicators for each of them (this may be harder than anticipated) • Clarification of relationships between activities and expected results • May build upon current data collection efforts • Trial runs can identify issues needing more attention and refinement • Openness to learning new things about services and making changes based on feedback

8. Challenges for the Future • Assessing hard-to-measure outcomes, such as consequences of prevention or advocacy efforts • Sharing useful findings and approaches with other nonprofits, so everyone doesn’t have to start from scratch • Building assessments right into service activities • Using software programs to store, update, and analyze information • Strengthening board and staff attention to results and willingness to make changes based on them • Setting reasonable benchmarks or performance targets (what constitutes “good” performance?) • Using organizational findings to contribute to community-level changes