HOW TO MEASURE SUCCESS AS A NONPROFIT

By Jordan Hannan

The work of a nonprofit is often heavily tied to a numerical measurement of success: How many families were aided? How much money was raised? How many volunteers cycled through in the last month? How quickly was the end goal achieved? How many people visited the website or heard of the mission? Quantitative data is much easier to determine, which is why many nonprofits use it to label their success. However, this mentality mirrors that of a corporation, where the final goal is monetary success. When applied to a nonprofit, where funds are merely used as a tool to reach a more humane goal, numbers are rendered meaningless. 

This prompts the question: If not numerically, how can I measure success as a nonprofit? However, I challenge you to alter that mentality, changing your focus to a new question: When does our success begin? Triangle Cares has found the answer. 

The goal of any nonprofit is to invoke positive change, to spread an inspiring message, to provide hope to the hopeless, or to improve the life or environment of at least one person. For this reason, I would argue that the moment you even consider to begin a nonprofit, you have become successful. You have accomplished your goal the moment you begin. This is not an excuse to stop there, not a reason to back down after one productive day, not an end to innovation or perseverance. Rather, it's motivation to continue: knowing that you cannot fail. Every partner, volunteer, or dollar that supports you after day one is just another victory. 

For this reason, we applaud every one of our nonprofits for all of their hard work, from the newly-created Flak Foundation to the well-established Ronald McDonald House. We love to support you in your journey to create the future that we all wish to see.