Measuring Success, LLC

Measuring Success is a growing consulting firm dedicated to creating quantitative performance measurement tools to aid nonprofit managers and boards enhance their organizational effectiveness. Measuring Success was started 3 years ago and grew out of work at the Harvard Business School, Kellogg Business School, and the Kennedy School, as well as its founder's experience at McKinsey & Company and as Director of Strategy for a national non-profit organization. Measuring Success focuses on national, networked non-profit organizations, and among other clients is currently working on projects with several Jewish organizations.

Measuring Success' core methodology is the Peer Yardstick™. Non-profit organizations must create an "early warning system" to detect problems by tracking measurable indicators of organizational health. The Peer Yardstick™ creates a dashboard for non-profits showing how they compare to their peers on key drivers of organizational performance. The dashboard can be used proactively by non-profits to identify the gaps between current performance and excellence. The tool also enables managers to work effectively and efficiently by giving them quantitative tools to more rapidly align non-profit stakeholders, thereby reducing time spent in strategy (since key issues and goals will already be identified quantitatively by the dashboard), and increasing managers' availability for implementing change toward excellence.

The non-profit world is moving in the direction of measuring key activities as a way to track and motivate improved organizational health. The Peer Yardstick™ provides a way for networked organization headquarters to provide value added services for their affiliates and for those affiliates to strive measurably for excellence.