Performance Measurement in Non-Profit Organizations

ABSTRACT

Performance Measurement in Non-Profit Organizations: Integration and Focus Within Comprehensiveness

James Cutt

It is generally accepted that a sufficient and appropriate definition of performance in nonprofit organizations requires multiple components. Such a multiple component definition is much more useful if it can serve not only retrospectively as a framework for performance reporting, but also prospectively and continuously as an information framework for both governance and management control over the cycle of organizational activities. By defining focus and causal integration, the Balance Scorecard developed for commercial organizations offers one useful way of transforming a multiple-component performance reporting framework into a comprehensive governance and management information framework. The Scorecard can be adopted directly for use in public sector commercial organizations, and with more creativity – involving the redefinition of focus as the maximization of effectiveness for a given budget – for public and private non-profit organizations. The multi-attribute reporting model developed by the CCAF / FCVI in Canada can be similarly transformed into a framework for strategic management.

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