As a nonprofit, your focus should not only be on directing possible donors to your donation page but also providing them with a clear, simple, and exciting donating experience. Your goal as an organization is to have all those who have reached your donation page follow through and complete the action, right?

A while ago, I wrote about how frustrated communities of color have been regarding collective impact (visit the Collective Impact Forum to learn more about what collective impact is and read thoughts on it).  Most CI efforts start out with the best of intentions. As they develop though, they sometimes warp into massive entities that conquer and destroy all in their paths. I liken this to Star Trek villain The Borg, a species made up of billions of individuals who got annexed into a single hive mind, whose catchphrase is “resistance is futile.” The Borg are a terrifying and destructive force, much like restricted funding or those annoying grants that make you get people to vote for your org.

How do you know if your organization is achieving its goals or creating impact?

Many nonprofits are evaluating their performances using data analytics, which has helped them to allocate resources and address organizational challenges. This information doesn't just help to drive better outcomes. It has the potential to help organizations strengthen credibility, become more transparent and build an action-oriented workforce.

Impact measurements offer prospective funders and partners evidence of your organization's success while verifying your organization's influence and authority in the sector.

The preceding is cross-posted with permission from the Alliance blog. Based out of the UK, Alliance magazine is the leading global magazine on philanthropy and social investment.

‘Let’s do it – people’s lives depend on it.’ That was the opening line from Big Society Capital founder Sir Ronald Cohen, by video to the Global Impact Investment Plenary in Lisbon: a gathering of 250 people from many countries. 

There is no doubt that the Social Impact Investment Taskforce, which launched three years ago when the UK hosted the G8, has kickstarted a global movement. As Nick O’Donohoe noted, it brought consistency and clarity, and now it’s moving from rhetoric to reality.

For a little over two years, GuideStar's held quarterly Impact Calls as an excercise in addressing new definitions of transparency. Loosely based on the quarterly earnings calls held by publicly owned companies, the goal of our Impact Call is not simply to report our results, but to jump-start the conversation on how transparency is defined and conveyed across the sector. 

Is your organization interested in hosting quarterly Impact Calls? Download our free PowerPoint template and get started today!

As members of the independent sector, we continuously strive to increase our impact in the focus areas of our missions.  We think creatively, plan scrupulously, collaborate where possible, and work hard at maximizing resources we can bring to move the needle.  Many thousands of volunteer and paid staff hours are spent in these efforts.  And, make no mistake, we definitely do move the needle and often have demonstrable impact.  But could we have more impact with similar levels of effort if we focused them differently?

Join our Impact Call Tuesday, May 10 at 2 p.m. ET to learn all about GuideStar Platinum, our newest level of transparency, and what your organizaiton can do to get its Nonprofit Profile ready! 

Clarity is the first step to nonprofit excellence.

Social change is hard. It is no small matter to shift the systemic patterns of society that have left people struggling with poverty and inequality. But we in the nonprofit sector have devoted ourselves to just that work. And we want to know how we’re doing.

Institutional funding for social solutions is going through an exciting evolution. 

Available capital has soared over the past few years.

Between 2001 and 2011, some 20,000 new foundations were created in the United States, representing a 32 percent growth in the industry. In that same time period, giving grew by 61 percent, and assets grew by nearly 39 percent. Impact investors have ushered in new pools of cash, with more than $300 billion in capital invested in 2014, a 40 percent increase since 2012. In addition, creative new approaches like venture philanthropy and pay for success models are diversifying ways funding can be allocated to social solutions. 

Imagine providing  all nonprofits with the opportunity to share their organizations’ full and complete story with the world, at no cost to them. The team at GuideStar is committed to this vision, and the recent rollout of the newly redesigned GuideStar Nonprofit Profiles is an exciting step toward better achieving this goal. Since the profiles’ launch, foundations have been sharing their insights into how they are using them. We wanted to share some of our learnings and welcome your comments as well.  If you’re a funder, we’d love to know: how are you leveraging the new GuideStar Nonprofit Profiles?