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Evaluation
Building a Dashboard
Could your
organization benefit from a communications dashboard?
Evaluating the
impact of an organization's communications activities
and its relationship to fundraising, programs, and grant development can be challenging without a
guide.
While most communication plans are an
outline of activities designed to support one or two
goals, more organizations are finding a benefit in
creating an organizational "dashboard" to inform
thinking and to create a culture in which communications
is a shared responsibility.
A communications dashboard
is a visual planning tool that can help organizations articulate
how different activities connect to various goals and
priorities across the organization by focusing on
outputs and outcomes. Using this model, the
non-profit assigns unique values to "gauge"
each output on the
dashboard based on conversations with staff
and colleagues to determine expectations for various
communications activities.
For example, creating an
annual report can have multiple purposes within an
organization. For some, it is a tool
for cultivating relationships while for others it provides content
for the website.
The indicators of success in a dashboard are quantified
in a way that can allow the staff to continually assess whether the activities are producing the
desired outputs.
The concept of a dashboard
has been adapted from the for-profit sector. In
the business context the tool helps staff focus on the
bottom line. In the charitable sector, the process
for creating the dashboard can both educate and build
support and "buy-in" among staff who may
not see the communications connection to non-profit
work.
To read an case study
describing how Habitat for Humanity International used a dashboard
to educate and connect communications to the
organization's strategic goals,
download the attached review co-authored by K.D. Paine
and Dennis Bender.
>>Download
Building a Dashboard
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