Alright, alright, enough with the acronyms. In all seriousness, if you’re a mission-driven nonprofit with impact-related goals, chances are you have metrics or KPIs (key performance indicators) that you track–or want to track. Or maybe you call them NSMs (north star metrics) or OKRs (objectives and key results). No matter what flavor of alphabet soup you’re making, it can be hard to identify what metrics are the important ones to track, and why. Not only that, but data management is also a huge part of it. Analytics and reporting can be very difficult if the systems you have in place are in silos or there are manual steps involved with reporting. I’m sure many of us have been in roles where tracking a KPI meant manually counting, importing and exporting, or trying to recreate someone else’s complicated formula. Not fun! In this article, we will share a list of KPIs that can generally be considered important KPIs to track when it comes to nonprofit analytics and organizational performance.
What it measures: The direct results of specific programs or initiatives. For example, these could be improved literacy rates, healthcare access, or employment retention.
Why it’s important: This metric evaluates the effectiveness of your organization’s programs in achieving the desired outcomes.
Tips for calculating: Program outcomes are calculated by measuring the specific, tangible results of a nonprofit's programs or services against predefined goals. This involves setting clear objectives at the start, tracking relevant data (note: tech systems play a huge part here), and assessing changes or improvements that can be directly linked to your program’s efforts. Data collection methods typically involve surveys, interviews, or performance assessments to measure outcomes. The results are compared to baseline data or target metrics to evaluate your program’s effectiveness and its impact on the beneficiaries.
What it measures: The percentage of donors who continue to contribute over a specific time period.
Why it’s important: Indicates the nonprofit's ability to build and maintain long-term relationships with donors, impacting sustainability.
Tips for calculating: Donor retention rate is calculated by determining the percentage of donors who continue to give to a nonprofit over a specific time, typically year-over-year. To calculate it, divide the number of returning donors in each period by the total number of donors from the previous period, then multiply by 100. For example, if your nonprofit had 500 donors last year and 350 of them gave again this year, the donor retention rate would be (350 ÷ 500) × 100 = 70%. This metric helps assess donor loyalty and your organization’s ability to maintain long-term relationships.
What it measures: The amount of money you raise compared to the cost of fundraising campaigns.
Why it’s important: Determines the efficiency and effectiveness of fundraising activities, helping to optimize future campaigns.
Tips for calculating: Fundraising ROI (Return on Investment) is calculated by dividing the total revenue generated from fundraising activities by the total cost of those activities. So, the formula is:
For example, if a nonprofit raises $100,000 through a campaign and the total cost of running the campaign (including marketing, staff time, and event expenses) is $25,000, the ROI would be 4.
This means the nonprofit earned $4 for every $1 spent. Of course, a higher ROI indicates more efficient fundraising.
What it measures: This metric has two components: both the number of volunteers involved and how often or how long they are involved with volunteering.
Why it’s important: An indication of your organization's ability to engage and retain volunteers, who are often key resources for nonprofit work.
Tips for calculating: Volunteer engagement is typically measured by tracking the level of participation and involvement in a nonprofit's activities, such as hours volunteered, tasks completed, or events attended. Volunteer retention, on the other hand, is calculated by determining the percentage of volunteers who continue to volunteer year-over-year.
To calculate volunteer retention rate, divide the number of returning volunteers by the total number of volunteers from the previous period, then multiply by 100 to determine a percentage. For example, if 150 volunteers served last year and 90 returned this year, the retention rate would be: (90/150)*100 = 60%. Tracking both engagement and retention helps assess volunteer satisfaction and the organization’s ability to maintain long-term volunteer relationships.
What it measures: The total cost of providing services or running programs, divided by the number of beneficiaries.
Why it’s important: Offers insights into your organization’s operational efficiency and ensures resources are being used effectively and is a good metric to compare on a year over year basis. Basically, it’s a way to show how you turn funding or donations into measurable outcomes.
Tips for calculating: Cost per beneficiary is calculated by dividing the total costs of a program or service by the number of beneficiaries served. The formula is:
For example, if your organization spends $50,000 on a program that serves 200 beneficiaries, the cost per beneficiary would be $250. This means you spend $250 to serve each beneficiary. An important factor here is ensuring your accounting practices are sound; with costs being allocated accurately to each program.
What it measures: The total number of people or organizations served by your organization’s programs or services over a specifically defined time.
Why it’s important: Helps assess the scale of your organization's reach and whether it’s meeting the target goals for service delivery.
Tips for calculating: With this metric, it's important to make sure you’re not double-counting individuals across different services. Start by identifying all programs provided, tracking unique beneficiaries, and adjusting for overlaps when individuals may receive services from multiple programs. Some nonprofits also track indirect beneficiaries separately. Indirect beneficiaries can be defined as those who are not directly impacted by your services but may benefit from the ripple effect. (For example, family members of children receiving services.) As we mentioned, the most important thing to pay attention to with this metric is de-duplication and avoiding double counting for those who may receive services from multiple programs.
What it measures: The percentage of grant applications that result in funding for your organization.
Why it’s important: Helps assess the effectiveness of your organization's grant-seeking strategy and writing.
Tips for calculating: Grant success rate is calculated by determining the percentage of grant applications that result in funding. The formula is:
For example, if your team submits 50 grant applications in a year and receives funding for 15 of them, the grant success rate would be: 30%
This means your organization has a 30% success rate in securing grant funding. It’s an important metric to track the effectiveness of your grant seeking efforts.
What it measures: This metric looks at the broader social and environmental impact created by your organization’s activities relative to the investment made. It’s definitely a more complex metric to track but can be a very impactful one to communicate to stakeholders.
Why it’s important: Provides a more comprehensive view of your long-term impact beyond financial measures.
Tips for calculating: Social Return on Investment (SROI) is calculated by assessing the social, environmental, and economic value generated by your nonprofit’s activities relative to the investment made. The process involves defining the project's goals and stakeholders, mapping the outcomes, assigning monetary values to those outcomes, calculating the total impact, and summing all costs associated with the program. The SROI is then calculated using the formula:
For example, if a program produces $200,000 in social value (which is the defined value produced by the measurable outcomes) with a total investment of $50,000, the SROI would be 4, indicating that every dollar invested generates $4 of social value.
What it measures: The satisfaction levels of key stakeholders, including donors, volunteers, and beneficiaries.
Why it’s important: Helps evaluate your organization’s reputation, engagement, and overall impact from the perspective of those directly involved or affected.
Tips for calculating: Stakeholder satisfaction is calculated by conducting surveys of various stakeholder groups—such as donors, beneficiaries, volunteers, and partners—using a mix of quantitative and qualitative questions about their experiences and perceptions. After designing the survey (which we admit is a project in itself), it is distributed to collect responses, which are then analyzed to calculate average satisfaction scores or percentages of positive feedback. This process will help your organization get a sense of stakeholder perceptions and identify strengths and areas for improvement in your programs and services.
We hope you found this collection of important nonprofit KPIs and tips for calculating them helpful. If your organization needs guidance developing the important technology systems backbone to help you track these important KPIs, please reach out to say hello. The Fresh Perspective Group team can help.