Here’s How Great
Nonprofit Boards Roll
Here’s a Fast Fact…
Bowling (yes, bowling) is one of the most widely-played sports in America.
In fact, 67 million Americans do it regularly.
This makes bowling (yes, bowling) bigger than golf. It’s bigger than tennis. And it’s bigger than softball, pickleball, and basketball combined.
Who knew?
Well, now you do.
But the real question here is: What is it about bowling that makes it so attractive for so many people?
Is it the shoes? Is it the camaraderie? Is it the stylishly-retro, short-sleeved shirts?
All great guesses.
But no, no, and no. It’s none of these.
As it turns out, what makes bowling such a fun experience (for people of all age and skill levels!) is the immediate feedback you get after launching a 10-pound rock down a 60-foot wooden freeway into on coming traffic.
In fact, in less than two seconds from release to impact, you get to see the carnage you’ve created.
Then, you get to do it over and over again.
It’s glorious.
And when all is said and done, you get a total score.
And therein lies the lesson for today.
The Power of Keeping Score
Great nonprofits boards understand that keeping score brings four important things to the table.
#1: Keeping Score Created Motivation.
Put simply, the drive to compete is a powerful human motivator.
Here’s how it works.
Keeping score taps into everyone’s motivation by creating a clear objective: move the needle!
And this is important.
In fact, just by knowing if you are “winning” or “losing”, you become more focused, more energized, and more insightful into what’s working—and what isn’t.
Powerful stuff.
#2: Keeping Score Created Engagement and Focus.
Keeping a tally encourages everyone to pay closer attention to what’s actually transpiring from all the collective effort—and this is what deepens the enjoyment of the activity itself.
Said differently, manually tracking your charity’s activities created a more immersive experience for everyone involved. And that’s what keeps everyone coming back to the table year after year.
#3: Keeping Score Created History and a Narrative.
A kept score becomes the record of the game’s story. It preserves the small details and big moments that make the event memorable.
By capturing your charity’s “story” in numbers, people can look back and recall exactly how events played out—the crucial wins, the comebacks, and the standout performances.
In turn, this creates a powerful narrative that helps explain why the organization is succeeding—or not.
#4: Keeping Score is Deeply Rewarding.
When it comes to collective goals, keeping score can feel incredibly rewarding because it provides a visual representation of your progress over time. In fact, seeing the needle move (because of the direct effort you are expending) provides a satisfying “dopamine boost” and a tangible sense of accomplishment, even when the progress is incremental.
The 5 Scorecard Metrics That Matter Most
Time to lean in because this is where the rubber meets the road.
To keep score within your nonprofit, you’ll need to answer one simple question: “What are the metrics that matter most to our charity?”
While there is no hard and fast answer to this question, there are some metrics that matter more than others.
Here are five important metrics you should consider including in your charity’s scorecard.
Key Metric #1: Fundraising Success.
Why is the metric so important? Four words: “No money, no mission.” With this in mind, you’ll want to make it a high priority to monitor your charity’s number of new donors, repeat donors, and major gifts. Ideally, these numbers should be updated on a monthly basis.
Key Metric #2: The Organization’s Financial Health.
This includes, at a minimum, a current and accurate balance sheet and income statement. It should also include an overview of the cash on hand and any unforeseen expenses.
Key Metric #3: The Health of the Board Chair/CEO Relationship.
Make no mistake, the single most important relationship inside any nonprofit organization is the functionality of the board chair and CEO. In fact, research studies have shown that this single relationship explains about 60-80 percent of the organization’s success. Because of this, the health of this relationship should be monitored and discussed regularly.
Key Metric #4: Website Traffic.
Another key metric that should be considered for your charity’s scorecard is the traffic that your website is generating. Specifically, this is what’s known as a “leading indicator” meaning your website traffic is generally a pretty good representation of how interested people are in what your organization is doing.
Key Metric #5: Goal Status.
Another important metric to track on your scorecard is how your staff is doing in reaching their annual goals. This is most often a no-brainer for most charities, but it bears mentioning here. Remember nothing succeeds like success—and keeping everyone in the know will help to ensure that all the trains keep running on time.
Extraordinary Impact
To be successful, everyone—your CEO, you board, your staff, and your supporters—need to be motivated, engaged, informed, and curious.
Keeping score of the metrics that matter most to your charity will get this job done.
In upcoming editions of the eNewsletter, we will zero in on what a great scorecard looks like, how often it should be updated, and how it is best communicated.
But for now, you need to learn a critical lesson about why bowling has been so popular for so long. And it all comes down to keeping score.
Stay tuned for more insights in the next edition.
Until then, thanks again for all you do!