Wednesday Buzz: What Metrics Should the Board Monitor?

Just like association staffers, board members should also be looking at an association’s metrics.

“Volunteer leaders on the board may not think of the association as a business,” writes Robert C. Harris in a recent MultiBriefs post  (opens in a new tab). “They probably know the importance of key performance indicators (KPIs) in successful organizations but don’t give them much thought in a nonprofit.”

So, what should the board measure?

Membership is an obvious KPI, but they should also look into program and service usage. “What percentage of members use specific programs,” asks Harris. “Are programs self-sufficient? What metrics are used to measure program success before abandoning benefits?”

Advocacy organization should measure things like lobbying effort spending and the amount of touch points between the association and lawmakers.

A board should also keep up with event, financial, and membership satisfaction metrics.

Nonprofit Bots

Will Robots (and bots) Replace Nonprofit Staff and Interns in the Workplace? https://t.co/0bS65RIAwJ  (opens in a new tab) #nptech  (opens in a new tab) #18ntc  (opens in a new tab) pic.twitter.com/TmSHiaUbcN  (opens in a new tab)

— Beth Kanter (@kanter) March 20, 2018  (opens in a new tab)

What does the rise of AI and automation mean for nonprofits?

In a new blog post, Beth Kanter explores the common nonprofit roles that could be made obsolete by tech  (opens in a new tab).

Consider the major gift officer. “A new platform called First Draft  (opens in a new tab) developed by Gravyty  (opens in a new tab) uses AI to identify and draft emails to prospects in an organization’s database,” she writes. “These ‘unassigned’ prospects immediately become ‘assigned’ because staff members with minimal training can substitute for gift officers and manage the cultivation process.”

Kantor also points out that some human resource duties and even legal duties could soon be taken over by chat bots.

Other Links of Note

When it comes to planning an event, there are a thousand moving parts. The MPI blog shares 10 ways to streamline the process  (opens in a new tab).

Just because they call it “lunch and learn” doesn’t mean the lunch comes first. Over at Frank J. Kenny’s blog, Christina Green makes the case for letting people hit up a lunchtime event for free  (opens in a new tab)—if they skip the lunch.

Infographic of the Day: MarketingProfs reveals how different age groups use the internet  (opens in a new tab).

(stuartbur/iStock/Getty Images Plus)