Models and Components of a Great Nonprofit Dashboard

A dashboard allows a nonprofit to monitor both the effectiveness of this enterprise or business model, as evidenced by the organization’s financial health, and the impact of the programs and services being provided.

The process of developing a powerful organizational dashboard should be inclusive and based on strategy, but the metrics should be sparing—with a laser-like focus on the organization’s key drivers. And all of the above must be presented on a clear, easy-to-scan platform.

A dashboard must do the following:

• Align definitions of success across the organization
• Encourage dialogue about progress toward goals
• Facilitate timely identification of successes and challenges
• Ground decisions in concrete data and evidence
• Illuminate relationships between different activities

Successful dashboards also do the following:

• Effectively communicate strategic-level results
• Present data in a user-friendly visual format
• Create a snapshot of current status as well as trends over time
• Clearly show performance against defined targets
• Highlight out-of-the-ordinary results
• Include a manageable set of key performance indicators (KPIs)

Download our free whitepaper to get the full guide on how to build a powerful and strategic nonprofit dashboard.