Program Overview

Measuring performance is critical for driving innovation, enhancing learning, and achieving organizational success in the nonprofit sector. Nonprofits, however, must evaluate social or environmental outcomes alongside financial performance, and the ideal metrics can be challenging to identify. To effectively address some of society’s most pressing challenges, senior executives and board members must focus on assessing and improving organizational performance.

In Harvard Kennedy School’s Driving Nonprofit Performance and Innovation online executive program, you will explore how to align mission and strategy through performance measurement. Through live presentations led by Faculty Chair Dutch Leonard and other Harvard faculty, along with case studies and group discussions, you will learn to think conceptually about performance measurement and prepare to lead performance-focused initiatives that will empower your organization and drive new levels of success.

This virtual program features sessions on innovation and organizational learning; generating evidence of program effectiveness. Participants will also learn how to build a culture of performance measurement and manage for collective impact, ensuring resilience and adaptability in today's rapidly evolving nonprofit environment. You will learn how to align your organization’s mission, strategy, and performance—and foster a culture of learning and innovation that ensures sustained success. Additionally, you will gain tools to assess and communicate outcomes to stakeholders while identifying key performance metrics for long-term organizational sustainability.

 

PROGRAM CURRICULUM

illustration of scheduleDeveloped by the Harvard Business School Social Enterprise Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education, and The Hauser Institute for Civil Society, Driving Nonprofit Performance and Innovation is an online program designed to cover all aspects of nonprofit performance measurement.

The program will take place over six half days: Thursday, March 20 from 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM Eastern Time (ET), and Monday, March 24 through Friday, March 28 from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM ET daily. Live online classes will run from 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM ET. Participants will spend one hour with their discussion groups in the mornings before classes on Monday, March 25 through Friday, March 29 from 8:00 to 9:00 AM ET. Select days will also feature open conversations with faculty from 12:30 – 1:00 PM ET. The program sessions take place via the Zoom platform. Please note that there are no live program sessions scheduled from Friday, March 22 through Sunday, March 24.

 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Driving Nonprofit Performance and Innovation covers these key areas:

  • Aligning mission with performance management: Link your organization’s performance with its mission and impact, and develop tools like a theory of change and logic models to ensure alignment.
  • Overcoming challenges in nonprofit performance management: Learn how to build a performance-based culture, increase organizational capacity, and implement a sustainable performance management strategy.
  • Driving innovation through measurement: Design experiments to enhance existing programs and foster a mindset of continuous learning.
  • Collaboration and stakeholder engagement: Use data to communicate social and environmental outcomes to key stakeholders and navigate external forces impacting the nonprofit landscape.
  • Creating sustainable performance systems: Address implementation challenges and institutionalize continuous improvement practices to enhance long-term organizational success.

Application Information

Driving Nonprofit Performance and Innovation is designed for senior leaders (typically with budgets over $1 million) committed to improving performance measurement and management. Note that this program is focused on organization-level performance measurement and management, not individual-level or human resource-focused performance measurement.

Those who will benefit from the program include:

  • Chief executive officers
  • Presidents
  • Executive directors
  • Chief financial officers
  • Chief operating officers
  • Board chairs
  • Deputy directors

Attendance by multiple organization representatives will foster teamwork and enhance the program's impact.

This leadership training program is suited for individuals as well as teams. It is focused on organization-level performance measurement and management, not individual-level or human resource-focused performance measurement and management. View a sample program schedule here.

WHAT PARTICIPANTS ARE SAYING

“This program gave me the tools to create a properly calibrated, flexible performance measurement system. It is a transformational experience for anyone leading a nonprofit organization.”
Kevin Worden, Executive Director, Rochester Habitat for Humanity
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Faculty & Research

Herman B. (Dutch) Leonard Photo

Herman B. (Dutch) Leonard

George F. Baker, Jr. Professor of Public Management, HKS; Eliot I. Snider and Family Professor of Business Administration, HBS
617-495-1117

James Honan Photo

James Honan

Senior Lecturer on Education, HGSE

Mitchell B. Weiss

Mitchell B. Weiss


Julie Boatright Wilson Photo

Julie Boatright Wilson

Harry S. Kahn Senior Lecturer in Social Policy, Emeritus

ALUMNI PERSPECTIVE

"This is a great program for any leader looking to help their nonprofit organization adapt to a new reality, objectively assess performance, and improve decision making at all levels of the organization"
RODRIGO MERINO ARANGO, CEO, YMCA
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