Getting the Most Out of Reporting Metrics
Fellow grant writers, this one’s for you. There’s a ton of pressure around metrics. I’m the first one to tell organizations that being able to measure and report on impact is crucial for successfully seeking grant funding. Institutional funders just expect organizations to be able to quantify and report on their work. The downside of this expectation is that metrics can sometimes feel like they exist just to have something to report on, and I’ve found us grant writers, myself included at times, to be some of the worst culprits of this. So, in the height of program design and proposal development, remember a few key things to make sure that the metrics you promise are truly helpful for your work:
Assess what you can really collect information on: The expectation to measure work pressure organizations to agree to collecting data and measuring any number of things that aren’t realistic. Always talk to program staff about how much time, effort, and money is required to track new metrics. It’s not unreasonable to ask for additional funding to pay for more data collection and analysis if it’s needed.
Review what data will be helpful: Before promising to add six new indicators because it will make a new donor happy, make sure that these indicators will help make your programs stronger. If a metric doesn’t provide information that will influence how you do your work, it’s probably not the right metric for your program. If you’re not sure that new metrics are aligned with donor expectations, see if the donor would be open to a conversation about why you propose a different set of metrics, and how those metrics will help your work.
Look at what data is out there: It’s easy to default back to the assumption that metrics have to be collected and analyzed in-house, but there’s a huge wealth of data out there, and there’s no reason not to take advantage of what already exists when designing your metrics. Just always be clear to funders when you are using third-party data in case there is a change in the accessibility or structure of that data.
Consolidate: Not every funder needs customized metrics. It’s OK to re-use indicators and metrics from funder to funder and grant to grant if those metrics provide the information you need to provide the strongest programs.
Don’t discount qualitative measurements: Metrics don’t have to measure hard numbers to be helpful. Not all programs will have a quantifiable impact or need a quantifiable impact. Sometimes qualitative measures are the best fit to provide useful program feedback, and if so, it makes sense to use those measures.
It sometimes feels like we need to have more and more metrics to prove that our work is real and worthy of funding. But always remember that at the end of the day, data should help you design and implement the best programs and services possible.
