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Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Why is outcomes measurement important for non-profit organizations and grantees?
Q. Why is outcomes measurement important for foundations, government agencies and grant-lending institutions?
Q. I’m not a researcher. How do I have the knowledge or skills to track outcomes?
Q. What is involved in the development and implementation of a data measurement system?
Q. What kind of database is used in RTS outcomes measurement systems?
Q. Why should IT systems be used to track outcomes?
Q. What is a HUB Zone?
Q. Why is outcomes measurement important for non-profit organizations and grantees?
A. Outcomes measurement is important for NPO's and grantees because the services or products of NPO's are generally not market-driven, but closer to public goods, and therefore many of their outcomes are not easily quantified. However, foundation and government funding sources, as well as private donors, increasingly expect NPO's to demonstrate their effectiveness. Having outcome data improves an organization’s capacity to fundraise and advocate on behalf of its mission and clients. For example, with outcome measures, an organization can present evidence to policy makers that indicates a need for new programs or funding. Measuring outcomes also provides a gauge to guide management, motivate staff, and focus the program’s mission. According to Sharon Oster, non-profit management scholar, “Evaluation is central to the continued ability of non-profits to innovate, adapt and use scarce resources well in serving their missions.”
 Q. Why is outcomes measurement important for foundations, government agencies and grant-lending institutions?
A. Managed care approaches to funding ensure that the agencies or organizations which demonstrate effective and efficient performance are funded. Periodic review of program outcomes ensure that money spent is being used for its intended benefits. Foundations such as the United Way of America, reliant on donations from private corporations and their employees—in the past plagued by scandals—have adopted outcomes measurement strategies because it must prove its outcomes to donors or risk losing support. IT outcome measurement systems allow foundations, government agencies, and grant-lending organizations to have better information more rapidly, enhancing their ability to make fund allocation decisions and to attract donors. It also creates a mechanism for funded agencies to establish goals and meet performance targets.
Q. I’m not a researcher. How do I have the knowledge or skills to track outcomes?
A. The staff of many non-profits generally do not view themselves as researchers and lack the skill and knowledge needed to track programs. United Way reports that not only do non-profits have difficulty determining which variables to track, they lack the skill and information technology infrastructure to establish a tracking system. An easy, flexible, user-friendly IT-enabled outcomes measurement system, such as Results Online® provides a solution, clearly guiding the development and implementation of an Evaluation plan, facilitating the creation of data collection tools, housing program data, and reporting on program outcomes—all with the click of a mouse. After implementation of these tools, staff may be trained to use the systems—write a logic model, input data, and use the newly developed outcomes data to improve operations.
Q. What is involved in the development and implementation of a data measurement system?
A. Implementing a computerized database that will provide new information to management, staff and funders requires planning for the operational changes caused by a new information system. Here is a general check-list that can be used for implementation:
- Develop measures of success for each service or program
- Determine initial, intermediate, and long-term outcomes
- Decide which outcomes are measurable
- Map the steps a typical client follows, labeling the best opportunities to gather data
- Identify potentially confidential data that requires restricted access
- Capture captive audiences—pinpoint opportune times to use surveys or interviews
- Meet with staff and stakeholders to determine which outcomes are most important
- Decide who will collect, enter, and analyze outcomes data—involve them in the design
- Produce a set of “ideal” reports that would add value for managers, funders, and staff
- Create a baseline of data to compare outcomes to over time
- Explore the availability of external benchmarks to compare to the agency’s outcomes
Q. What kind of database is used in RTS outcomes measurement systems?
A. Results Online®, and Results Online® 2 all utilize a MySQL database to house data. MySQL is a powerful industry standard database system. Data storage in Results Online®, and Results Online® 2 all utilize remote database on our server, so you don’t have to worry about managing program data.
Q. Why should IT systems be used to track outcomes?
A. Outcomes measurement systems often track client demographics, numbers served, participant satisfaction, and participant and program outcomes. IT can assist organizations in their efforts to track data and produce analytical reports. Computers optimize program measurement, and are superior to manual systems for three primary reasons:
- Digital information can be indexed, sorted, and cross-tabulated in far more complex ways than are feasible in a manual system
- Computerized systems can store more data much faster, and, given an appropriate back-up system, more securely
- Computerized systems standardize data collection but also offer opportunities to integrate data systems.
By automating information digitally, computers can streamline performance measurement.
Q. What is a HUB Zone?
A. A "HUBZone" is an area that is located in one or more of the following:
- A qualified census tract (as defined in section 42(d)(5)(C)(i)(I) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986);
- A qualified "non-metropolitan county" (as defined in section 143(k)(2)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) with a median household income of less than 80% of the State median household income or with an unemployment rate of not less than 140% of the statewide average, based on US Department of Labor recent data; or
- Lands within the boundaries of federally recognized Indian reservations
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