Why Evaluate? What Nonprofits Can Learn from the Sphygmomanometer!
Medical and healthcare professionals rely on a series of tools and instruments that assess and help identify the well-being of their patients. Take for instance the sphygmomanometer, or blood pressure cuff; if used correctly, this simple test measures the force of blood in our veins and arteries. High blood pressure means the heart has to work too hard because of restrictions in the pipes; this constant pressure can put one at risk for a heart attack, heart failure, stroke, eye damage, and even kidney failure. Because early hypertension does not exhibit major symptoms, it often goes undetected until serious problems appear – hence its other name, “the silent killer.” But it doesn’t have to be this way – routine, quick, and painless blood pressure tests can mitigate much of the damage to the body, family, community, and nation at large.
Nonprofits are very much living systems. Just like our bodies, every part is connected. And if every part is connected, isn’t it necessary to keep an eye on key aspects to ensure its well-being and success? If check-ups are not in place, the organization risks proverbial organ failure which, if treated, may recover; but at great expense and, if untreated, may not recover at all and be deemed terminal.
But what about these check-ups?
Like the blood pressure test, nonprofit evaluations should be routine. At first, it will feel like an effort to make it happen, but as the process is repeated, it will become standard routine. Ideally, the evaluations should be done at least annually with the goal of continuous and real-time feedback. They should be simple; there is no need to make evaluations complicated. Evaluations should be focused; where possible, consult with professionals in building the necessary evaluations to obtain the actionable information – i.e. do not evaluate what you do not intend to change (that would be a waste of money and time).
But along with the procedure, consider the instrument itself. The blood pressure gauge, the sphygmomanometer, must be specially calibrated to register the force of blood in order to help determine a patient’s health status. Inadequate calibration produces systemic errors in blood pressure measurements resulting in over and under-identification of hypertension. In other words, utilizing an unreliable metric produces unreliable results. Just because a nonprofit uses a survey to measure something does not mean that that it will yield results that are trustworthy. Things such as internal and external validity, reliability, sample, protocol (methodology), etc., all come into play in producing results that can be trusted.
Similarly, appropriate fit with the sphygmomanometer is critical – too small a cuff results in too high a pressure, while too large a cuff results in too low a pressure (children and adults with smaller or larger than average-sized arms may need special-sized pressure cuffs). For nonprofits, evaluations should always take into consider the population being evaluated. Established corporate surveys and feedback loops will not always match a nonprofits needs or values. Elements of these surveys may, however, be used to develop a tailored approach to nonprofits.
When and if high blood pressure is found, tests are ordered to check for causes of the condition and to assess any organ damage. Likewise, when issues are found in a nonprofit, its leadership can investigate the reason for the problem, address it, and begin to see life breathed back into their program(s).
Like testing for high blood pressure, evaluating the health of a nonprofit does not have to be scary. Possibly the scariest aspect is what you might find. Nonprofits may find themselves misaligned. Even then, knowing what you are facing and having the ability to treat it has a greater positive outlook than not knowing and dying a slow death. Using metrics to assess various aspects of the organization can help identify those areas of misalignment (which is a natural phase in the organizational life cycle, not a failure) and provide opportunities for its leadership to course correct – tightening up program and mission, resource allocation, etc.
Ultimately, a blood pressure test is about ensuring life – and taken a step further, quality of life. Something as simple as a 2 minute exam every few months has the potential to save lives by identifying risks that would otherwise go unknown until it is too late.
