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The results of a recent online survey Ascendant conducted to learn about the strategy and performance management practices of mission-driven organizations started me thinking about the subjectivity and effectiveness of surveying people as a way for gathering measure data.

As proponents of the Balanced Scorecard method of strategy and performance management, Ascendant helps clients develop measures for tracking their organizations' progress. A large part of this is starting the measurement process as soon as practicable, so we often urge clients to use whatever data they have as soon as they can get it rather than waiting until they can get perfect data for perfect measures. In addition, organizations' that are just ramping up this process may have to rely on subjective survey data to have anything at all to measure in certain areas.

On March 7, Ascendant, along with the DC Public Schools and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, hosted an event titled Managing for Performance. The event has over 60 professionals representing over 20 schools coming together to talk about performance management in education.

Nonprofit organizations are rarely known for being on the cutting edge of technology – after all, budgets are limited, technical expertise is expensive, and many nonprofits are too busy focusing on their core mission to experiment with new technologies.

Fortunately for nonprofits, the technologies available today are cheaper, faster, and more effective than ever before. "Cloud tools" (internet based applications) are transforming the way that nonprofits of all sizes communicate with stakeholders and conduct their daily business. Many of these tools are extremely low-cost or even free.

While you may not be interested in the specifics of each offering, we highly recommend looking into how these new technologies can better spread your message and ultimately increase the impact of your organization. To jumpstart the conversation, we have compiled a list of the seven most interesting technologies as well as a summary of things your legal team should consider here.

Seven interesting technologies "On the Cloud" for nonprofits

Here are just a few examples of how low-cost or no-cost cloud tools and technologies can make a strategic difference in organizing people, completing daily tasks, and empowering employees and volunteers to become more effective in achieving your organization's mission: Skype: Is your organization using Skype yet? If not, why not? It's a Voice/Video over Internet Protocol (VOIP) service – a.k.a. "Internet phone" that allows you to call people from your computer. Best of all, Skype is mostly free (you can call other Skype users on their computers at no charge, and there are low per-minute fees to dial phones). You can use Skype to hold video conferences, conduct interviews, and achieve an "in-person" feeling even while talking with people on the other side of the country or the other side of the world.

Medical outreach organizations can use Skype to share live reports from the field – when opening a new shelter, or distributing medical supplies to hospitals. Some places are even using VOIP to send live video of patients to doctors in another country to allow for remote diagnosis.

Schools can use Skype to improve their impact on students. Say a student is learning Spanish and struggling because they have no one to practice with. In the past, students could fly to another country and learn through "immersion". Now, with Skype video, a teacher could connect a their class room with students all around the world for real time langauge immersion practice – for free! Students will be much more engaged in learning the langauge as they can see the real-time benefits of becoming fluent. With Skype, and similar technologies, it has never been so easy or so inexpensive to connect with people all over the world.

eNewsletters:

Is your organization still sending out paper newsletters by mail? Have you been reluctant to send e-mail newsletters because of the perceived complexity and cost of learning how to deal with web programming? Fortunately, there are a number of low-cost, easy-to-use programs available online (such as Constant Contact® and emma®) that can help your organization put together a sleek, effective e-mail newsletter to stay in touch with your key audiences. Even better, these programs give you a report of who opened the letters, so you can know exactly how far your message is reaching. And, despite the perceived costs, it may be much more cost effective than buying hundreds of stamps, envelopes, and sending staff to "stuff envelopes".

Remember to keep up an up-to-date contact list, and keep in mind that organizations sending e-mails considered "commercial" need to comply with the latest regulations from the CAN-SPAM Act. For example: make it easy for people to unsubscribe or opt out of receiving e-mails from you, include a valid physical address, don't use deceptive subject lines or misleading headers, etc. With e-mail as with regular mail, it pays to avoid the mistakes of "junk mail" and annoying advertisements. The more professional, toughing (or entertaining) and relevant your e-email newsletter is, the more likely it is to be read.

Social Media:

Even if your organization isn't ready to commit to an elaborate level of involvement on Facebook fan page, a YouTube Channel, or a Twitter feed you can at least sign up for these widely-used social media services – all three are free. At the very least, Facebook and Twitter can be a way for your organization to amplify your e-mail newsletter – by sharing news and information with your volunteers, donors and "fans." If you're willing to invest more time and effort into social media, you might find that it's a powerful method to share your organization's story, energize your volunteers, and generate massive word-of-mouth advertising to promote your organization's goals.

Content Management Systems:

It's easier and cheaper than ever for a nonprofit to build and maintain its own website. You don't need to spend thousands of dollars or rely on a web designer to update your site whenever you have a new event or announcement – with tools like WordPress , Drupal , Joomla , or Plone , you can easily create and maintain a professional looking website that can be updated by multiple people within your organization.

Collaboration and Productivity Tools:

There are amazing resources available online today – often for free, or at very low cost – that can help nonprofits be more productive and inter-connected. You don't need a lot of expensive software or proprietary systems anymore – instead you can tap into the power of cloud tools and services like Open Office (similar to Microsoft Office, and offering about 75% of the same features – but totally free), Google Docs (share spreadsheets and other documents with teammates all over the world – for free), and Dropbox (create a shared folder to share files online, viewable only by the people you invite – and it's free).

Data backup:

You don't have to rely only on hard disk drives to back up your organization's data anymore. Now you can use online data backup services like Mozy , where your organization's files are stored and backed up online and are able to be easily retrieved in the event of a crash.

Balanced Scorecard Management and Reporting Software:

Quarterly and annual reports "off the cloud" consist of compiling Excel spreadsheets, formatting PowerPoint slides, and then e-mailing version after version until everyone agrees (if you're lucky). Then the meeting happens, decisions are made, tasks are delegated and everyone is smiling.

Then they walk out of the room and chaos returns... Once again, files are stored all over the office and the reporting headache returns soon after.

Now, with a reporting system like ClearPoint Strategy, all of your strategy management reports can be built, updated, and retrieved from the same place. Version control is no longer a problem as the latest version is always there, for anyone to browse or modify. There is no confusion, any user can see or update what they need - and best of all - tasks now have accountability, ensuring they get done as discussed in your planning meetings. It's sold through the software-as-a-service model meaning you get all the power of a cloud system, but without any expensive IT centers to manage yourself.

Is it too good to be true? Try it yourself at www.ClearPoint Strategy.com.

As these seven areas show, technology is evolving incredibly fast – and this is a good thing as technology costs are drastically dropping, even while the tools available are becoming more powerful and easy-to-use. This is great news for nonprofit organizations that want to get up to speed with some of the latest technologies, but who don't necessarily need to be "cutting edge" (and paying top-dollar prices).

Challenges and Opportunities of Cloud Tools for Nonprofits

Bandwidth: Is your organization choking for speed?

One often-overlooked reality of the new Cloud Era is that every organization needs to pay attention to the quality of its Internet connection. Every nonprofit organization leader needs to review the organization's available Internet bandwidth and make sure that it meets the needs of the organization – and consider paying for upgrades if needed. A "wide open" high speed broadband connection can make the difference in not receiving a Skype call, or being able to hold a High Definition (HD) video conference with donors and stakeholders anywhere in the world.

There are powerful tools available online, but organizations can't afford to skimp on the quality of their Internet connection. There is also a huge ROI from having high-speed, high-quality broadband access, as it enables the organization's volunteers and employees to work much more productively and with less frustration from slow downloads or interrupted service.

Security: Is your information private? Can it be taken down?

The biggest concern that many nonprofit organizations have when considering cloud services is the issue of security. Cloud based tools and software offer incredible power at minimal cost, but when an organization signs up to use a cloud service, you are using someone else's computing system and you are relying on that service provider's own security standards. Most of the time, this is not a major problem – but there are legal and privacy concerns to be aware of. For example, Gmail accounts have been hacked – there is not a guarantee of 100% privacy or security when using a cloud-based service. Of course, every organization's computer system has a chance of being hacked or breached – cloud services are no different in this regard and both require diligent control of access and passwords.

Intellectual Property: Do you own your information?

Another topic to address with cloud services is related to intellectual property. Whenever someone posts content onto YouTube or Facebook, these services assume certain ownership rights over that content as soon as it is uploaded – the service is free, but the user pays a price in terms of surrendering some of their intellectual property rights. Each service has unique Terms of Service, so it's worth looking into.

Despite concerns about privacy and intellectual property, sharing content via cloud services seems to be the "new normal". Most people and organizations seem happy to give up some of their ownership of their data and content that they create, in exchange for access to powerful resources and the audiences available online. However, if your organization has any concerns about what exactly your intellectual property rights are, make sure to review the Terms of Service before participating in any social media site or cloud service – and as always, be mindful of what kind of information you are sharing online. There are sensible protections available, but it is something to be aware of and proactively manage while your organization explores new capabilities in technology.

Give it a spin!

With the latest advances in cloud technologies, nonprofits can embrace the potential of working, collaborating, communicating and sharing information online. It's easier and cheaper than ever before to enhance the productivity and public profile of your organization. Is your organization ready to tap into the power of the cloud? Learn more about using social media on our blog called "Tweet This"

Jobs. Jobs. Jobs. They continue to dominate the headlines and we would like to take a few minutes to talk about the current situation and how it applies to mission-driven organizations.

Right now, students and job seekers alike know it's a competitive market and are looking to demonstrate their abilities anywhere they can. Gone are the days of specialized repetitive tasks and today's job seekers know they have to be flexible.

They understand the importance of technology, business principles, as well as fluency in leading languages such as Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, and Arabic. They understand the value of maintaining solid relationships and have been steadily building their professional networks.

How will you use the available talent strategically?

In light of this incredible pool of energetic, talented, and driven candidates, it may be time to review your Organizational Development Perspective. We are not saying it's time to start hiring excessively, but is your organization making strategic moves now to best utilize this abundance of talent?

Many students and job seekers are looking to gain experience through internships. Today's interns (or even externs) are not "paper pushers" but driven and eager contributors. By giving them a chance to learn more about your organization, by giving them an opportunity to contribute to your team, you get fresh minds who are excited not by money but by the chance to prove themselves. Interns are often the best people to task with new and creative tasks as they are not constrained by outdated ideas or practices. And while they don't have all the skills or experience, they are eager to run with anything you give them.

Sure, there might be a dud along the away, but for minimal costs these internships give your organization a chance to bring in new energy and start developing your next generation of leaders. And if you provide real opportunities for impact, you will find that the best and brightest are actually more attracted to your organization.

Another strategic question should be discussed through the context of the Organizational Perspective. This question revolves around productivity. As budgets have tightened while expectations simultaneously increased, have your teammates and employees had the support they need to become more efficient? Lean thinking and process improvement are buzz words around productivity, but have you really taken the time to ask your employees what is really holding them back? Is there anything you can do as a leader to reduce their daily headaches so they can focus on the real mission?

Our final thought is on personal development. Tight budgets and economic stress have caused many organizations to be stuck in their 2008 mold. A majority of employees and team members are holding the same titles and responsibilities as a few years ago and have not had a chance to move up in organizations. This status quo behavior was required through a recession, but continuing the trend will drive high-performing team members away. High performers need new challenges--not busy work, but real challenges that have opportunities for growth. Opportunities foster creativity and excitement, which are critical to a healthy organizational culture.

So while there is plenty of uncertainty left in the world, it's time to begin opening the doors to new energy and talent. It's time to reaffirm your commitment to your team's growth. It's time to achieve mission driven success!

Successful strategy management and execution requires effective strategy review meetings. More specifically, success begins in the week prior to a strategy review meeting. Unfortunately, this is an area where many organizations struggle.

Agendas are often poorly defined. Factions within an organization may use meetings as a chance to compete for budgets or re-fight old battles. Some organizations can even see their meetings devolve into endless rounds of discussion and speculation, rather than a chance for leadership to make clear, disciplined strategic decisions based on the available data.

To keep your meetings focused on strategic choices, your organization should follow a clear progression of steps in preparing for each strategy review meeting. Important tasks are outlined below in a five day progression. But you know your organization best – if it should be 10 days instead of five then take that time to do it right for your team and culture.

5 days before the meeting:

Successful preparation begins with measure owners updating their information to reflect the organization's latest results for each performance measure. The measure owners then update their measure analysis, recommendations, and statuses (red, yellow or green) to reflect the latest data. Initiative owners update their information in a similar manner. Milestones, budget information, and status are updated to indicate how the initiative is performing.

4 days before the meeting:

Based on the data and analysis provided by the Measure Owners and Initiative Owners, Objective Owners then update their analysis, recommendations, and status to indicate whether their objectives are fulfilling the organizational mission. Objective Owners should keep their analysis focused on the key issues and problems related to the objective. Sometimes this means relying on information that is outside of the initiative and measure data and requires discussion and problem solving across functional and organizational boundaries.

After the individual objectives are updated, the Scorecard Owner reviews the overall scorecard and determines if there are any key issues that will need to be addressed by leadership. This is where potential issues are investigated, interested parties briefed, and any potential errors are corrected.

3 days before the meeting:

The Scorecard Owner discusses any issues with the organization's top leader. With a clear view of the entire strategy, together they make a decision about where to focus their time during the strategy review meeting. In essence, they set the agenda for the meeting based on the current issues. Once this decision has been made, the Scorecard owner should go back to the specific Objective owners and ensure that they are briefed and prepared to discuss their objectives in the strategy review meeting.

2 days before the meeting:

The Scorecard Owner sends out an informational packet in advance of the meeting. This packet has a clear agenda of the items to cover, any decisions to be made, and makes sure that the key players understand the issues and decisions that need to be addressed. This is an important way to set expectations and ensure that there are no surprises.

1 day before the meeting:

The Scorecard Owner meets with the top executive once more to pre-present the information to be discussed the next day at the meeting. This is an opportunity to help set expectations, alert the executive to any challenging discussions or issues, and get provide feedback on how to proceed during the meeting.

Don't Forget

This process ensures that owners and data analysts remain accountable for the strategic elements they own, that there is accurate data and analysis going into meetings, and that the team is well prepared to focus solely on making strategic choices within the actual meeting. A week or more of prep work pays handsomely when the leadership team can focus on strategic decision making.

In addition to the process laid out in this 5-day pre-meeting schedule, Owners also need to talk with vested interests prior to the meetings to discuss potential problems and ensure that no one is surprised by the data. Before moving forward, it's important to have accurate data that everyone agrees on – this will keep people from questioning or undermining the overall strategy, or delaying the implementation of new action steps.

The meeting facilitator also needs to ensure that meeting minutes give a clear record of decisions, action items assigned between meetings, clear expectations, and due dates. This makes it easier to help the top leadership ensure that everyone involved is well prepared for the next meeting. These minutes should inform the priorities that get discussed in the next meeting. No matter how large or small your organization, preparation, accurate decision making, and follow through are critical to success.

Final Note

Because solid preparation within the leadership team is so critical to successful strategic review meeting success, we highly recommend using experienced facilitators to guide your first few meetings. The facilitator can build a successful reporting schedule, ensure leadership is prepared, and then maintain follow-up as your leadership team becomes comfortable with a mission driven agenda. Most organizations only require a professional facilitator for the first few strategy review meetings while expectations and good habits are solidified. After that, most leadership teams know what to expect and can continue effective preparation, review and decision making, and follow up on their own.

We have been fortunate to work with many nonprofits that have dramatically changed their business. One nonprofit grew from five to twenty million in annual revenue. Another grew from twenty to one hundred and twenty million. Yet another rescued its nonprofits from going out of business to becoming a thriving association. I spoke to one of these nonprofit executives about how he made his board more effective as he grew his organization. I think there is a lot to learn from his changes over the last few years.

The difference between the success and failure of an organization's strategy often comes down to how well the organization executes the strategy at all levels. One of the key areas for strategy execution is the organization's strategic business units (SBUs) – smaller, distinct entities within the larger organization that serve specific external markets and may even have their own, distinct business strategy that merely complements the larger organization's.

For a health care system, the SBUs might be the individual hospitals or clinics within the system. For a school district, the SBUs would be either school zones within the district (if it is a large district) or the schools themselves and different departments such as the Curriculum department and the Operations department.

In conjunction with the March 2011 Mission-Driven Performance Summit, Ascendant and GSMI are conducting a Strategy Management Survey to gain insight about trends in mission-driven organizations.

Please take five minutes to answer our 14-question survey. By answering this quick survey you will receive a coupon for $300 off the standard registration rate for the Summit and be entered into a drawing to win a Kindle e-reader (U.S. residents only).

It's that time again, when we start thinking about turning over a new leaf and resolve to do something different in the New Year – whether in our personal or professional lives. I read an interesting article on this very topic in The Wall Street Journal on Dec. 22, "How to Keep a Resolution." It discussed the psychology of keeping a New Year's resolution.

After reading the article, I couldn't help but think about how similar keeping a New Year's resolution is to executing your organization's business strategy. The article said that relying on willpower alone is the wrong approach to successfully implementing a resolution.