Workbook - Procurement Academy

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Acknowledgments

This workbook was developed by Bryn Sadownik as part of the Demonstrating
Value Initiative at Vancity Community Foundation. The workbook was
originally developed in December 2010 by combining several earlier
Demonstrating Value resources. The workbook is updated annually. Further
copies can be downloaded at www.demonstratingvalue.org.

The Demonstrating Value Initiative is a collaboration of a community sector
organizations, united by the common interest of developing more accessible
performance measurement and impact assessment methodologies specifically
geared to social enterprises. The initiative engaged 20 social enterprise
investors and operators between 2007-2009 in a process to develop and pilot
a measurement framework. This workbook and other tools on the Demonstrating
Value website are based on this framework.

The Demonstrating Value Initiative is based at Vancity Community Foundation
and has received financial and technical support from the following
organizations: Coast Capital Savings, Community Economic Development
Technical Assistance Program (CEDTAP), Enterprising Non-Profits (enp),
Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) and Renewal Partners,
SAP Canada and Vancity Credit Union.


Contents


Introduction 1

Structure of this Activity Book 1

Demonstrating Value's philosophy about measurement and guiding framework 2

Step 1 Define your Audiences and their Needs 4

Define the people who care about your organization and what they would
like to know 4

Assess how you can better engage your stakeholders 5

Step 2: Develop a Vision of your Performance Snapshot 6

Review Snapshot examples. 7

Describe the purpose and look of your Snapshot. 7

Step 3 Map out your Information Needs 8

Describe why you exist and what you do. 8

Map out your information needs. 9

Step 4. Design your Snapshot 14

Review Snapshot Example 15

Define the broad sections 15

Review your data sources 16

Design your Snapshot 18

Step 6: Define Additional Data Development 19

Prioritize new data development 19

Develop a Data Development Plan 20

Monitoring Methods 21

Resources for Data Collection 22

Survey Research 22

Focus Group 22

Observation 22

Appendix A: Information Map Templates 23

Appendix B - Sample goals for different program areas 28
Introduction

Demonstrating Value can help you take control of the data you collect, how
it is used and to communicate the performance and value of your
organization, social enterprise or program. In this activity guide, you
will work out what your data needs are, how they can be met, and design a
'Performance Snapshot' that will provide an engaging summary of the
performance and value of your organization.

This process involves the following steps:

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Structure of this Activity Book

The remainder of this activity book will guide you through these steps.
The purpose of each step is first described, followed by specific
activities for you to do. These activities are indicated with the
following symbol:

In some cases you will be refered to other Demonstrating Value tools that
can be found on the Tools and Resources page of www.demonstratingvalue.org.
These additional tools are marked with the following symbol:

Because no single person has the full picture of what's really going on,
and the information that is needed for different purposes, we recommend
working through this workbook with a cross-section of people in the
organization. You can do this in a workshop, a series of meetings, or
through targeted consultations.


Demonstrating Value's philosophy about measurement and guiding framework

This guide (and all other Demonstrating Value tools) are based on the
premise that the information you gather in your organization has to be
directly relevant to the decisions you make and be compelling for others to
learn about your value. To work out what information is most useful, always
keep the following simple question in mind:

'What do we want to know and show?'

In essence, you need to think about the story you want to tell and the
decisions that can be better supported by data.

The two lenses shown below can help focus the answer, and are reflected in
the exercises in this workbook. The first asks: 'What information is
important?' and the second asks 'How is information used?'

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Determining what information is useful is a big task, but it can be
simplified by looking at what you do from three different perspectives.

| [pic] |An Organizational Sustainability Perspective - What |
| |information can help you understand whether you are |
| |developing and maintaining resources to meet your purpose in |
| |the long run? |
| [pic] |A Mission Perspective - What information can tell you about |
| |the ability of the organization to successfully contribute |
| |towards the social, cultural and environmental objectives set|
| |out in its mission? |
| [pic] |A Business Performance Perspective - What information can |
| |tell you about the success of the organization from a |
| |financial or 'business' perspective? |


It is also useful to consider carefully how information will be used, by
considering three 'audience' perspectives:

| [pic] |An Operational Perspective - What information do you need to |
| |support day-to-day decisions by management and staff? For |
| |instance, what can help you stay on top of costs, quality, |
| |and delivery of your mission? |
| [pic] |A Strategic Perspective - What information do you need to |
| |support strategic decisions that are often made by a |
| |governance body such as a board? This information needs to |
| |educate your audience about key trends and events that have |
| |occurred. |
| [pic] |An Accountability Perspective - What information do you need |
| |to foster and maintain support of the organization? This |
| |includes support by investors, community members, employees |
| |and beneficiaries of your mission. This audience may have |
| |very limited knowledge of who you are and what you are trying |
| |to accomplish so your "story" needs to be very crisp. |

Step 1 Define your Audiences and their Needs

Your organization is important for many different groups of people, and in
different ways. These are your stakeholders. Understanding who these
people are and what they care about is critical for developing effective
monitoring and reporting capabilities. Common stakeholders include:

- Employees
- Volunteers
- Management
- A governance body (e.g. Board of Directors)
- A parent organization (for example in the case of a social enterprise
that is associated with a broader non-profit organization)
- Constituent group - those in whose name you are working
- Customers
- Investors, funders, donors
- Peers and partners
- The community at large

In this step you will name the people and groups who care about your
organization (your stakeholders), the information they need, and what you'd
like to improve.


[pic] Define the people who care about your organization and what they
would like to know

In the table below identify your stakeholders and describe what information
they need to have to do their job effectively. What does each stakeholder
need to know about the organization in order to manage, plan or to provide
support?

Don't be too specific or name individual people. Rather think of the key
groups of people that matter in and around the organization.

Add or delete rows as required.





|Stakeholder |Information needs - what they need to know |
|e.g. Management |Need to monitor operational issues and should|
| |be able to access additional information |
| |easily if needed to make decisions. |
|e.g. Advisory board |Need to be clearly informed (in a succinct |
| |way) about what is happening with the |
| |enterprise so they can offer the best advice |
| |possible. |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |



[pic] Assess how you can better engage your stakeholders

Look at the needs you've described. Where do you feel you can do a better
job in meeting those needs? What's your biggest priority?

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Step 2: Develop a Vision of your Performance Snapshot

A Performance Snapshot is a communication tool that you can develop to
present the performance and value of your organization to boards,
investors/funders and staff. It is tailored to your needs and the
audiences you want to connect with.

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The snapshot can be a printed document or an electronic 'dashboard', which
allows you to acti