La Piana Associates provides organizational assessment services in partnership with nonprofit organizations, and also on behalf of funders who may ask us to provide these services for their grantees. For example, a nonprofit or funder may perceive a need for improved effectiveness, but need an outside expert assessment in order to identify the specific issues and their solutions. Or, as is increasingly the case, nonprofits may seek objective assessment of their organizational and program effectiveness so they can better market themselves to their constituencies and funders.

In either situation, we strive to help nonprofits improve their effectiveness by assessing their management functions, as well as the impact of their programs. We work with clients to build their capacity to perform objective self-assessment, and ultimately, to advance their missions. Our approach is a practical one that is participatory and customized to the client's needs. It is designed to expedite the identification and implementation of needed improvements.

Management effectiveness: We assess key management functions including human resources, IT, marketing and communications, program development and delivery, facilities, planning, evaluation, fund development, finance, and board governance. We work with the nonprofit to:

• Develop indicators, measures, and benchmarks: Identify performance indicators and benchmarks. Using survey research techniques, establish baseline measures of indicators specific to each functional area.
• Assess and improve organizational effectiveness: Compare baseline measures to benchmarks, identify needed improvements and actions to achieve better outcomes, and support implementation of these.
• Design systems and processes for ongoing self-assessment: Design basic data collection and analysis tools and systems, and help build the necessary internal capabilities (for example, through staff training) for ongoing maintenance.

Program effectiveness: We assess the nonprofit's programs in the context of the needs of the community and the organization's mission. Our focus is on immediate, short-term measures of program impact, as opposed to longitudinal evaluation. We help the nonprofit to:

• Design and implement needs assessments: Identify and measure basic indicators of community needs, and environmental (market) factors and trends.
• Identify and measure indicators of program outcomes to be realized in the short-term: Identify a manageable number of key performance indicators, design tools to measure these, and compare measures to benchmarks.
• Assess and improve program effectiveness: Assess how closely the nonprofit's mission is aligned with community needs, and how well its programs advance its mission and achieve their desired outcomes. Identify needed improvements, and support implementation of these.
• Design systems and processes for ongoing self-assessment: Design basic data collection and analysis tools and systems, and help build the necessary internal capabilities (for example, through staff training) for ongoing maintenance.

Our Practical Assessment process results in a concise, action-oriented report that identifies areas, both in management functions and program design and delivery, that need improvement. We also provide support in making those needed, high-impact changes. We provide specific recommendations for improved effectiveness. Additionally, through this process we support our clients in building their capacity for self-assessment and ongoing improvement.