Metrics Matter: The real takeaway from Bill Gates’ 2013 appeal letter


On January 30th, Mashable published a post highlighting Bill Gates’ 2013 annual appeal letter and its key takeaways. There’s much to learn but we’d like to briefly hone in on their first point, metrics.

Metrics Matter

Why Measurement Matters  is a video of Bill Gates discussing the importance of having the correct metrics and goals for a nonprofit. With new online analytical tools, measuring, accessing, and organizing goals is easier than ever before. The question is finding and measuring the right goals.

With the explosion of raw data available to nonprofits, your organization must learn to sift through the numbers and find the key insights. If you’re not looking at the right number, your ship is off course. You’ve lost your north star.

Is your nonprofit looking at the right numbers?

Is your nonprofit measuring total donations? Number of active fundraisers? Cost per fundraiser? Event planning cycles? There are many metrics out there. Make sure you’re measuring the ones that make the most sense to your organization.

Online Fundraising, peer-to-peer fundraising, nonprofit software

Photo Courtesy World Economic Forum 2011