What You Should Know About OKRs For Nonprofits

If you run a nonprofit organization have you ever stopped and asked yourself the following questions:

• How do I know if I am achieving success?
• Am I managing my time efficiently?
• Am I focused on the right things?
• Is it time to start a new program or fundraising campaign?

It's easy for nonprofit organizations to get so focused on doing good that they forget to assess whether they are actually achieving their goals.

This is where a framework called Objectives and Key Results comes in. Common with businesses of all sizes, OKRs can have a huge impact on nonprofit organizations. This article provides a simple guide to OKRs and how you can implement them for your organization.

What Are OKRs?

Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) are a way for organizations to set and track goals. It helps everyone in the organization know what they should be working on and why it's important. OKRs have two parts: a goal (called an objective) and ways to measure progress towards that goal (called key results).

To use OKRs, an organization first sets an ambitious but achievable objective. Then, they come up with key results that will help them track how close they are to reaching their goal. OKRs are usually set for a quarter or a year. Each team in the organization should have its own OKRs that support the overall OKRs of the organization. This way, everyone is working towards the same goals.

OKRs help organizations stay focused and make progress toward their goals. They also help create a culture of accountability, where everyone is responsible for reaching their objectives.

Why Nonprofits Should Use OKRs

1. Improved Fundraising: OKRs can help nonprofit organizations set clear and measurable goals for fundraising, which can lead to raising more money.
2. Enhance Donor Relationships: By using OKRs to track progress and communicate goals to donors, nonprofit organizations can strengthen donor relationships and increase support.
3. Improved Productivity: The framework encourages collaboration, communication, and responsibility within the organization, which can improve teamwork and productivity.
4. Increased Flexibility: OKRs provide a way for nonprofit organizations to be flexible and adaptable, as they can quickly adjust goals and priorities as circumstances change.
5. Improved Decision-Making: The framework can help nonprofit organizations make better decisions by providing a clear framework for evaluating and prioritizing initiatives.

Nonprofit OKR Examples

Here are three examples of how nonprofits can use OKRs to enhance fundraising, relationship building and programming:

Objective #1: Raise The Final $500,000 for a capital campaign

Key Results:

• Raise $150,000 by hosting a “Furnish The Center Gala”
• Cultivate 5 new donors to donate $50,000 each over the next three years.
• Go back to 10 campaign donors and ask for an additional $5,000 to finish off the campaign
• Raise $100,000 from 300 smaller donors in a 24-hour fundraising campaign

Objective #2: Develop relationships with 100 new people this year

Key Results:

• Set up 20 coffee/lunch meetings throughout the year.
• Designate 6 Shabbos Meals during the year for new families
• Go on Mivtzoim to new areas/offices once a month
• Ensure new participants have at least one touchpoint per month (opened an email, attended an event, donated, etc)

Objective #3: Grow the Preschool by 25% for the coming year (10 more kids)

Key Results:

• Hold 2 open houses
• Place 4 Ads in the Jewish Newspaper
• Fundraise for 4 scholarships
• Collect 10 Leads from Facebook advertising
• Create a Refer a family incentive

In these examples, the objectives are ambitious but achievable, and the key results provide specific and measurable ways to track progress toward the goal. By setting and tracking these OKRs, the nonprofit organization can focus its efforts on activities that will drive donations and help them reach its fundraising goal.

OKR Resources

If you are interested in learning more about Objectives and Key Results the resources below will help get you started.

1. "Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs" by John Doerr:
   This book provides a comprehensive overview of the OKR framework, including how it has been used to drive success at companies like Google, Intel, and Bono's ONE Campaign.
2. "Radical Focus: Achieving Your Most Important Goals with Objectives and Key Results" by Christina R. Wodtke:
   This book provides a step-by-step guide to implementing OKRs in your organization, including tips on setting effective objectives, crafting key results, and tracking progress.
3. 15Five: 15Five allows users to create objectives and key results, and track progress toward their goals through regular check-ins and progress updates.
4. Weekdone: Weekdone is a goal-tracking and performance-management tool that includes features for setting and tracking OKRs.
5. Spreadsheets: Spreadsheets can be a useful tool for creating and tracking OKRs. Users can create a table with columns for the objectives and key results, and track progress by updating the table regularly.
6. Paper and Pencil: Paper and pencil can be a simple and effective way to create and track OKRs. Users can write out their objectives and key results on a piece of paper, and track progress by crossing off items as they are completed.