September 18, 2003 | Read Time: 1 minute
Balanced Scorecard Step-by-Step for Government and Nonprofit Agencies
by Paul R. Niven
The balanced scorecard, a system designed to help businesses evaluate their services and develop strategic plans, can also help charities fulfill their missions efficiently and effectively, writes Paul R. Niven, president of Primerus Consulting, in Carlsbad, Calif. The scorecard, he explains, prompts organizations to develop long-term objectives and to monitor their performance. His book describes how to set up a scorecard evaluation system and gives examples of how it has been adapted by nonprofit groups and government agencies.
Mr. Niven presents suggestions on forming organizational goals and establishing criteria to determine if a charity is meeting them. He says that objectives typically focus on the following: keeping costs low and increasing income, maintaining a skilled and well-trained work force, running the organization and its programs smoothly, and satisfying donors and the people the group serves.
According to Mr. Niven, employees at all levels of an organization need to understand those goals and how each performance measurement helps the nonprofit group complete its mission. He says that establishing a scorecard can help the charity communicate internally and to prospective donors both its strengths and the areas needing improvement.
The book also gives advice on selecting software to keep track of performance measures, teaching employees how to use the scorecard, and using scorecard objectives to develop budgets.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 1 Wiley Drive, Somerset, N.J. 08875; (800) 225-5945; fax (800) 597-3299; http://www.wiley.com; 305 pages; $45; I.S.B.N. 0-471-42328-9.
