New Profit believes that just as performance measurement tools are indispensable to for-profit enterprises seeking to grow and succeed in the marketplace, such tools are also critical to the success of social change organizations in the nonprofit sector. For social entrepreneurs seeking to increase the social impact of their organizations and grow to scale, performance measurement helps to:

• Build consensus on strategy by making that strategy explicit
• Align key stakeholders, including board members, senior management, funders, and local program sites, around strategy
• Provide each member of the organization with an opportunity to see how their role contributes to achieving shared goals
• Enable fine-tuning of strategy and adjustments in operations based on data

New Profit helps each portfolio organization to develop and implement a Balanced Scorecard™. The Balanced Scorecard is a performance management tool that holistically measures an organization’s success in achieving its goals; clearly links strategic growth plans to operations; and adapts to incorporate evaluation measures especially relevant to nonprofits creating social change. In partnership with Balanced Scorecard™ founder and Harvard Business School Professor Robert Kaplan, New Profit has adapted the Scorecard for the nonprofit sector by adding the “Social Impact” perspective and linking the Scorecard to our investment terms. We also use the Balanced Scorecard™ to measure New Profit’s performance and manage our organization, and to report our results to investors.