The sea change in nonprofit human services: A critical assessment of outcomes measurement

Outcomes assessment or program evaluation has historically been an infreque nt activity within nonprofit agencies. Direct-service agencies have routine ly focused on measures of output as indicators of impact rather than on mea sures related to outcomes and effectiveness. Funders of program services (e .g., United Way, foundations, government agencies) exercise substantial inf luence over the use of evaluation by recipient programs and agencies. The e ssential task of identifying outcomes and implementing the processes associ ated with the outcome measurement enterprise, however, fail squarely on the non-profits themselves. This paper discusses and critiques the outcome mea surement approach from the perspective of a direct service agency and sugge sts how the available methods can be adopted most successfully.