of what an organization does, or how success is measured.

Downside – A quick caveat - the discussion that flows from these questions tends to focus heavily on the marketing and community-wide visibility aspects of the organization. Virtually every organization that I have observed

During the Spring of 2002, I was fortunate to work with Constance Rossum, one of the authors of the Self-Assessment Tool for nonprofits from the Drucker Foundation.

It was fascinating to see how quickly we could often get at the heart of an organization’s issues with five seemingly simple questions:

1. What do we do, what is our mission?
2. Who is our customer?
3. What does our customer value?
4. How are we doing at providing that value? How do we know?
5. What is our plan for sustained/increased success?

In this context, you have “primary” customers whose lives the organization directly impacts and “secondary” customers who benefit in other ways. These questions are great tools to engage a Board that is sitting on the sidelines, or staff who get caught up in the day-to-day routine.

In tight financial times, it is even more common for staff in an established organization to be searching for clarity of their mission in order to evaluate new program opportunities or narrow the scope of work. It is often surprising to see that many long-term Board members do not really have a clear understanding of what an organization does, or how success is measured.

Downside – A quick caveat - the discussion that flows from these questions tends to focus heavily on the marketing and community-wide visibility aspects of the organization. Virtually every organization that I have observed

simple questions:

1. What do we do, what is our mission?
2. Who is our customer?
3. What does our customer value?
4. How are we doing at providing that value? How do we know?
5. What is our plan for sustained/increased success?

In this context, you have “primary” customers whose lives the organization directly impacts and “secondary” customers who benefit in other ways. These questions are great tools to engage a Board that is sitting on the sidelines, or staff who get caught up in the day-to-day routine.

In tight financial times, it is even more common for staff in an established organization to be searching for clarity of their mission in order to evaluate new program opportunities or narrow the scope of work. It is often surprising to see that many long-term Board members do not really have a clear understanding of what an organization does, or how success is measured.

Downside – A quick caveat - the discussion that flows from these questions tends to focus heavily on the marketing and community-wide visibility aspects of the organization. Virtually every organization that I have observed

primary” customers whose lives the organization directly impacts and “secondary” customers who benefit in other ways. These questions are great tools to engage a Board that is sitting on the sidelines, or staff who get caught up in the day-to-day routine.

In tight financial times, it is even more common for staff in an established organization to be searching for clarity of their mission in order to evaluate new program opportunities or narrow the scope of work. It is often surprising to see that many long-term Board members do not really have a clear understanding of what an organization does, or how success is measured.

Downside – A quick caveat - the discussion that flows from these questions tends to focus heavily on the marketing and community-wide visibility aspects of the organization. Virtually every organization that I have observed

t is even more common for staff in an established organization to be searching for clarity of their mission in order to evaluate new program opportunities or narrow the scope of work. It is often surprising to see that many long-term Board members do not really have a clear understanding of what an organization does, or how success is measured.

Downside – A quick caveat - the discussion that flows from these questions tends to focus heavily on the marketing and community-wide visibility aspects of the organization. Virtually every organization that I have observed

of what an organization does, or how success is measured.

Downside – A quick caveat - the discussion that flows from these questions tends to focus heavily on the marketing and community-wide visibility aspects of the organization. Virtually every organization that I have observed going through the process decided they needed a marketing plan – which was rarely the highest priority from my perspective. I would suggest this tool is best used in combination with some type of operations assessment process to ensure that the organization also has the appropriate infrastructure to meet current obligations and new opportunities.