Are you wondering what to do with those industry reports that will start coming across your desk in the coming months? Benchmark data can be a tremendous tool for nonprofit organizations, but knowing how to use them can sometimes be a challenge.

Here are 10 questions we use to help our clients learn from benchmark data, plus 2 questions every organization should ask about every piece of information it uses.

A benchmark is simply a set of data that provides a "mark" against which to measure your organization. It can include industry surveys, reports on giving, or any other aspect of nonprofit performance.

The first time I read any new data report, I go through it quickly, and highlight everything that is different than what I expected to see. This helps me focus my thinking and tunes out some of the "noise" that can be overwhelming.

The primary role of data are to provide comparisons between two similar things. The first step in making good comparisons is deciding what the comparisons are. In benchmark data, compare yourself to organizations that are similar in size, program, geography, governance structure, and funding models.

Once you decide who you are going to compare yourself to, look for any differences that stand out. Are you raising more money than similar organizations? Do you have fewer program staff? Make note of any areas in which you are different than the "similar" organizations.

How much are you investing in every aspect of your organization? Do you spend as much on resource development as other organizations your size, for example? Comparing your data to other organizations can point out places that are either inefficient, or need a greater investment.

Your budgets may be the same size, but is the investment producing the same results? Are you serving as many people? Or raising as much money? Or retaining as many donors? Use benchmark data to find the places where your investments are yielding the greatest results, and look for ways you can increase the yield of areas that are underperforming.

Mission impact is one of the hardest things to measure. But most benchmark data contain clues about how organizations are accomplishing mission. Are you measuring donor retention? It's a good indicator that donors believe you are achieving impact. Is giving to your sector increasing? Is employee turnover increasing or decreasing? Employee morale is closely related to mission effectiveness.

Look for clues in the data that measure loyalty from all constituent groups. Those clues are a good way to better understand mission achievement.

If your data contain any kind of satisfaction measures, like employee or constituent satisfaction, it's important to pay attention to these. Satisfaction measures can provide some signs to watch for in your organization, even if all is well now, by pointing out where other organizations are experiencing challenges.

Ask yourself why you are more or less satisfied compared to other organizations. Ask your team if they agree or disagree with your assessment. These data, while subjective, can create important discussion points for an organization, and spark learning well beyond the data in the survey.

Then, look for solid clues in the data that might explain satisfaction. For example, how do staff satisfaction and dollars spent on program compare? How does customer satisfaction compare with total revenue? Looking at these comparisons can make the data more valuable.

Ratios are the comparison of one data point to another, like total cost to raise a dollar, or program spending per constituent. Consider which ratios (you may have to do your own calculations) matter most for your organization. Which ones give you the best picture of how well you are accomplishing your mission?

This is the most important question you should be asking about benchmark data. Now that you know more about your industry, and how your organization compares, what will you do differently?

We help our clients answer this question, and make the most of what they are learning from data.

Now that you know, what's the first change you will make? Today, tomorrow, and next week? Good information creates urgency.

We help nonprofit organizations build lasting relationships with their constituents by asking good questions, astutely diagnosing issues, and providing solutions that work.

Visit us at www.outsightnetwork.com.
Twitter @KayOutsight