Want Charities to be Evaluated Based on Impact? Be Careful What You Wish For - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly

Want Charities to be Evaluated Based on Impact? Be Careful What You Wish For - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly: For these reasons, the passion with which many hate accounting measures is often matched by their ardent belief in the promise of impact-based performance measurement. At the risk of sounding like an accounting apologist, I believe the nonprofit sector should be careful what it wishes for when it comes to pushing for evaluating charities based on impact measures rather than accounting measures. I fear that the same voices expressing hatred for accounting may one day redirect their ire toward impact measures, pining for the “good old days” when accounting reigned. As I see it, there are three key things about impact measures that could make the flaws in accounting measures pale in comparison.