Cost-Effectiveness in the Nonprofit Sector: Methods and Examples from Leading Organizations

This work not only makes the case that responsible nonprofit managers must routinely utilize cost-effectiveness analysis, but also gives many outstanding examples of how it can be done. The examples are drawn from prestigious nonprofit organizations as varied as the National Gallery of Art, Girls Inc., and the Nature Conservancy.Drawing on TechnoServe’s search for a practical methodology to measure the cost-effectiveness of its own work, editor Schmaedick provides a unique synthesis of the principles of cost-effectiveness analysis in the opening chapter. The guidelines he provides are almost universally applicable and make cost-effective management an attainable goal for all nonprofits. Rather than subject the reader to arcane explanations of intricate mathematical formulae, Schmaedick provides hard-nosed practical directions for nonprofit managers. Those seriously interested in upgrading the management systems of their organizations to produce more results at lower costs will find this a challenging, but not intimidating, prescription.