Growth Is Only Part of the Story: When Nonprofits Succeed, Does the Community?

Nonprofit leaders have traditionally been encouraged to pursue growth. Larger budgets, more donors, additional programs, and greater service capacity can all strengthen an organization. But the challenges facing our communities require us to ask a broader question: Are our combined efforts improving people's lives?

In his recent Forbes Nonprofit Council article, “Why Nonprofit Leaders Need To Build For Connection, Not Just Growth,” Shane Jacobson, CEO of the American Cancer Society and American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, argues that nonprofit success should reflect what organizations accomplish together.

We completely agree!

Housing instability, food insecurity, cancer, and educational inequity require contributions from many organizations. Yet we would take Jacobson's argument one step further: Lasting Collective Impact requires a shared measurement infrastructure that helps partners define success, track progress, and learn from their combined results.

Relationships make collaboration possible. Shared measurement helps turn collaboration into accountable action.

What Calgary Teaches Us About Coordinated Action

Jacobson points to Calgary's effort to address homelessness. In 2008, the city launched a 10-year plan involving government agencies, nonprofits, businesses, faith communities, and Indigenous leaders. Partners focused on coordinated services, permanent housing, and individualized support.

Between 2008 and 2018, nearly 10,000 people were housed, and homelessness per capita declined by 32%, according to a Calgary Homeless Foundation report cited by Jacobson.

The effort fell short of ending homelessness, but it showed how organizations working toward common objectives can achieve measurable progress on a challenge that crosses institutional boundaries.

Calgary also raises an important question for other communities: How can multiple providers recognize what is working, locate gaps in services, and evaluate progress toward a shared goal? Coordinated action becomes more effective when partners can draw on consistent information about community needs and outcomes.

How the American Cancer Society Connects Partners

Jacobson also describes the American Cancer Society's national roundtables, which have convened organizations across cancer prevention, detection, treatment, and survivorship since 1997.

Researchers, clinicians, advocates, funders, and other partners use these forums to align priorities and translate knowledge into practice. Jacobson reports that hundreds of partner organizations participated in 2025, contributing to publications, webinars, presentations, and professional education resources.

This model illustrates how a major nonprofit can serve as a convener, connecting organizations whose expertise contributes to a common mission.

It also highlights the difference between collaborative activity and community outcomes. Publications and educational resources can support improvements in care. To evaluate the ultimate results, partners must ask whether screening access has improved, treatment gaps have narrowed, or patients are receiving more timely support.

These questions require outcome measures that partners understand and use consistently.

Why Collaboration Needs Shared Measurement

Jacobson concludes by asking leaders to consider what they would measure if shared progress received greater attention than individual credit.

Nonprofits may agree on a mission while recording results in separate spreadsheets, databases, and funder reports. One organization counts participants served. Another records program completion. A third tracks changes in participant wellbeing. Without common definitions and comparable information, collaborative leaders struggle to assess their combined results.

Shared measurement has long been central to Collective Impact. The Collective Impact Forum identifies it as one of five core conditions, alongside a common agenda, mutually reinforcing activities, continuous communication, and backbone support.

A shared measurement infrastructure puts this principle into practice. It provides a consistent way to collect outcome information, examine progress across organizations, and make decisions based on evidence. It also helps partners identify differences in results that deserve closer examination, without assuming that a correlation proves one program caused an outcome.

A Food Security Collaborative Shows the Opportunity

In our earlier SureImpact article, “The Missing Link in Collective Impact,” we discussed the Food Security Collaborative of Contra Costa County, featured in “The Impact Collaborative” by Soren Kaplan in Stanford Social Innovation Review.

The collaborative brought together the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano, White Pony Express, Meals on Wheels Diablo Region, Loaves and Fishes of Contra Costa, and St. Vincent de Paul of Contra Costa County.

Each organization served residents experiencing food insecurity, but their separate data systems made it difficult to see where services overlapped and where needs remained unmet.

The partners developed a food equity heat map to visualize gaps in service coverage. Shared information helped them coordinate resources and respond to underserved areas. The collaborative also secured funding through a county Measure X grant application.

The lesson extends far beyond food assistance. Shared data helps independent organizations recognize patterns across a community and make more informed decisions about their collective work.

Five Requirements for Meaningful Shared Measurement

1. Agree On Common Outcomes 

Partners should define what improvement looks like for the people they serve. A housing initiative might measure stable housing six months after placement. A workforce collaborative might measure job retention. Shared definitions and reporting periods make results more comparable.

2. Preserve Organizational Visibility 

Each nonprofit needs to understand its own performance while collaborative leaders need to see results across the network. Both views are necessary to identify promising practices and areas requiring additional support.

3. Report Collective Progress to Funders 

Consistent reporting helps funders understand the reach and outcomes of their investments across multiple providers. It can also support conversations about unmet needs and future funding priorities.

4. Use Data for Continuous Improvement 

Partners should review results regularly, investigate unexpected findings, and adjust services when evidence supports a change. Measurement is most useful when it informs decisions throughout the year.

5. Establish Trust and Data Governance 

Shared systems require clear agreements about access, privacy, definitions, and reporting responsibilities. Organizations should also include community perspectives when choosing outcomes and interpreting results.

Why We Built SureImpact for Collaboratives

SureImpact was founded to help mission driven organizations connect the work they perform with the outcomes they achieve. That need becomes especially pronounced when multiple nonprofits contribute to a shared goal.

SureImpact for Collaboratives provides shared data collection, reporting, and analytics capabilities while allowing participating organizations to maintain their independence. Partners can examine their individual results, and collaborative leaders can review information across the network through shared reporting and dashboards.

Technology works best alongside strong leadership, shared priorities, and effective governance. It gives those commitments a practical measurement foundation, helping organizations communicate results and act on what they learn.

From Connection to Collective Impact

Jacobson's examples demonstrate the value of bringing organizations together around common challenges. Calgary shows how coordinated efforts can contribute to progress on homelessness. The American Cancer Society shows how convening partners can advance work across a complex field. Contra Costa County demonstrates how shared information can guide practical decisions.

The next step for nonprofit leaders is to connect their data as deliberately as they connect their organizations. Shared goals establish direction. Shared measurement helps partners understand whether they are getting there.

Learn how SureImpact can support your collaborative's shared measurement, outcome reporting, and continuous improvement efforts by downloading our free guide, Transform Community Challenges Into Measurable, Lasting Collective Impact.