Plan Smarter for Next Year’s Giving Tuesday: Build Your Impact Roadmap Now

By Sheri Chaney Jones, Founder and CEO, SureImpact

As Giving Tuesday approaches, nonprofit teams everywhere are gathering stories, photos, and testimonials to inspire generosity. These stories matter, but without measurable results, it can be difficult to show real progress.

Imagine arriving at next year’s Giving Tuesday with a full year of data proving how your work changed lives. Instead of searching for anecdotes, you could point to evidence that demonstrates outcomes and builds trust.

That is the purpose of an impact roadmap: a new way to think about strategic planning that keeps your mission, your data, and your decision-making connected.

Traditional Strategic Plans Leave Gaps

Most strategic plans fall short because they focus on operations instead of mission. They outline marketing goals, fundraising targets, or communications strategies but rarely explain how the organization will achieve meaningful outcomes.

They tend to list outputs such as “We will host 20 events” or “We will serve 500 families.” Those metrics describe activity, not change. The result is a static plan that rarely influences day-to-day work.

An impact roadmap is different. It turns planning into an active process that helps your organization measure progress, tell its story, and make better choices along the way.

A Framework That Connects Mission and Measurement

An impact roadmap replaces the traditional binder on a shelf with a living framework that keeps your mission front and center. It starts with three guiding questions:

Why does our organization exist?

This becomes your purpose-driven mission statement.

What do we do to achieve that purpose?

These are your programs, services, and activities.

How do we know it’s working?

These are your success metrics.

When every activity supports your mission and every decision reflects measurable outcomes, your team gains focus. Programs become clearer, communication improves, and funders see the value of their investment.

Research supports this approach. In a study I conducted of more than 200 nonprofits, organizations with strong “measurement cultures” — those that use data to guide decisions — reported greater funding, stronger collaboration, and more effective programs. Sixty-two percent even increased revenue during the Great Recession. The deciding factor was not budget or staff size, but leadership commitment.

Start With the Five Whys

A simple exercise called the Five Whys can help you build clarity around your purpose. Ask your team:

• Why do we do what we do?

• Why do funders partner with us?

• Why do participants engage with our programs?

Repeat the question “why” until you reach the root motivation. This process often uncovers differences in perspective and helps align leadership around a shared purpose.

For example, a senior services agency once had a long and uninspiring mission statement. After using the Five Whys, they redefined it as: “We promote choice, independence, and quality of life for all aging Ohioans.”

That clear statement became the foundation for their programs, performance measures, and fundraising messages.

Linking Programs, Data, and Results

Once you know your purpose, map out how your programs create change. Picture a bridge connecting where you are today to the results you want to achieve. Each program represents a lane on the bridge, and every service or activity is a vehicle crossing it.

The bridge holds if each vehicle contributes to progress. If an activity does not move you toward measurable results, reconsider whether it belongs on your roadmap.

Three Types of Data Every Nonprofit Needs

To measure and communicate progress effectively, collect three types of data:

1. Outputs: What was done?

   Example: number of people served, workshops held, meals distributed.

   
   

2. Quality: How well was it done?

   Example: participant satisfaction, accessibility, or cultural responsiveness.

   
   

3. Outcomes: Who is better off, and how?

   Example: improved health, increased income, or higher graduation rates.

Together, these data points reveal whether your programs are achieving the results you expect. They also provide a foundation for storytelling and funding proposals.

A Case Study in Action: Families Flourish

Families Flourish, a SureImpact client, helps working families move from under-resourced neighborhoods to higher-opportunity communities. The organization provides three years of rent support, monthly coaching, and financial education.

By tracking outcomes through SureImpact, Families Flourish can see how participants improve over time. Graduates increased their income by an average of 58 percent, or about $17,000 annually. Those results led to a $2 million line item in the state budget, providing recurring support for their work.

Data transformed their mission from a vision into verifiable progress.

To learn more about the innovative work of Families Flourish, check out their case study.

Using Your Impact Roadmap to Strengthen Giving Tuesday

Giving Tuesday 2025 is only weeks away, but there’s still time to prepare for 2026. Organizations that begin collecting and analyzing data now will have a year’s worth of outcomes to share next fall.

Next year’s appeal could include statements such as:

• “Nine out of ten participants secured stable housing.”

• “Eighty percent of students improved their reading scores.”

• “Our programs helped 150 families increase household income.”

These statements show measurable change. They turn donor interest into confidence and help your story stand out in a crowded fundraising season.

The key is to begin tracking outcomes today, so you have real data to share next year.

Your 2026 Impact Roadmap Checklist

1. Clarify your mission.

   Make sure it clearly states who you serve and what you seek to achieve.

   
   

2. Define your programs and activities.

   Connect each one directly to measurable outcomes.

   
   

3. Select the right metrics.

   Use a mix of outputs, quality indicators, and outcomes that reflect your mission and funder priorities.

   
   

4. Adopt a system for tracking results.

   Use technology that simplifies data collection and reporting so you can see progress in real time.

   
   

5. Create a learning culture.

   Review your data regularly and use it to guide improvements and celebrate progress.

   
   

6. Share your impact story.

   Build your communications and fundraising around real results.

Looking Ahead

An impact roadmap helps your organization act with purpose, measure what matters, and communicate results that inspire trust. The process is straightforward: clarify your mission, connect your work to outcomes, and use data to guide every step.

Giving Tuesday 2025 may arrive too soon to showcase a full year of measurable impact, but by starting now, you can build the foundation for a powerful story next year. The sooner you begin, the sooner your data can reflect the difference your organization makes every day.