As the year winds down and we get ready to celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa, I wanted to take a moment to stop and thank the people who we've been fortunate to work with over the past year. The work that our clients do on a daily basis is both incredible and inspirational, and we're incredibly fortunate to play a small role in helping them advance their mission.

Given that we work in the mission-driven sector (governments, education, associations, and nonprofits), I receive a lot of questions about the Balanced Scorecard in this area. How can a for-profit concept apply in the nonprofit space? Does the Balanced Scorecard support nonprofits? Isn't this a management framework that puts financials at the top of the strategy map? Little do people know that even in the 1996 book on the Balanced Scorecard by Drs. Norton and Kaplan, there is a section on nonprofit organizations.

Of course, nonprofits need to modify the strategy map to meet their needs, just like government agencies do. Neither of these organizations is in business to make money, so the financial perspective cannot be at the top of the strategy map.

Nonprofit organizations may have differing missions, taglines, and strategies, but one thing remains constant- the need to attract donors. Donors are the lifeblood of these organizations, providing the funding necessary to sustain operations and accomplish the mission. The donor landscape is constantly evolving and, as a result, organizations must look for new and improved ways to attract donors, while sustaining their relationship with current ones. It is an ongoing challenge to understand the expectations of donors and identify the most effective channels to communicate with them.

In the previous post of this series, we followed the microfinance institution as it went through the process of creating objectives for the strategy map and developing the corresponding measures and initiatives. Now that the strategy was in place, everyone in the organization was eager to begin achieving. This post will take a peek into the first strategy review meeting and provide a brief update on the microfinance institution's progress.

In part two of this series, we followed the microfinance institution as it learned the importance of having an effective mission statement. After drafting and agreeing upon a mission statement, everyone leaned back in their chair and seemed to be content with what they had just done. Eventually, after a few minutes went by, one of the board members asked, "acum ce?" This is Romanian for "now what?"

What is a mission statement? What makes a mission statement effective? How do you become mission-driven? These were just a few of the questions that the microfinance institution in Moldova found themselves asking as they began the Balanced Scorecard process.

After living in Moldova for nearly a year and developing a new strategy for a microfinance institution, I thought it would be interesting to discuss the process of organizational change in implementing the strategy. It may look slightly different in a former communist country, but the key elements span the cultural divide.

We have been fortunate to work with many nonprofits that have dramatically changed their business. One nonprofit grew from five to twenty million in annual revenue. Another grew from twenty to one hundred and twenty million. Yet another rescued its nonprofits from going out of business to becoming a thriving association. I spoke to one of these nonprofit executives about how he made his board more effective as he grew his organization. I think there is a lot to learn from his changes over the last few years.

In conjunction with the March 2011 Mission-Driven Performance Summit, Ascendant and GSMI are conducting a Strategy Management Survey to gain insight about trends in mission-driven organizations.

Please take five minutes to answer our 14-question survey. By answering this quick survey you will receive a coupon for $300 off the standard registration rate for the Summit and be entered into a drawing to win a Kindle e-reader (U.S. residents only).

No matter what size your organization - whether you have major corporate donors or a small army of individual donors - sponsors are the ones who keep the lights on and the doors open. These sponsors expect results and one place they look is Charity Navigator. Tips about improving your ranking are continued below.