The financial model puts [the organization] beyond the vanguard of nonprofit management. – Major Donor
Situation
An education nonprofit, which provides rigorous academic programs for middle school youth in at-risk communities, was determined to expand its impact by increasing the number of students benefitting from the organization’s programs. Lacking the detailed roadmap necessary to achieve its five-year growth goals, the nonprofit enlisted Censeo to develop a performance model that would provide insight into the organization’s student achievement and operational performance.
Approach
The Censeo team guided the organization’s leadership and staff through an in-depth financial analysis and capability assessment, analyzing historical trends in student achievement and operational performance at the national, regional, and center levels. In the process, Censeo helped the client define attendance and academic performance targets and identify key cost drivers, and translated the insights into a user-friendly performance dashboard. This dashboard tracked operational and student achievement metrics, benchmarked them against the organization’s growth goals, provided the organization the flexibility to re-evaluate changing goals and cost drivers. Finally, Censeo designed an implementation roadmap for the organization, establishing critical milestones based on five-year growth goals and budget constraints.