Customer Reviews

ROI For Nonprofits: The New Key to Sustainability

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Don't waste your money on this book. There are others out there that are more practical, applicable, and don't need to spend the entire introduction defending their business "logic". What managers need is information on what works, and what has worked, simply, as opposed to what someone thinks should work based on what they view to be a catchy title and (oh lord, don't make me say it) a new "paradigm".

A fairly engaging book. Good primer for those who are not familiar with what ROI is and how that applies to nonprofits. However, there is not a lot of new information here that hasn't been covered in other books. Lots of theory and anecdotes in these pages. But if you're looking for a 'How To" on Return On Investment, I'd recommend picking up a copy of Phillips' The Bottom Line on ROI: Basics, Benefits, & Barriers to Measuring Training & Performance Improvement (Measurement in Action Series)


I did not buy this copy, I borrowed from a friend becasue of the steep price. 45.60? This is a major issue issue with 'ROI For Nonprofits'. I suspect the author uses this book to bolster his consulting gigs. I've used consultants in the past that after the contract was signed and we got into the work I was informed I needed to get 15-20 copies of the consultant's book for my staff....and yea they were priced $35-40-50.

My take on 'ROI For Nonprofits'....at 45 bucks you will not see a return on investment.

This is a great book that forces non-profit executives to take a serious look at sustainability of their organization. Tom backs his theories with proven techniques in small and large communities. He is excellent at assisting leadership to put a dollar amount on services offered by the organization. Encouraging his clients to view non-profit as a business rather than an emotional appeal is what sets ROI apart from other non-profit consultants. Get the book, good information.

Tom Ralser offers an understanding of nonprofit fundraising that is critical for any nonprofit to truly achieve consistent fundraising success. With the number of nonprofits in needs of money and the limited number of potential 'investors', making an objective analytic argument for support will be critical to the success of all nonprofits. The days of simply making an emotional appeal to potential 'donors' is over, there are too many organizations vying for too few potential `investors' for this antiquated fundraising process to work effectively. To raise significant dollars, organizations must embrace 'the investor model' discussed in this book.

Tom Ralser is well-known in the nonprofit world as the pioneer of incorporating an ROI approach to fundraising. As a nonprofit consultant who has been involved in dozens of fundraising campaigns, I can attest first hand to the power of this approach. When a nonprofit can effectively demonstrate its impact and value on the communities and constituencies it serves, prospective sources of funding will "invest" (rather than donate) vastly greater resources to that organization. There is intense competition for funding. The nonprofits that incorporate notions of measurability, accountability, and return-on-investment into their fundraising efforts have a huge leg up in that competition, especially when it comes to securing corporate, foundation, and government funding.

"ROI for Nonprofits" is an excellent tool for anyone in the nonprofit sector or anyone involved in fundraising. I'd venture to say that it's even a worthwhile read for anyone who makes charitable contributions or investments to nonprofit organizations of any kind. I've seen the principles espoused in this book in action and the results are clear. The ROI approach really is the key to enhanced nonprofit sustainability. And "ROI for Nonprofits" is the clearest and most complete treatment of the subject I've ever seen, written by the preeminent expert in the field.

Mark Bergethon
Sage Fundraising Solutions
[...]

ROI for Nonprofits The New Key to Sustainability is a smart investment for any nonprofit professional. Tom brings new ideas to the forefront and challenges the way the sector currently does business. His insight and experience come through in a variety of ways throughout the book. I recently had him present to a group of nonprofit professionals in Southern Nevada about this topic and he received great reviews. The book makes you really think about how to do "business" with donors. I recommend it to anyone who wants to improve their organization's performance and fundraising program!

This book is a worthwhile primer for those grappling with outcome measurement and philantrophy. Donors in this day and age want to see performance, results on what they fund. And this book makes those outcomes clear and paints the picture that you can generate the data to get attention.

As a CPA and the CEO of an investor-owned hospital, I really enjoyed this book. I've met Tom 3 times. He helped our countywide healthcare coalition on a grant/strategic plan. I thought the end product was superb.

ROI will help the person or group needing to improve their fund raising and sustainability apply business principles to their organization. The book is written with a little bit of an academic flare with tables, citations and references to major business/economic principles. Tom shows the "end product" for 8 real life organizations of different shapes and sizes. I think this alone may be immensely helpful to someone trying to show the value of his or her organization to a potential investor (i.e. donor). He cites numerous examples with detailed graphs, tables and calculations. He takes some complex business ideas and formulas and helps the reader apply them to the non-profit sector. I have a financial background and had no problem absorbing the material. Someone without a business background is going to have to go slow in some parts of this book. But the complexity is mostly to "prove" the theorem. If you don't need the "proof" skip the calculations.

Some non-profit managers will struggle with parts of ROI because some concepts fly in the face of the "old guard" or the "way it has always been." As a donor (i.e. investor) and business savvy CEO I would say ignore his concepts at your own risk. Can you handle the truth about non-profits in the 21st century? Then read ROI.

This book was fascinating from its approach to valuing mission and working toward quantifying that with business people. In fact, I copied a few chapters to share with one of our donors and it elevated our conversation to a new level of understanding and sharing about what is "valued" from the business community.

Every organizational leader who feels mired in the mindset of traditional philanthropy or is feeling a need to reinvigorate the case statement should read this book for a fresh approach that provides practical tools, fodder for strategic planning and inspiration for improvement.

Tom Ralser pushes the envelope in advocating a business approach to nonprofit management and strategic fund raising. He touches on all the right issues and does so in a very practical way that will stimulate thinking in the right direction for any leader of a nonprofit enterprise. Some readers will disagree with his approach. Others will not be willing to make the huge effort necessary to align themselves with his paradigm. Not everything Ralser says is correct for every NFP but those unwilling to grapple with the issues raised in this book will eventually be left behind.