The Performance Snapshot

 What is it?

A Performance Snapshot is a management tool that creates a comprehensive summary of your organization's performance  and value that is easy to access, interpret and use. The Snapshot can be a printed document or an electronic 'dashboard', which allows anyone to actively engage with the information. This tool will give you a clear picture of performance and value to help you plan and manage your day-to-day activities, demonstrate your value to others, and ensure the long-term sustainability of your organization. 

See Examples of Performance Snapshots

A snapshot will enable you to:

• save valuable time finding and pulling together data for reports.
• see key trends and relationships in data, so you can get the most from the data you collect. 

The exact content and format of the Snapshot depends on its audience and the issues that are important to you. Design it to directly support the key decisions you make and/or to show the work and value of the enterprise to others. The 'Do-it-yourself Guide' and other support available through Demonstrating Value will enable you to create a Snapshot that fits your needs. 

You can create a snapshot using software that you are likely to have on hand (or can obtain easily). This includes word processing software like Word or OpenOffice, and reporting software like Crystal Reports and Xcelsius. In developing a snapshot, you will first design the layout (with the help of the Demonstrating Value Lens Framework and tools) and then develop it in your program of choice.  Using reporting software can enable you to link the snapshot to different sources of information in the enterprise (accounting programs, custom databases, spreadsheets), and in some cases can allow the audience to interact with the information using commonly used file formats like Adobe PDF, websites and Microsoft Powerpoint.

Developing a Performance Snapshot

The design process includes thinking through the audience for your information, what needs to be included, types of information (numeric, narrative, pictures, quotes, video) and then how to best present that information to tell your story. For example, the presentation for a Snapshot meant for an annual Board presentation might be very different from a Snapshot designed to be part of your public website to engage volunteers and donors.

For a simple version of the Snapshot, information can be simply copied and pasted from spreadsheets, applications or databases into the Snapshot. For a more advanced Snapshot, you can create direct connections to the numbers in your accounting software such as QuickBooks or Simply Accounting, your customer database like salesforce.com or your fund development applications like Raiser's Edge or Sage Millennium. While this takes a bit more effort to set up, the benefits of automatically updating your reports can be quite substantial.

Develop Your own Snapshot