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What’s a Nonprofit "Program"? Really?

By Carter McNamara on May 21, 2010

Too Often, What We Call a Program, Really Isn’t

If you spent the day guiding old ladies across the street and someone gave you a dollar for doing it, would that mean you’re delivering a “program?”  What many people call a program is too often just a sporadic set of disconnected activities — it’s not really a program.

So What’s a Real Nonprofit Program?

A program is:

  • A highly integrated, ongoing set of activities,
  • Aimed to meet a verified unmet need in the community,
  • By accomplishing certain outcomes among clients and
  • Using sufficient evaluation to verify that it’s meeting that need.

The quality of the program depends on

  • How well resourced the program is with people, funding, facilities, etc.
  • How well the nonprofit responds to results of evaluations to improve the program

A program closes the loop — it hears back from its clients to verify if the program is indeed meeting the needs of the clients AND the needs of the community.

What do you think?

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For more resources, see our Library topic Nonprofit Capacity Building.

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Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD – Authenticity Consulting, LLC – 800-971-2250
Read my weekly blogs: Boards, Consulting and OD, Nonprofits and Strategic Planning.

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Marion is a popular facilitator of workshops and Board retreats. Her expertise includes strategic planning, board development, governance and harnessing the power of technology. [Read more ...]


Carter McNamara of Authenticity Consulting, LLC, provides organizational development, consultant training and Action Learning services, and is developer of the Free Management Library. [Read more ...]

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