CNE Impact Measurement & Reporting 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A nonprofit wants to measure long-term community change beyond its direct services. Which type of evaluation best captures this?
- Process evaluation
- Outcome evaluation
- Systems-level evaluation (Correct answer)
- Fidelity evaluation
Correct answer: Systems-level evaluation
Systems-level evaluation examines broader community or ecosystem changes that extend beyond an organization's direct outputs.
Question 2: Which data collection method is most appropriate for capturing nuanced beneficiary experiences that numbers alone cannot convey?
- Pre/post surveys
- In-depth interviews (Correct answer)
- Administrative records review
- Random controlled trial
Correct answer: In-depth interviews
In-depth interviews capture rich, contextual narratives that quantitative tools like surveys cannot fully reveal.
Question 3: A nonprofit's logic model shows a gap between outputs and outcomes. What does this most likely indicate?
- Too many program activities
- Missing assumptions or external factors are not accounted for (Correct answer)
- The theory of change is too short-term
- Data collection is too expensive
Correct answer: Missing assumptions or external factors are not accounted for
Gaps in a logic model typically reveal unstated assumptions or external conditions needed for outputs to produce outcomes.
Question 4: When a funder requires SROI (Social Return on Investment) analysis, what must the nonprofit calculate?
- Cost per client served
- Ratio of social value created to resources invested (Correct answer)
- Number of volunteer hours donated
- Annual budget surplus
Correct answer: Ratio of social value created to resources invested
SROI quantifies social, environmental, and economic value created relative to the investment made.
Question 5: Which of the following represents an OUTCOME rather than an output in a nonprofit's impact framework?
- 100 job training sessions held
- 50 participants received certificates
- 40% of graduates secured employment within 90 days (Correct answer)
- 15 instructors trained
Correct answer: 40% of graduates secured employment within 90 days
Outcomes reflect meaningful changes in participants' lives, while outputs are countable units of service delivered.
Question 6: A nonprofit uses a comparison group to assess program effectiveness. This design is best described as:
- Randomized controlled trial
- Quasi-experimental design (Correct answer)
- Developmental evaluation
- Retrospective case study
Correct answer: Quasi-experimental design
A quasi-experimental design uses a comparison group without random assignment to approximate causal inference.
Question 7: Which principle ensures that impact reports present both successes and shortcomings honestly?
- Transparency (Correct answer)
- Attribution
- Disaggregation
- Proportionality
Correct answer: Transparency
Transparency in impact reporting means openly sharing what worked, what did not, and the limitations of the data.
CNE Impact Measurement & Reporting 2
A nonprofit wants to measure long-term community change beyond its direct services.
Which type of evaluation best captures this?