Transform Data into Impact: Measure, Communicate, and Drive Change with Confidence
In the nonprofit world, outcomes are everything. Funders want results, communities deserve impact, and you need to show the difference you’re making—but how?
The Nonprofit Credential in Outcomes and Evaluations gives you the skills to measure what truly matters. Learn how to turn numbers into stories, insights into action, and outcomes into confidence. With the right tools to analyze, track, and communicate your impact, you'll build trust with stakeholders, inspire your team, and attract the funding you need to keep changing lives.
What you'll takeaway:
- Define your intended impact and create strategies to achieve results
- Identify the right metrics to track your activities, outputs, and outcomes
- Build an evaluation plan that evolves with your organization
- Adapt your data collection and reporting strategy
Drive results with proven value, and show the power of your mission.
Upon completion, your organization will earn the Nonprofit Credential Outcomes and Evaluations Badge, a mark of excellence to share with your network and show the world you’re serious about making an impact.
Outcomes and Evaluations Nonprofit Credential will be held on May 20 and 21, 2026.*
Each of the nine Nonprofit Credential courses is offered online, once in a calendar year. Please check the UNA Event Calendar for all upcoming courses.
While it's more beneficial to attend the live courses, we record the sessions so you can watch them on your schedule.
Cost:
UNA Member Rate: $200 for the first person/$40 for each additional participant
Not-Yet-Member Rate: $400 for the first person/$80 for each additional participant
*Dates are subject to change up to 30 days prior to the first session.
Outcomes and Evaluations Badge Requirements
In order to earn the Nonprofit Credential Outcomes and Evaluations Badge, the organization must submit the following items for review and approval:
Please follow specific guidelines in the participant folder, as they are always going to be the most current.
1. Community Needs Assessment (Choose one of the following options.)
- Provide the current community needs assessment used by your organization. With your current CNA provide a reflection/evaluation of (1) its accuracy reflecting the needs of the community, and (2) how your program is using the needs assessment to achieve your organization’s mission. OR,
- Submit a Community Needs Assessment your organization will develop within the next three months including a description of how you intentionally conducted the needs assessment to ensure the information is a fair and accurate reflection of needs of the clients and the community you serve. OR,
- Submit a plan for how you will conduct a community needs assessment in the future to identify the accurate strengths and needs of your community relating to the services your organization provides with a description of how you will accurately assess the needs of your clients and the community.
2. Continuous Quality Improvement:
- A driver diagram providing an overview of how your organization’s work leads to fulfilling your organization’s mission including:
- A statement of your organization’s overall objectives (based on your organization’s established mission),
- A description of the primary drivers (key performance indicators) used to measure and document your organization’s overall success,
- A description of what data you (will) use to assess success in the primary drivers (key performance indicators) you identify,
- A description of the secondary drivers (outputs) that lead to achieving success as measured by the primary drivers,
- A description of what data you (will) use to evaluate success in these secondary drivers,
- A description of the “change agents” or activities that your organization does on a regular basis to directly impact the secondary drivers
- A “Quadrant Diagram” showing a critical examination of the effort and impact associated with each change agent
3. Sustainability Plan: Submit a brief description of how data are collected, stored, analyzed, and reported in your organization along with a description of your organization’s plans for maintaining a data-informed culture of continuous improvement in the event of staff turnover.
4. Using Data to tell a Story:
- Change/impact resulting from your organization’s work, OR,
- Estimates of return on investment (ROI) from the work your organization does, OR,
- The reach of your organization’s services (e.g., the number of people served by your program, acres of wildland protected, number of fruit trees pollinated by your organization’s bees, etc.), OR,
- Other measures of success used in your program.
Subject Matter Expert: Jared Lisonbee
Jared Lisonbee holds a Ph.D. in Human Development from Auburn University with dual emphases in early childhood education and research methods. As a research scientist, Jared studied children’s biological stress in preschool settings. He has developed education program evaluations for the states of Alabama and Washington as well as at Weber State University.