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Measuring behavior change and impact is hard in most organizations, but add the complexities of federated nonprofit organizations or membership associations, and it suddenly feels impossible.

In this episode, I’m exploring why measuring behavior change and impact is so hard in these organizations and I’m sharing some creative ideas to measure them anyway.

Key Points:

01:38 Why measuring behavior change and impact is hard in a federated nonprofit or membership association

03:06 Creating effective learning experiences

04:39 Measuring the success of your learning experience in a federated nonprofit or membership association

Why Measuring Learning Feels Complex

In a federated organization, what you might view as the corporate office has very little "control" of what the local chapters do. And they have very little insight as well.

What does this mean?

If I am in the national or global office of a federated nonprofit, I can't roll out a training and make everyone take it.

Same goes for a new process or approach.

Same goes for systems.

So I might create a new training and add it to the Learning Management System (LMS).

But the staff who need it might never hear about it or gain access to the LMS.

And the ones who do might learn something new...but return to an environment where no one else is implementing that thing.

And measurement?

Well once the training is over, you have little access to the individual.

It prevents a challenging environment to measure learning.

Four Ways to Measure the Impact of Your Training

My first recommendation actually doesn’t have to do with measuring learning.

It’s how you start the process.

You have to be able to trust that you are doing the right things.

How?

Tie the learning experience to the organization’s strategies.

Embed behavior change techniques into the experience.

But, we also want to measure the impact of the training.

Here are 4 ways you can measure behavior change and impact along with the limiations of each:

Self-Reported Surveys:

Send follow-up surveys to learners months after training to ask if they are applying new behaviors.
Challenges: Accuracy of self-perception, low response rates, and lack of objective verification.

Supervisor Observations:

Provide observation tools for supervisors to track whether employees are demonstrating new behaviors.
Bonus: This engages supervisors in the learning process and reinforces accountability.
Challenges: Requires access to supervisors and their willingness to participate.

Site Visits & Direct Observation:

Conduct on-site visits to observe behaviors in action at different locations.
Challenges: Costly and time-consuming but offers high-quality insights.

Existing Reporting Structures:

Identify data that local chapters or teams already report and use it as a measure of learning impact.
Example: If teams submit regular progress reports, add a question about behavior change.
Challenges: May not be possible for all training topics and requires alignment with reporting teams.

Key Takeaways for Learning Evaluation

Measuring behavior change isn’t one-size-fits-all approach. There is usually nuance to it. When I work with nonprofits, I make recommendations for measurement and evaluation based on their unique situation, capacity, and resources.

But, by using options like these - self-reported data, supervisor input, direct observation, and existing organizational reporting - L&D teams can gather meaningful insights without overwhelming resources.

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