Foundation Center's Larry McGill on Measuring Impact

In an op-ed piece in the Chronicle of Philanthropy earlier this year, William Schambra asserted that "measurement is a futile way to approach grantmaking." He further argued that foundations' track record when it comes to outcome and impact measurement has been unimpressive over the years, and that the costs and burdens such measurement places on both foundations and nonprofit organizations heavily outweigh any benefits gained.

And he pointed out that strategies for measuring impact keep changing, as unsuccessful methodologies are discarded in favor of new ones which he believes are doomed to fail as well. I think Schambra makes some good points. And while I'm not as pessimistic as he is, I would add some others as well