“No Margin, No Mission” is frequently heard in non-profit circles, especially from those charged with safeguarding the long-term viability of a non-profit. The mantra reminds us that without funds it is difficult if not impossible to provide the services befitting our mission. And that is certainly true, but not the whole truth when it comes to appealing to donors.

In relatively recent times donors began to look at how efficient an organization was in stewarding their resources. So they began to look to various charity rating organizations and websites which tracked things like how much a charity spent on overhead and administration.

However, In more recent time donors are becoming even more sophisticated. They are now less unconcerned with overhead than with “impact.” They still look at overhead but they are asking a different kind of bottom line question. Their bottom line is not on dollars spent but on what happens as a result of every dollar spent.

Read the full article about the importance of success stories to describe impact by John Freund at Famvin.