What All Nonprofit Leaders Want and the One Thing That Makes Results-Oriented Nonprofit Leaders Different

There are two interlinked objectives that are common to most, if not all, nonprofit executive directors. They want to:

1. deepen the impact that their program has on the people and places they serve; and
2. sustain their organization – whatever “sustain” means to them, whether that’s nurturing it in its current stage of the nonprofit lifecycle or going through a renewal to take their organization to the next stage in its evolution.

Different nonprofit leaders go about achieving those objectives in ways that often look the same on the surface. But, as is always the case, it’s what lies underneath the surface that’s most interesting.

And what lies underneath the surface of a subset of nonprofit executives – I call them results-oriented social impact program leaders – is one common belief:

• They know that credibly proving and improving their program’s impact is the most logical and effective way to achieve the above-mentioned twin objectives – that is, (1) deepen impact and (2) attract, qualify for, and retain investment -and not just in the form of funding) that enhances the vitality and sustainability of their organizations.

If you’re a results-oriented social impact program leader, I see you.

You want to be able to credibly demonstrate and deepen the difference that your program makes so that you can showcase the value of your efforts (which feels especially pressing when your organization approaches a milestone anniversary) – BUT:

• you feel intimidated – or downright turned off – by traditional or conventional program results measurement, learning, and reporting…aka monitoring and evaluation (M&E…or MEL, MERL, MEAL, SI); or maybe
• you don’t know where to begin.

I want this article to encourage you.

Too often, traditional M&E/MEL can feel overly complex, mechanical, rigid, and misaligned with your organization’s mission, your strategic objectives, and your program’s context. You – like many of the 50-plus social impact program leaders I interviewed on the topic between March 2024 and February 2025 – likely experience it as a burdensome, standalone activity, driven primarily by funder/donor accountability needs rather than serving your objectives as the program leader. And often smaller social impact organizations – those in the start-up and growth stages of their lifecycle – face unique challenges that conventional M&E approaches just aren’t sensitive enough to address.

But there is a way to have your cake and eat it, too. You can robustly demonstrate the most meaningful results and outcomes in a way that’s straightforward and that aligns with who you are and how you work.

You don’t have to get ‘locked’ into logframes (secretly – or not so secretly – known as ‘lock-chains’).

You don’t have to feel obliged to track an endless number of meaningless indicators.

You don’t have to collect data in a way that feels out of sync with your values and mission.

And you don’t have to have everything figured out on day one. Even as an M&E/MEL specialist, I certainly didn’t! Besides, even after I became an ‘expert’, I was caught up in what M&E specialists like me often get wrong, forgetting what our work really needs to be in service of – until I gained in experience and in understanding.

So give yourself (and my former self) grace, okay, and hear me out.

Consider this your introduction to a new way of doing M&E/MEL – and a kick in the pants to just take that first step onto a fresh path (actually the first three steps, as I’m giving you a guide that covers all three), so that you can demonstrate your program’s value, optimize programming to deepen impact, and pursue aligned opportunities with confidence and intention.

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Sustaining Your Organization Through Its Lifecycle

The Typical Depiction of the Nonprofit Lifecycle and Your Nonprofits’ Characteristics at Each Stage of the Lifecycle

Let’s start with the objective of sustaining your nonprofit. Again, this could mean nurturing it in whatever stage of the nonprofit lifecycle it’s currently in or taking it to the next level. You’re probably already familiar with the typical depiction of the nonprofit lifecycle, but let’s quickly review it so that we’re all on the same page about what we’re talking about.

At the high level, the journey in the nonprofit lifecycle is typically described as going through four stages:

1. start-up;
2. growth;
3. maturity; and
4. renewal or decline.[1]

These stages are depicted below in graphical form.

The four stages can be broadly characterized as follows:

1. Startup: Here the vibe is lots of passion, excitement, and initial programming. Challenges often include limited external support and a lack of experience.
2. Growth: Vibe – things get more established, processes become systematized, and a results orientation starts to kick in. Challenges – inconsistent investment or a feeling of overwhelm.
3. Maturity: Vibe – now things have settled in and strategic partnerships are in place, and confidence has been built. But look out, stagnation may be creeping in.
4. Renewal…or Decline?: This is where your organization might no longer be the ‘go-to’ partner, facing decreased investment and the need to adapt.

(Of course many more details could be added to describe each stage, but I’d like to maintain our focus at a high level for now.)

The above generic journey through, and characterization of, the nonprofit lifecycle stages would then be depicted graphically as follows:

Figure 2: Lifecycle of a Nonprofit: Characterization of the General Stages as Typically Described

But Houston, we have a problem.

Do you see the problem?

The characterizations are fine but, as pointed out so astutely by a group of nonprofit leaders I recently spoke with, the typical, generic depiction misses the renewal/decline that can occur within each stage or at the inflection points between stages in real life.

A More Real-Life Depiction of the Nonprofit Lifecycle

So let’s take real life into consideration – that’s always practical, isn’t it? A more accurate high-level depiction of the lifecycle would go something like this:

Figure 3: Lifecycle of a Nonprofit: Refined (More Real-Life) Depiction of the General Stages

Or, truer to the cyclical nature of things (I’m a firm believer that everything can be more acutely perceived and understood through a cyclical lens), like this:

Figure 4: Lifecycle of a Nonprofit: Cyclical Depiction of the General Stages

As you can see, the above depictions take intermediary opportunities to renew or decline into account.

Are you still with me?

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A Powerful Ally (When Done Right!): The Role of M&E/MEL in Helping You Achieve Your Twin Objectives of Sustaining Your Organization and Deepening Impact

M&E/MEL Characteristics at Each Stage of the Nonprofit Lifecycle

To add to the characterization of the nonprofit lifecycle stages outlined above, there are also M&E/MEL-specific elements that help characterize the different stages. Those are added onto the general characterization below (in bold), along with what’s likely happening in the intermediary renewal/decline inflection points:

1. Startup: Here the vibe is lots of passion, excitement, and initial programming. Challenges often include limited external support and a lack of experience. M&E here might be basic, and that’s okay – sometimes you just need to start.
   • Renewal…or Decline? This is where your organization might not yet be the ‘go-to’ partner, facing limited investment and the need to adapt from a start-up way of doing things to a more structured (some would say ‘professional’) way of doing things. Your M&E system needs to meet you where you are and hold the flexibility and ambiguity needed to accompany your organization’s evolution.
2. Growth: Vibe – things get more established, processes become systematized, and a results orientation starts to kick in. Challenges – inconsistent investment or a feeling of overwhelm. This is where robust M&E/MEL becomes essential.
   • Renewal…or Decline? This is where your organization might be at the cusp or early stages of becoming the ‘go-to’ partner, facing the need for increased investment and the need to fully instill a results-oriented mindset. Your M&E system needs to meet you where you are and hold the flexibility and ambiguity needed to accompany your organization’s evolution.
3. Maturity: Vibe – now things have settled in and strategic partnerships are in place, and confidence has been built. But look out, stagnation may be creeping in. Robust M&E is still key, but it needs to have been set up for flexibility from the outset if it’s to serve you well.
   • Renewal… or Decline? This is where your organization might no longer be the ‘go-to’ partner, facing decreased investment and the need to adapt. Again, your M&E system needs to meet you where you are and hold the flexibility and ambiguity needed to accompany your organization’s evolution.

Beyond Characterization: How M&E/MEL Can Help You Sustain Your Organization and Deepen Impact

But did you know that truly powerful program results measurement, learning, and reporting (i.e., M&E/MEL when done well, using the approach that I’ll be sharing next) doesn’t just help characterize the nonprofit lifecycle stages, it helps you navigate those inflection points with greater ease and confidence improving your odds of successfully sustaining your organization.

You likely picked up on this theme in the last section:

• Your M&E system needs to meet you where you are and hold the flexibility and ambiguity needed to accompany your organization’s evolution.

If your M&E system is too rigid, it’s like trying to navigate a winding road with a stiff steering wheel – not ideal for adapting!

Beyond that, for it to be effective and sustainable, it needs to feel aligned with your organization’s, your partners’, and the people you work with’s (can that be written that way…Grammar Girl didn’t pick up her phone, so I’m going with it) ways of knowing, doing, and being.

The integrative approach I’ve developed does this – while still delivering the credible, meaningful, and actionable insights that you need, when you need them, so you can make informed decisions as you optimize programming to deepen impact.

Win-win!

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A Deeper Dive Into the Integrative Approach to M&E/MEL

How Integrative M&E/MEL Helps You Deepen Impact and Sustain Your Organization

The ‘integrative’ approach that I propose to social impact program results measurement, learning, and reporting isn’t theoretical. It’s a practical solution designed to meet you where you are, while simultaneously empowering you to meet – and even exceed – investor expectations. This approach embraces both the science and the art of M&E/MEL, acknowledging the real-world complexity of making a measurable difference.

It’s an approach that’s meant to align with you – i.e., your organization’s mission and values, your strategic objectives, and your program’s context – and that ‘converts’ for you. That means it’s not about data for data’s sake; it’s about building an M&E/MEL strategy and the related framework and processes in a structured way that’s in sync with both you and with ‘best’ practice.

And it’s about setting up an architecture that you can leverage to not only showcase (and even further) program results and outcomes but also elevate your strategic objectives, particularly helping you make good programming decisions (i.e., robust evidence-based decisions that help deepen impact), strengthen your program story, and attract, qualify for, and retain funding and other investment.

In sum, you get great evidence and you get to feel great about the process that generated that evidence.

Ultimately, integrative M&E/MEL is about helping you deepen impact and enhance the sustainability and vitality of your organization – wherever you happen to be in the nonprofit lifecycle.

Figure 5: Lifecycle of a Nonprofit: Cyclical Depiction of the General Stages With Renewal Facilitated by Integrative M&E/MEL

How Integrative M&E/MEL Differs From Traditional/Conventional M&E

Here are some ways in which the integrative approach to program results measurement, learning, and reporting differs from traditional or conventional M&E/MEL (though I acknowledge that the profession is evolving, too…just too slowly for my liking!).

Figure 6: Some Key Differences Between Conventional M&E and Integrative M&E/MEL

Early Wins for Nonprofits Applying the Integrative Approach

The integrative approach is proven to work. (Remember I said this isn’t theoretical?)

I put it to the test with the amazing nonprofit founders and executive directors who are part of the beta version of my Results Measurement Mastery (RMM) program, which delivers the integrative M&E/MEL approach using a four-step method that mirrors a North American Indigenous wisdom tool, while aligning with contemporary international ‘best’ practice.

I’ll let the client feedback speak for itself:

• “I feel much more confident. … I feel like I’ve got a firm foundation to talk about [my organization]. I know what I’m doing and why I’m doing it, so it was an easy [‘yes’ to be part of an event that will help promote my work].” ~ Margaret
• “My biggest win has been professional breakthroughs including game changing discussions with key partners, surpassing program goals…and establishing principles that protect my spirit and peace of mind.” ~ Angela
• “I can use everything I learned in this course to strengthen [my organization’s] case for support for the capital campaign we are launching in October!” ~ Monique

It’s still early days, and my clients and I continue to refine the method and the approach in our co-creation journey, working to ensure that their M&E/MEL systems are robust, practical, and leverageable (wasn’t sure that was a word, but spellcheck hasn’t called me out, phew!) to help them meet their strategic objectives all while meeting the expected standards. But to me, these early wins confirm that the integrative M&E/MEL approach can deliver the goods for results-oriented leaders.

But in the end, it’s not even about those important client wins. It’s about knowing that their success is moving all of us toward a better world, and I couldn’t be more honored to support them on their nonprofit journeys.

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Take the First Three Steps Towards an Integrative M&E/MEL Strategy, So That You Can Pursue Aligned Opportunities With Confidence and Intention – and, Ultimately, Deepen Program Impact and Sustain Your Organization

Thank you for hearing me out by reading this far.

Thank you for your efforts to co-create a better world through your organization and its program(s) – demonstrably.

In case you’d like to try applying the integrative M&E approach to your work, I invite you to download the free guide I updated especially for the nonprofit executive directors who read Nonprofit Insights. It will guide you through the first three steps towards an M&E/MEL architecture that feels aligned with you and that ‘converts’ for you. Get your copy on the Resources from RM3 Consulting website here – and then get on your merry way to credibly and compellingly demonstrating the value of your program(s)…without getting stuck in a ‘lock-chain’!

Suggestion for how to cite this article (using APA 7 style):

Shejavali, K. (2025, September 12). Why Your Nonprofit Needs the ‘Integrative’ Approach to Program Results Measurement, Learning, and Reporting (Spoiler Alert: Because It’s an Approach That Aligns With, and ‘Converts’ for, You!). Blog article. Nonprofit Insights. Available at: https://www.nonprofitinsights.org/an-integrative-approach-to-program-results-measurement-learning-and-reporting/ (accessed: [insert the date that you last accessed the article]).

[1] See, for example: ‘Nonprofit Lifecyle’ table by Social Impact Architects (2025), available at: https://socialimpactarchitects.com/nonprofit-lifecycle/ (last accessed: September 12, 2025); and GCN’s Nonprofit Consulting Group (undated) The Nonprofit Lifecycle: A Model for Making Smart Decisions. Resource article. Georgia Center for Nonprofits, available at: https://gcn.org/resource-hubs/article/the-nonprofit-lifecycle-a-model-for-making-smart-decisions/ (last accessed: September 12, 2025).