What is Return on Mission?
Return on Mission (ROM) is the ability to look beyond the standard Return on Investment (ROI) formula in order to make sure your investments have the maximum impact on not just the bottom line, but to the maximum impact on the mission itself.
I like thinking in terms of “Return on Mission” as it makes the vendor understand what they are providing is not just an investment the organization is making, but it is an investment that should forward the mission of the organization in tangible ways. Every accounting package, website software, donor management package, grants management tool, etc. can and should be sold to you in a way that makes the impact on your mission clear. If the vendor cannot make that case for you then you might want to restate what you are looking for or find another vendor.
| Sample Return on Mission Calculation not including intangible costs -Assume: |
- Print 10,000 pages per month on a current printer/copier
- Current printer/copier costs $0.02 per printed page
- New printer copier costs $800.00
If new printer copier cost $0.01 per printed page:
- New copier/printer has half the cost per printed page
- Monthly printing costs from $200 to $100
- Gain $200.00 in trade-in on old printer/copier
Then:
- ($100 printing savings x 12) – ($1000 for new
copier/printer – $200 for trade-in) = $400 savings for year one - The initial investment of $600 ($800 for the new
printer/copier
minus trade-in) produced a return of $400 in the first year of
production - Standard ROI of 33%
Return on Mission Calculation for this scenario:
- $400 savings in first year of production / $400 (a
sample amount
of one month electricity cost at a children’s shelter building) = 100%
return on identified mission costs
Testimony -
“Before reading the Non-Profit Buyer, we were struggling with how to effectively communication to our Board of Directors, why the large investment needed to be made on a donor database. After reading, we were able to establish clear and concise Critical Business Issues and a Return on Mission, that enabled us to get the approval from the board for the project.”
Kelly Snyder, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas
