Using the Balanced Scorecard to Evaluate ICT Investments in Non profit Organisations

Abstract

For nonprofit organizations (NPO's), ICT is crucial to fulfil their social objectives. However, it is rare that ICT investments have monetary returns; ICT also has indirect impact on the social activity of NPO's. So it is very difficult for them both to decide about ICT investments and to evaluate their contribution to performance. NPO's should therefore define an appropriate evaluation framework, to understand if, where, what and how much to invest in ICT, to better achieve their mission. The evaluation framework described in this paper is based on the peculiar characteristics of nonprofit organizations, on the multidimensional evaluation criteria and on the balanced scorecard, adapted to the specific nature of nonprofit activities.