Reorienting Around Outcomes

The greatest hope of people working in the social sector is to make a positive, long-term impact. But, too often, the funding systems that support their work incentivize a short-term focus on “outputs.” For example, a shelter is typically funded based on beds filled each night—rather than an “outcome” like the number of people who transition to permanent housing.

What Matters: Investing in Results to Build Strong, Vibrant Communities, a project of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and Nonprofit Finance Fund, features essays by dozens of leaders, exploring the possibilities of an outcomes-based world.

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