Ascendant Strategy Management Group Hosts Nonprofit Balanced Scorecard Event with Dr. David P. Norton

"Over 80 nonprofit leaders from the greater Boston community convened this week to learn how the Balanced Scorecard can help nonprofit organizations manage and execute strategy. The networking breakfast was hosted by Ascendant Strategy Management Group, a consultancy focused on helping nonprofit organizations and government agencies deploy performance management systems like the Balanced Scorecard."

Boston, Massachusetts, Jul, 19, 2008 -- Over 80 nonprofit executives from the greater Boston area got together this week to hear Dr. David P. Norton, originator of the Balanced Scorecard concept, talk about how the Balanced Scorecard can help nonprofit organizations build capacity to execute strategy.

Hosted by Ascendant Strategy Management Group, a consultancy focused on helping nonprofit leaders use the Balanced Scorecard to manage strategy, the event was a great success. Tiziana Dearing, the President of the Catholic Charities, Archdioceses of Boston and a client of Ascendant, remarked:

"We've recently started to use the Balanced Scorecard to manage our organization, and have already started to see results in being more aligned and focused. We look forward to applying some of the practical ideas that Dr. Norton discussed today to make our management meetings even more productive."

At the breakfast presentation, Dr. Norton discussed how the Balanced Scorecard Management System has been used at public sector organizations like the Fulton County School System and at nonprofits like the American Diabetes Association.

The Balanced Scorecard was first developed in 1992 by Drs. Norton and Kaplan and was first applied to the nonprofit space by Laura Downing, one of the founders and managing partners of Ascendant. Ms. Downing commented:

"The Balanced Scorecard is based on a simple premise: measurement matters. By helping organizations align their measurement systems with their management systems, the Balanced Scorecard helps organizations focus on long-term strategy. Most nonprofits have a very long term mission, they need measurement to tell them if they are having an impact."

Ascendant brings together industry-leading experience in Balanced Scorecard and performance management. It aims to offer its nonprofit and public sector clients independent and strategic advice to help them develop performance management systems to drive breakthrough strategic results. Ted Jackson, managing partner, observed:

"Ascendant is unique in focusing on nonprofit performance management. With over 30 collective years in the industry, one lesson we've all learned is that quality strategy is easy to come by; quality execution, however, is rare. Because most projects that fail do so because of faulty execution rather than faulty strategy, our priority is to help build the capacity for organizations to execute strategy."

About Ascendant

Ascendant Strategy Management Group helps nonprofits, agencies, associations, and foundations manage strategy, collaborate with stakeholders, and build communities around their strategy execution efforts. We offer Balanced Scorecard and performance management training, facilitation, and consulting to help organizations accelerate mission results. For more information about Ascendant, visit Ascendant online at http://www.ascendantsmg.com. To learn more about the Balanced Scorecard, please visit http://www.bscwiki.com and http://www.bsccommunity.com.

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