Metrics
Measuring Community Health
Section titled “Measuring Community Health”What you measure shapes what you optimize for. Choose metrics that reflect community health, not vanity.
Metrics That Matter
Section titled “Metrics That Matter”| Metric | What It Tells You | How to Measure |
|---|---|---|
| Attendance rate | Are people showing up? | Attendees / total members per meeting |
| Participation breadth | Is everyone contributing? | % of members who spoke at last meeting |
| Follow-through rate | Do commitments turn into actions? | Completed action items / total committed |
| Retention (6-month) | Are people staying? | Members active at 6 months / members who joined 6 months ago |
| New leader pipeline | Are you growing leaders? | Members at Level 3+ on delegation ladder |
| Net Promoter Score | Would members recommend the group? | Anonymous survey: “How likely are you to recommend this group?” |
Metrics That Don’t Matter (Much)
Section titled “Metrics That Don’t Matter (Much)”| Metric | Why It’s Misleading |
|---|---|
| Total member count | A group of 50 where 10 show up is worse than a group of 12 where 10 show up |
| Social media followers | Audience ≠ community |
| Message volume | Noise ≠ value |
| Growth rate | Fast growth often means shallow engagement |
How to Measure
Section titled “How to Measure”Keep it simple. You don’t need analytics software.
- Monthly: Track attendance and participation breadth (a simple spreadsheet)
- Quarterly: Run a 3-question anonymous survey (NPS, “what’s working,” “what should change”)
- Annually: Review retention, leadership pipeline, and overall community trajectory
Using Metrics Wisely
Section titled “Using Metrics Wisely”Metrics are signals, not goals. A declining attendance rate might mean:
- Meetings aren’t valuable (fix the content)
- Scheduling doesn’t work (change the time)
- The community has matured and some members have moved on (natural and healthy)
Always investigate why before acting on what.