The Public Performance Reporting Toolkit

Reasons for governmental entities to engage in performance reporting (reporting the services efforts and accomplishments associated with a government’s programs and services) include the ability to:

• Demonstrate and strengthen accountability to citizens, elected officials, and other interested parties
• Inform decision-making and improve the resource allocation process
• Provide performance information that may be used to inform the development and enactment of a government’s budget
• Enhance customer service
• Improve the efficiency and effectiveness of program and service delivery
• Support strategic planning and goal setting processes
• Lend assurance the achievement of desired results by using performance information to monitor the delivery of services, provide early detection of problems, and make adjustments, if necessary, in the service delivery
• Potentially enhance a bond rating
• Provide users with information to assist them in assessing the government’s performance in providing services

Why engage in performance reporting?

• If you don’t measure results, you can’t tell success from failure.
• If you can’t see success, you can’t reward it.
• If you can’t reward success, you’re probably rewarding failure.
• If you can’t see success, you can’t learn from it.
• If you can’t recognize failure, you can’t correct it.
• If you can demonstrate results, you can win public support.

-David Osborne and Ted Gabler, Reinventing Government