Clear Impact Blog

With the recent media focus on DOGE efforts, the concept of “government efficiency” has been at the forefront of federal and local government planning and budgeting in 2025.  Putting aside the shock and awe of the initial DOGE approach, the idea of government embracing a focus on government efficiency is as old as government itself.  Every taxpayer agrees that getting maximum value for tax dollars is important and that the ultimate goal is better quality of life for the children, families and communities in our country. 

Agencies often focus on compliance and reporting, but they lack clear impact-focused storytelling that resonates with policymakers and the public. Agencies that prioritize visual, data-driven demonstrations of their impact and ROI will be better positioned to navigate budget cuts and policy shifts (and pursue measurable impact after budget cuts are already made).  

To get state and local leaders prepared for an ongoing effort focused on government efficiency and impact, here are some tips from what I have learned establishing cultures of accountability through performance management and reporting systems for clients across the globe: 

1. Establish a public facing “Quality of Life” real-time dashboard that tells taxpayers whether conditions of well-being are improving or not with population-level indicators for their community.  Important areas to cover include public safety, family economic success, health, education, etc.  This could be comprehensive to the federal government or specific to each agencies purpose. Taking this a step further, having every employee be able to point to the population-level indicator that their work contributes to will create better alignment towards their local government’s goals. 
2. Creation of agency specific internal and external performance dashboards that speak to the impact of its programs.  Each program should have measures related to the quantity of service (how much they do), quality of service (how well they do it), and impact of service (whether anyone is better off). Most governments have begun a process in this direction, but it could be enhanced with common, unified dashboards that are easily accessible and do not have data buried in 100+ page annual reports. 
3. Unified reporting for all government contracts and grants. Establish common data reporting requirements for all government contracts and grants with a focus on quantity, quality and impact of service via a consistent and unified data system.  Having consistency on the approach to reporting will enhance capacity of vendors with multiple awards with multiple agencies. 
4. Performance Measures for Every Employee. Another radical but practical approach is to have every employee identify at least one performance measure for their work and create a performance improvement plan that includes the data, analysis of the data, understanding of partners that can help them, consideration  to approaches of  what works, and an action plan with a timeline to achieve measurable progress. 
5. Embrace technology. Government leaders must shift from static reporting to dynamic, real-time impact measurement and reporting. Data storytelling helps justify budgets, maintain public trust, and reinforce mission-driven work. Advances in technology not only make impact measurement easy to implement but also make it affordable. 

Having an improved culture of transparency and accountability, with measurable impact as the centerpiece, will allow continued analysis to know if agencies are doing the right things and if they are implementing effectively to improve the quality of life for all residents. Additionally, data sharing between departments can spark cross-agency collaboration and innovation. Data provides the foundation for testing these innovations and making rational resource allocation decisions. 

The time for state and local leaders to act is now. Investment in data-driven impact measurement is needed before further budget cuts force reactionary decisions. The most successful agencies will be those that don’t just cut costs but can prove—clearly and visually—that their work is making a difference. 

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You can learn more about our Clear Impact software suite and book a demo at https://clearimpact.com/software/suite/.

About the Author

Adam Luecking is an author, speaker, and trainer who has spent over 15 years helping government and philanthropic funders improve their performance and achieve measurable impact.

As CEO of Clear Impact, he also manages consulting services and technology deployment to agencies that serve children, families, and communities with the growing Clear Impact team.

Adam has delivered Results-Based Accountability training and consulting to a variety of clients and partners in over ten countries. He is also the author of The Holy Grail of Public Leadership and the Never-Ending Quest for Measurable Impact.