Hi everyone,

I'm responsible for new program development as part of my job. Part of this charge includes a functional ROI model for our coordinators to use to tell them if the "new product" is a financially-viable idea (before they bring it to me for further research and design).

Traditional finance "payback" models simply don't work because most of us don't have a real finance background. Any thoughts? We're looking for all of our new programs to cover direct costs in year 1, cover direct and indirect in year 2, and generate a solid profit in year 3.

Thanks for any and all thoughts.

We've done a lot of work using Time to Proficiency as a way to get at ROI. Since you are measuring time it's relatively easy to capture the data and link it to financial measures.

I'm will to share more. Send me an email RSTEV@aol.com.

I'm working with three community college now.

There are some really good resources for market research -- that's a good place to start. One off the top of my head is a book called Guerilla Marketing (can't remember the author's name).

Laura L. Reis and Trout(See HBR/9/05)also Marketing Imagination by Ted Leavitt.

Lynn Kilgore, Without knowing the particulars
or special circumstances of your programs you
CAN realize a profit in the first year. Also, what is the expectation of your institution and how does your institution arrive at profit.

Nero Wolfe

You might try looking at the Phillips ROI model. We have used it in our organization and made modifications as needed to fit our culture. It can be found on www.roiinstitute.com