Skip to main content
Understanding goals

An organization's mission should be broken down into measurable goals. These goals can be tracked within a nation.

Updated over a week ago

šŸ“Œ Note: Memberships are available as add-ons. For more information on adding new features please see the add-ons page in your nation.

Table of Contents

Goal types

There are 14 types of goals available.

All nations can measure:

  1. Contacts

  2. Paths started

  3. Paths completed

  4. Paths completed total value

  5. Supporters

  6. RSVPs

  7. Twitter followers (followers of a nation's broadcasters)

Depending on which features are being used, additional goals will be relevant:

  1. Customers (people who have paid invoices)

  2. Donations

  3. Donors

  4. Members

  5. Petition signatures (collected on a nation's website)

  6. Recurring donors

  7. Volunteers

Each goal connects to a quantifiable aspect of a nation. When creating a new goal, it is necessary to define the goal. For example, the contacts goal does not simply display the number of contacts made in a particular time frame. This goal type measures the number of contacts made against the number of contacts desired.

Goals dashboard

You can see the overview of your active goals at Dashboard > Goals > In progress.

1. List of goals

On this dashboard you will see the list of goals that are currently tracking data.


The goals are listed in the order of their end dates. Goals that are closest to ending will be listed at top, regardless of when they were set.Ā 

2. In progress v. Ended

Goals must be active to be listed at Dashboard > Goals > In progress. Any goals listed here must be continuously tracking data or have expiration dates set in the future.

At Dashboard > Goals > Ended you can see past goals. These goals can be renamed, but not edited.Ā 

You may retroactively track goals. Create a new goal and select a date period that has already passed. It will accumulate the data from your nation for the designated time period. This is advantageous if you hope to look at cumulative donations from past quarters.

3. Progress

When you set up a goal you may enter a numerical target ā€“ like a target number of petition signatures or number of paths completed. A progress bar will display how close you are to reaching this numerical total. As actions are counted, they will be reflected in the progress bar. Goal progress is updated in your Nation every hour.Ā 

Your progress will be listed numerically and in percentage value.

If you did not select a target, you will be able to see the number of ongoing total path completions or actions taken.

4. Leader

This column will list the control panel user who is the top contributor to the goalā€™s overall progress. Contributions are credited differently for path and general goals. The leader will be listed with the number of contributions they made to the total goal.

For path goals: A control panel user is counted as the contributor if they are listed as the path point person. If the path does not have a path point person, then the contribution will be credited to the profileā€™s point person.

For action goals: A control panel user is counted as contributor if they are the point person to the profile that took the action in the nation.Ā 

5. Your contribution

This number will display how much you have contributed to the overall progress of the goal as a control panel user. This is a great way to see your influence as a control panel user towards the success of your nation. You can easily see the number of contributions you have made to a goal as compared to the leader.Ā 

6. Remaining needed

Track how many more paths or actions you will need to reach your goal. You will see how many more days you have to reach your goal if an end date is set.

7. Options

Hover over and click Edit to edit the goal. This will direct you to your goalā€™s advanced dashboard. From the dashboard you can edit the name of your goal.

The Delete goal option allows you to remove the goal. Deleting a goal is a three step process:

  1. Click the arrow.

  2. Click on Delete goal.

  3. The wording will change to "Sure?" Click on Sure? to remove the goal.

The Clone goal option allows you to clone the goal with all the same criteria.Ā 

  1. Click on the arrow.Ā 

  2. Click on Clone goal.

  3. You will be taken to the + New goal screen where the goal settings have been duplicated, except for the start date. A new start date is set the day after the previous goal ends. You may edit the name, total, and dates for the cloned goal. You may not change the type of goal.

  4. Click Create goal.

The cloned goal will be listed on your Goals > In Progress dashboard with the new start date.

Path vs. action goals

There are two different types of goals that can be tracked: path goals and action goals. Path goals track the number of path completions, path starts, or value of completed paths. You can choose any path in your nation to track, including default paths.

Goals can also track actions or cumulative totals in your nation. This includes:

  1. Contacts: when a contact is logged

  2. Customers: when a person becomes a customer by paying an invoice for the first time

  3. Donations: value of donations made

  4. Donors: when a person becomes a donor by donating for the first time

  5. Members: a total of profiles with active membership statuses

  6. Petition signatures: when a signature is collected on a petition

  7. Recurring donors: a total of active recurring donors

  8. RSVPs: total number of counted RSVPs

  9. Supporters: when a person signs up or is marked as a supporter

  10. Twitter followers: total of all broadcastersā€™ active Twitter followers

  11. Volunteers: when a person becomes a volunteer

It is possible to track the same action using both a path and action goal.Ā 

For example, if you use the ā€œBecome a volunteerā€ default path you can simultaneously track number of volunteers in your nation using the ā€œVolunteersā€ goal. Path goals allow more granular tracking, including the source of volunteers and the control panel users responsible for contributing to your goal.Ā 

Create path goals

The process for creating a paths started, paths completed, or value of completed paths goal is similar. In the Dashboard section, select + New goal.

1. Create a name for the goal. The name should reflect the goal's purpose and time frame.

2. Select the type of goal.

3. Decide which path to measure.

4. Decide your goal for number of paths started. By defining how many paths should be started in this time frame, progress toward the goal can be measured.

5. Decide the date to start measuring the goal. Every goal must begin at some point in time. You can measure from the beginning of your nation, for a particular quarter, or any start date.

6. (Optional) Decide when the goal will end. An end date is particularly useful for measuring quarterly or annual goals.

7. Click the Create goal button.

Create action goals

In the Dashboard section, select + New goal.

1. Create a name for the goal. The name should reflect the goal's purpose and time frame.

2. Select the type of goal.

3. Decide what your goal is for petition signatures. By defining how many petition signatures should be gathered in this time frame, progress toward the goal can be measured. This goal will count all signatures added to all petition pages on your website. It does not include offline signatures.

4. Decide the date to start measuring the goal. (Required) Every goal must begin at some point in time. You can measure from the beginning of your nation, for a particular quarter, or any start date.

5. (Optional) Decide when the goal will end. An end date is particularly useful for measuring quarterly or annual goals.

6. Click the Create goal button.

Advanced goal dashboard

šŸ“Œ Please note that advanced goal dashboards are only available to those on the Organization plan or above. If you would like this feature activated in your nation, please contact [email protected].

To view your goal dashboard, click on the name of goal or click on the arrow to edit the goal.

You will see the goal dashboard. Both the name and dates will display.

1. Overall trend. This graph shows the progress towards your goal within your set time frame.

A trendline will show if you are on target to hitting your goal. A dotted line will show the numerical target for the goal.

2. Recent progress. See the daily completion rates for your goal. You will be able to see the days that are most impactful to the success of your goal. This chart will show the past two weeks.Ā 

3. Progress bar. This is identical to the progress bar visible at Dashboard > Goals. As actions are counted, they will be reflected in the progress bar.

4. Leaderboard. The control panel users who are recorded as the biggest contributors to your goal will be displayed in descending order along with the number of contributions each individual made. Only the top ten contributors will be shown.Ā 

5. Last updated. This is a real-time listing of when the goal was last updated.

To edit your goal go to Settings. You can edit the name of your goal. If the goal has not started running, you may also edit the target number, start and end dates for your goal. If you want to make any other changes to an existing goal, you will need to create a new goal. A goal can be deleted from the goals dashboard, using the arrow menu of options.

To edit the name, enter a new name in the text box and click Update goal.

Related HOWTOs

Did this answer your question?