Nonprofit Management Certificate Course
Project Planning and Management
Center for Community Research & Service
University of Delaware
Example of Trade-Off Analysis
Developed by Steven W. Peuquet, Ph.D.
Taking the example used in the break-even analysis, let’s say that the organization identifies two other
possible ways to increase the employability of citizens it seeks to serve. The organization now has three
possible approaches, and it needs to make a decision about which to choose:
Program Scenario A: (The program scenario used in the break-even example.) An employment
counseling and job search training program for unemployed persons which includes individual
counseling sessions to help the person determine his or her skills and job qualifications, combined
with small group training on how to conduct an effective job search, fill out employment
applications, write a resume, and make a good impression during a job interview.
Program Scenario B: Covers same subject matter with clients as in Scenario A above, but all is done
in large group sessions.
Program Scenario C: Do not provide any direct counseling or training service, but develop a good
data base on other agencies which provide job search training services and refer people to those
agencies.
A break-even analysis could be done for each one of these three scenarios. This would provide some
very useful information about the financial feasibility of each scenario. However, after having completing
the break-even analyses for each scenario, the organization’s executive director and board of directors
are still faced with a decision: which program scenario should be chosen? Here is where “Trade-Off
Analysis” can be very helpful.
Step 1:
Identify decision criteria which are important factors to consider in the decision, then
weight each criteria as to its importance, with a weight of 1 being low and 5 being high.
Step 2:
For each of the program scenarios, rate, on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the worst and
5 being the best, how well each program scenario fulfills each of the decision criteria.
Step 3:
Then, for each program scenario, multiply the rating you gave for how well the scenario
fulfills each decision criteria by the weight (of importance) you gave to each of the
decision criteria.
Step 4:
Add up the results of the multiplications for each of the program scenarios and compare
the totals for each program scenario. The scenario with the highest score is the program
which best meets the criteria identified.
On the following page, these steps are followed for the example where three different program
scenarios are being analyzed. With the highest score of 44, Program Scenario A is the best, given the
decision criteria used. In conducting trade-off analysis, the actual analysis can be done by an
individual, or collectively by a group. You can also have several individuals to the analysis separately,
and then calculate the average score for each program scenario.
Column A
Weight of
Importance
Column B
Rating
Column A
x
Column B
5
5
25
3
3
9
2
3
6
1
4
4
Program Scenario A
Decision Criteria
Likelihood service will significantly improve
employment prospects of clients
Program fees and grants will cover program
expenses
44
Program can be carried out with existing staff
Program does not require additional building
space
Total
Program Scenario B
Column A
Weight of
Importance
Column B
Rating
Likelihood service will significantly improve
employment prospects of clients
5
3
15
Program fees and grants will cover program
expenses
3
4
12
Program can be carried out with existing staff
2
4
8
Program does not require additional building
space
1
2
2
Decision Criteria
Total
Program Scenario C
Decision Criteria
Likelihood service will significantly improve
employment prospects of clients
Program fees and grants will cover program
expenses
Program can be carried out with existing staff
Column A
x
Column B
37
Program does
not require
additional
building space
Total
Column A
Weight of
Importance
5
3
Column B
Rating
2
2
1
5
5
5
Column A
x
Column B
10
15
10
5
40