Creating your theory of change: An introduction for charities

Overview

What is it about?

For charities keen to improve their impact, developing a theory of change is a good place to start. It shows what you want to achieve and how, setting out the causal links between your activities and end goal. A clear and robust theory of change helps you develop and refine your strategy, and provides a theoretical framework for measuring your impact.

The training will help you to:

• Understand the model: learn what it is, where it comes from, and how it can be used to benefit your organisation.
• Choose your approach: look at different ways of representing a theory of change—from a simple planning triangle through the logic model to the more complicated outcomes chain.
• Create suitable goals: achieve a balance between ambition and realism; think of obstacles to improvement and ways of overcoming them, described as outcomes.
• Make a start on your own: identify your end goal, and apply backwards mapping to your own organisation (or a programme) to identify and prioritise your outcomes. Use it to inform internal discussions, collecting the views of staff from across your organisation to achieve consensus and buy-in.
• Avoid common pitfalls: do not overcomplicate the model or over-claim your outcomes.
  Review your draft: check it is meaningful, plausible, doable and testable.
• Use your theory of change to guide measurement and strategy: identify what to measure and assess whether your activities are working as planned and how they can be improved, and communicate your impact.
• Use it to review your existing strategy, design a new programme, allocate resources and think about your role in the sector.