theory of change

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If I have one bit of advice for anyone leading a small, growing charity, it is this: If you don't already have a theory of change (a proper one!) then get yourself one. For me, theory of change has been critical to the success of the charities that I've had the privilege to lead. It is that important.

Theory of change isn't about change management - it isn't about delivering big scary change programmes (or not directly anyway!).  A charity’s theory of change articulates its operating model, how it achieves the change it is seeking for the world through the activities it delivers. And put like that, who could ever do without one? A charity not having a theory of change is like building flat pack furniture (or possibly a jet engine) without the instructions. You might get there in the end, but it will certainly take longer and might just end in disaster...!

A theory of change provides credibility that you know what you’re doing. At the most basic level, funders have greater confidence in a charity that has a theory of change. But beware, funders are getting better at looking critically at theory of change models - so I'd advise against just knocking up a chart in PowerPoint and calling it done.

Developing a good, rigorous theory of change will give you insight into how and why your model works. It's about opening up that black box and understanding in some detail how what you do results in the strategic outcomes you care about most. And understanding your model at that level of depth and causality doesn't just impress funders. More importantly, it enables you to measure success more precisely, to refine your understanding of what works (and doesn't) and to continue to develop and enhance what you do.

Outcome measurement is hard. Beyond measuring the ultimate, strategic outcomes that you care about most - but which might take some time to come to fruition - it can be hard to establish which intermediate outcomes you should be measuring. Theory of change provides an outcomes framework that can help to provide that clarity.

Theory of change radically simplifies and enhances strategy, which is now informed by the outcome learning and framework learning implicit within the model. Too often, charity strategies are a mix of the current and the future - they lose clarity because they are trying to communicate too many things. Underpinned by a good theory of change, strategy becomes as simple as 1) do more or less of what we do today, 2) do new things, and 3) divest old things. Simple!

We can  work with you in a variety of ways to support your theory of change development. That might take the form of some training and an initial workshop to get things going, with some mentoring along the way as your theory of change comes together. Or we can develop your theory of change for you, through a series of workshops and feedback sessions with your team and beneficiaries. The choice, as they say, is yours...

But please - even if you decide not to use Adpulsum - do make sure that your charity has a good, effective theory of change!