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Theory of Change

Outline a roadmap to bring change to your organization with the Theory of Change Template. Become the transformational agent inside your organization.

The Theory of Change canvas was designed to enable organisations map collaboratively how their activities contribute to the long-term goal they want to achieve.

Preparation

  1. As a first step define together with the team why you are doing this project and what goal you want to achieve.

  2. Think about the contribution you will need and decide who should be part of the team.

Analysis

  1. Start by understanding the ecosystem of your organisation and who are the stakeholders involved.

  2. Write down the ultimate vision of change, the reason why your organisation exists.

  3. Think about the impact of the activities your organisation run, and map the other levels of change that it contributes to.

  4. Use the Analysis canvas to define Activities / Outputs and Outcome, and create connections among them.

  5. Finally, establish for each one of these assumptions and indicators to measure impact.

Communication

  1. Write down who is your target audience, their needs, and why you want to communicate the Theory of Change to them.

  2. Based on the audience, reflect on the content you want to show, the channels you could use to reach them, and what is the best format to display the information.

Remember it is a collaborative process and embrace testing and iteration at every step of the process.

Theory of Change FAQs

What are Lewin's 3 stages of change?

Lewin’s three stages of change explain how the change process takes place according to these three steps: unfreeze, change process, and refreezing. According to social psychologist Kurt Lewin, organizations go over this process when applying changes in management or behavior. Unfreezing is when people realize a method or process doesn’t make sense anymore. As the name says, the change process is the beginning of change, where people are open to new ways of working and behaving. Refreezing is the final stage, where changes are incorporated and a new organizational system is put in place.

What is the format of the theory of change?

The Theory of Change (ToC) is a methodology for planning and evaluating social change initiatives. It identifies a long-term goal and maps out the preconditions and outcomes required to achieve it, arranged from short-term to long-term. The ToC includes key elements such as an outcomes framework, causal pathways, specific indicators, interventions, supporting evidence, stakeholders, timeline, and broader context. These components are often represented visually to understand the relationships and steps to achieve the desired social change.

Theory of Change

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