We at Onside Partners are averse to consultant-y jargon, so when we recommend that clients develop a “theory of change,” we get when they roll their eyes or glance at us sideways. But we’ve never had a client regret creating a theory of change. Quite the contrary. This is because a quality theory of change provides a single, clear point of reference for everything an organization does.
Simply put, a theory of change (at least the way we do it) is a one-page diagram that shows how an organization’s day-to-day work directly leads to the impact or change the organization is aiming to make. To see what we mean, check out the theories of change we developed with a couple of our clients: OneJustice (p. 12) and First 5 Napa County (p.14).
Our clients report that having a theory of change makes so many things much easier:
- Program planning: A theory of change provides the foundation for setting program priorities and, equally important, for deciding when to say no to opportunities that risk spreading the organization too thin or pulling it off course from its mission.
- Roles and responsibilities: A clear theory of change illuminates where roles might be missing or clarified.
- Communications and development: Our clients use their theories of change as an outline for drafting logical and compelling explanations of their work – whether on their website, in grant proposals and reports, or for internal onboarding materials.
- Evaluation: When it comes to developing evaluation metrics, a theory of change provides a natural framework.
- Equity: Many of our clients struggle with what equity means in their context, and a theory of change helps them get concrete about how their work leads to equitable outcomes.
- Alignment: Staff feel more motivated when they can see how their work fits into the whole and more trusting when they can see how leadership decisions advance a shared understanding of the how and why of the organization.
For most organizations, creating a theory of change is a matter of documenting and refining what’s already in leadership’s and staff’s brains. We approach this collaboratively, listening to them describe what they do and what they hope to achieve, synthesizing what we heard, and then iterating with them on the framework until it accurately reflects how the organization effects change.