Learn how to create and use a logic model, often referred to as a Theory of Change. It is a visual representation of expected activities, outputs, and expected outcomes for an organization, a program or an initiative.
A logic model presents a picture of how your effort or initiative is supposed to work. It explains why your strategy is a good solution to the problem at hand. Effective logic models make an explicit, often visual, statement of the activities that will bring about change and the results you expect to see for the community and its people. A logic model keeps participants in the effort moving in the same direction by providing a common language and point of reference.
More than an observer’s tool, logic models become part of the work itself. They energize and rally support for an initiative by declaring precisely what you’re trying to accomplish and how. Many nonprofits use the Theory of Change as a means to articulate clear, effective strategies for achieveing the organizaiton’s mission and intended impact using a logic model format.
NAO’s Theory of Change articulates the way we work with nonprofit organizations, their leaders, and society as a whole. This Theory—along with direct relations with nonprofit organizations, funders, and partners through our program implementation—provides a basis for accountability, continual learning, and the evolution of vital services that support the nonprofit sector.