Putting the “theory” in theory of change

I came across a great slide share presentation about theory of change on an evaluation list serve that I’m part of, and I just had to share it.

It takes a LOT of time, reflection, and critical thinking to build a good theory of change. Even when we know our program well, it can be a major challenge to articulate and plot out all the underlying assumptions and reasoning for why we do each activity and what we think we are going to accomplish. But having a good theory of change is really important to effective programming and to set the stage for a strong evaluation.

This slideshow by Eric Graig does a great job of explaining clearly what a theory of change is meant to be and why it’s important. I highly recommend flipping through it!

*Just a note — some of the language in the presentation is a little different from the language we use in the anti-sexual and domestic violence movements. For instance, what this presentation refers to as “interventions,” we usually call “activities” or “programs.”