Welcome to the Theory of Change website! Because of the growing demand for Theory of Change assistance and materials, we created this site to help you learn more about its applications and how it can improve the design and evaluation plans of your initiative.

We have more features planned to make this the hub for theory of change, so please contact us to join our mailing list for upcoming news and events.

Heléne Clark, Director
ActKnowledge

Update on Theory of Change Online

Our online method for creating, storing and sharing your theories has been completed... at long last. We are currently developing a login system and accepting applications to participate in our first User Group Trial. We will post more information about that on here and on our main website, www.actknowledge.org, as soon as possible. We anticipate formalizing the User Group in the fall. Currently, TOCO has been tested and used in selected settings and we are eager to broaden its scope shortly.

Thanks to all of you for your patience as this has been in development. And thanks to the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation for providing the initial funding in 2004-2005 that got this project off the ground. It's come a long way since then. We'll keep you posted on opportunities to try TOCO, receive presentations, join User Groups and provide feedback.

What is Theory of Change and why should I care?

A Theory of Change is a specific and measurable description of a social change initiative that forms the basis for strategic planning, on-going decision-making and evaluation. The methodology used to create a Theory of Change is also usually referred to a Theory of Change, or the Theory of Change approach or method. So, when you hear or say "Theory of Change", you may mean either the process or the result.

Like any good planning and evaluation method for social change, it requires participants to be clear on long-term goals, identify measurable indicators of success, and formulate actions to achieve goals.

It differs from any other method of describing initiatives in a few ways:

• it shows a causal pathway from here to there by specifying what is needed for goals to be achieved (e.g. you might argue that children attending school a minimum number of days is necessary if they are going to learn).
• it requires you to articulate underlying assumptions which can be tested and measured.
• it changes the way of thinking about initiatives from what you are doing to what you want to achieve and starts there.

A Theory of Change provides a roadmap to get you from here to there. If it is good and complete, your roadmap can be read by others and show that you know how to chart your course. This is helpful with constituents, staff, partners organizations and funders.

More importantly, if it is good and complete, you have the best chance of making the change in the world you set out to make and of demonstrating your successes and your lessons along the way.

What you’ll find at this site:

• An overview of Theory of Change and its origins.
• An introduction to using the Theory of Change approach as the foundation of outcomes-based planning and evaluation
• Further information about Theory of Change trainings and technical assistance
• Basic Theory of Change methods and components
• Presentations, articles, guides and workbooks for more advanced users
• Case studies