Module 2

Logic Models

In the previous lesson, you learned how to create your scope of work - a process that helps to define the parameters of your project by outlining its acceptance criteria, deliverables, exclusions, constraints, and assumption.

A logic model builds on this by providing a visual representation of your scope of work, as the process of completing its stages draws attention to the importance of the deliverables of the project (or rather, the work that will be accomplished by the end of the project) and its connection to your nonprofit's mission and access to resources.

Click on the video below to begin 'Module 2: Logic Models'. Click "CC" on the bottom-right corner of the video to view closed captions or alternatively, read the transcript below the video.

When you complete this module, scroll to the bottom of this page for further instructions.

Content Created by Kamryn Scott Video Created by Thomas Lewis

Transcript:

In this module, you will learn about Creating Logic Models.

Course Objectives

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

Develop a logic model.
Describe the stages of a logic model and the process of completion for each stage.
And demonstrate the ability to expand your scope of work into a logic model that outlines a preliminary plan for your project.

Let’s first begin by explaining what a logic model is.

A logic model is defined as a systematic and visual way to represent and share your thought process behind developing a beneficial project for your organization.
For nonprofit organizations specifically, logic models help to take inventory of the resources required to get results and describe the outcomes expected upon completion of your project.

A Brief Introduction

Before we delve into the components of a logic model, this video from nonprofit organization NCCADV––the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence––will provide you with a brief overview of logic models and the process behind creating one to develop a project.

What are the stages of a logic model?

Though the video covered four stages generally used to create a logic model, it is beneficial for your nonprofit organization to utilize the following five stages to carry out this process:

Inputs (or Resources), Activities, Outputs, Outcomes, and your Impact!

Impact

When creating a logic model, it is best to start with consideration of the impact you want your project to have. From that impact, working “backwards” through the logic model to complete steps towards achieving and maximizing this impact are most effective for connecting your project to your organization’s goals. Essentially, you must start at the end in order to begin the process of initiating your project. This means that as you devise your logic model, the first, and most important step is to consider the impact that you want this project to have.

Generally, the impact stage is used to assess and specify the long-term outcomes that will result from your project or initiative. But as a nonprofit organization, utilizing your mission as a starting point for your project, or rather, as the specified impact in your logic model, can ensure that your project responds directly to goals your organization has devoted itself to strive towards.

As a tip, to reiterate the importance of this stage, think about the mission of your nonprofit organization and what initiatives can best respond to and maximize it! As you create the rest of your logic model, consider this question: What do you, as a board, seek to have your organization accomplish, and what resources and activities can best help you to achieve this?

Outcomes

The outcomes stage outlines ways in which your project supports the overall impact or goals of your organization and the usefulness that the project will yield for all stakeholders involved, including, and most importantly, the recipients of your organization’s services.

These outcomes can be extrapolated from the outputs generated by your activities and should show significant relevance to your organization’s mission or intended impact. When you complete this stage, you should be capable of communicating the benefits of the project or initiative to the entire Board of Trustees for your organization.

Outputs

The outputs stage essentially outlines the direct products of your project activities.

These often sound strikingly similar to outcomes, as they both draw attention to the results of your project and how those results support your organization’s goals. But outputs can be differentiated from outcomes by distinguishing the two as long-term and short-term entities and immediate results, with outcomes being the long-term and short-term results and outputs being the immediate results. As you complete this stage before––or simultaneously with––the activities stage, continue to ask yourself, “What immediate results should be produced by, or in the process of, carrying out activities for this project?”

Activities

In the activities stage, brainstorm what your organization can do with the resources accessible to you.

A tip for completing this stage is to think of the resources that you need to achieve your impact and the ways in which they can be utilized in doing so. How can you mobilize the tools and connections your organization has within its reach to create activities that can accomplish your outcomes and impact or organizational mission?

Inputs (Resources)

The process of thinking about what these tools and connections are brings us to the inputs or resources stage.

The tools that will be used in conjunction with your activities are the human, financial, organizational, and community resources that need to be utilized in order to perform said activities.
In this stage, you must familiarize yourself with the key stakeholders that your mission ––or impact––is geared towards, and consult experts that can assist you in figuring out what additional parties need to be mobilized to aid your organization in addressing the interests and service needs of your stakeholders.

Example of a Logic Model

In this example of a completed logic model provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the community of fictional city, Mytown, USA, wants to meet the needs of growing numbers of uninsured residents who are turning to their town’s Memorial Hospital’s Emergency Room for care. Because that care is expensive and has shown to be ineffective, the community is working to create a free clinic. As such, they create a logic model to figure out what steps they need to take in order to bring this project to fruition, and to ensure that this project will achieve their desired outcomes.

As they implement this project, the elements (Outputs, Outcomes, and Impact) that comprise their intended results, give an outline of what is most important to monitor and gauge to determine the effectiveness of their project.
As the W.K. Kellogg Foundation notes, in order to show that their desired outcome (a reduction in uninsured emergency care) “didn’t result from a mass exodus of uninsured residents or a sudden increase in number of employees offered health insurance coverage by local businesses” (p. 16), the Mytown community utilizes this logic model to show reasonable assertion that their project made a substantive contribution to their intended change. In real communities––such as those which your nonprofit organization serves––where influences and forces are beyond anyone’s control, it is important to reflect on these results first and directly connect them to your activities for the purpose of documenting your project’s contributions to the community you serve, not just as proof of its efficiency (p. 17).

To connect actions to program results, the MyTown community links their knowledge of what works with specific descriptions of what their project will do. This process requires that they anticipate what will be needed to support their project’s activities. The elements that comprise their project implementation act as a game plan for the clinic they are proposing to meet the emergency care needs of growing numbers of uninsured residents (p. 21).

Once they have specified what they plan to do, the Mytown community lists the resources that they will need to support the solutions their project purports. For your nonprofit organization specifically, it may also be helpful to describe the influential factors you are counting on to support your efforts to address the interests of your stakeholders with the project that you are planning.

Let’s Review! What have we learned about logic models?

A logic model is a tool that provides a visual, step-by-step plan for carrying out your project.
The stages of a logic model are inputs (or resources) → activities → outputs → outcomes → and lastly, but most importantly, impact.
Starting with your organization’s missions or goals can help you create a logic model that effectively outlines a project with substantive benefits to your organization.
A logic model can help with refining your scope of work and developing a preliminary schedule for your project.

What's Next

In the next lesson about project phases, you will learn how to expand on the list of activities created in the process of formulating your logic model, and how to structure a timeline of execution for these activities as you work towards the completion of your project. Before you move on to the next module, let's take a quick quiz!

Click the button in the bottom-right corner of the web page labeled "Module 2 Quiz" to proceed.

Module 2 Quiz

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