DesigningSocialProgramsandFundingforImpact

ElenaFarah,PhDThePowerToolsforNonprofits

November2018

ChallengesofFundingSocialChange• Promisingorganizationsendupundercapitalized andundermanaged

• “Ferrarisdrivingonmudtracks”(BornsteinandDavis)

• Majorconstraintisaccessinggrowthcapital(scale)inadditiontostartupcapital• Philanthropicinvestmentstendtobemodest• Short-term(averagegranttermisoneyear)• Noseriousequivalent(yet)ofcapitalmarketsforsocialventures

• Marketsforimpactinvestments- seekingfinancialreturnsandsocialimpact- areunderdeveloped

• Lackofunrestrictedgrants thatpayfor• impactmeasurement• capacity-buildingsupportfortrackingdata• patientlong-termcapitaltoincentivizehonestreportingofresults(Janus)

• Governments• Havesizeablefinancialresources• Prefertopayforservicesastheyaredeliveredinsteadofinvestinginbuildinginstitutions(contracting)• Multiplecompliancerequirements• Fundingisoftenbasedonpoliticalmoodandnotonmerit• Socialchangegroupsoftenhavetoreshapethemselvestofitthemold

• Philanthropy• Moreflexiblebuteachhasuniqueapplicationprocessandreportingformats(littlestandardization)• Fundraisingistimeconsumingandexpensive• Fundingisoftennotlinkedtoresults• Strongbrands– andpoliticalconnections– maytrumpmerit

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Iffundingweremorepredictable…• Socialventuresandnon-profitscould(andshould)

• Createmultiyeargrowthplans• Raiseupfrontcapitaltoexecutetheseplans• Evaluatetheirperformanceagainstpre-establishedgoals andusingmetricsagreeduponapriori

• Insteadofadhocbackfittingdata• Iterateandtweakdeliverysystemsbasedonresultsandfeedback• Pitchmorefundersbasedonresults• Scalebasedonresults• Magnifyimpactinanintentionalway

• Benefitsofplanningforgrowth• Forcesunifiedactionbyallmembersoforganization• Allowstosetpriorities• Forcesagreementondetailsofimplementation• Turnsvagueintentionsintotime-boundgoals• Enablesaccountabilityforfunding• Forgranteesandforfundinginstitutions

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FundersArePeople,Too• Developyourfundingrequestwithempathytowardsandunderstandingoffunders’goalsandconstraints

• Doesyourprojectfitwiththefunders’mission?• How- whatisthespecificpurposeforwhichyouareseekingfunding

• Isitprogrammatic(brandnewprogramsorscalingofexistingprograms)?• Isthemoneyforinstitutionorcapacitybuilding(organizational)?• Areyouraisingfundsforevaluationofexistingprogramsorprojects?• AreyouraisingmoneyforPR,buildingsupportforyourprogram(s)andservices(s)?

• Howdoesyourprojecthelpthefundingorganizationmeetitsowngoalsandobjectives(bespecific,notgeneric)• Fundersalsoareheldaccountableforhowtheyspendthemoneyandfortheoutcomesoftheprojectsthey

fund• Theyaremorelikelytofundyouifyourprojecthelpsthemreachtheirgoalsandobjectives• TellyourstoryfromthisPOV

• Roleplaywithyourteammates– putyourselfintofunders’shoes• Makeapitchfor whyfundersshouldgive$$$toyourproject• Askthe“why?”questions• Trytoescapegroupthink– “wearegreatbecausewearegreat”

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UnderstandYourOwnProposedSolutionFrom To

Specificsolutiontoanabstractproblem(eg.Poverty)

Synthesis afteradeepdiveintotheopenendedsolutionspace –Isyoursolutioninnovative– howisitdifferent?Howdoesitsolvetheproblem– mechanism,theoryofchange?Haveyouincorporatedbehavioralinsights – isitforrealHumans vsEcons?Isitinformedbysolidevidenceoranthropologicalobservationsinthefield?Didyouletgoofassumptions?

Broadusergroup(general)Welldefinedusergroup–Who exactlyareyou serving?Howwelldoyouunderstandyourclient/serviceconstituency- Empathy?

Explicitneed(symptom)

Underlying(implicit)needs–Isyourproposedsolutiontacticalorincremental(servesexpressedneed)orstrategic ortransformational (addresses latentneeds ordeepmeaning,rootcauses)?

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WhyDesignThinking?

Open-endedOpen-minded

IterativeNon-linear

Desirability

ViabilityFeasibility

Iceberg

ExpressedNeeds

LatentNeeds

Meaning

HowMightWecreatebetterpapercutters…

HowMightWecreatebetterscissors…

ReframetheProblem• FrameProblemsasQuestions• HowMightWe(HMW)• “How”issolutionsoriented,pointstotheMECHANISM(theoryofchange)• “Might”encouragesoptimism• “We”invitescollaboration

• ”HMW”questionallowsforbroadsetofsolutionsyetisnarrowenoughtoknowwheretostart• Writedowntheproblemyouseektosolveinyournon-profitwork• “HowMightWe…?”

GatherInspiration:CuriosityandEmpathy• Getcuriousaboutpeopleyouareserving– yourconstituency• Ask“why?”questions• Identifypatterns

• Repeatedbehavior,themesorroutinesthatpointtounderlyingneedsorvalues• Observecarefullyandlookforthingsthatpromptbehavior

• Signsthattelluswheretogo;explicitorimplicitinstructions• Lookforwhatpeoplecareabout

• Storiespeopletell– picturesonthedesk• Thingspeoplesurroundthemselveswith

• Findadaptations• Hacksorworkarounds– insightsintolatentneeds

• Lookforbodylanguage• Lookfortheunexpected

• Thingsthatarehidden– orstandout

Insights,ObservationandEmpathy• Insights

• learningfromthelivesofothers• thoughtlessactshacks

• Observation• watchingwhatpeopledon’tdo,listeningtowhattheydon’tsay– uncoverlatentneeds

• Empathy• standingintheshoes(orlyinginthegurneys)ofothers– extremeuser

• Collaboration– betweenthedesignteamandtheaudienceitistryingtoreach(targetconstituency)– “distributedparticipatorydesign”

• Practiceexercises:• Staycuriousasyoucommutetoclassorwork

• Keepaneyeoutforunmetneedsbylookingforpatternsortheunexpected• Jotdownyourobservations

• Tuneintonuancesofhowpeopleworkonyourteam• Observehowtheirenvironment– space,tools,etc.– impactsorinhibitscollaboration• Focusonwhatpeoplecareaboutandhowtheirbodylanguagereflectstheirenergyandlevelofinterestand

engagement

IdeationPhase:Synthesis

• Define– captureyourlearnings• Identifykeythemesandinsights• Turnlearningsintoopportunitiesfordesign• Learnings• Themes• Insights• HowMightWe’s• Ideas

“Download”YourDesignIdeas• Activelylisten

• compareandcontrastthingsyouhavelearnt• Doyouhavedifferentopinionsorcontradictions?Why?

• Captureinformationinsmallpieces• Writedownstoriesonpost–itsincompletesentences• Capturequotes

• Displayyournotes• Searchformeaning

• Clusterrelatedinformation• Findthemes• Turnthemesintoinsights• Revisityourdesignchallenge

• Howdoyourinsightstatementsrelatetotheoriginalchallenge?• Refineyourinsightsstatements

• Makesuretheyresonatewithanoutsideaudience(nojargon)

• Create“HowMightWe”questions

People,Sustainability,TechnicalFactors

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Open-endedOpen-minded

IterativeNon-linear

Desirability

Viability Feasibility

People,Sustainability,TechnicalFactors• People(humanfactor)

• Isyourserviceorproductdevelopedwithempathytowardsyourtargetaudience• Doesitgettopeople’smotivationsandcorebeliefs,takingintoaccountrealneedsanddesiresofclients?

• Sustainability• Canyoursocialproductorservicebeproduced,deliveredanddistributedinaneconomicallyviableway(forsocialenterprises)?

• Ifyouarenotchargingyourclientsforservices,isyourprojectsustainableintermsof• Politicalsupport(federal,state,local)• Internalleadership• Capacity toproduceanddeliverservices(inaconsistentmannerandw/ointerruption)• Willingnessofseveralfunderstocontinuefundingyourefforts

• Technicalfactors(mechanism)• Howexactlydoesyourserviceorproductcontributetosolvingthesocialchallenge?• Isyourproposedsolutioninformedbyevidence?

• Whatevidence?Howsolidisyourevidence?• Isitdoable(politically,technology-wise)– realitycheck?

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StatementoftheProblem• IsthereaProblem?

• Nametheproblem/issueyouareworkingtosolveandillustratewithdata/evidencethatthereisactuallyaproblem

• Don’tassumethatthefunderknowsthis• What?

• Specificsolutionforthisproblemyourorganizationprovides• ForWho?

• Knowandnameyourtargetbeneficiary:• firstgenerationcollegeboundstudent(ruralorurban?)• firsttimemom(teenage,singlemom,workingmom,divorcedmom?)

• Why?• Thisisthebigquestion– whywhatyoudomakesanimpact?DesignThinking,TheoryOfChange(TOC)

• How?• Howexactlywhatyoudomakesanimpact- mechanism?TOC

• Whyyou?• Whoelseisworkinginthisspaceandhowareyoudifferent?• Inotherwords,makeacaseforwhyyoushouldgetthemoneyandnotsomeoneelse• Thisisagoodplacetobragaboutresults/evaluations/testimonials/management– oracombinationofthese

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TheoryofChange(TOC)

• Equivalentofbusinessplanningforsocialventures– whyyoudowhatyoudo,howandwhyitmatters,howdoweknowitisworking?• Identifylong-termgoals• Mapbackwardsandconnectpreconditionsorrequirementsnecessarytoachievethesegoalsandexplainwhythesepreconditionsarenecessaryand/orsufficient

• Identifyyourbasicassumptions aboutthecontext– knowyourenduser(designthinking)• Identifyspecificinterventionstocreateyourdesiredchangeandgenerateimpact-mechanism

• Developindicatorstomeasureyouroutcomestoassess performance• Writeanarrativetoexplainthelogicofyourproject

• http://www.theoryofchange.org/what-is-theory-of-change/

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ImpactEvaluationandCreatingaDataCulture• Developingorganizationdataculture

• Deep,organization-widecomfortlevelwithusingmetricstomaximizesocialimpact• Buildinghuman-centric anddata-centric organizations• Rigorousfocusonresults

• Atthecoreofservicedelivery• Beyondreportingandfundraising– evaluationsanditerations,“constantprototyping”

• “Youdon’thavetobeadatascientisttotellagooddatastory”(KathleenJanus)• HowtoBuildDataCulture

• Shiftingfocustowardsoutcomesandawayfromoutputs• Awayfromtrackingoutputs:“growthofbudgets”“ornumberofpeopleserved”or“vanitymetrics”

(numberofwebsitevisits)• Towardslonger-termmeasuresofhowclientsactuallybenefitfromproductorservice

• Gettingcreativeaboutmetrics• Eg.Measure“grit”bywhoshowsupforswimpracticeinthecold(Janus)– contrasttoself-evaluation• Interimproxiesforlong-termresults

• Measuringinamission-drivenwayandassessingperformanceagainstTOC• Outcomesthataredirectlylinkedtotheorganization’spurpose• RememberyourTOC– whatdidyousetouttodoinitially?Bemindfulofmissioncreep

• Combiningdataandstorytelling

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“Noteverythingthatcanbecountedcounts.Noteverythingthatcountscanbecounted.”

• "ItwouldbeniceifallofthedatawhichsociologistsrequirecouldbeenumeratedbecausethenwecouldrunthemthroughIBMmachinesanddrawchartsastheeconomistsdo.However,noteverythingthatcanbecountedcounts,andnoteverythingthatcountscanbecounted.”• WilliamBruceCameron,1963

• “Therearethosewhoseethemovementasdivertingpoliticalsciencefromimportanttotrivialmatterssimplybecausethelatterlendthemselvestostudybythefashionabletechniques (‘whatcountscan’tbecounted’).”• DwightWaldo,UNESCOreport,1956

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Sources

• +ACUMENIDEO.ORG“DesignKit:TheCourseforHumanCenteredDesign”• IDEOU“HelloDesignThinking”Toolkit.IDEO.com.2017• Brown,Tim.ChangebyDesign. HarperBusiness:2009• Kelley,TomandDavidKelley.CreativeConfidence:UnleashingtheCreativePotentialWithinUsAll.CrownBusiness:2013• “DesignThinkingtoSolveSocialProblems”byNadiaRoumani.StanfordSocialInnovationReview webinar,October20,2015