Theory of Change examples: communication and sustained funding
The dream is to have a space tucked, woven, part of the fabric of our community where all ages can come and enjoy high quality literature and experience literacy activities.
That’s my dream for
Story Orchard
There will be an adult area lined with bookshelves and plants. A children’s area with a comfy couch, pictures of my favorite story book characters. A teen room, possibly painted black, ya know just to go with their vibes. Story time on Saturday mornings, bookclubs a couple times a week, financial literacy and parenting classes, poetry readings once a month and local art displayed on the walls. It will be a place of belonging, comfort, hope, ambition, growth and most of all connection.
I’m not sure about every detail just yet or how it will all work out.
But I can see it.
And … Maybe it’s not happening this month.
Or this year.
But that doesn’t matter. It will take as long as it takes.
We are growing our way there, and you just cannot rush into growing into something or someone who can hold a dream as good as this one.💗
Although we haven’t accomplished the BIG dream yet, we are on our way!
The #1 thing in the way of us arriving at the BIG dream is sustained monthly funding so less of our time is spent fundraising.
How do you get and maintain monthly sustained funding?
CONNECTION, TRUST, FEELINGS, ENGAGEMENT
Tell the story.
Showcase what you do, how you do it, and how people benefit.
One way to do this is to showcase your Theory of Change on your website and fundraising material.
Theory of change models can be created for many purposes and in many formats. Having a detailed theory of change allows for one to use it in many ways. One being for marketing and building understanding and trust with stakeholders.
If you are still working on or want to create a theory of change click here to get started.
Let’s look at some orgs that do an amazing job of showing off what they do through their Theory of Change:
Theory of Change in Narrative form:
Smart Reading: SMART Reading helps young children become strong, confident readers by providing books and volunteer reading support. They are in Oregon.
Once again, they take the reader through a journey into what they do and how they do it! It tells the reader exactly what they hope to achieve, the research behind it, and how they do it.
We Are Purposeful: Purposeful is an Africa-rooted global hub for girls’ organizing and activism. Based in Sierra Leone, the UK and around the world.
Talk about emotion! This one draws you in and you want to know more. It shows research, actions, outcomes and how it all is tied to the mission.
Theory of Change in Flow Chart form:
Story Orchard: Story Orchard aims to build community literacy skills in the Twin Cities area and increase community access to resources and programing that enhance literacy skills. Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Scroll all the way down the on the welcome page to see the Theory of Change. It cearly highlights all aspects of the org and how they directly tie to their mission.
Readability Matters: Readability Matters values cross-sector collaboration and research-informed solutions. A growing community of cross-disciplinary experts is coming together to advance this new field of practice.
The take aways:
Connection is key. Maintaining connections is the key to sustained funding.
Clear communication that evokes emotion and draws the reader in starts to build trust.
Trust builds stronger connections leading to sustained engagement.
Sustained engagement can lead to sustained funding allowing more time to be spent on reaching that BIG dream.
In the meantime, check out the following resources…
For a detailed approach to sustained funding read the book The Ask Event by Terry Axelrod
Start your theory of change by checking out our resources
