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• Impact and Strategic Clarity Module
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• The Process

Innoweave Impact and Strategic Clarity Module:
The Process

• Selection and preparation: In October, Bridgespan and the sponsor group will select the participating organizations. Bridgespan will help each participant select a project leader, schedule internal team meetings and group workshop dates, and map out board involvement.
• Workshop One will introduce the module and its central “impact and theory of change framework” that will provide the structure and strategic approach for analysis that each team will perform in its organization. Teams will begin to draft “intended impact and theory of change” statements and discuss their research plans.
• Phase One is the research phase of the project, where organizations gather and analyze data to refine their draft theory of change and begin to test it.
• Workshop Two will review the emerging theories of change and discuss how to identify the most critical changes each organization must make to improve its impact. Teams will also begin to draft a plan for communicating the strategic changes and obtaining buy-in from the Board, key funders, staff, and other stakeholders.
• Phase Two is focused on engaging stakeholders to both test and build support for the organization’s theory of change. Each organization will also draft a longer-term “learning agenda” to address the critical open questions that may have emerged during the process.
• Throughout the process, each organization will receive individual bi-weekly calls from Bridgespan to review research progress, and to provide feedback and coaching.
• In the follow-up month of the project, Bridgespan will continue to check in on participants to see how the early stages of implementation are progressing.

At the end of the process

Each participating organization will complete the process with a clear and rigorous statement of the impact that it will hold itself accountable for achieving, and a theory of change describing how that impact will be achieved. Organizations will also have a document that clearly outlines the changes required for the organization’s programs, funding base, organization and/or staff, as well as a clear process for tracking impact.

Participants will be better able to clearly explain their organization and its direction to funders and other key stakeholders. The experience will give the senior team a framework by which they can make future strategic decisions about the organization’s desired impact.