Developing Your Program Logic Model
The logic model lays out what a program plans to achieve and how it will work based on a series of logically ordered actions. It links the following program characteristics:
Goals: the risk and protective factors your program will address
Strategies: the procedures and activities you will implement
Target group: the people who will participate in or will be influenced by the program
Theory of change (or "If . . . then . . . statements"): the program's assumptions about why it will work
Short-term outcomes: the immediate changes that are expected in individuals, organizations, or communities
Long-term impacts: the program's final consequences
One Way to Create a Logic Model
Add information about your program to the chart below to create a preliminary logic model. You can also choose to group the different categories of information into separate boxes and connect them with arrows to indicate the intended flow. | |||||
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Goals To address the level of this risk or protective factor: |
Strategies We will do the following program activities: |
Target Group For these people and for this amount of time: |
Theory of Change We expect that this activity will lead to changes in these factors: which in turn will lead to our program goal. |
Short-Term Outcomes We will know these changes have occurred if: |
Long-Term Impacts We will know we are reaching our goals if: |
You can build logic models to help with evaluation or to guide the overall strategic planning process. Building a logic model offers the following benefits:
It promotes understanding about what the program is, what it expects to do, and how program success will be measured.
It facilitates monitoring by providing a plan that allows you to track changes. This makes it easier to replicate successes and avoid mistakes.
It reveals assumptions by forcing program planners to be more deliberate about what they are doing and why.
It keeps you grounded by helping program planners and others realize the limits and potential of any one program.
It enhances communication by providing a clear visual representation of the program that others can understand.
It provides a framework for evaluation by revealing appropriate evaluation questions and relevant data that are needed.
Programs are not usually implemented exactly as planned, but are changed, adapted, and improved. Your logic model should provide a "picture" of these changes. For more information about building a logic model, refer to the Resources & Links section.
Return to Day 3: Planning Your Evaluation. |
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