Theory Builder/ Evaluation Strategy

Theory Builder

Plan & Map
Your Evaluation

Work through six steps to turn your project idea into a clear evaluation strategy – mapping what you are trying to change, how you will know it worked, and what you will do with what you learn. Nothing you type is saved to our servers, so save as PDF before you leave.

community
the place
the idea
Ready to move on? Already clear on your strategy? Skip to the Matchmaker Quiz ➜ Ready to build? Go to Build Your Own Method ➜
Interactive Tool

Draft Your Evaluation Strategy

Work through each step in order and turn your project idea into a clearer pathway to change, evidence, and long-term impact. Expand any step to begin.

plan it
prove it
learn it
Nothing you type is saved to our servers. Use “Save as PDF” before leaving this page.
Step 01

The Catalyst

Every project starts in response to something real: a need, a gap, a tension, an opportunity, or an injustice. Name that clearly and the rest of your logic gets stronger.

the spark
▾
Step 01 — The Catalyst
Tip: The more precise you are here, the stronger your evaluation will be later. A named group, place, issue, and moment is far more useful than a vague statement of intent.
What specific problem, gap, or opportunity is this project responding to?
Who is most affected? Be concrete about people, place, identity, circumstance, or role.
What funding, staff time, partnerships, expertise, or spaces are making this possible?
Why is this the right moment? What has changed, opened up, or become urgent?
Step 02

Activities & The Realist Check

Name the activity. Then pressure-test it. What is meant to trigger change, and what in the local context could help or block that from happening?

mechanism
▾
Step 02 — Activities & The Realist Check
The Realist insight: The same activity can land differently in different places. Context is not extra detail. It shapes whether your mechanism of change works at all.
What are you actually going to do?
Why should this activity lead to change? What social, emotional, relational, or practical trigger matters here?
What local conditions, histories, barriers, or power dynamics could shape the outcome?
What has to be true for this to work? List at least three, and mark each one tested (T) or untested (U).
Step 03

Building SMART Outcomes

Turn vague hopes into outcomes you can actually recognise and evidence. If it cannot be described clearly, it will be very hard to evaluate later.

the target
▾
Step 03 — Building SMART Outcomes
Weak vs strong outcomes across three timeframes:

Weak (immediate): “Attendees will feel informed and engage in dialogue.”
Strong (immediate): “By the end of the session, attendees will identify one action they intend to take in their own organisation, captured via an exit card.”

Weak (short-term): “Participants will have thought about the issues raised.”
Strong (short-term): “Four weeks after the activity, attendees report having shared the findings with a colleague or line manager.”

Weak (medium-term): “The project will have an impact on practice.”
Strong (medium-term): “By December 2026, at least three executives who attended have raised the findings at board or senior management level.”
outcome ✦

SMART Outcome Builder – Outcome 1

Answer each prompt and watch your first outcome tighten up as you type.

S
Specific – Who changes, and in what way?
M
Measurable – what is different for a real person, weeks or months after this?
Not what happens during the activity. Not “participants will feel informed.” What decision gets made, what conversation gets had, what practice shifts – and for whom? If your answer describes what happened on the day or during the session, push further.
A
Achievable – Is this realistic with your current resources?
R
Relevant – Why does this matter for the issue you named?
T
Time-bound – By when should this be true?
Fill in the fields above and your outcome statement will appear here.
What specifically changes during or directly after the activity – in knowledge, thinking, or intention? Strong immediate outcomes are concrete enough to capture on the day: through an exit card, a show of hands, or a short reflection. “Felt engaged” is not enough. What did people know, think, or commit to that they did not before?
What do people know, believe, or feel differently about – not during the activity, but a week or month later? Name the person and the shift, not the session.
What does someone actually do differently – a decision made, a conversation started, a policy questioned, a practice changed? By when, and who specifically?
Check yourself: Can you explain why your activity should plausibly lead to each outcome? If not, you may need to rethink the activity, the mechanism, or the outcome itself.
Step 04

“How Will You Know?” – Evidence & Indicators

For each outcome, decide what would count as evidence and how – and when – you will gather it. Planning for short and medium-term evidence now is the only way it will actually exist later.

the proof
▾
Step 04 — Evidence & Indicators
Common mistake: outputs show what you did. Evidence of outcomes shows what changed for people. Keep asking: does this measure activity, or does it measure change?
Immediate — during or directly after the activity
What will you measure?
What observable sign would tell you the immediate outcome was achieved?
How will you collect it? (on the day)
Active methods capture evidence on the day: an exit card with two or three questions, a show of hands, a short written reflection, or a facilitator’s structured observation notes. Design this before the activity, not after.
Short-term — 2 to 4 weeks after
What will you measure?
What sign would tell you something has shifted in the weeks after the activity?
How and when will you collect it?
Active: a follow-up email with three questions, a short online survey, or a phone call to key contacts. Decide now who sends it and by what date – if it is not planned, it will not happen. Passive: track report downloads in the weeks after the activity, monitor LinkedIn mentions or sector newsletter references, or set up a Google Alert on your project name to catch citations or shares.
Medium-term — 3 to 6 months after
What will you measure?
What would tell you something has changed in practice, decision-making, or behaviour months after the activity?
How and when will you collect it?
Active: a second short survey to attendees, a structured follow-up conversation with key contacts, or tracking a specific indicator you identified on the day. Passive: watch for your work being cited in policy documents, board papers, or funding bids; note whether your organisation receives follow-up approaches, speaking invitations, or partnership requests; check whether the topic appears unprompted in conference programmes or professional body communications. Passive signals suggest change is happening – they do not prove it. Pair them with at least one active method, even a light one.
Without some sense of where things started, it is hard to claim change. What does “before” look like?
How will participants or community partners help generate, interpret, or make sense of the evidence?
Step 05

Your Learning Questions

Evaluation is not only about proving value. It is also about learning what is really happening, where your work is strong, and where it needs to change.

the question
▾
Step 05 — Your Learning Questions
Proof matters. Learning matters too. The strongest evaluation plans create evidence for others while also helping you improve your own practice.
Learning Q 1 – About Participants
What do you most want to understand about how people experienced this work?
Learning Q 2 – About Process
What about your own process, facilitation, or design do you want to test?
Learning Q 3 – About Context
What local conditions, histories, or power dynamics do you need to understand better?
Learning Q 4 – About Change
If the project succeeds or struggles, what will you most want to understand about why?
Name one finding that would genuinely challenge your assumptions, and how you would respond.
Step 06

The Pathway to Structural Change

Short-term outcomes matter, but lasting impact usually depends on other people, organisations, or systems picking something up and carrying it further.

the ripple
▾
Step 06 — Pathway to Structural Change
Short-term Outcome ➜ Sustained Behaviour ➜ Systemic Adoption ➜ Lasting Impact
Which institutions, organisations, practitioners, policymakers, or communities need to adopt or champion this work?
How will you share, translate, or advocate for what you learn so it travels beyond the project?
What wider systems, norms, inequalities, or resource issues could limit long-term change even if the project succeeds?
? Want to understand the theory behind this? Three frameworks to know Optional reading – Theory of Change, Logic Model, Realist Evaluation ▾

Think of these as three different lenses on change. One gives you the logic. One gives you the pathway. One keeps you honest about context. Together they help you plan better and evaluate more intelligently.

01 Theory of Change Narrative & Assumptions ▾
the journey

A Theory of Change tells the story of how your work is supposed to lead to meaningful change. It links activity to outcomes, but crucially it also surfaces the assumptions underneath that logic. It asks not just what are we doing? but why do we think this will work?

Best used when…
  • Clarifying long-term goals
  • Building shared understanding with partners
  • Making assumptions explicit before delivery
Example in practice

An arts organisation mapping a mural project realised it was assuming public art would automatically create connection. That surfaced the need for community consultation before the painting began.

Reflect before you use this

What has to be true for your activity to lead to change? Which assumptions are evidence-based, and which are hopeful guesses? If one assumption fails, what happens to the rest of your logic?

02 Logic Model Inputs → Impact ▾
the blueprint

A Logic Model gives you a clean structure: inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes, impact. It is useful because it makes the sequence visible and keeps teams clear about what is being delivered, what is being measured, and what counts as change.

Best used when…
  • Planning practical delivery and measurement
  • Communicating with funders or partners
  • Separating outputs from outcomes
Example in practice

A university-musician partnership mapped staff time, workshops, songs produced, participant reflection, and reduced loneliness as distinct stages. That made it clearer what had to be measured where.

Reflect before you use this

Are you listing what you delivered, or what changed for people? If your answer is a number of workshops, performances, or resources, you are probably still in output territory.

03 Realist Evaluation What works, for whom? ▾
the context

Realist Evaluation asks a harder and more useful question than “did it work?” It asks: what worked, for whom, in what circumstances, and why? It reminds you that context is not background detail. It shapes whether your mechanism of change fires at all.

Best used when…
  • Your project is complex or experimental
  • You are working across multiple settings
  • You want learning as well as proof
Example in practice

A theatre project built confidence in one youth club but not another. The issue was not the activity itself; it was that trust-building had to happen first in the second setting.

Reflect before you use this

Who might this project not reach, and why? What local histories, power relations, or previous harms could interrupt your intended pathway to change?

Using them together: A Logic Model gives you structure. A Theory of Change gives you the reasoning. Realist Evaluation brings in the messy truth of context. Use all three and your evaluation becomes more credible, more useful, and much harder to fake.

Your Theory of Change is Mapped.

Save a copy for your records, then use the Matchmaker Quiz to find creative evaluation methods that fit the outcomes and evidence needs you have identified – or go straight to building your own custom method.

Matchmaker Quiz ➜ Build Your Own Method ➜

Tip: open the emailed link on a desktop or laptop browser, then use File > Print > Save as PDF for the cleanest result.

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