Dear readers,
Most MEAL systems begin by deciding, in advance, what success will look like. A theory of change sets the pathway, a logframe turns it into indicators, and teams collect evidence against them. That works when the intervention is stable and the route to change is reasonably predictable.
A great deal of our sector’s work is not. Advocacy, systems change, coalition building, institutional strengthening and social norms work involve many actors and shifting contexts, and produce outcomes nobody wrote down at design stage. A programme can meet every output target and still miss the change that mattered most — including the ones that went badly.
Outcome Harvesting starts from the other end. Instead of asking only whether the predicted change occurred, it asks what changed, for whom, when and where — and what part we actually played in it. It works backwards from observable change to contribution, then tests the claim against other sources.
On 1 September, Dialogue 10 of our Social Impact Dialogues takes the method apart in practice.
Who is in the room
Anna Martin is a Strategist and Complexity Coach at Radicle Development — an evaluator and facilitator whose work sits where complex evidence has to become a decision. She has supported UNICEF, the Ford Foundation, GSMA and the World Anti-Doping Agency on evaluation, learning and organisational change.
Sharon Weir moderates, she co-founded The 4th Wheel in 2010 and has since designed and led more than 150 research and evaluation projects.
Three questions structure the session
1. When is Outcome Harvesting the right method — and when is it not? Can it be used while building a theory of change, during implementation, or retrospectively when no evaluation was designed at all?
2. What does a good harvest look like in practice? Who takes part, what does a facilitator ask, and how do you make sure the process reaches past the most senior voices in the room?
3. What do you do once you have the outcomes? How a collection of outcome statements becomes a decision, a revised theory of change, or a clear answer about what to stop doing.
Who this is for
NGO leaders and MEAL heads running programmes where the pathway to change was never fully predictable. Advocacy, policy-influence and coalition teams trying to evidence contribution without overclaiming attribution. CSR and foundation teams who want something beyond output reporting. Funders deciding whether the method fits a portfolio review. Evaluators and researchers working with participatory, complexity-aware approaches.
If the timing does not work, register anyway — we will send the recording to everyone who signs up.
About 4th Wheel Social Impact
Founded in 2010, 4th Wheel works with funders, NGOs, and government partners across India and South Asia on impact strategy, MEAL systems, and evaluation. We focus on building evidence systems that are field-grounded, methodologically rigorous, and useful to the people making decisions.
Warmly,
4th Wheel Social Impact Team