Our Theory of Change

Our Theory of Change sets out the short and long-term outcomes that we aim to achieve for young people taking part in Apps for Good courses. It also shows our intended short-term outcomes for their teachers and the Industry Volunteers who support them. The Theory of Change is a tool that connects our day-to-day work to our overall mission and vision. By articulating how our activities lead to the outcomes, and how those outcomes contribute to our ultimate vision of a world where every young person has the skills to shape their future, our Theory of Change helps us take an impact-led approach to everything we do.

Our Theory of Change ensures that our team, trustees, partners and other stakeholders have a shared understanding of what we do and why we do it. It keeps us connected to our mission and vision, and gives us the language to challenge ourselves and each other to ensure we approach decisions and developments with impact in mind.

A lot more detail sits behind our Theory of Change. As a team, we have identified a set of external and contextual conditions that may help or hinder our impact efforts. These enabling and derailing factors help us manage risk and harness opportunities. We have also identified how we want our courses to be experienced by teachers, young people and volunteers, and how we want them to respond, so that outcomes are more likely. Without these change mechanisms, our intervention cannot succeed. Therefore, we regularly assess our daily activities against them to ensure we are focusing our time and resources on what will drive meaningful impact.

In addition to focusing our planning and enabling us to monitor our work, our Theory of Change is a vital part of how we evaluate the effectiveness and impact of our courses. Our impact measurement framework is mapped to the outcomes listed in our Theory of Change, meaning we have a considered methodology and appropriate data collection tools to assess whether these outcomes are being achieved for our target groups.