Logic Models

by Rosie Brennan, GPC, and guest blogger Jennifer Murphy, GPC, Manager of Institutional Giving, Lyric Opera of Kansas City   Spooky season is upon us, and at AGS we’ve been thinking about what keeps us up at night when it comes to grants. As grant pros, we are skilled at anticipating challenges and putting controls in place to mitigate negative outcomes in our grant programs. Here are some eerie grant scenarios with suggested actions that’ll have you sleeping like a baby.

I have found that in the world of grant professionals, there doesn’t seem to be much gray area when it comes to logic models. Most of my colleagues seem to fall into the “I love logic models!” camp, but I do know there are a few of you out there (time to fess up) for whom those two words bring feelings of fear and anxiety. I am confessing that I, too, fall into that category. To clarify, my problem is with the process of creating the logic model. I do love and appreciate what logic models achieve and the value of the end result but have always struggled with making my thoughts fit neatly into tidy rows and columns. So, for those of you who also think less linearly and need to see the forest before you examine each individual tree, I have some suggestions that have helped me to alleviate logic model anxiety.

This is a strange time for many nonprofits. For some nonprofits, they are busier than they have ever been, even at the height of the Great Recession. Other nonprofits have closed their doors due to stay-at-home orders and social distancing. Some wonder if it is indecent to even be fundraising right now for anything outside of basic necessities, while others are organizing new and extra fundraising methods because their annual fundraising events are now canceled. How will this change the funding landscape and for how long? We don’t know. What we do know is that the funding landscape will continue to be incredibly competitive just as it was during the Great Recession. At Assel Grant Services, we were writing before, during, and after that recession, and we are writing in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis as well. Experience has taught us that in order to be funded, grants must be about more than just passion and need. Programs must be of the highest quality and they must directly align to community needs. How can we ensure that alignment? How can we prove to funders that we are truly meeting the needs of the community? Run your programs through a logic model.

  All nonprofit organizations are noticing an increase in requests for logic models, but I believe these requests are more frequent for human service organizations.  In addition, I believe human service organizations struggle with developing high-quality logic models more than any other nonprofit sector. A standard logic...