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Learning & impact· Medium risk

Design a theory of change workshop

Plan a half-day theory of change session for a new or refreshed programme.

When to use this prompt

Reach for this prompt when you need to plan a half-day theory of change session for a new or refreshed programme. It's designed for ceo, programme_lead, operations. Typically used within Strategy work.

Draft with AI, then have a colleague verify facts and tone before use.

How to use it

  1. 1

    Gather your inputs

    You'll need: programme_topic, participants.
  2. 2

    Fill in the template

    Copy the template below and replace every bracketed placeholder with real, local context. Keep names and safeguarding details out.
  3. 3

    Run it in your AI tool

    Paste into your preferred AI assistant. Ask a follow-up if the output misses your association's tone or context.
  4. 4

    Review with the checklist

    Work through the human-review checklist below before you send, publish or act on the output.

Prefer a guided flow? Adapt with the guided builder — it fills placeholders from your association profile.

Prompt template

Design a 3.5-hour theory of change workshop for {{association_name}}'s programme on {{programme_topic}}.

Participants: {{participants}} (mix of staff, young people, and community partners).

Deliver:
1. Timing plan with breaks
2. A gentle way to build a shared definition of the problem — that doesn't assume everyone already agrees
3. An activity to surface long-term outcomes vs short-term outputs
4. An activity to name the assumptions we're making
5. A way to include young people's language, not paraphrase it
6. What we take away on paper by the end

Tone: {{communication_tone}}.

Replace bracketed placeholders with real context. Never paste identifying details about children, health or safeguarding cases.

Human review checklist

Tick each before you send or publish the output.

Why this prompt works

Prompts for the moment most theory-of-change sessions skip — naming assumptions and letting young people's language survive intact.

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