Our Theory of Change
The IllumiLab is driven by a Vision of empowered nonprofits aligning their efforts with intentions to maximize their impact.
To realize that vision, our Mission is to equip and empower change-makers to plan thoughtfully, design intentionally, work efficiently, and learn continuously.
Like the program theories we help nonprofits design and articulate, our Theory of Change describes how we execute our mission to realize our vision.
We work primarily in four service areas – program performance management and evaluation, data management, quality and process improvement, and planning. We apply this theory and approach to all our work.
We have the skills and experience to build tools and create solutions for your pressing needs, but beyond that, we aim to work in ways that build your capacity to fully implement and benefit from those tools.
Read more about our strategies for building capacities and creating solutions.
Our Services
Performance Management & Evaluation
To manage and evaluate a program’s performance, you must first intentionally design it for impact. Many challenges related to evaluation stem from a lack of clarity in the program’s designs and intentions, so we often begin there. Then, we thoughtfully plan measurement and evaluation strategies that are sustainable and integrated so that you can evaluate efficiently and learn continuously.
Our Performance Management services can help if you are . . .
- Counting what’s easy to count instead of measuring what’s meaningful,
- Unsure how to demonstrate your value with a mix of outputs and outcomes,
- Struggling to define success in measurable terms,
- Trying to build a culture of learning and improvement that values data, or
- Faced with increasing demands for demonstrable results.
Learn more about our Performance Management services or contact us to discuss your goals.
Data Management
Your data can only serve you (well) when your data management tools are designed to help you learn from and use your data and to integrate seamlessly and efficiently into your workflows. Our Data Management services can help you if you are . . .
- Drowning in poor quality and/or useless data,
- Unable to use your data to answer key questions and report to stakeholders,
- Struggling to identify and communicate your needs to your database vendor, or
- Ready to upgrade your data management tools to something more efficient, robust, and user-friendly.
Learn more about our Data Management services or contact us to discuss your goals.
Quality & Process Improvement
One of the greatest ironies in our sector is that nonprofit professionals, in their commitment to mission, often deprioritize the very thinking and work that would make them the most efficient and effective stewards of their missions. The thoughtful design of roles, workflows, and management tools and practices can ensure your time, energy, and resources are aligned with your intentions and driving impact. Some common signs that your organization could benefit from Quality Improvement strategies include:
- Unclear roles and responsibilities leading to conflict, confusion, and re-work
- Unclear, undocumented, or inefficient processes and workflows leading to errors, confusion, and frustration
- Critical feedback from funders and accrediting bodies
- A mentality focused on compliance rather than quality
Learn more about our Quality & Process Improvement services or contact us to discuss your goals.
Planning
Nonprofits write a lot of plans that sit on shelves, collecting dust. Rather than adhering to stale templates and reusing rote, one-size-fits-all processes, The IllumiLab brings our expertise in project management and strategic and evaluative thinking to help nonprofits identify what they need from their plans. Then, we design and facilitate the idea generation, decision-making, and planning processes that transform insights into impact. We deliver plans that answer pressing questions, meet real needs, and guide action.
Learn more about our Planning services or contact us to discuss your goals.
Our Approach
Our clients tell us that what sets us apart is our intuitive and accessible approach to our work. We believe the challenges organizations face are exciting opportunities and the process of seeking their solutions should be energizing!
Whether your organization is struggling to articulate your intentions, define and measure success, design a new data collection system, or streamline the way you work, we believe the solutions are found by asking and answering the right questions. We set aside jargon and theory and ask intuitive and incisive questions whose answers chart our course.
We approach every project with an eye toward building and strengthening organizational cultures of curiosity, learning, and improvement. We do that by engaging team members from throughout your organization, tapping into their passions and priorities, and designing solutions that speak to them. This way, we generate essential buy-in, cultivate champions for the project’s goals, and ensure the sustainability of the changes you’re making.
We commit to work with our clients in ways that are:
- Accessible– Our projects will be tailored to your organization’s needs, readiness, culture, and capacity.
- Relevant– We meet you where you are and address the needs that are most important to you.
- Engaging– Our work is inclusive, collaborative, and fun.
- Empowering– We will work in a way that equips and empowers your team to succeed without us.
- Sustainable– We develop solutions that are right-sized so your organization can sustain them.
Our Founder, Sarah Buek, has been known to bring humor, irreverence, and a lot of contagious passion to her projects. Here are some of the words our clients have used to describe their experience working with us:
Fun, affirming, clear, easy, realistic, exciting, approachable, invested, passionate, creative, humor, accessible, meaningful, relevant, applicable.
Training
The IllumiLab has a diverse slate of workshops that we have developed, tailored, and presented over the years. Whether you are a nonprofit seeking training for your team, a grant-maker seeking capacity building for your grantees, or planning a conference, we would be thrilled to offer one of our many workshops or to develop something new to meet your needs. Here’s a list of some of the more than 30 workshops we’ve presented.
- Translating Intentions into Impact: From Theory of Change to Measurable Outcomes
- Crafting Meaningful and Measurable Outcomes
- Stop the Measurement Madness: Strategies that are Meaningful and Manageable
- Data Beyond Outcomes
- Using Data for Learning & Improvement
- Process Management: Thriving During Growth, Transition & Turnover
- From Cost Savings to Improved Outcomes: Quality Improvement in Action
- Implementing & Sustaining Change: Operational & Cultural Considerations
- Data-Informed Decision-Making & Planning
- Grant Management: Perspectives and Tips from Funders
- Satisfying Funder Requirements: Aligning & Streamlining for the Sake of Sanity
Click here to learn about and register for upcoming webinars from The IllumiLab.