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Grants and Grant Proposal Writing: Logic Models

Provides introductory information about grants and the proposal writing process.

 

♦ LOGIC MODELS

Logic models are an increasingly common component of grant proposals.

What Is a Logic Model?


Logic models are a visual method of presenting an idea. They offer a way to describe and share an understanding of relationships among elements necessary to operate a program or change effort. Logic models describe a bounded project or initiative: both what is planned (the doing) ad what results are expected (the getting). They provide a clear roadmap to a specified end.

Lisa Wyatt Knowlton and Cynthia C. Phillips
The Logic Model Guidebook

 

It is a systematic, visual way to show the relationships among project resources, activities, and results you hope to achieve. Most simply, it is a project road map, detailing a sequential chain of if-then relationships among the steps of a project that illustrates the connections among its elements. A very basic logic model consists of assumptions based on theory, research, evaluation, and knowledge that supports the premises of your project and external factors or variables that need to be taken into account in conducting the project.

Anne L. Rothstein
Creating Winning Grant Proposals

 

What Does a Logic Model Do?


A logic model links outcomes and short-term and long-term impacts with program resources, activities/processes, and the theoretical assumptions/principles of the program.

Anne L. Rothstein
Creating Winning Grant Proposals

 

A logic model illustrates the relationship between a current situation, processes, and resulting outputs and short-, medium-, and long-term outcomes. While the specific components and design will vary, logic models most commonly move from left to right and show the relationship between inputs (the resources you will need for your project), activities (what your project will do), outputs (deliverables or products), and outcomes (the impacts on participants).

Jeremy T. Miner and Kelly C. Ball
Proposal Planning and Writing

 

Why Use a Logic Model?


Because a logic model . . . illustrates the relationship between planned or actual work and results, it supports evaluation through commonly understood visual architecture. This architecture assists in the formulation of key questions and indicators about the program and its effects over time. It does this in ways that encourage evaluation use that targets improved effectiveness.

Lisa Wyatt Knowlton and Cynthia C. Phillips
The Logic Model Guidebook

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Information About Logic Models — Books (available through OhioLINK)


Full-length books:

  • See Lisa Wyatt Knowlton and Cynthia C. Phillips, The Logic Model Guidebook: Better Strategies for Great Results (2nd ed., SAGE, 2013).
  • See Lisa Wyatt Knowlton and Cynthia C. Phillips, The Logic Model Guidebook: Better Strategies for Great Results (SAGE, 2009).


Parts of books:

  • See Chapters 5 and 7 in Irwin Nesoff's Human Service Program Planning Through a Social Justice Lens (Routledge, 2022, pp. 120-43 and 164-81).
  • See Chapter 9 in Anne L. Rothstein's Creating Winning Grant Proposals: A Step-by-Step Guide (Guilford Press, 2019, pp. 109-16).
  • See Chapter 7 in Richard Hoefer's Funded!: Successful Grantwriting for Your Nonprofit (Oxford University Press, 2017, pp. 103-11).
  • See Chapter 6 in Carl F. Brun's A Practical Guide to Evaluation (2nd ed., Lyceum Books, 2014, pp. 143-75).
  • See Section H in Marvin C. Alkin's Evaluation Essentials from A to Z (Guilford Press, 2011, pp. 71-79).
  • See Chapter 13 in Funnell and Rogers's Purposeful Program Theory: Effective Use of Theories of Change and Logic Models (Jossey-Bass, 2011, pp. 387-414).
  • See Chapter 7 in Kapp and Anderson's Agency-Based Program Evaluation: Lessons from Practice (SAGE, 2010, pp. 133-62).
  • See Chapter 3 in Wholey, Hatry, and Newcomer's Handbook of Practical Program Evaluation (3rd ed., Jossey-Bass, 2010, pp. 55-80). The chapter is "Using Logic Models" by John A. McLaughlin and Gretchen B. Jordan.
  • See Chapter 6 in Peter Frumkin's Strategic Giving: The Art and Science of Philanthropy (University of Chicago Press, 2006, pp. 174-216).
  • See Chapter 2 in McDavid and Hawthorn's Program Evaluation and Performance Measurement: An Introduction to Practice (SAGE, 2006, pp. 39-78).
  • See Chapter 1 in Wholey, Hatry, and Newcomer's Handbook of Practical Program Evaluation (2nd ed., Jossey-Bass, 2004, pp. 7-32). The chapter is "Using Logic Models" by John A. McLaughlin and Gretchen B. Jordan.