How to use the Theory of change template

Start a board from it
Use this template opens a new Freero board with the Theory of change template on it (sign up free first). On a board you already have, open Templates in the toolbar and search for “Theory of change”.
Follow the instruction on the board
“Start at the right: the impact you want. Then work leftwards, asking “what has to be true first?” at every step.”
Fill in each part
- What it looks like for our literacy programme
- Inputs
- Activities
- Outputs
- Outcomes
- Impact
Bring your team and your agents
Invite people to the board or share a link, and work on it together live. The timer is in the top bar, private mode and voting in the board menu, and Claude or ChatGPT can join through Freero’s MCP server.

Work on it with an AI agent

Connect an assistant once and it works on the board with you, with your permissions: by default it reads and proposes, and people decide.

You ask: “Fill in the Theory of change board from these notes.”
What happens It reads the board, then proposes sticky notes for it. Nothing changes until someone on the board accepts them.
You ask: “Group what we wrote into themes and list the actions.”
What happens It proposes clusters with a title each and task cards for the actions, labelled with its name and yours.

Logic model
Lay out a programme as resources, activities, outputs and outcomes in columns, with the assumptions that hold them together.
Impact measurement framework
Decide how you will show your work makes a difference: each outcome with an indicator, baseline, target and where the data comes from.
Impact × effort
A 2×2 matrix to sort ideas into quick wins, big bets, fill-ins and time sinks.
Now, next, later
A roadmap without dates: problems you’re solving now, next and later, plus parked ideas.
Advocacy campaign plan
Plan a campaign for a policy change: the ask, who decides, allies and opponents, messengers, tactics and the moments to act.
OKRs
Three objectives, each with measurable key results and the initiatives that move them.