Logic Model Template
Map inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes, and impact in a funder-ready logic model.
A complete logic model, prefilled with an example you can edit
Inputs
Resources: staff, funding, partners
Activities
What the program does
Outputs
Direct products: people served, sessions held
Outcomes
Changes: knowledge, behavior, condition
Impact
Long-term change in the community
The logic model template above is an editable five-column logic model (inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes, and impact) prefilled with an example for an after-school reading program. Edit any column directly, use Clear to start from blank boxes, and then copy or download the model as text with each column labeled, ready to paste into a table.
Reading the example
The example shows the level of specificity reviewers look for. Its inputs are countable (two reading specialists, 40 volunteers, $60,000, three partner schools). Its outputs are numbers the program controls (300 students tutored, 12,000 tutoring hours, 24 family workshops). Its outcomes are changes in participants, split into short term (more daily reading time), medium term (a 15 percent gain in reading proficiency), and long term (more students reading at grade level). The impact names the broader community change. When you replace it, keep that distinction: an output is something you deliver, an outcome is something that changes because you delivered it.
Check the chain before you submit
Read your finished model across each row as a sentence: if we have these inputs, we can carry out these activities; if we carry them out, we will produce these outputs; if we produce them, these outcomes follow. Three problems show up quickly this way:
- An activity with no output. If you cannot count what it produces, either define the output or question why the activity is in the plan.
- An outcome with no activity behind it. A promised change that nothing in the plan causes is the gap reviewers find first.
- Outcomes you cannot measure. Every outcome should have an indicator and a data source, or it cannot appear in your evaluation plan.
When the funder's format differs
Funders and agencies use variations. Some use four columns and fold impact into long-term outcomes. Others add rows for assumptions and external factors, or ask for a separate column for short, intermediate, and long-term outcomes. If the application includes its own logic model form, move your content into that form rather than attaching this layout. When a funder asks for a theory of change instead, the content overlaps but the emphasis shifts to why the activities should work; our explainer on the theory of change compares the two.
The outcomes in the model should become the objectives in your proposal and the measures in your evaluation. Our step-by-step logic model guide covers building one with a program team; writing SMART objectives from outcomes explains the conversion; and the grant evaluation plan guide explains how to measure them. The model then slots into the program section of our fill-in proposal template.
Frequently asked questions
What are the steps involved in designing a logic model?+
Start with the end: write the long-term impact and the outcomes you expect, then the activities that will produce them, the outputs you will count, and the inputs those activities require. Then read the model left to right as a chain of if-then statements and fix any link that does not hold. Finally, check that every outcome can be measured, because those outcomes become your objectives and your evaluation plan.
How to make a logic model in Word?+
Insert a table with five columns (Inputs, Activities, Outputs, Outcomes, Impact) and one or two rows, set the page to landscape, and paste each column's content into its cell. Bullet lists inside cells keep it readable. If the funder wants arrows between columns, add them with Insert, then Shapes, or use a SmartArt process graphic for a simple version. The tool on this page copies the model as text, labeled by column, ready to paste.
What is the best program to create a logic model?+
For most grant applications, a table in Word or Google Docs is enough, and it is the easiest format to paste into an application or attach as a PDF. Use a slide or diagramming tool only if the funder expects a graphic, or if the model has branching pathways that a table cannot show. The content matters far more to reviewers than the software.
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