1. Planning for Scaling Social Impact: Our Work at CASE
June 18, 2010
Greg Dees
CASE at Duke University

2. Scale: Major Research Topic at CASE
Main Themes
Scaling impact is not the same as organizational growth
There are many different pathways for scaling impact
Lasting, widespread impact may require changing the “ecosystem” in which you operate
Organizations need to be strategic in building capacities and resources to scale impact effectively
Main Frameworks
Matrix of options for “Scaling Out” and Five Rs
Ecosystems analysis and Four Cs
SCALER capacity building framework 2

3. How: Mechanisms for Spreading Impact
Matrix of “Scaling Out” Options
What: Defining the Social Innovation
How: Mechanisms for Spreading Impact
Dissemination
Affiliation
Branching
Only With TA
Loose Moderate Tight
Organization
Program
Principles 3

4. Scaling Out: Five Rs
Designing a promising scaling out strategy requires a judgment based on:
Readiness (innovation and organization)
Receptivity (in other locations)
Resources (difficulty to mobilize)
Risks (to society, beneficiaries, your organization)
Returns (in terms of timely impact)
All of which vary depending on matrix position chosen 4

5. Ecosystem Analysis Framework
Environmental Conditions:
Politics, Policy, and Bureaucracy
Economics and Markets
Culture and Social Fabric
Geography and Infrastructure
Players:
Opponents & Problem Creators
Complementary
Organizations &
Allies
Resource Providers:
Financial
Human
Intellectual
Technical
Social
Impact
Your
Organization
Customers/Beneficiaries
Competitors:
For customers
For resources
Affected Bystanders 5 5

6. Ecosystem Change: Four Cs
Changing an ecosystem means changing the conditions or the dynamics so that new patterns of behavior are established. This often requires:
Credible alternative (to the status quo)
Communications skills (to sell the alternative)
Coalition building (create base of support)
Contingency planning (in anticipation of reactions of opponents and affected bystanders)
Note: As with natural ecosystems, interventions can lead to unintended consequences. 6

7. Most Recently: SCALERS Framework
Staffing
Labor, Human Capital
Public Awareness, Support
Communicating
Skills outside your Organization
Supportive Public Policy
Alliance-Building
Lobbying
Earnings-Generation
Replicating
Stimulating Market Forces
Scale of
Social Impact
Robust, Regular Financial Flows
Geographic Expansion
Changing Market Behavior
SCALERS was developed by Paul Bloom to capture capacities needed to execute different scaling strategies. For instance, IF your scale strategy is particular dependent on the items on the left, you probably need to be strong in the corresponding capabilities on the right 7 7

8. Visit our resource website: www.scalingsocialimpact.org
CASE: An On-Going Scale Resource
Visit our resource website:
Watch for our new book in October, edited by Paul Bloom and Ed Skloot, including many contributions by leading thinkers: Scaling Social Impact: New Thinking 8