Food banks? D.A.R.E.? Habitat for Humanity? With many organizations and strategies trying to address complex social problems, how do we determine which ones actually make an impact? Through interactive activities, we will explore how to measure and determine the effectiveness of an organization or strategy.

1. Service to Solutions: Root
Cause Analysis
Modeled from Solutions U
Bonner Congress 2018
Stetson University
Facilitated by: Liz Brandt, Community Engagement Director, Bonner
Foundation
Alexander Nichols, Bonner Congress Representative, Davidson College

2. INTRODUCTIONS

3. SERVICE TO SOLUTIONS
In order to prevent youth from getting
involved in crime, one program takes
them to prisons, and attempts to scare
them. Prisoners offer testimonies about
how terrible their lives are behind bars.
They tell frightening stories and offer a
grim picture of what happens to people
who commit crimes and are caught. The
theory of change is that young people
will be “scared straight.” This program
was so compelling that there was an
Academy-Award winning documentary
about its effectiveness.

4. SERVICE TO SOLUTIONS
Project DARE (Drug Abuse
Resistance Education) is intended to
show young people the dangers of
drugs. Police officers teach young
people in high schools about how
drugs can destroy their lives. The
program is taught throughout
America’s 50 states and territories,
as well as 50+ other countries,
reaching more than 1.5 million
students annually.

5. SERVICE TO SOLUTIONS
A social entrepreneur created
PlayPumps International to address the
lack of access to clean drinking water in
developing nations. PlayPumps are
merry-go-rounds that children play on,
and as they turn, pump water from the
ground. PlayPumps started to receive
international attention after it won the
World Bank Development Marketplace
Award in 2000. It was one of those rare
programs that earned bipartisan
support.

6. ‣ Addressing lack of access to safe,
clean drinking water
‣ Merry-go-rounds that children play
on, and as they turn, pump water
from the ground
‣ Won World Bank Development
Marketplace Award in 2000
‣ Intended to show young
people the dangers of
drugs
‣ Taught throughout
America’s 50 states and
territories, 50+ countries,
reaching more than 1.5
million students
annually
‣ Theory of change is
that young people will
be “scared straight.”
‣ Prisoners offer
testimonies
‣ Academy-Award
winning documentary
about its effectiveness

7. SERVICE TO SOLUTIONS
VOTE:
HTTPS://POLLEV.COM/BONNERFOUNDA585

8. MAKING A DIFFERENCE - MEASURING IMPACT

9. MAKING A DIFFERENCE - MEASURING IMPACT
WAYS OF MEASURING IMPACT
‣ Randomized, double-blind studies with experimental and control groups - This is the gold-
standard. It is how drug manufacturers test whether cancer treatments and other potentially
life-saving remedies actually work better than placebos. These randomized, controlled trials
(RCT) are used increasingly in international development. They are difficult to do in many
circumstances.
‣ Testimonials - While endorsements and support can appear impressive, it is important to
remember, such as in the PlayPump example, that having endorsements from the Clinton and
Bush families did not show that the program actually worked.
‣ Anecdotes and case studies - These can be useful to highlight inspirational stories; however,
this doesn’t necessarily mean that such story is representative of the entire population they
serve.
‣ Self-reports - The data could be attained through a survey, for example. The data can be
effective, but again, are subject to biases (i.e. discrepancy between what people report and
what they actually do).

10. IT’S HARD
BUT WE KEEP TRYING.

11. DOWNSTREAM SOLUTIONS
Once upon a time, there was a small village on the edge of a river. Life in the village was busy. There were people growing food and people
teaching the children to make blankets and people making meals.
One day a villager took a break from harvesting food and noticed a baby floating down the river toward the village. She couldn't believe her
eyes! She heard crying in the distance and looked downstream to see that two babies had already floated by the village.
She looked around at the other villagers working nearby. "Does anyone else see that baby?" she asked.
One villager heard the woman, but continued working. "Yes!" yelled a man who had been making soup.
"Oh, this is terrible!" A woman who had been building a campfire shouted, "Look, there are even more upstream!" Indeed, there were three
more babies coming around the bend.
"How long have these babies been floating by?" asked another villager. No one knew for sure, but some people thought they might have
seen something in the river earlier. They were busy at the time and did not have time to investigate.
They quickly organized themselves to rescue the babies. Watchtowers were built on both sides of the shore and swimmers were coordinated
to maintain shifts of rescue teams that maintained 24-hour surveillance of the river. Ziplines with baskets attached were stretched across the
river to get even more babies to safety quickly.
The number of babies floating down the river only seemed to increase. The villagers built orphanages and they taught even more children to
make blankets and they increased the amount of food they grew to keep the babies housed, warm and fed. Life in the village carried on.
Then one day at a meeting of the Village Council, a villager asked, "But where are all these babies coming from?”
"No one knows," said another villager. "But I say we organize a team to go upstream and find how who's throwing these babies in the river.”
Not everyone was in agreement. "But we need people to help us pull the babies out of the river," said one villager. "That's right!" said
another villager. "And who will be here to cook for them and look after them if a bunch of people go upstream?”
The Council chose to let the village decide. If you were a villager, what would your vote be? Do you send a team upstream?

13. Leading cause of death for
men and women in the U.S.

14. WHY?
WHY?
WHY?
WHY? WHY?

15. PERSONAL V. STRUCTURAL CAUSES
PERSONAL
▸Biology/genes
▸ Individual choices
▸ Family obligations
▸ Religious/personal beliefs
▸ Life changes or events
▸Mental & physical capabilities
▸
STRUCURAL
Laws & policies
Social and/or
cultural norms
Hiring and
promotion practices
Resource allocation
Historical
precedent

16. ROOT CAUSE
ANALYSIS

17. REFLECTION QUESTIONS

18. THANK YOU & FEEDBACK
EXIT TICKETS