The Improve Group is always looking for creative ways to measure and evaluate program outcomes and their long-term impacts. Ripple effect mapping brings something new to the table by framing analysis around the initial program outcomes and how they connect to and interact with the larger service area, community, etc. It is a participatory strategy for measuring program outcomes, particularly those requiring collaboration among stakeholders or sectors. Ripple effect mapping is usually utilized 12 months post-program completion and aims to capture socially complex interactions, social capital outcomes, and multi-causality. Steps in conducting ripple effect mapping include:
- Identification of program intervention
- Scheduling a group mapping event (~2 hrs.) and inviting participants (a mix of stakeholders)
- Participants must have a clear understanding of what the program is and why it exists
- Moderately sized group, usually 12-20 + 2 moderators: 1 facilitator and 1 mapper
- Utilize appreciative inquiry interviewing
- Holding the group mapping event
- Map live during the discussion
- Recommendation: probe using Community Capitals Framework (Cornelia and Jan Flora, 2008 http://www.soc.iastate.edu/staff/cflora/ncrcrd/capitals.html)
- Follow-up interviews
- Cleaning, coding, and analysis
- Can add to original map 1 year later or on an ongoing basis to continually capture impacts; a developmental evaluation can emerge from this
Before choosing this method for gathering information about program impacts, carefully consider the following benefits and challenges for implementing this strategy. Benefits:
- The ripple effect mapping is participatory and engages a mix of stakeholders or sectors. The appreciative inquiry activity, in particular, motivates participants to think about successes of the intervention and continue to collaborate and build connections into the future.
- Including multiple stakeholders allows for cross-validation from members of the group. The live activity encourages people to comment as topics or outcomes arise in the discussion.
- The discussion that results from the mapping activity captures both intended and unintended impacts of an intervention. The results can help a client or an organization think about outcomes that they may not have identified when designing the intervention.
- Ripple effect mapping is a low cost option for collecting data. The group session is more cost-effective than conducting many separate interviews. Mapping software is available online for free! Some examples of free mind mapping software include XMind, Freemind, Canva, and MindMeister.
- The final map is a useful graphic to help clients and organizations understand and communicate program impacts to their stakeholders. In addition, the mapping results can be part of an ongoing evaluation process that can be used to track changes and new developments.
Limitations and Challenges:
- It is important to have a skilled facilitator to lead the ripple effect mapping activity. The facilitator should understand what information is most important to collect, and be clear about the types of “probes” or follow-up questions to ask in order to gather this information from participants. It is also ideal to have an external facilitator rather than program staff to ensure participants feel comfortable sharing both positive and negative impacts.
- There is potential for inconsistent implementation. The facilitator as well as others who assist in this process (moderators and mappers) should remain the same through all iterations of the mapping activity.
- There is a risk of bias as a result of participant selection. Not all participants may have information about all of the outcomes experienced by the group they represent. This can be avoided by carefully selecting participants and conducting supplementary interviews with additional stakeholders from that group.
The snapshot below is an example of a segment of a ripple effect map for a fictional park clean-up project created using XMind: 
To sum up, ripple effect mapping is a unique data collection approach that has the potential to be a powerful evaluation tool. When implemented carefully, the results can greatly benefit a program, its surrounding community, and inform future decisions across stakeholder priorities or sectors. Sources: Powerpoint and Sample Agenda: http://comm.eval.org/eval/resources/viewdocument?DocumentKey=a04a9a28-6c0b-4953-91f9-ed753f120f3f) http://www.joe.org/joe/2012october/tt6.php
