Tutorial Summary

• A logic model is a picture of how your program works. It provides a logical sequence that explains what you are doing and the outcomes you expect from the program.

• A logic model is one of three program planning tools DASH funded partners use to understand and monitor program implementation. The other tools are the strategic plan and workplan.

• Logic models show how program components are related and lead to desired outcomes. In this way, logic models can guide program implementation and evaluation.

• Logic models consist of seven components, which are represented from left to right in the DASH logic model template: 1) inputs, 2) strategies/activities, 3) outputs, 4) short-term outcomes, 5) intermediate outcomes, 6) long-term outcomes, and 7) the overall program goal.

• The first three components focus on what takes place within your program (process components), and the next three are the intended program results (outcome components).

• Your five-year program logic model and your strategic plan should reflect one another. The long-term outcomes in the logic model represent your five-year program goals. The outputs and short-term and intermediate outcomes in the logic model represent the implementation of your program’s strategies to achieve the five-year program goals.

• You should read your logic model to check the logical links among logic model components. Starting from the left-hand side, you use the “If-Then” approach. Starting from the right-hand side, you use the “Reverse Logic” approach.

• A five-year program logic model provides a picture of your entire five-year project, whereas a nested logic model provides an expanded, more detailed view of a program strategy or group of strategies.

Important note: about adapting DASH examples for site use:
The purpose of the example DASH program planning tools is to illustrate how the strategic plan narrative, five-year program logic model, and annual workplan look in structure and organization. The content of the examples is fictitious, so programs should not copy the content for their own planning tools. However, some programs may want and have the capacity to adapt aspects of the examples. In that case, the corresponding work needs to appear in annual program workplans.

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