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CATALYZE INNOVATION

Measuring Audacious Systems Change for the Audacious Project

Location: 

Global

Duration: 

Fall 2023 – Present
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The Challenge

The Audacious Project—a collaborative funding initiative housed at TED—is reshaping philanthropy by shifting power and resources to proximate changemakers advancing bold, community-led solutions. To fully capture its multi-layered impact, Audacious needed a Measurement, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) framework that could assess its influence as an intervention, a donor community, and a funding portfolio—while staying true to its disruptive, values-driven approach to philanthropy.

The APPROACH

I2I partnered with Audacious and key donors to co-create and implement a MEL framework that measures impact at three levels:

  • Audacious as an intervention: Tracking how the program equips grantees to secure long-term funding, deliver high-impact TED Talks, and scale their ideas
  • Audacious as a donor community: Evaluating influence on peer funders and its role in shifting philanthropic practices
  • Audacious as a portfolio: Assessing systemic impact across grantees, measuring how investments drive long-term change for individuals, communities, and systems

The evaluation integrates systems change rubrics to track transformation over time, using qualitative and quantitative data to articulate the portfolio’s on-the-ground impact on people and communities.

The IMPACT

  • Developed the first-ever MEL framework tailored to Audacious’s unique structure and mission
  • Enabled funders to see their collective impact, fostering a more engaged and informed donor community
  • Strengthened grantee capacity, helping changemakers communicate their impact to funders
  • Positioned Audacious as a thought leader in impact measurement, leading to a presentation at the American Evaluation Association Conference

What Makes This Different?

I2I’s approach captures systems-level transformation, ensuring the Audacious Project’s MEL framework is not just about measuring grantee outcomes—but impact of the portfolio as a whole and reimagining the role of philanthropy itself.

Read "Lessons Learned over the past five years," informed by the MEL framework.

“I really appreciate Intention 2 Impact’s approach: instead of trying to sell their clients an off the shelf product, they take the time to listen to their needs, and to co-create and implement solutions that are useful and work for them. That approach has allowed us to push the boundaries of what both us and them thought possible on a few occasions and I’m already looking forward to seeing what might come up in future opportunities.”

João Martinho
Director of Learning & Evaluation, The Audacious Project at TED