Causal Pathways Initiative project

Contributing partner(s)

The Causal Pathways Initiative seeks to help philanthropy and other funders open up the black box of strategy and systems change.

It aims to do this by building awareness, will, and skills to use evaluation approaches that can make sense of causal relationships without depending on more traditional experimental and quasi-experimental approaches.

The Causal Pathways Initiative and the Global Evaluation Initiative (GEI) jointly created the Causal Pathways Resource Hub: a resource for evaluators to learn more about the value of exploring causal pathways through a range of innovative approaches that prioritize the experiences of those at the heart of social change.

The hub is hosted by GEI’s BetterEvaluation knowledge platform and is free to access. The hub is designed to give users – from those new to evaluation to seasoned evaluators – the information they need to commission or conduct evaluations that explore the evidence for pathways leading to change, confirming or challenging theories and assumptions about how change happens. The hub includes guidance and information on a wide range of approaches, some of which, by their nature, explore causal pathways and others that require adaptation to do so.

Thematic page

Causal pathways

A causal pathways perspective on evaluation focuses on understanding how, why, and under what conditions change happens or has happened.

Key resources

Causal pathways: A shared understanding

This 2022 document by members of the Causal Pathways Initiative articulates a shared understanding of the concept of “causal pathways'' in evaluation and strategy.
Lost causal: Debunking myths about causal analysis in philanthropy

This 2021 paper, updated in 2024, advocates for more causal analysis in philanthropic evaluation - not just describing actions taken and changes observed, but also learning how and why change occurred.
Causal Pathways 2023 Symposium and 2024 introductory sessions

This series of webinars was first presented at the Causal Pathways Symposium 2023, which focused on "connecting, learning, and building a shared understanding of the evaluation and participatory practices that make causal pathways more visible".
Making causal pathways visible amid complexity

This report from 2021 shares findings from an investigation into how social change agents, including philanthropists, can better understand and learn from ongoing changes and improve their strategies now and in the future.

About the Causal Pathways Initiative

Causal Pathways Initiative partner page
The Causal Pathways Initiative was established to connect experiences and build insights about using causal pathways analysis, especially with complex systems change interventions.