SCALE+ methodology

How can organizations make sustainable, locally generated impact — on a big scale? FHI 360’s SCALE+ methodology offers a process for approaching development challenges by convening people with diverse perspectives, helping people understand one another and facilitating collaborative action on a large scale.

SCALE+ is a process for approaching development challenges with people and organizations from multiple sectors to increase engagement and sustain collaborative action. It seeks to help people appreciate others’ perspectives and create smart, effective, long-lasting solutions that have broad partner engagement and buy-in.

SCALE+ was created in partnership with USAID and has been used by FHI 360 since 2004 in development projects across 25 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

United States
Women’s
Economic
Empowerment

Jamaica
Citizen Security

Honduras
Fisheries, Workforce
Development

Ecuador
Tourism

Colombia
Civil Society

Barbados
Youth

Dominican Republic
Tourism

Tunisia
Youth,
Community
Resilience

Morocco
Agriculture, Workforce
Development

Mali
Tourism

Chad
Conflict Migration

Cameroon
Community
Resilience,
CVE

Democratic
Republic of
Congo
Youth, Community
Engagement

Albania
Tourism

South
Africa
Maternal
Health,
Nutrition

Montenegro
Agriculture, Workforce
Development

Egypt
Education, Tourism

Palestine
Economic Development

Ethiopia
Tourism, WASH

Djibouti
Education, GESI, Health

Kenya
Agriculture, Health, Workforce

Uganda
Tourism, Sustainable Energy

Malawi
Health, HIV, Education

Madagascar
Health, Hygiene

Mozambique
Fisheries

Cambodia
Fisheries

How we use SCALE+

SCALE+ is based on ‘systems thinking,’ which embraces the need to understand how diverse forces and structures influence a complex development issue—so that committed groups can work effectively towards a commonly agreed-on objective. Trained facilitators use SCALE+ with governments, civil society partners, the private sector and the media to engage as much of a system as possible, including nontraditional actors and people from structurally marginalized groups. SCALE+ encompasses five components, which can be undertaken sequentially or continuously throughout a project:

1. Invest in collaboration to reach across sectors and engage as many actors and relationships in a system as possible.

2. Map the system to define issues, geographies and relationships between partners.

3. Formulate a common agenda to build social capital and strengthen networks of people pursuing shared goals.

4. Advance collective action with evidence-based, adaptable technical assistance.

5. Measure results to assess sector-specific impacts and the strength of social networks.