How can we tell the story of program funding in a way that maps long-term, interconnected impacts in a community? River Network staff member Renée Mazurek came upon one potential answer in Ripple Effects Mapping (REM), a storytelling and evaluation tool that traces the outward ripples of community initiatives via interactive story-sharing from community members. In this bonus episode, Renée narrates her experiences with REM, from speaking with Scott Chazdon, an original author of the tool, to putting REM to work during a listening session with recipients of flow funds in Orange, New Jersey. REM is an especially powerful way to visualize the rippling impacts of Flow Funding, a trust-based philanthropy approach that moves away from traditional, quantitative impact reporting in favor of impact stories.

Links:

• River Network’s Flow Fund Circle 
• Flow Funding 
• A Field Guide to Ripple Effects Mapping (Purchase a printable version here for $10.88)
• UMN Extension REM Resources
• Ripple Effects Mapping Studio 
• Appreciative Inquiry: Conversations Worth Having
• Community Capitals Framework
• Philanthropy Together Conference Session: Ripple Effect Mapping: Amplifying Our Collective Impact & Story

Keywords: flowfunding, Ripple Effects Mapping, trust-based philanthropy, participatory evaluation, impact storytelling, social impact, nonprofit, evaluation tools

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