Preface
In January 2023, the Scaling Community of Practice (CoP) launched a three-year action research initiative on mainstreaming scaling in funder organizations. This initiative has three purposes: to inform the CoP members and the wider development community of the current state of support for and operationalization of scaling in a broad range of development funding agencies; to draw lessons for future efforts to mainstream the scaling agenda in the development funding community; and to promote more effective funder support for scaling by stakeholders in developing countries. (For further details about the Mainstreaming Initiative, see the Concept Note on the COP website).
For the purpose of this initiative, scale is defined as sustainable impact at a significant share of the need, demand, or problem. Scaling is the process of reaching scale. Mainstreaming of scaling is defined as the systematic consideration by the funder of the scaling process in the appraisal of a project, in the decision to fund it, and in the monitoring and evaluation of the project’s implementation.
The Mainstreaming Initiative is jointly supported by Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the Scaling Community of Practice (CoP). The study team is co-led by Larry Cooley (Co-Chair of the Scaling CoP), Richard Kohl (Lead Consultant) and Johannes Linn (Co-Chair of the Scaling CoP), and supported by Charlotte Coogan (Consultant and Program Manager of the Scaling CoP) and Ezgi Yilmaz (Junior Consultant). MSI staff provide administrative and communications support, in particular Gaby Montalvo and Leah Sly.
The principal component of this research is a set of case studies of the efforts to mainstream scaling by selected funder organizations. These studies explore the extent and manner in which scaling has been mainstreamed, and the major drivers and obstacles. The case studies also aim to derive lessons to be learned from each donor’s experience, and, where they exist, their plans and/or recommendations for further strengthening the scaling focus. Preliminary findings of an initial set of 13 case studies are summarized in the Interim Synthesis Report and Policy Brief (both June 2024).
This paper develops and presents a tool designed to help funder organizations track the progress they are making with mainstreaming scaling in their organizations. The paper was prepared by Richard Kohl (Strategy and Scale LLC). The paper is based on a review of the literature in international development in several areas: assessing organizational development and change, the institutionalization phase of scaling; and the case studies and synthesis documents of mainstreaming scaling that have been produced by the SCoP Mainstreaming Initiative.
Comments on this working paper are welcome and should be addressed to Richard Kohl at [email protected] by 28 February 2025.
