Grow a forest: How education nonprofits scale their impact within the ecosystem

Bridging the education equality gaps and addressing the educational challenges at its root requires deepening and expanding the impact of successful organizations and interventions, so collectively, they can benefit more learners and change the whole system eventually.

In partnership with Team4Tech, we conducted case studies of two Team4Tech grantees–Dost Education, India, and LEAP science and maths school, South Africa–to learn how nonprofit organizations are able to scale their impact within their regional ecosystem. Coburn’s (2003) four dimensions of scaling helped frame our analysis.

The two case studies demonstrated that scaling is not a one-size-for-all process. Different nonprofit organizations may take different approaches based on the local challenges, context, and enabling environment. While the approaches are different, there are some common characteristics enabling these nonprofits to succeed in scaling their interventions.