Decidi for nonprofit leaders

Pressure-test the case before the funder reads it.

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Have the theory of change, the impact claims and the budget challenged by independent models — so the grant, the strategy and the report you submit hold up to a skeptical funder.

Why nonprofit leaders use it

Pressure-test the theory of change for the leap between activity and outcome.
Have a skeptical funder read the grant proposal looking for the weak link and the overclaim.
Stress-test impact claims so a confident model can’t inflate a number you can’t defend.
Surface the sustainability and the dependency risk a board would ask about.
Run the program critique: what’s the unintended harm, what’s the assumption that fails?
Steelman the alternative use of the funds so the case for yours is honestly made.

Stress-test before you ship

The theory of change — activity-to-outcome logic
Impact claims — defensible, not inflated
The grant proposal under a skeptical funder
Sustainability and dependency risk
Unintended harm in the program
The alternative use of funds, steelmanned

Your council

Skeptical Funder😈Devil’s Advocate 🔬Data Skeptic 🙋End-User Advocate ⚖️Risk Officer

Adversarial passes we run

Theory-of-change critiqueImpact-claim auditFunder’s-eye readSustainability-risk sweepProgram pre-mortem

A worked example — the grant application and the mission drift

Say a funder invites you to apply for a grant nearly the size of your annual budget — for a programme adjacent to your mission, not at its centre. The board is excited. The money is real. So is the drift.

The Skeptical Funder reviews the application as funders actually do — is the theory of change causal or hopeful, are the outcomes measurable, is this organisation the right one to deliver it — while the Data Skeptic audits the impact numbers your draft leans on. The Devil’s Advocate argues the case the board is not hearing: a grant that pulls the organisation sideways costs mission focus, staff capacity and the next three years of strategy, and “we can make it fit” is how mission drift always begins. The End-User Advocate holds the beneficiaries’ view — does this programme serve them or the funding cycle? The Risk Officer prices the dependency: what happens at renewal if the funder’s priorities shift. The verdict: apply, apply-with-boundaries, or decline — argued, not assumed.

Ready-made briefs that fit

Budget & Cost-Cutting Review

Find where to cut without breaking the things that matter.

Launch Comms & PR Plan

Shape the story for a launch and prepare for the hard questions.

Hiring Decision Panel

Make a clear-eyed hire / no-hire call on a candidate.

Stress-test your work now

Chat free · no sign-up, no card