Projects that do good are worth spreading – and scaling. Imagine, after your return, inspired by your successful sea voyage, you think about how you can make still more passengers happy. Maybe you want to offer even more trips, to still more remote destinations. Or you might think of expanding the fleet and adding crew members, and thus start searching for new funding sources.

Two strong reasons to replicate effective projects:

• You conserve resources: Continually redeveloping the same solution for the same problem costs resources that would be more beneficially invested elsewhere. By borrowing proven approaches, all parties avoid detours and save on project-development costs.
• Together, you can achieve more: Implementing flagship projects at multiple locations, particularly in conjunction with partners, produces significant synergies and learning effects. In this way, the project becomes qualitatively more successful. And highly effective, adaptable projects are exactly what civil society needs!

If you’re contemplating project replication, you should first consider the following questions:

• Demand: Is there a need for the project at other locations, as well as the willingness to invest money and time in the project?
• Conviction and willingness: Are you yourself willing, and do you have the necessary experience, to transfer your project? Does your organization have sufficient human and financial resources for a transfer?
• Successful model: Are you familiar with the most important factors driving the project’s success? Is your project concept simple and standardized enough that it can be realized by other people and in other regions? Can you convincingly (!) demonstrate the project’s efficacy and success?

The last question relates to the fact that every successful project is by no means suitable for replication. To determine whether and to what degree your project is ready to scale, you have to make use of your project’s logic model and consult your impact-analysis findings.

• What are critical (location-related) success factors? What quality criteria must be in place in order to scale the project as effectively as possible?

Only when you’ve found credible answers to these questions will it be worthwhile to think about scaling up. Please note: Without a logic model, there can be no project transfer!

Brief digression: Collective impact

When people from several projects work together, something very valuable can be produced, for the participating partners as well as for the target groups and society as a whole. A requirement here is that the organizations act collectively – thus, not simply engaging in a minimum of cooperation, but working together with other actors to pro-actively remedy a social problem through a systematic approach that, where appropriate, reaches across sectors.

The collective-impact approach originates from the United States. It stems from the idea that complex societal tasks can be managed only if all system-relevant actors from the political, economic and civil society spheres work together.

The concept is based on actors from various areas creating networks and committing themselves to common goals in order to multiply impact by working together.

In other countries, too, there are today many successful local-level projects in which different actors act in concert, for example in the area of refugee assistance.

Replication methods

If the point is to reach as many people as possible with your project, a number of different paths can lead you to your goal. You can create a handbook and make it freely available on the internet, you can share the project with partners using cooperation agreements, or you can transfer it to other regions yourself.

The following questions will help you determine which strategy is right for you:

With the answers to these two questions, you can choose the appropriate replication strategy using the following matrix:

Note on terminology: “Knowledge transfer” and “cooperation through agreements” refer to the transfer of the project to others. By contrast, “capacity increase” and “strategic expansion” relate to replication by the originating organization.

We look here at the advantages and disadvantages of the individual methods in detail:

Regardless of which replication method you choose, one thing is essential: the attitude with which you go about it.

Scaling – a question of attitude

Replicating projects often also means having to be open, having to compromise with other actors, and not putting your own interests above the interests over others.

For example, a cooperative venture requires collaborative work oriented toward mutual benefit, keeping your own interest as well as that of the partner organization in mind – thus, each party’s wishes are taken appropriately into account without losing sight of the overall project objectives or critical quality standards.

Naturally, this is a balancing act that requires both high-quality project management and abundant diplomatic skill. However, it is equally true that successful cooperation contributes significantly to the reputation of all participating parties. Organizations that join with others in tackling complex projects raise their profile and make themselves appealing to potential funders.