Free Development Education for Social Impact
ImpactMojo is a free learning platform providing rigorous, practical educational content on MEAL, Theory of Change, research methods, gender studies, and development economics for NGOs, impact practitioners, and students across South Asia.
Live: impactmojo.in · Docs: Documentation · Wiki: GitHub Wiki · Issues: Bug Tracker
About
ImpactMojo addresses a critical gap in development education. Development work in India and South Asia often lacks standardized, evidence-based knowledge foundations: resulting in interventions that lack rigor and measurable impact.
We provide accessible, high-quality educational materials grounded in South Asian context, designed for educators, practitioners, researchers, students, and policymakers.
What We Offer
Learning Platform
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| 101 Courses | 22 flagship + 84 foundational courses across 6 learning tracks (all foundational decks self-hosted as native HTML slide decks). Every flagship ends with an auto-graded "Assess Yourself" self-check |
| 35 Interactive Studios | Hands-on workbenches for MEL, policy, partnerships, budgeting, gender analysis, and more |
| 135 Game Library | 18 interactive simulations (MiroFish AI agents, Indian folk art: Warli, Madhubani, Gond, Kalamkari, Pichwai, Pattachitra) + 117 crosswords, quizzes & word searches |
| ImpactLex Dictionary | 490+ development terms with contextual definitions, formulas, and case studies (PWA, hosted on ImpactMojo) |
| Dev Case Studies | 200 evidence-based case studies from 117 countries |
| DevDiscourses | 500+ curated open-access research papers, books, and grey literature |
| PolicyDhara | Curated Indian public policy documents, government schemes, and legislative frameworks |
| BCT Repository | 203 behavior change techniques from BCT Taxonomy v1 with definitions, examples, evidence ratings, 60 WASH/nutrition case studies, fuzzy search, bookmarks, notes, comparison tool, PDF export: dark mode, filters, CSV export |
| Dataverse | 323 curated tools, datasets, APIs, MCP servers, and platforms across 23 categories: dark mode, category filters, responsive cards |
| 192 Reading Companions | Interactive study companions for development economics, political economy, statistics, leadership, and productivity texts |
| 12 AI Study Companions | NotebookLM-powered study notebooks covering the flagship courses |
| 84 Handouts | Downloadable resources across 6 learning tracks |
| 27 Deep Dives | Curated, annotated reading guides: working syllabi on contested development questions |
| 6 Timelines | Citation-backed visual histories (113 nodes / 44 eras): development thinking, Indian policy, MEL methods, climate, rights, gender & work |
| 18 Practice Packs | 4-module applied workbooks with capstone builders: 9 subject + 9 method packs |
| 15 Live Case Challenges | Realistic case packets with rubrics: one for every flagship course |
| Research to Action | 7 poster series / 70 posters translating research into practice |
| 32 Blog Posts | Learning Loops Blog: articles, tutorials, and case studies on development practice |
| Between the Logframes | Development podcast: honest conversations on MEAL and impact work |
| MCP Server | Model Context Protocol server: connect any AI assistant to search all ImpactMojo content, BCTs, Dataverse, climate data, and more (Setup guide) |
Business Models & Services
ImpactMojo operates a hybrid model: free foundational content for all, with premium tools and professional services for practitioners and organizations.
Workshops
Intensive three-day cohort-based training for NGOs and development teams. Entire teams learn together at a single flat rate.
| Plan | Price | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | ₹12,000/cohort | Up to 6 participants, 3 days (~6 hrs/day), 19+ topics |
| Advanced | ₹15,000/cohort | Deeper technical content, software training (Stata/R), post-workshop mentoring |
Topics include MLE Essentials, Theory of Change, RCTs, Survey Design, Qualitative Methods, Gender Studies, Data Analysis, and custom combinations. Sliding scale available for grassroots organizations.
Coaching
One-on-one expert guidance from Dr. Varna Sri Raman on career, research design, and data analysis.
| Service | Price | Sliding Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Career Coaching | ₹1,500/session | ₹400 – ₹2,000 |
| Research Design Consultation | ₹2,500/session | ₹1,000 – ₹3,000 |
| Data Analysis Support | ₹2,000/session | ₹800 – ₹2,500 |
All sessions are 1 hour, bookable via Google Calendar. Contact: hello@impactmojo.in
Dojos
90-minute practice-based skill sessions: learn by doing, not just lectures.
- Price: ₹1,500 per person per session
- 35+ practitioner skills across 4 categories: Thinking, Evidence, Action, Communication
- Structured series available (6–8 weeks)
- Locations: Delhi, Bangalore, Online
- Pay per session, no long-term commitment
Example skills: pre-mortems, reading RCTs, cost-effectiveness analysis, stakeholder mapping, funder psychology, data storytelling.
Programmes
Structured, outcome-focused paths that combine courses, games, and practice into a credential.
- Build Circles: four-week AI build cohorts. Pick a real M&E problem, build a working AI workflow with a small matched cohort, and demo it on Demo Day. Free waitlist; the ₹1,000 seat deposit is returned when you demo, along with a verified certificate. (build-circles.html)
- AI for M&E, Assessed Track, ₹2,499. A self-paced, assessed track: a guided path through the AI for Impact course, the Counterfactual game, the Critiquing Evidence practice pack, the AI Agents for Evaluators module, and a real-work capstone with written feedback, ending in a verifiable credential. (ai-for-me-certificate.html)
- AI Agents for Evaluators, a free, self-paced module (part of the Certificate Track): five agent patterns for M&E work, two no-code build walkthroughs with copy-paste prompts, the ethics non-negotiables, and a capstone brief. (ai-agents-for-evaluators.html)
Premium Membership Tiers
| Tier | Price | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| Explorer | Free | All courses, games, studios, DevDiscourses, WhatsApp PLC |
| Practitioner | ₹399/mo · ₹3,990/yr | Advanced ToC Studio, PDF/PNG export, certificates, full community |
| Professional | ₹999/mo · ₹9,990/yr | + Qual Insights Lab and Code Converter export, VaniScribe notebook, hosted Advisory Board models, Viz Cookbook code copying, DevEconomics Toolkit, priority coaching |
| Organization | ₹1,499/user/mo | + Team dashboard, custom learning paths, training packages and cohorts, branded certificates, GST invoices and a named contact on request (called the Team Plan on the site) |
Premium Tools
Available to Practitioner and Professional tier subscribers:
| Tool | Tier | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Field Notes from a Dev Economist | Free | Behind-the-scenes analysis of real development programs |
| RQ Builder Pro | Practitioner | Guided research question formulation (PICO/SPIDER) |
| TOC Workbench Pro | Practitioner | Publication-ready theories of change with export |
| Code Convert Pro | Professional | Translate scripts between Stata, R, Python, SPSS |
| Qual Insights Studio Pro | Professional | AI-assisted qualitative analysis for transcripts |
| VaniScribe AI | Professional | Transcription in 10+ South Asian languages |
| DevData Practice | Free | 36 dataset generators, 840K+ rows modeled on DHS/NFHS/ASER |
| Visualization Cookbook | Free to browse, Professional to copy code | 63 chart recipes organised by the question you are asking |
| DevEconomics Toolkit | Professional | 11 interactive Shiny apps for development econometrics |
Content Inventory
Flagship Courses (20)
Deep, comprehensive learning tracks, free for all users:
| Course | Description |
|---|---|
| MEL for Development | Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning: frameworks, indicators, data use |
| Seeing Data: Visualization for Impact | Data storytelling, chart design, accessibility |
| AI for Impact: Data Monitoring & Evaluation | AI/ML applications in development M&E |
| Understanding Development: An Economics Perspective | Growth, inequality, institutions, trade |
| Gandhi's Political Thought: Philosophy for Praxis | Swaraj, satyagraha, applied Gandhian thought |
| Politics of Aspiration | Rights, insurance, social mobility, and aspirational politics |
| Media for Development | Communication, power, narrative, and practice |
| Social-Emotional Learning for Development | SEL frameworks for development contexts |
| Constitution & Law | Constitutional governance and development law |
| Public Policy: Process, Design & Governance | How policy gets made, implemented, and evaluated |
| Gender Studies: Feminisms, Power & Social Change | Feminist theory, gender analysis, and development |
| Public Choice: Decisions, Incentives & Institutions | Mechanics of choice, voting paradoxes, rent-seeking, bureaucracy, federalism |
| Causal Inference for Development | Counterfactuals, RCTs, quasi-experimental designs, and evidence judgement |
| Livelihoods in India: Rural, Urban & Skills | NRLM, informal and gig work, Skill India, evidence for both sides of the commissioning table |
| Power BI for Practitioners | Honest dashboards from real survey data: Power Query, star schemas, DAX, visualisation ethics |
| Designing What Works: Development Interventions from Model to Scale | From a plausible model to something that survives contact with delivery, targeting, fidelity, adaptation, scale |
| Nonviolence in Practice: Communication, Resistance & Repair | Nonviolent communication, nonviolent resistance and restorative justice as working methods |
| Social Movements & Protests | How movements form, mobilise, fracture and win: repertoires, framing, repression, outcomes |
| Nothing About Us Without Us: Disability, Justice & Development | Disability as a development question, models, rights, inclusive design, and disability-inclusive MEL |
| Sustainability, ESG & Corporate Responsibility for Development Practice | Corporate money and corporate conduct in India: Section 135 to BRSR, portfolio design against a real district, and the harm side a CSR budget never touches |
Foundational Courses (52)
Shorter introductory courses covering the breadth of development practice. Every one is a self-hosted native HTML deck of roughly 100 slides, with light/dark themes and keyboard and touch navigation: no third-party presentation embeds.
| Track | Courses |
|---|---|
| MEL, Research & Data Methods (18) | MEL Basics, Theory of Change, Logframe, Impact Evaluation, Cost Effectiveness, Survey Design, Systematic Reviews & Evidence Synthesis, Academic Writing & Publishing, Structural Equation Modelling, Qualitative Analysis Software, Qualitative Methods, Mixed Methods, Research Ethics, Observation to Insight, Exploratory Data Analysis, Bivariate Analysis, Multivariate Analysis, Item Response Theory |
| Economics & Policy (8) | Development Economics, Political Economy, Econometrics, Time Series Analysis, Inequality Basics, Global Development Governance, Public Finance & Budgeting, Fundraising Basics |
| Gender & Equity (7) | Gender Mainstreaming, Women's Economic Empowerment, Feminist Research, Care Economy, Sexual Health, Social Margins, Data Feminism |
| Governance, Rights & Society (8) | Indian Constitution, Post-Truth Politics, Decolonial Development, Community Development, Environmental Justice, Disability Inclusion, Safeguarding & PSEA, CSR & ESG |
| Health, Climate & Wellbeing (6) | Public Health, Maternal Health, Child Development, Climate Essentials, SEL Basics, Work, Labour & Livelihoods |
| Communication, Data & Digital (11) | English for Development, Visual Ethnography, Data Literacy, Statistics Without Code, Data Visualization, Behaviour Change Communication, Advocacy Basics, Education and Pedagogy, Digital Ethics, GenAI for Practitioners, Data Protection & the DPDP Act |
47 of the 52 also ship a one-page Course Outline poster and a Practice Workbook.
Interactive Studios (35)
Browser-based studios under /Labs/. Each runs entirely client-side, keeps your work in the browser, and exports what you build.
Design & planning
- Theory of Change Studio: Guided ToC builder with real-time flowchart diagram and PNG export
- LogFrame Builder: Results chain, indicators, means of verification and assumptions, exported as JSON
- MEL Studio: Monitoring, evaluation and learning framework builder
- MEL Rosetta Lab: Translate between the MEL vocabularies different donors insist on
- Design Thinking Studio, Human-centred design process: empathy maps, ideation, prototyping
- Risk and Mitigation Studio: Risk register with 5×5 heatmap and mitigation strategies
- Resource Sustainability Studio: Resource mobilisation and sustainability planning
- Grant Writing & Proposal Studio: Donor matching, theory of change, narrative, budgeting
- Budget & Fiscal Analysis Studio: Read Union/State budgets (BE/RE/actuals), fund-flow simulator, per-capita calculator, fiscal federalism
Evidence & measurement
- Impact Evaluation Designer: Match a question to a design, and see what each design can and cannot claim
- RCT Readiness Diagnostic: Whether a randomised design is feasible here, before you promise one
- Sampling Basics (Primer): Sampling from first principles for people who were never taught it
- Sampling Design Studio: Strata, clusters, weights and the trade-offs between them
- Survey Design Studio: Question wording, scales, bias tests, translation, piloting
- Ethics & Research Integrity Studio: Consent, data privacy, positionality, ethics review, field dilemmas
- Teacher Evidence Explorer. What the evidence says about teaching interventions, and how strong it is
- Disability-Inclusive MEL Studio: Washington Group questions, accessible instruments, disaggregation
Politics, power & participation
- Stakeholder Mapping & Power Analysis Studio: Power–interest grid, actor and influence mapping
- Participatory Methods Studio: PRA, community mapping, focus groups, participatory M&E
- Community Development Studio: Participatory assessment and action planning
- Policy & Advocacy Studio: Policy brief generator with stakeholder mapping
- Policy Analysis Studio: Problem definition, options appraisal, feasibility
- Policy Brief Writing Studio: Two-page briefs with audience targeting and structure
- Impact Partnerships Studio: Partnership mapping and collaboration framework
- Gender Studies Studio: Gender analysis frameworks and assessment tools
- Data Feminism & Intersectional Analysis Studio: Disaggregation, bias detection, intersectional visualisation
Conflict, climate & systems
- Conflict-Sensitive Programming Studio: Do No Harm framework, conflict analysis, adapt/suspend/exit decisions
- Before We Fall Apart: Conflict-preparedness studio for teams and institutions
- NVC & Mediation Practice: Nonviolent communication and mediation, rehearsed against real scenarios
- Climate Risk & Adaptation Studio: Vulnerability assessment, risk matrix, adaptation cost-benefit analysis
- Systems Thinking & Complexity Studio: Causal loop diagrams, iceberg model, leverage points
- Livelihoods & Value-Chain: Map a value chain and find where the margin actually sits
Data, digital & place
- Digital Public Infrastructure Studio: Aadhaar, UPI, DigiLocker, ABHA, ONDC and the DPDP Act 2023
- Impact Storytelling Studio: Impact narrative builder with 4 format adapters and ethical checklist
- Why City Boundaries Lie. What an urban boundary hides, and what that does to your denominators
Tools & Calculators
- Sample Size Calculator: Survey sample size for proportion, mean, two-group, and cluster designs
- Budget Template Generator: Project budget builder with smart templates and CSV export
- Theory of Change Workbench: Educational workbench with BCT annotations, worked examples, and sector guidance
- Theory of Change Builder: Drag-and-drop canvas with 203 BCT techniques and PNG export
For Instructors
Everything below is free, runs in the browser, and needs no account.
- Teach with ImpactMojo (
teach.html): syllabus mappings, ready-made course kits, and how to run the material in a classroom or a workshop. - LMS export (
lms-export.html), package any of the 22 flagship and 84 foundational courses, plus the 47 practice workbooks, as SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004, IMS Common Cartridge 1.3, or a single self-contained HTML file. The package is built in your browser from the live page, so it is never stale. Our analytics, sign-in, Supabase and translation code are stripped before packaging and the rest inlined, so an imported course runs with no network and phones nothing home. SCORM reports completion when the learner reaches the final slide. - Studio submissions (
js/studio-submit.js): wraps a Studio's own export in an envelope carrying the student's name, the Studio, a timestamp and a content digest. Studio exports previously carried no identity at all, so thirty files from a class were thirty anonymous JSON blobs. Wired into the LogFrame Builder as the reference implementation; the other Studios take the same two lines. - Gradebook (
gradebook.html): drop a folder of those submissions in and get one CSV, with tampered files flagged by digest mismatch. Entirely client-side: student work is never uploaded anywhere.
Premium Tools (Paid Tiers)
- RQ Builder Pro: Guided research question formulation with PICO/SPIDER framing (Practitioner)
- TOC Workbench Pro: Publication-ready theories of change with assumption mapping (Practitioner)
- Qual Insights Studio Pro: AI-assisted qualitative analysis for transcripts (Professional)
- Code Convert Pro: Script translation between Stata, R, Python, SPSS (Professional)
- VaniScribe: AI transcription for 10+ South Asian languages (Professional)
Game Library (135–18 simulations + 117 puzzles)
Interactive simulations powered by MiroFish AI agents with Indian folk art story illustrations in 6 traditional styles. Each game features AI opponents with distinct South Asian personas, backed by Groq/Gemini/DeepSeek LLMs with automatic fallback:
Economics & Markets:
- Public Good Game: Free-rider problems and collective action (4 AI agents,
