It’s a common conundrum: A nonprofit rolls out what it believes will be an impactful program, only to run into cultural traditions and taboos that result in constituents resisting an initiative that might dramatically improve their lives. In many cases, the solution is a matter of sequencing, where opening constituents’ minds to a program’s promise precedes efforts to execute the program itself. Behavior change campaigns that challenge stigma and discrimination have long been a core part of the strategy for reversing the global HIV epidemic. More broadly, books such as Presence have argued that most of us are stuck in deeply grooved patterns of seeing and acting—behaviors that blind us to fresh possibilities for transformative change.

In a 2018 report, “Bold Philanthropy in India,” The Bridgespan Group observed that the barriers to behavior change are arguably more pronounced in rural India, where “caste, patriarchy, and profoundly ingrained traditions can render communities resistant to social impact efforts, regardless of their level of need.” And yet, experience tells us that when we address the underlying sociological barriers that constrain constituents, we stand a better chance of achieving long-term impact.

How, then, can philanthropists and nonprofits encourage beneficial behavior change, without taking the paternalistic approach of imposing the change on constituents? One approach is to engage constituents directly, by enlisting local, trusted peers to investigate cultural norms and elicit change from within the community. Another approach, as illustrated by an initiative to battle tuberculosis in three Indian cities, is to impact constituents indirectly, by incentivizing critical collaborators to change their behaviors.

Read the full article about behavioral change for social change by Pritha Venkatachalm and Niloufer Memon at Stanford Social Innovation Review.