Change Behavior, Change the World.

We help nonprofits and funders drive uptake of impactful solutions. We partner only with those who seek to foster change in a way that preserves human dignity.

Appleseed is a behavioral agency for poverty-fighting organizations.

Our job is to understand the perspective of one tribe, communicate it to another, and design accordingly to drive positive lasting change.

Proudly serving:

Blog for Testimonials

“By living in villages, the Appleseed research team has gone deeper in our communities than anyone on our own team ever had.”

— Kate Cincotta, Founder and Executive Director | Saha Global, Ghana

“This engagement set an example that other One Acre Fund programs are now looking to emulate: it’s changed the way our field teams engage with farmers & the tone we set as leaders.”

Margaret Vernon, Impact Director | One Acre Fund

“With Appleseed's guidance, we realized we could achieve more by doing less. It was empowering and cathartic, and will allow us to create impact at a scale that wouldn't have been possible otherwise.”

Bhuvana Balaji, Co-CEO | Uninhibited, India

“You guys aren’t just the behavioral experts... You’re the ground-truth experts!”

Kevin Starr, CEO | Mulago Foundation

“We had a lot of top-down ideas for retaining customers. But Appleseed built from the bottom-up by understanding our most important stakeholders, our clients. That, and bringing the whole team on board, was huge.”

Sasha Kramer, Co-Founder & Executive Director | SOIL, Haiti

“When you hire consultants, they normally tell you what you want to hear. So I can't overstate my appreciation for, and the importance of, you being straightforward with us about these findings and recommendations.”

— David Weekley, Founder and Chairman | Dovetail Impact Foundation

“Appleseed has such a great process for understanding why a certain behavior is the way it is and the levers to create change. Plus, the practical experience to actually do it.”

— Jaeson Rosenfeld, Co-Founder and Board Member | DDD

"Soil health is such a complicated issue. But with Appleseed's process, we navigated a complex case and got to an actionable endpoint."

- Yash Gharat, Country Director | One Acre Fund, Malawi

“You guys gave us really great insights! They’re taking us in a different direction. The time and energy saved will be huge.”

— Anushka Ratnayake, Founder + CEO | myAgro, Senegal

“Appleseed delivered great information to our portfolio from halfway around the world. Huge thanks from all of us, and from the portfolio.”

— Bill Rodriguez, Managing Director | DRK Foundation

“Team Appleseed has greatly helped us identify huge gaps in our customer journey. They’re also great at holding us accountable.”

— Kaushik K, Co-Founder | Kheyti, India

“Appleseed has taken us to a different level. When you go from operating off your gut, to then having the science of social marketing — it completely changes what you do.”

— Curt Bowen, Executive Director | Semilla Nueva, Guatemala

“Appleseed made us see that we can break down barriers blocking change. For the first time in a while, I feel optimistic that we’re going to be able to serve our community.”

— Jimmy Ng, Program Director | The Growing Experience, Los Angeles

“Appleseed helped us pinpoint what we must do. Now, working backwards from there becomes easy! You have opened our minds to a different way of thinking.”

—Naomi Nyanchama, Program Director | Village HopeCore international, Kenya

Impact requires behavior change.

In every impact organization’s theory of change, there is a step where someone must do something differently.

Blog for Target Behaviors

Smallholder farmers planting new seeds

- Guatemala

Families sleeping under mosquito nets

- Malawi

Schoolchildren drinking clean water

- Kenya

Patients of CHWs taking their medication

- Kenya

Greenhouse farmers reporting problems to a call center

- India

BOP customers installing an unfamiliar roof

- India

Low-income high school graduates applying for college prep

– Georgia, USA

Children of low-income families eating more vegetables

– California, USA

Women farmers spacing out crop planting

- Senegal

Borrowers paying back loans via mobile money

- Uganda

Residents of informal settlements washing hands

- Kenya

But old habits die hard.

Telling people what’s best for them doesn’t work. And “training” and “incentives” are expensive tactics that yield limited results.

So we must design for change.

This starts with listening to the audience, to understand the complex barriers they face and the hidden motivators at play.

Appleseed helps early and growth-stage nonprofits and social enterprises go from insights to impact.

How might we apply a human-centered approach?

How might we go further, faster, with a lean method?

How might we move the needle on adoption rates?

How might we do better with less investment and effort?

VIEW CASE STUDIES