Support Resources for Sustaining the Initiative

  1. Decide whether the organization or effort needs to be sustained and for how long:
    • Estimate how long the organization or effort should be in place to accomplish its goals (e.g., 1 year, 10 years).
    • Specify whether the organization or effort should end (e.g., a one-time event) or has goals that require it be ongoing.
    • Assess whether there is sufficient support in the community to maintain the initiative (or likely will be).
    • If the responses indicate that the effort can or should be in place for a substantial time, develop a plan for sustainability.

Key Resources

  1. Clarify the goals and context for sustaining the effort.
    • What aspects of the effort need to be sustained to achieve the initiative’s goals
    • Whether the goals for the effort are open to expansion or change
    • What the group has accomplished in terms of reaching its goals
    • Current structure and organization of the initiative
    • Needed resources to support permanent personnel
    • Current foundation or basis of funding and resources (e.g., money or other support)
    • Potential obstacles to sustainability
    • Public’s awareness of the group or effort

Key Resources

  1. Create a business plan to anticipate what resources will be necessary to sustain the organization or effort.
    • Describe the services or products (activities) to be offered, including:
      • Specify the services or products you provide (e.g., training, advocacy, specific needed services and supports). What will your organization or effort offer?
      • Need for the service or product. What benefits will result? What is the value added beyond what is already available?
      • Who is positioned to offer the same or similar service or product? Why is yours better?
      • Qualifications and reputation of the organization providing the service or product. What is your organization’s experience and history of success? What is its reputation in the community?
    • Describe the potential market or audience and how they will be reached:
      • Audience or market for the service or product. Who can benefit? Who can pay?
      • How will they be reached (e.g., personal contacts, mailings, radio and/or TV)?
      • Quality control. How will the quality and satisfaction with the service or product be assessed? How will feedback be obtained and used to continuously improve the service or product?
    • Generate an annual budget, including:
      • All projected expenses (e.g., salaries, office expenses, rent, utilities, phone and computer expenses, equipment, travel, etc.).
      • All projected income – based on current sources of funding and other in-kind resources.
    • Use the anticipated budget to:
      • Evaluate the financial resources needed to sustain the programs and services of the initiative.
      • Identify ways to generate resources other than money (e.g., time, materials) to meet some of the anticipated expenses.
      • Set priorities for which programs and services to maintain (e.g., those most important and/or cost effective).
    • Set specific goals for financial resources to be generated for the organization or effort (e.g., e.g., “By 20XX, to have an annual operating budget of $200,000 with cash reserves equal to 25% of the budget”). What is the organization’s immediate financial goal? Longer-term goals?

Key Resources

  1. Identify specific tactics to be used to sustain the effort. Indicate how you will use potential tactics for financial sustainability, including:
    • Share positions and resources – share staff positions, space, equipment, or other resources with organizations with similar goals.
    • Become a line item in an existing budget of another organization – convince another organization to pick up part of the expenses of running the initiative (e.g., the city provides funding for a school health program).
    • Incorporate the initiative’s activities or services into another organization with a similar mission.
    • Apply for grants – consider time and resources that will be necessary for success, and the need for reapplication.
    • Tap into available personnel resources – recruit people or positions in other organizations that can be shared at low or no cost (e.g., clerical staff, volunteers).
    • Solicit in-kind support – seek goods and services the organization would otherwise have to purchase (e.g., donations of office supplies from a local business).
    • Develop and implement a fundraiser – identify and offer products, services or events that will inspire others to contribute money to the organization.
    • Pursue third party funding – solicit third parties not actually involved with the effort, and not directly benefiting from it, to provide resources for services (e.g., insurance companies support valued services).
    • Develop a fee-for-service structure – require clients who receive services to pay for them (e.g., sliding-fee scales based on clients’ ability to pay).
    • Acquire public funding (e.g., from legislature or city council).
    • Secure endowments or planned giving arrangements – use interest from funds as annual income.
    • Establish a donor or membership base – donors or members help provide unrestricted funds to support the operations of the organization (e.g., dues, gifts).

Key Resources

  1. Develop a marketing plan to secure resources for the organization or effort. Indicate how you will use the “4Ps” of marketing in implementing your plan, including:
    • Product (e.g., what your group offers, and its benefits)
    • Price (e.g., costs, value added)
    • Place (e.g., how you will make it easier for people to contribute)
    • Promotion (e.g., what message will be carried to whom, by whom, through what means)

Key Resources

  1. Outline a specific action plan for sustaining the organization or effort. For each sustainability tactic you will use (e.g., obtain grant funding), develop a specific action plan, including:
  • What activities will be carried out?
  • Who will do it?
  • By when the activity will be completed, or for how long it will be maintained
  • Resources that will be needed to complete it.
  • Communication – who should know what about this?

Key Resources

 

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