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Sustainability in Local Programs

Discover strategies for sustainable programs, from funding to leadership, to ensure effectiveness and community impact in the long run. Learn common challenges and pitfalls to avoid. Be equipped with the knowledge to drive impactful change sustainably.

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Sustainability in Local Programs

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  1. Sustainability in Local Programs Beth Meeks

  2. What does it mean? • Sustainability – avoidance of depletion of natural resources; to maintain at a certain level • Sustain – to strengthen or support someone or something • Why does it matter? • You can’t do the work unless you do the business

  3. Sustainability is more than $ • Financial – SAVE SOME MONEY • Leadership Ability – succession planning • Adaptability- do you have the will, ability & thought leaders to move with a changing world • Strategic Planning – stagnation leads to demise – nothing ever stays the same

  4. Start with a Good Foundation • Understand the community/service area. • Had there been community buy in during planning? • What capacity does the community have to support the program? • What start up funds are dedicated? • Is the type or scale of program appropriate for the service area? • Who is the board? • What is the strategic plan? • Does it include sustainability?

  5. $ • Start with a savings plan. • It is not a sin to save money! • Create fundraising opportunities that are for all programming. • Let allies fundraise for directed activities. • Funds should be diversified – to the extent possible. • How much money would you have to have in reserves for an agency with a $700,000 budget to be self–sustaining?

  6. $17,500,000 • $17.5 million dollars • If saving $50,000/yr = 350 yrs • Full sustainability unlikely, barring major donations • Those type of major donations are abnormal in DV agencies apart from capital campaigns. • Grants will always be necessary. • Does not mean you should stop trying. • But what if we eradicate DV? • Provisions for transfer of assets

  7. Leadership that Sustains • Very difficult to find EDs for domestic violence agencies • Do a broad search • Make sure the pay is competitive • Look for a broad array of experience/skill • Personnel • Finances – read, write grants, fundraise • Domestic violence dynamics • Media • Relationship building • Can create a structure to balance his or her weaknesses

  8. Leadership Pitfalls • Over focused on finance or have a business background only • No experience in the field • Experience in a field that does not translate • Over reliant on accounting personnel – can’t read financial statements themselves • MIA • No external community presence • Lack of professional boundaries

  9. Strategic Planning • Have a plan in place from the beginning • Plan must include fundraising • Plan must include salary reviews and benchmarks • Plan must include savings • Plan should include program evaluation • Plan should include cost-benefit analysis • Ideally would include community feedback – • Do they know about you? • Are they willing to support you?

  10. Your role • Think carefully about where and when you change funding patterns. • Competitive or not? • Time limited or not? • Understand the role of grant funding in providing consistency and quality services. • Advocate for appropriate wages. • Advocate for growing reserves. • Offer grant writing workshop tailored to your grant. • Provide feedback to improve grant writing.

  11. Supporting small &/or rural programs • Often have extra challenges • Guard against service provision being based only on economics. • Cost of serving a single person in a rural area is much higher, urban areas have much larger volume • Guard against funding plans that only take population into account or are primarily driven by service numbers. • Encourage appropriate program structure. • Consider mentoring/financial oversight by partner programs with more infrastructure.

  12. Sustainability Challenges • Too small to recruit talent • Pay too low to recruit appropriate talent • Lack of finance knowledge or skill • Budget not big enough to sustain 24 hour shelter • Unable to raise funds • Lack of local industry and business – lack of donors and grant access • Lack of structure to write & manage federal grants • Overleveraged on one revolving grant/source vs sustaining grants/sources

  13. When are Programs Not Sustainable? • No magic point, consider if more than one of these is happening • Payables exceed receivables by 20% or more, depending on program’s ability to raise money and size of the program budget. • Major financial misdealing – payroll taxes not paid, lien on property, employees/board making personal loans, unpaid bills, crimes • Unable to retain staff and reasonable number of board members. • Major programmatic violations. • Repeated civil rights violations • Closing for long periods of time intermittently • Dangerous practices – couples counseling, confidentiality violations • Exceedingly low client numbers • Failing to turn in grant reports

  14. Beth Meeks • Tonia Moultry bmeeks@nnedv.org tmoultry@nnedv.org

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