Overview of the Sustainability Planning Framework:
Eight Elements
Sustainability depends on developing a clear plan for putting in place and maintaining the key elements
that make an initiative successful. It inevitably requires finding adequate funding. But it also requires an
array of other resources: political, technical, and administrative. Figuring out what resources are needed
and how to marshal them is what sustainability planning is all about.
Through its work with states and communities, The Finance Project has identified eight elements of
successful sustainability planning efforts. These elements include:
1. Vision. Possessing a clear and shared vision of what an initiative would like to achieve is the first
step toward getting there. If your vision is well-conceived, and if there is buy-in from within the initiative
and throughout the community, supporters of your initiative will go to great lengths to bring it to
realization. Furthermore, being able to articulate your vision in a compelling way is essential to engaging
new stakeholders and maintaining momentum over time. Developing a clear vision for you work
involves:
 articulating a concise statement that captures what you are trying to achieve in the community;
 identifying the results you are trying to achieve and the strategies and activities that will lead to
those results;
 specifying what you mean by sustainability in terms of the scope of activities, scale of operation,
and timeline; and
 analyzing what your “niche” is, or how you fit within your community.
Vision is the foundation for sustainability planning. It is what unites stakeholders with a variety of
experiences and interests and keeps initiatives moving forward, even in the face of discouraging odds.
Applying the framework to LifeSkills Training:
Scope/scale: LST sites will consider: How many schools? How many students per grade? Will LST
serve special education and/or bilingual students? How does the implementation team want to grow
the program over time?
“Know how your initiative fits…” How does LST fit within the school’s vision of student achievement
and school improvement? How does it support other educational outcomes? How does it support
community initiatives and goals?
2. Results Orientation.
A results orientation is critical to sustainability because it helps you
continually improve the effectiveness of your initiative, as well as maintain and expand the support of
funders and key stakeholders. Implementing a results orientation involves:
 clearly defining the results you want to achieve, based on data and information about your target
community and population;
 identifying and implementing strategies and activities you can reasonably expect to lead to your
desired results, based on research, best practices, and experience;
 identifying appropriate measures and collecting data to determine the progress you are making
toward the results you want; and
 using the information you gather to manage your work and to make adjustments in what you are
doing so it can be more effective.
The process of regularly measuring progress toward goals can provide program leaders and potential
funders with information on what works for whom, under what circumstances, within what timeframes,
and with what costs. Having this information can be a powerful tool in developing support for your
initiative, provided you package and communicate the information effectively.
Applying the framework to LifeSkills Training:
LST is an evidence-based prevention program, built on a strong basis of research. Grantees have
support around program fidelity. How can you capitalize on the strength of this results framework to
build support for your initiative? What data is of interest to key champions and prospective funders?
3. Strategic Financing Orientation.
Developing a strategic financing orientation
involves clearly identifying what you need to sustain your work, and then systematically analyzing the
appropriateness and feasibility of a range of public and private financing options. You should base this
analysis on your resource needs, the size and scope of your initiative, and the stakeholders who are
engaged. Key questions to consider in developing a strategic financing plan are:
 What do you want to sustain?
 What are the expected fiscal needs of your initiative?
 What resources do you have available?
 What are the gaps?
 What financing strategies and funding sources can fill those gaps?
The product of effective strategic financing is a diverse portfolio of public- and private-sector funding
sources that are aligned with your specific needs. A diversified funding portfolio can provide a buffer
against the inevitable changes in funding priorities in both the public and private sectors.
Applying the framework to LifeSkills Training:
With Altria support, sites have some initial grant funding to implement LST in their
schools/district(s).The LST Cost Calculator provides sites with a clear accounting of materials and
training costs. Developing a strategic financing plan will help LST sites move beyond initial, shortterm funding to a broad range of fiscal strategies, including cost-sharing and integrating the
program into school budgets.
4. Adaptability to Changing Conditions.
The world is constantly changing.
Political leaders and programs come and go; new practices and approaches emerge; and the assets, needs,
and priorities of communities change. The most successful initiatives are those whose leaders are adept at
anticipating, influencing, and responding effectively to trends in their environment. This involves
keeping abreast of current research in the field and current data on the economic, demographic, and social
conditions of the community. It also means using that research to help shape policy at the local, state, and
national levels. An initiative’s ability to track, contribute to, and adapt to changing policy environments,
as well as to position itself to respond to national, state, and local decision makers’ priorities, is critical to
sustainability.
Building a broad base of community support and engaging key champions can prepare your initiative to
adapt to changing conditions. If you have meaningfully engaged a broad base of community members in
the operation and governance of your initiative, you will have a built-in feedback mechanism regarding
the relevance and effectiveness of your work in the community and a cadre of supporters ready to
advocate for policies that support your initiative. Engaging policy makers and opinion leaders as
champions can provide you with access to “inside information” on trends in the policy environment and
can help influence those trends. Networking and becoming part of relevant coalitions and associations is
also critical to understanding and influencing policy trends.
Applying the framework to LifeSkills Training:
LST leaders will need to stay abreast of and respond to a variety of potential changes in their
environment (e.g. demographics, funding, policy,leadership, etc). These may include, for example:
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Changes in your school population that could have an impact on LST implementation;
New opportunities for funding and trends in existing funding streams;
New ways to frame your work; and
Opportunities to improve policy climate, e.g. aligning LST with educational standards.
5. Broad-Based Community Support.
Broad-based community support is vital to the
long-term sustainability of community initiatives. Stakeholders you should consider engaging in your
initiative include the individuals you serve; local business, political, faith, and community leaders; and
individuals from complementary community-based initiatives and public agencies in your community.
To achieve a broad base of community support, you must:
 Identify the stakeholders in your community whose support is critical to achieving your vision;
 Consider what vehicle is appropriate for involving those stakeholders in your effort; and
 Devise and undertake outreach efforts that are appropriate to the various stakeholder groups.
Different levels of involvement are appropriate for different groups of stakeholders. You may want to
involve some stakeholders (for example, consumers of your service) in the planning, implementation, and
evaluation of your services and activities. You may want to engage others (for example, community
leaders) on a governing board. Finally, you may want a broader group of stakeholders in your community
to simply understand and appreciate who you are and what you do.
The power of broad-based community support cannot be underestimated. In many instances, the
community has come to the rescue of a popular initiative, rallying to prevent funding cuts or to support
increases in funding. When the community views an initiative as a vital support and expresses that view
clearly and strategically, funding will often follow.
Applying the framework to LifeSkills Training:
LST addresses issues of concern in many communities. Active parent and community involvement will
play an important role in long-term sustainability. Community support might be cultivated with:
youth, teachers, parents, health and social service providers, health advocates, and health
departments, etc. This support might be built through communications and efforts to build public will.
6. Key Champions.
Key champions are leaders from business, faith-based institutions,
government, and other sectors of the community who have power and influence and are willing to use
their prestige to generate support and focus community resources and energy on your initiative. Key
champions can be vital forces in generating public will, garnering increased resources from public and
private sources, and convincing state and local governments to establish supportive public policies.
Powerful advocates who lend their voices and clout in support of an initiative can mean the difference
between long-term success and failure.
Identifying and engaging key champions entails a process similar to the one used to engage a broad base
of community support. It begins with an analysis of who in your community has power or influence that
could help you achieve your vision. Many initiatives use a governance board as a vehicle for engaging
key champions. Coalition-building can also help engage political champions who are interested in
building broad constituencies. Focus first on those champions who have shown some affinity for or are
connected to your work and community in some way. Engaging one or two key champions often helps
gain the attention and support of other champions.
Applying the framework to LifeSkills Training:
As part of their application process, all LST grantees cultivated the support of the school site
principal and school system superintendent. These leaders can be an effective foundation for
engaging other key champions. Prospective key champions may vary from site to site, since
schools/school systems have different governance and organization structures.
7. Strong Internal Systems.
Strong internal systems are absolutely essential to ongoing
quality, efficiency, and accountability and become increasingly critical as initiatives grow and expand.
Strong internal systems help you improve the quality of your work, use your resources efficiently and
effectively, and meet the accountability demands of funders and the public. Strong internal systems
include:
 fiscal systems—accounting, auditing, and procurement;
 human resource systems—personnel and professional development;
 information systems—management information systems, including systems to track evaluation
data; and
 communication systems—for effective communication within the organization and with partners
in the community.
Applying the framework to LifeSkills Training:
LST sites should reflect on the organizational capacity needed to accomplish their goals. As part of
this process, learn and understand the decision-making structure of the schools/systems where LST is
being implemented. Know and involve the people you need to carry out your mission: teachers,
principals, parents, etc. Use internal systems (fiscal, human resources, information, and
communication systems) to review strategies and make changes as needed.
8. Sustainability Plan.
It is important not only to go through a planning process, but also to
take the information you generate and translate it into a clearly and concisely written sustainability plan.
A written sustainability plan demonstrates that you have dedicated time and effort to planning for the
future of your initiative and that you know where you are going and how you will get there. It provides
confirmation of what was agreed upon and a sense of accomplishment for those who were involved in
planning efforts. You can use the plan to market your vision and to help key stakeholders understand
what you do and how they can support it. You can also use it to guide ongoing management and
workplan development. It should contain key information regarding your vision, the resources you need
to achieve your vision, and how you intend to garner those resources.
Applying the framework to LifeSkills Training:
Many LST sites are focused on and planning for how to sustain the work beyond the initial Altria
investment. Through a series of sustainability planning webinars and follow-up regional meetings,
The Finance Project will be providing guidance, tools, and support for sites in developing
sustainability plans.