How can you sustain and scale grants?

1 Define sustainability and scalability

Sustainability and scalability are two related but distinct concepts that you need to consider when planning and managing your grant projects. Sustainability refers to the ability of your project to continue delivering its intended outcomes and impacts beyond the grant period, without compromising its quality or effectiveness. Scalability refers to the potential of your project to expand its reach, scope, or impact to new or larger audiences, locations, or sectors, without compromising its quality or effectiveness. Both sustainability and scalability depend on factors such as your project design, your organizational capacity, your stakeholder engagement, and your monitoring and evaluation.

2 Align your project with your mission and vision

One of the key factors that can influence the sustainability and scalability of your grant projects is how well they align with your organizational mission and vision. Your mission and vision define the purpose and direction of your organization, and they should guide your strategic decisions and actions. By aligning your grant projects with your mission and vision, you can ensure that they are relevant, meaningful, and impactful for your organization and your beneficiaries, and that they support your long-term goals and objectives. This can also help you attract and retain funders who share your values and vision, and who are willing to support your growth and development.

3 Build your organizational capacity

Another important factor that can affect the sustainability and scalability of your grant projects is your organizational capacity. This refers to the skills, knowledge, resources, systems, and processes that enable your organization to perform effectively and efficiently, and to adapt to changing needs and opportunities. Building your organizational capacity can help you improve your grant management, delivery, and reporting, as well as your financial, human, and technical resources. It can also help you develop your leadership, governance, and strategic planning, as well as your innovation, learning, and improvement. By investing in your organizational capacity, you can enhance your credibility, reputation, and competitiveness in the grant market, and increase your chances of securing and sustaining funding.

4 Engage your stakeholders

A third crucial factor that can influence the sustainability and scalability of your grant projects is your stakeholder engagement. Your stakeholders are the individuals, groups, or organizations that have an interest or stake in your project, such as your beneficiaries, partners, funders, staff, volunteers, board members, donors, supporters, or community members. Engaging your stakeholders can help you understand their needs, expectations, and feedback, as well as their contributions, challenges, and opportunities. It can also help you build trust, rapport, and collaboration, as well as advocacy, support, and recognition. By engaging your stakeholders, you can ensure that your project is responsive, participatory, and inclusive, and that it creates value and impact for all parties involved.

5 Monitor and evaluate your project

A fourth essential factor that can affect the sustainability and scalability of your grant projects is your monitoring and evaluation. Monitoring and evaluation are the processes of collecting, analyzing, and using data and information to measure and report on your project performance, outcomes, and impacts. Monitoring and evaluation can help you track and assess your project progress, achievements, and challenges, as well as your project relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability. It can also help you identify and address gaps, risks, and issues, as well as opportunities, lessons, and recommendations. By monitoring and evaluating your project, you can demonstrate your accountability, transparency, and quality, as well as your learning, improvement, and innovation.

6 Plan for sustainability and scalability

A fifth and final factor that can influence the sustainability and scalability of your grant projects is your planning. Planning is the process of setting and communicating your project goals, objectives, activities, outputs, outcomes, and impacts, as well as your project resources, timeline, budget, and indicators. Planning can help you clarify and communicate your project vision, scope, and value, as well as your project assumptions, risks, and mitigation strategies. It can also help you align and coordinate your project with your organizational strategy, capacity, and stakeholder engagement, as well as your project monitoring and evaluation. By planning for sustainability and scalability, you can ensure that your project is feasible, realistic, and achievable, and that it can adapt and grow over time.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?