The sustainability plan that funders believe: 3 revenue pathways and a 3-year projection

The Strategy

The sustainability section is where more proposals fail than any other section. Funders have seen we will seek continued funding from [funder name] thousands of times, and they do not believe it. A credible sustainability plan shows specific, realistic revenue pathways with dollar amounts and timelines. The 3-pathway framework: a credible sustainability plan has 3 distinct revenue pathways. One pathway is risky; two is better but still vulnerable; three is resilient. The pathways should be different types — not three grants. Pathway 1 — Reimbursable revenue: the strongest sustainability pathway is reimbursable revenue — Medicaid, Medicare, insurance, or a government contract that pays for services. By Year 3, our CHW model will be reimbursable under CalAIM ECM at $182.64/member/month for 200 members, generating $438K/year is a credible pathway. Show the rate, the volume, and the date. Pathway 2 — Institutional embedding: the second pathway is embedding your intervention in an institution that will sustain it — a school district, a health department, a hospital system. By Year 3, our program will be adopted as a line item in the school district budget at $250K/year is credible. Name the institution, the budget vehicle, and the timeline. Pathway 3 — Diversified revenue: the third pathway is diversified revenue — individual giving, corporate sponsorship, earned…