15: Program Infrastructure and Sustainability

Standard of Practice: To ensure sustainable service delivery and organizational health, programs should employ multiple management policies and practices, including, but not limited to, resource development and financial management, marketing and communications, information management, and liability insurance.

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Practices Supporting this Standard

Resource Development and Financial Management

The written budget for the current fiscal year (and future year projections) should: 

  • Include sufficient funds to: 1) see current matches through the completion of the program’s initial commitment; 2) support adequate staffing for monitoring and support of mentoring relationships; and 3) support other needed functions (e.g., program activities, special events, communication materials).
  • Reflect the program’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. For example, it includes dedicated resources to provide accommodations and enhance accessibility and designates funds to support match activities when cost may be prohibitive for mentors to fund them.
  • Include adequate compensation for paid staff and resources to support their professional development and ongoing training.
  • (For programs embedded in larger organizations) Earmark dedicated funds to support mentoring staff and mentoring program activities.
  • Be approved by the board of directors or advisory committee.

This plan should articulate how the program will secure diversified ongoing funding to ensure sustainability. For programs embedded in larger organizations or institutions, the plan should specify which funds will support mentoring staff and activities and how mentoring services will be supported by future fundraising efforts. These plans should:

  • Detail multiple potential funding streams, competitive grants, and prospective donors or partners who can provide the program with key financial and in-kind resources.
  • Specify guidelines that govern fundraising efforts to ensure they are ethical and in line with your program values (e.g., the kinds of organizations you would not accept funding from and why).
  • Clearly denote staff roles and responsibilities for resource development, including the role of the board of directors or advisory committee.
  • Be approved by the board of directors or advisory committee.

Marketing and Communications

This plans should:

  • Determine how services are marketed to prospective participants (e.g., key messages, imagery, program branding) and strategies for working with local media.
  • Clarify who is responsible for marketing and communication activities, and how the efficacy of the strategies will be tracked.
  • Articulate how and when to engage in public relations efforts and other strategies for garnering publicity for the program.
  • (For programs embedded in larger organizations) Include a clear explanation of how the organization’s marketing and communication efforts will directly support the mentoring services.  

All program materials, including the program website and social media content, recruitment materials, and staff or donor communications, should be free of notions of saviorism or other language that portrays youth or communities as just a collection of problems or challenges (see Elements 3 and 4 for more information on avoiding this in recruitment materials, specifically).

Information Management

Policies should identify the types of information that will need to be collected from participants and other sources, how confidential information (both electronic and paper) will be stored and retrieved, and which staff members can access this information, especially the personal information of program participants, financial information, and staff personnel records. Policies should also outline how often stored information is reviewed, how long it is retained, and when (and how) it is to be destroyed.

Information management systems (i.e., databases) should prioritize participant confidentiality and data security, as well as allowing staff to access the information quickly to make decisions and ensure strong program implementation.     

Liability Insurance

Adequate insurance coverage limits program risk and can help shape mentoring activities in light of safety considerations.

Because there is tremendous diversity in how and where mentoring is delivered to young people, here we offer additional practices and recommendations related to this Element for some common mentoring contexts. Readers should note that there may be overlap in the following categories (e.g., a peer mentoring program in a school or a Boys & Girls Club offering a group mentoring program on-site) and read all that may be relevant to their work. The next recommendations can help build the long-term infrastructure and capacity of mentoring programs and approaches in certain contexts.

GROUP MENTORING MODELS

Group mentoring programs may wish to address these additional considerations related to program infrastructure:

When budgeting services for a given program cycle, programs should focus on the number of groups they can reasonably support with the available staffing and resources. Adding more groups may require additional purchases of equipment or supplies, strain available meeting space, or cause other logistical challenges. Adding one or two more youth may seem inconsequential, but depending on the flexibility of the model, doing so may necessitate forming an entirely new group, with all the associated budget implications.

Because group programs are often heavily dependent on specific activities, equipment, and curriculum (e.g., discussion guides, collaborative games), these costs can add up. These budget line items may be higher than in other programs where mentors and youth bear the costs of activities out in the community.

Group-level information and metrics include group structure (e.g., who is leading the group, which participants are in the group), attendance at the group level (e.g., an average 50 percent attendance rate for the group each week), activity completion at the group level (e.g., completion of 70 percent of planned group activities in a program cycle), and group-level outcomes (e.g., average reports of group cohesion and belonging across group members within a given group).

PEER MENTORING MODELS

As with group programs, peer mentoring programs are encouraged to pay attention to curriculum and activity costs, as these can represent large expenditures for these programs. Additionally, peer programs are encouraged to:

Programs that are embedded in schools or other institutions often run the risk of being “lost in the shuffle” of an often-chaotic budgeting process with many competing services and staff vying to secure needed resources. Funding for peer mentoring programs should be clearly spelled out in both staffing budgets and other line items so that the funds are clearly directed to the program and not elsewhere.

This is another area where embedded programs are often required to comply with institutional policies and procedures, including limited software options.

E-MENTORING MODELS

Online mentoring programs may expect to incur some costs that differ from other mentoring models and may need to focus more on budgeting and marketing considerations, such as:

Most, if not all, of a virtual mentoring program’s records will be managed electronically, and there may be additional costs associated with data security or maintenance of the program’s communication platforms. While these programs may have reduced costs for physical space and in-person infrastructure, the costs of technology may be far greater than for other programs.

E-mentoring programs that serve multiple communities may have reduced opportunities for marketing their services and engaging the community at in-person events or in local media. Online strategies such as search engine optimization, online ad campaigns, email-based outreach, or e-newsletter campaigns may have increased relevance for online programs. These can reach potential participants more effectively but may come with additional costs.

SCHOOL- AND OTHER FORMAL SITE-BASED MODELS

As noted above for group and peer programs, school- and site-based programs have a number of additional considerations when building their infrastructure and capacity, such as:

  • Factoring in the costs of curriculum and activity materials when developing budgets.
  • Ensuring that data systems comply with school or district policies around data storage and access.
  • Ensuring that funding is earmarked for the program when it is part of a larger school or organizational budget.

Additionally, school- and site-based programs may see some efficiencies in marketing and communication activities if they can use platforms and technologies already used in the broader organization, rather than building these tools from scratch. They may also benefit from the support of school or organization communications staff, who can greatly improve the quality and professionalism of program communications.

INFORMAL MENTORING MODELS

Youth development programs with informal mentoring should also consider many of the nuances noted above for group, school-based, and site-based programs, including:

  • Ensuring that funding is earmarked for the program in the larger organizational budget.
  • Ensuring that data systems comply with broader organizational policies around data storage and access.
  • Using communication platforms and technologies already used in the broader organization.
  • Do we have adequate staffing to put the necessary time into resource development and financial management, marketing and communications, and information management in addition to the other aspects of running our program (recruitment, training, match support, evaluation, etc.)? Do we understand the time and energy these things will take in addition to all the work we do for youth, families, and mentors?
  • How solid is our short- and long-term financial situation? Do we see major gaps coming in the years ahead? How can we set aside funds to weather a sudden shift in our financial situation?
  • When deciding which organizations we would accept funding from, what are our nonnegotiables?
  • How are our values represented in our marketing materials? How are our materials “seen” by the people we are trying to reach in our community?
  • Are we spending adequate time marketing the program? Have we staffed those tasks appropriately?
  • Do we know how our participants find out about us? Or what messages resonated with them to spur their involvement in our program?
  • Do we have the right tools and resources to do our work to the best of our ability?
  • Are we doing everything possible to protect the privacy of the information we collect from and about our participants?
  • Youth, caregivers, and mentors can inform and review the communications plan and marketing materials to ensure the messaging is effective and the community is represented positively.
  • Program participants (e.g., youth, families, mentors) can participate in implementing marketing strategies and may be among the best ambassadors your program can deploy.
  • Participants can help connect the program to investors or sources of in-kind supports. Use their networks to support the program’s funding diversity.
  • Youth and mentors can tell the stories of their relationships to share with potential funders (blogs, videos, etc.; make sure to get permission to release photos or testimonials).

Programs may want to set benchmarks and track progress around metrics such as:

  • Annual revenue projections.
  • Proportion of the budget needed/spent in different practice or program areas (e.g., training, support, recruitment, marketing).
  • Number of distinct funding sources.
  • Number of years current funding could sustain the program.
  • Cost per youth served, per mentoring relationship/group, and/or for one slot in the program (i.e., for participation in one full program cycle).
  • Number of ad campaigns or marketing activities implemented.

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Resources. Federal Trade Commission.
Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act a brief explanation of this law and its implications
Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA) includes a rule summary and related documents
Complying with COPPA: Frequently Asked Questions
 
Data Policies Your Nonprofit Needs. NTEN.
This report provides an overview of policies to consider and recommended resources for information management security.
 
Ethical Storytelling Pledge. Ethical Storytelling.
A guide of ethical standards for doing resource development and social impact work.
 
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). U.S. Department of Education.
A summary of the law, answers to frequently asked questions, and guidance to assist with compliance. 
 
Marketing and Communications Resource Library. National Council of Nonprofits.
Find tips and resources to support marketing and communication activities like effective storytelling and improving accessibility.
 
Nonprofit Hub.
Free guides, courses, and webinars for nonprofit management.
Building a Grants Calendar Guide
The Ultimate Budget Guide
 
Propel Nonprofits.
Federally certified community development financial institution (CDFI) providing access to services and resources to support nonprofits including tools and guides to enhance organizational operations.
Balance Sheet Cheat Sheet
Budgeting: A 10-Step Checklist
Financial Policy Guidelines and Example
 
Summary of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 
Key elements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, including who is covered, what information is protected, and how protected health information can be used and disclosed.