1. Finance Workgroup Phase 4
Finance Strategies Prioritization
This PowerPoint file is to be used as a template for the fifth meeting of the finance workgroup. In this meeting the finance lead (with help from the finance coach) will share detailed information on financing strategies that can support the work of Evidence2Success, facilitate a discussion and process for selecting the strategies to be included in the financing plan and develop a recommendation for allocation of the initial grant dollars. A three-to-three-and-a-half-hour block of time should be scheduled for this meeting. See the Finance Facilitator Guide for Phase 4, Meeting 5 for pointers on preparing for this meeting.
The notes section of most slides contains talking points. These can be adapted as appropriate. Italicized text is intended to be delivered as scripted for making important points or to help make smooth transitions. Walk through the presentation with your finance coach as part of your preparation.
Materials
Flipchart, markers with a flipchart “Parking Lot” for questions.
Colored dot stickers (red, yellow, green)
Handouts
Agenda
Finance Strategies Tool, Worksheets 1, 2 and 3
Updated Worksheet 5 from the Scale and Budget tool (see slide 5)
Meeting 5: Finance Strategies Prioritization

2. INTRODUCTIONS AND OVERVIEW
Finance Workgroup Phase 4
INTRODUCTIONS AND OVERVIEW
Welcome everyone to the meeting and introduce yourself and do a round of introductions for the group.
You all received some background information on Evidence2Success in advance of this meeting. Today we are here to learn more about the goals of the finance workgroup and the roles and functions of workgroup members. For introductions please share your name, your role and organization and what you would like to get out of today’s meeting. (Or introduce the Penny Exercise].
For groups whose members already seem to know each other well, ask each person to answer the question, “What do you want to get out of today’s meeting?” and chart their responses on a flipchart in the front of the room. You will come back to this paper at the end of the meeting to be sure that everyone’s objectives have been met.
For groups in which members are less familiar with each other, you may want to offer a simple icebreaker, such as the Penny Exercise. Distribute one penny to each member of the group. Ask people to think about one special thing that happened in that year of the penny that they are willing to share with the group. Then ask each person to introduce themselves by stating their name, position and one significant thing that happened in their life during the year on the penny. The purpose of this exercise is learn more about one another, sharing personal information to create a safe environment.
Thank and acknowledge those who have been collecting data at the agency for the time and energy they’ve put into these efforts to date.
Meeting 1: Finance Workgroup Charge and Orientation

3. Finance Workgroup Phase 4
Goals and Objectives
Review in-depth information on financing strategies of interest from Meeting 4
Prioritize among the financing strategies to identify those to include in our financing plan
Identify who would like to work on implementing each financing strategy
Develop a recommendation for how the initial Evidence2Success grant funds and matching local funds should be allocated to support prioritized programs
After introductions, review the objectives for the meeting. Then refer participants to their agenda and review the agenda for the day. Share location of restrooms and share any other logistical information participants need.
Meeting 5: Finance Strategies Prioritization

4. Developing a Strategic Financing Plan
Finance Workgroup Phase 4
Developing a Strategic Financing Plan
What are your financing goals?
What financial resources do you need to implement those goals?
What resources do you have?
What financing strategies will you implement?
Review priority programs and scale
Meeting 2
Cost estimates: programs and infrastructure
Meeting 2
Oversee development of fund map information
Let’s begin by reminding ourselves on the key steps in developing a strategic financing plan.
There are four steps in developing a strategic financing plan to support the implementation of Evidence2Success: <I added parenthetical phrases to help match up the steps with the slide>
First, the community board identified our financing goals: the priority programs and the scale at which they should be implemented to affect outcomes in our community (the first step on the slide).
Next, we worked to delineate project costs: the financial resources we require to implement those programs identified by the Community Board, including the infrastructure to support the total work of Evidence2Success over the next three years (the second step on the slide).
Assessment of resources: at our third meeting, we discussed the current resources and policies of each of our partner agencies and considered opportunities to redirect dollars toward the prioritized programs and the infrastructure.
Design of financing strategies: at our last meeting and today we are focused on prioritizing financing strategies that we think are the best prospects for supporting our work in the short and long term.
Meeting 3
Finance strategies and allocation of grant
Meetings 4, 5
Meeting 5: Finance Strategies Prioritization

5. Strategic Finance Planning Process
Finance Workgroup Phase 4
Strategic Finance Planning Process
Meeting 3: Overview of range of financing strategies and focus on Improving the Use of Existing Public Funds
Meeting 4: Review full range of financing strategies and identify strategies of interest
Meeting 5 (TODAY): Prioritize finance strategies and agree on recommendation for allocation of grant dollars
Meeting 6: Revise strategies according to community board input and develop work plan
Here is a reminder of the process we are using to get to the point of having a collaborative strategic financing plan. (Walk through the focus of each of the meetings to date and answer any questions). The results of our meeting today—the financing strategies we identify that we want to pursue and our recommendation for how grant dollars will be allocated—will go to the full community board for input and approval. Once approved, we will develop a work plan for pursuing financing strategies, which is the final step in developing a strategic financing plan.
Community Board Review
Meeting 5: Finance Strategies Prioritization

6. Total Three Year Costs and Funding Gaps
Finance Workgroup Phase 4
Total Three Year Costs and Funding Gaps
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Program 1
Total Costs
Program 2
Program 3
Infrastructure
TOTAL COSTS
SECURED FUNDING
FUNDING GAPS
Handout
Updated Worksheet 5 from the Scale and Budget tool (see slide 5)
Insert the budget slide from the PowerPoint presentation for Phase 4, Meeting 3. Update the slide and Worksheet 5 from the Scale and Budget tool. Make any appropriate adjustments if you have identified any new funding commitments from partners. Provide Worksheet 5 as a handout to the group.
We always want to begin these conversations by being grounded in what we are developing a financing plan for. Briefly review the programs being funded, the costs, secured resources and gaps. If you have made any adjustments to budget estimates or resources secured, note these adjustments. Point out that, after we have had a discussion about financing strategies and identified those we would like to pursue to support our work, we will develop a recommendation for how the secured resources should be allocated to support program costs.
Meeting 5: Finance Strategies Prioritization

7. Timeline Considerations for Year 1 Programs
Finance Workgroup Phase 4
Timeline Considerations for Year 1 Programs
Target Date to Begin Service Delivery
Date Dollars Need to Be Secured
Program 1
Program 2
Program 3
On this slide, in Column 1, list programs that you are seeking to implement in Year 1. In Column 2, list the target date to begin delivery of services. Work with your local Evidence2Success coordinator to identify this date. For some programs there may be a natural date for service delivery to begin, based on the training cycles of purveyors or the context that program is being implemented in. For example, programs being delivered in schools may need to begin at the beginning of the school year. Based on the date of service delivery, work back to the date dollars would need to be secured, taking into account timeframes needed for request for proposal processes, staffing up, training and other start-up tasks.
In addition to the dollars needed for the selected programs, we want to be aware of when we need to have dollars in place in order to have services in place in year one of our plan. On this slide you can see the programs we have identified for implementation in year 1, our target date to begin implementation of these programs, and what that means in terms of the date we need to have dollars in place. (Explain what is driving the specific target dates and the dates you need to have dollars secured.)
Meeting 5: Finance Strategies Prioritization

8. Finance Workgroup Phase 4
FINANCING STRATEGIES
Welcome everyone to the meeting and introduce yourself and do a round of introductions for the group.
You all received some background information on Evidence2Success in advance of this meeting. Today we are here to learn more about the goals of the finance workgroup and the roles and functions of workgroup members. For introductions please share your name, your role and organization and what you would like to get out of today’s meeting. (Or introduce the Penny Exercise].
For groups whose members already seem to know each other well, ask each person to answer the question, “What do you want to get out of today’s meeting?” and chart their responses on a flipchart in the front of the room. You will come back to this paper at the end of the meeting to be sure that everyone’s objectives have been met.
For groups in which members are less familiar with each other, you may want to offer a simple icebreaker, such as the Penny Exercise. Distribute one penny to each member of the group. Ask people to think about one special thing that happened in that year of the penny that they are willing to share with the group. Then ask each person to introduce themselves by stating their name, position and one significant thing that happened in their life during the year on the penny. The purpose of this exercise is learn more about one another, sharing personal information to create a safe environment.
Thank and acknowledge those who have been collecting data at the agency for the time and energy they’ve put into these efforts to date.
Meeting 1: Finance Workgroup Charge and Orientation

9. Overview of Financing Strategies
Finance Workgroup Phase 4
Overview of Financing Strategies
Improving the use of existing public funds
Maximizing federal funds
Allocating state or local general funds
Public-private partnerships
Social impact bonds
Debt financing
Generating new revenue
At our last meeting we did an overview of these financing strategies and identified those that we wanted to gather more information on and consider more closely. (Edit the slide above to indicate which of the strategies your group decided to gather more inform about and consider for inclusion in their plan, by bolding, animating or inserting arrows highlighting those strategies.) As we talked about at the last meeting, improving the use of existing public funds is the focus of Evidence2Success and a financing strategy that we know is a priority. Today we will look more closely at the other strategies:
Allocating state or local general funds
Maximizing federal funds
Public-private partnerships
Debt financing
Social impact bonds
Generating new revenue
Since the last meeting, we have pulled together information that will help us to further consider these financing strategies and decide which of these offer the best opportunities to support our work. We are going to share that information with you and go through a process of identifying those strategies that that this group thinks we should pursue to support our work.
Meeting 5: Finance Strategies Prioritization

10. Financing Strategies Discussion
Finance Workgroup Phase 4
Financing Strategies Discussion
Provide information on financing strategies
What programs, populations, infrastructure functions can the financing strategy support?
Source of short or long-term support?
How much revenue will the strategy generate?
What will it take to generate revenue? Time? Champions?
For each strategy
Discuss and note opportunities in the local context
Level of support: Do not support, support, strong support
Willingness to work to pursue financing strategy
Handout
Finance Strategies Tool, Worksheets 1 and 2 to participants. You should have completed Worksheet 1 in advance of the meeting.
Our process for today is that we will provide overview information on each of the strategies and examples of how the strategies have been used in other places. For each strategy we will have a discussion regarding how much of an opportunity you think this represents in the local context. As we walk through each of the strategies, please use Worksheet 2 to note important considerations, opportunities and challenges related to that strategy. You should also note whether you support including that strategy in our financing plan. Once we have discussed each of the strategies, we will ask everyone to come up and indicate the strategies they think should be included in our plan.
Walk through each of the strategies from Worksheet 1 and refer participants to Worksheet 1 as you walk through. After you review information on each strategy, ask participants: Do you have questions? With this additional information, what do you see as the opportunity in the local context? The challenges?
This could be done as a think-pair-share activity, with pairs reporting out afterward. Note opportunities and challenges on a flipchart. As you move from one strategy to the next, pause and give participants an opportunity to make notes and indicate their level of support on Worksheet 2.
Meeting 5: Finance Strategies Prioritization

11. Which Strategies Should Be Part of Our Financing Plan?
Finance Workgroup Phase 4
Which Strategies Should Be Part of Our Financing Plan?
For each strategy, indicate:
Strong support
Support
Do not support
Who can help pursue strategies?
Do you have knowledge, contacts, staff capacity, interest in working on strategy?
Note your initials next to the strategy if you want to help implement the financing strategy.
Once you have discussed all of the financing strategies, post a flipchart at the front of the room with each of the financing strategies you are considering listed on the chart. Give participants colored dots or markers that they can use to indicate their level of support on the flipchart. If you use dots, each participant should have enough dots that they can indicate their level of support for each strategy (for example, if you are considering six strategies, participants should have six green dots, six yellow dots and six red dots). You may want to give participants a break during this time and ask them during their break to come to the flipchart and indicate their level of support for each strategy.
Ask that they also indicate by writing their initials next to the strategies they would be willing to help work on implementing. Let them know that this information will be used as you begin to think about work planning prior to the next meeting.
Once all participants have indicated their level of support, review the results with the group. When participants are done, you can all look across the strategies and reflect on where the strongest support lies. You should include those strategies in your financing plan where the majority of the group supports or strongly supports pursuing them. If there are strategies where there is significant disagreement among members of the group, with some individuals strongly supporting them and others not supporting them, take time to discuss why participants landed where they did and reach some agreement for moving forward.
Meeting 5: Finance Strategies Prioritization

12. ALLOCATION OF GRANT DOLLARS
Finance Workgroup Phase 4
ALLOCATION OF GRANT DOLLARS
Welcome everyone to the meeting and introduce yourself and do a round of introductions for the group.
You all received some background information on Evidence2Success in advance of this meeting. Today we are here to learn more about the goals of the finance workgroup and the roles and functions of workgroup members. For introductions please share your name, your role and organization and what you would like to get out of today’s meeting. (Or introduce the Penny Exercise].
For groups whose members already seem to know each other well, ask each person to answer the question, “What do you want to get out of today’s meeting?” and chart their responses on a flipchart in the front of the room. You will come back to this paper at the end of the meeting to be sure that everyone’s objectives have been met.
For groups in which members are less familiar with each other, you may want to offer a simple icebreaker, such as the Penny Exercise. Distribute one penny to each member of the group. Ask people to think about one special thing that happened in that year of the penny that they are willing to share with the group. Then ask each person to introduce themselves by stating their name, position and one significant thing that happened in their life during the year on the penny. The purpose of this exercise is learn more about one another, sharing personal information to create a safe environment.
Thank and acknowledge those who have been collecting data at the agency for the time and energy they’ve put into these efforts to date.
Meeting 1: Finance Workgroup Charge and Orientation

13. Background: Grant Allocation Discussion
Finance Workgroup Phase 4
Background: Grant Allocation Discussion
Goal: Agree on a recommendation to bring to community board regarding which programs initial grant funds should support
Remember, all programs in portfolio are priority and we want to develop resources to support all
Information from program selection process as well as fiscal information will inform our discussion today
Before we get into the discussion, I want to provide a little bit of background on why we are having it and where the information came from that we will be considering.
Our purpose is to agree on a recommendation to bring to the community board regarding which programs the initial grant funds should support. The initial grant and local matching funds of $300,000 (change amount if amount is different in your community) are not enough to fund all of the programs we have selected so we need to make a decision about which programs those dollars will support.
Please keep in mind as we have this conversation: we are thinking about which programs will be prioritized for initial funding. However, all the programs in the portfolio are prioritized—so just a reminder: As the finance workgroup, we are focused on generating support for all of these programs.
This workgroup is tasked with generating a recommendation for the community board because we can do so with insight into the overall financing plan and prospects for securing support for the program. But there are, of course, other important factors to consider, and so we will be pulling information today from the program selection process.
Adapt this slide and talking points with any other specific parameters or background information you think are important to share, such as restrictions (if any) on the use of grant or matching funds (e.g., they can only be used for programs and not infrastructure or they have to be allocated in the a particular fiscal year).
Meeting 5: Finance Strategies Prioritization

14. Key Considerations: Grant Allocation Discussion
Finance Workgroup Phase 4
Key Considerations: Grant Allocation Discussion
Momentum of partnership/early wins:
Program that can be implemented relatively quickly
Program where there is feasible path to reach scale target identified by community board
Program that has good prospects for other sources of support and sustainability
Program that is well-aligned with the outcome, risk and protective factor priorities (all selected programs align but some may hit more than others)
Before we move into reviewing information and discussing how grant dollars should be allocated, let’s consider factors that influence our decision. Generally, as we make this decision, we want to consider which program is most likely to help us build and maintain momentum. At this stage in a partnership, it is critical to generate some relatively quick wins. We want to get services out in the community; we want to be able to scale them to reach the identified target population so we will see change in outcomes; we want to ensure that we will be able to support the program beyond the initial grant dollars and that it is well-aligned to our priority outcomes, risk factors and protective factors. Of course, all of the programs that have been selected are in alignment, but some may have evidence of successfully addressing more of the risk, protective factors and outcomes than others.
After you review, ask the group for their reactions and if there are factors that you have not mentioned that they think are important to consider as you make the decision.
Meeting 5: Finance Strategies Prioritization

15. Process: Grant Allocation Discussion (1)
Finance Workgroup Phase 4
Process: Grant Allocation Discussion (1)
Review and discuss information on programs
Fiscal: Costs, resources secured, funding opportunities
Implementation: Capacity to implement, time to implement, sustainability
Alignment: Priority level, outcomes addressed, risk and protective factors addressed
Handout
Finance Strategies Tool, Worksheet 3
We will first walk through overview information on the factors mentioned for each of the programs. You can see on Worksheet 3 that we have grouped these into fiscal factors, implementation factors and the outcomes, risk factors and protective factors addressed.
Meeting 5: Finance Strategies Prioritization

16. Process: Grant Allocation Discussion (2)
Finance Workgroup Phase 4
Process: Grant Allocation Discussion (2)
Participants invited to share proposals
Proposals for how grant dollars should be allocated and rationale
Discussion/questions
Polling of group regarding level of support for proposals
High level of support: Accept as recommendation
Low or mixed: Further discussion and/or alternative proposals
Continue until identify proposal with high level of support
If stuck (mixed support for alternative proposals) — vote
Once we have walked through the overview information for all of the strategies, you will have some time to get together with a partner and think together about how dollars could be allocated. Then we will return to the large group to share, discuss and agree on proposals. We will use the process outlined on this slide. (This is our review process.)
Once you have reviewed the process, ask members of the group if they have questions/concerns. Then proceed with the review of information on Worksheet 3, answering questions about the information provided. After the information review, ask participants to find a partner and spent 10 minutes discussing what allocation of grant dollars they would support and why. Then bring the group back together and facilitate the group discussion according to the process outline on the slide above. Work with your finance coach to get comfortable with or adapt this decision-making process to one that will well for you and your group.
Meeting 5: Finance Strategies Prioritization

17. Finance Workgroup Phase 4
Next Steps
Summary of recommended financing strategies and grant allocation developed for community board and circulated to group for review
Community board review of recommended financing strategies
Final planning meeting
Develop work plan
Once plan developed, will move to less frequent meetings for implementation and monitoring
We have had an incredibly productive meeting today and made a lot of important decisions. We want to close by identifying our next steps.
I will be summarizing all of our decisions to share as recommendations to the community board and circulating them to this group for review. Provide them particular timeframes for when they will receive the recommendations and when you will need review completed.
Once we have our recommendations finalized, we will be sharing them with the community board. Please attend the community board meeting when we share these recommendations, as it will be important for community board members to hear directly from you about these recommendations. (Share the date of board meeting if you have it.)
Once we have received the input from the community board, we will have a final meeting to make any final revisions to strategies and develop a work plan. After the work plan is developed, we will move to quarterly meetings of this group.
Ask if there are any questions.
Meeting 5: Finance Strategies Prioritization

18. Finance Workgroup Phase 4
Thank participants for their time and commitment.
Meeting 5: Finance Strategies Prioritization