1. Finance Workgroup Phase 4
Orientation to the Finance Workgroup
This PowerPoint file is to be used as a template for the initial meeting of the finance workgroup. In this meeting the finance lead will review the role and functions of the finance workgroup and the time commitment required, and the finance workgroup members will begin building relationships with each other. The group ends the meeting by discussing the timetable for the strategic financing work, which is completed in conjunction with a five finance workgroup meetings. A 1-hour block of time should be scheduled for this meeting; the following four meetings are each generally 3–4 hours long. See the Finance Facilitator Guide for Phase 4.1 for pointers on preparing for this meeting (including identifying subcommittee members)
To customize this PowerPoint deck, the finance lead will need to add specific information on the timeline for the strategic financing work.
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 and markers with a flipchart “Parking Lot” for questions.
Handouts
Agenda
Finance Workgroup Charge
Developing a Strategic Financing Plan
Meeting 1: Orientation to the Finance Workgroup

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
Participants will:
Understand the role and functions of the finance workgroup
Understand the steps in the planning process we will undertake
Know the time commitment involved in serving on the finance workgroup
Build rapport with other members
After introductions, review the goals and objectives for the meeting. Then refer participants to their agenda and review the agenda for the day. Share location of restrooms and any other logistical information participants need.
Refer participants to the parking lot flipchart.
As we are getting started on Evidence2Success, I know there are a variety of questions and aspects of the work that we are putting in place. With our time today, we want to stay focused on the work of the finance workgroup. If a topic is raised in regard to broader questions and considerations about financing or the Evidence2Success work as a whole and it feels like we are losing our focus, I will ask that we put those issues on the parking lot. At the end of the meeting we will come back to them and determine how we will address them.
Meeting 1: Finance Workgroup Charge and Orientation

4. The Vision Behind Evidence2Success
Finance Workgroup Phase 4
The Vision Behind Evidence2Success
Better well-being outcomes for young people (0–18) by addressing underlying risk/protective factors
Best available local data to determine priorities and track progress
Shifted percentage of spending to prevention/early intervention
Balanced portfolio of tested, effective (evidence-based) programs to reach all eligible children and youth
Strong partnership and shared accountability among schools, public systems, residents and families
If members of the Finance Workgroup are very familiar with Evidence2Success, you may choose to omit this slide from the presentation. If some members of the group are less familiar with the initiative, it may be helpful to review the big picture of the initiative.
Let’s briefly review the big picture of Evidence2Success.
A number of partners have come together in (name of your community) with a focus on the Evidence2Success vision for achieving better outcomes for children, youth and families by using data and evidence to guide and track progress. Improving outcomes for children and families depends to a large extent on our ability to select and provide programs and services that address the needs and build on the strengths of the community. As we talk today, we hope you see Evidence2Success as an effort that is designed to move our efforts to the next level in prevention and early intervention with a more precise investment strategy .
Talking points for the bulleted items:
Achieve better well-being outcomes for all children and youth (birth to age 18) by decreasing risk and improving protection
Use the best available local data on children’s strengths and needs to determine well-being priorities and track progress
Shift a percentage of spending to prevention and early intervention
Invest in a balanced portfolio of tested, effective (evidence-based) programs to reach all eligible children and youth
Create strong partnership and shared accountability among schools, public systems, residents and families
Meeting 1: Finance Workgroup Charge and Orientation

5. The Evidence2Success Framework
Finance Workgroup Phase 4
The Evidence2Success Framework
Partnership
Strategic Use of Data
Finance Strategies
Tested, Effective Programs
Performance Measures
System
neighborhood stakeholder engagement
Community board (~20 members) workshops
Youth Experience Survey
Fund-mapping tool
Strategic financing workshops
Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development
Fidelity monitoring and evaluation workshops
Dashboard
Program level
Population level
You have probably had some level of introduction to Evidence2Success, but before we move into the detail of fund mapping, let’s briefly review the big picture of Evidence2Success.
The Evidence2Success framework has five core elements:
A governance structure including representatives of public systems, local leaders and residents of focus neighborhoods
Strategic use of data
Comprehensive financing strategies
Implementation of tested, effective (evidence-based) programs
Performance measures
In the early phases of the initiative, we worked to create fund maps for the participating agencies. Today we are starting on the second part of the comprehensive financing strategies: a series of strategic financing workshops.
Meeting 1: Finance Workgroup Charge and Orientation

6. Finance Workgroup Phase 4
Our Work to Date
In our Evidence2Success effort so far, we have:
Convened and oriented the community board
Administered the Youth Experience Survey
Identified priority outcomes, risk factors and protective factors and programs
Completed fund mapping and shared results with agencies
Fill in important steps your community has taken in implementing Evidence2Success to date. These should be fairly big picture: items that will give all participants in the room an overview of how the work is taking shape in your community. The items on the slide are listed as an example. Edit them as necessary. You can fill in specific agencies that have completed fund mapping.
As many of you know, we have been working hard in recent months to get Evidence2Success up and running. We have … (review items on the slide. It may also be appropriate to mention upcoming work.)
Meeting 1: Finance Workgroup Charge and Orientation

7. Finance Workgroup Charge
Finance Workgroup Phase 4
Finance Workgroup Charge
The workgroup will develop a collaborative strategic financing plan to support:
The priority programs selected by the community board
The infrastructure for effective implementation of those programs and ongoing data-driven collaboration within Evidence2Success
The financing plan will include:
Short-term strategies that can support the work in years 1–2, including allocation of grant dollars
Longer-term strategies to sustain and scale the work over time
Refer to the Finance Workgroup Charge handout that people have in their meeting packets.
Now that the community board has agreed on a set of programs for implementation, the goal of pulling this group together is to develop a collaborative strategic financing plan to support implementation of those programs in the short and longer term. The financing plan will also identify how to support all of the important infrastructure that makes Evidence2Success different from business as usual. That includes data collection and review, the work required to staff the collaboration of the community board and workgroups and work to ensure quality implementation of the selected programs.
We will focus on support for programs and infrastructure in the short and long term. In the short term, our planning will focus on how to allocate the grant and match dollars to support the programs and to identify other funds we could secure to support program implementation in the first year. Our longer-term planning will consider the range of financing strategies that could support the programs and infrastructure in years 2–3 and beyond.
Meeting 1: Finance Workgroup Charge and Orientation

8. Role of Finance Workgroup
Finance Workgroup Phase 4
Role of Finance Workgroup
Evidence2Success includes the development of focused financing capacity.
Finance lead: Facilitate strategic finance planning process
Finance workgroup: Support design, development and implementation of a cross-agency strategic financing plan
Workgroup recommendations to be reviewed and adopted by the full community board.
One unique aspect of Evidence2Success is an intentional and strategic focus on building financing capacity. I [the local finance lead] facilitate the strategic finance planning process and provides the day-to-day staff support for all the tasks related to financing. The finance workgroup plays an important role in the Evidence2Success initiative to support the design, development and implementation of a cross-agency strategic financing plan. The finance workgroup also monitors the implementation of the financing plan and regularly updates and adjusts the plan as needed.
Meeting 1: Finance Workgroup Charge and Orientation

9. 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?
How will you implement financing strategies?
Identify priority programs, scale and support
Meeting 2
Meeting 2
Cost estimates
Review program investment and share opportunities
Meeting 3
Handout: Developing a Strategic Financing Plan
The finance workgroup plays a central role in the development of the strategic financing plan. There are five steps in developing a strategic financing plan to support the implementation of Evidence2Success in your community, each with an accompanying responsibility for the finance workgroup. The slide shows how they fit into the meeting schedule.
First, the community board will identify financing goals: the priority programs and needed infrastructure to implement Evidence2Success. Our community board has just completed the work of selecting programs for implementation—that is why we have convened you now—so we can focus on developing a financing plan to support implementation of programs.
Next, the finance workgroup begins its work to project costs: the financial resources you need to implement those programs identified by the community board. The finance workgroup develops detailed cost estimates based on identified goals. At the next meeting of this workgroup, we will be sharing draft three-year scale and cost estimates with you so we can begin to think concretely about what it will take to fund the selected programs.
Analysis of current resources: Our partnering agencies have been involved in a fund-mapping process during the last few months that has involved the collection of data on all of the key programs and services reaching children and families in our community. Some of the folks in this room have been involved in that effort and have been looking at their data within their agencies. At the third meeting of our workgroup, after we have considered scale and costs, we will be reviewing some cross-agency analyses from the fund map that will provide an understanding of what the current landscape of resources are in our community.
Design financing strategies: The finance workgroup also considers and prioritizes what financing strategies hold the most promise for implementation in their local community. This is the meat of our work and will be the focus of meetings 3, 4 and 5.
Once financing strategies have been identified, the workgroup will create a work plan to guide the work of members and other community board members in implementing the strategic financing plan (meeting 6).
Meetings 3, 4, 5
Finance strategies
Work plan for finance strategies
Meeting 6
Meeting 1: Finance Workgroup Charge and Orientation

10. Finance Workgroup Time Commitment
Finance Workgroup Phase 4
Finance Workgroup Time Commitment
Five more meetings to develop a strategic financing plan to be reviewed and adopted by the full community board
Each meeting 3–4 hours in length
Facilitated by finance lead
Quarterly meetings thereafter, to monitor implementation of the plan
The financing planning process is constructed to take best advantage of the time and talent of its members in an efficient and effective way.
We expect the finance workgroup will meet approximately monthly for five months to develop scale and cost projections and consider opportunities highlighted through the fund map analysis. These meetings (after this first one) generally last three to four hours. In addition, the finance workgroup considers and priorities what financing strategies and structures hold the most promise for implementing in their local community.
The finance workgroup is staffed by a finance lead, who ensures meetings are productive and well facilitated.
The group then develops a written financing plan that includes key tasks, priorities and timelines.
Once the plan is in the place, the workgroup meets quarterly to monitor the implementation of the financing plan and to make recommendations on needed adjustments or refinements to the plan. In this way, your community will continue to have a dedicated capacity to continue to plan investments strategically.
Meeting 1: Finance Workgroup Charge and Orientation

11. Finance Workgroup Phase 4
Next Steps
Prepare draft cost estimates for implementing programs and supporting infrastructure
Individual agency conversations to support budget development
Upcoming meeting dates:
Insert upcoming meeting dates and times if they have already been determined. If no further meetings have been scheduled, consider doing so in the room or be explicit about the plan to schedule those meetings.
We want to close by identifying our next steps. We hope this conversation has really helped you understand the work of the finance workgroup.
Next steps that we’ve identified throughout our day include: (if the group has identified next steps related to their discussion of the data, track these throughout the day, chart them and come back to them here).
In addition, over the next few weeks, I will be preparing draft cost estimates for implementing program and supportive infrastructure in close consultation with individual agencies and partners.
Meeting 1: Finance Workgroup Charge and Orientation

12. Finance Workgroup Phase 4
QUESTIONS
Use this slide to as a placeholder to field questions from meeting participants and revisit the participants’ priorities for the day and issues from the parking lot, if time permits.
Meeting 1: Finance Workgroup Charge and Orientation

13. Finance Workgroup Phase 4
Thank participants for their time and commitment.
Meeting 1: Finance Workgroup Charge and Orientation