Understanding the State of Knowledge of Youth Engagement Financing and Sustainability

Absorbed in the Now

Most program leaders are focused on the short term — i.e. funding their work — and have not yet begun to design and implement sustainability strategies that are critical to their program’s long-term success.

Help Needed

Youth engagement program leaders need technical assistance and support in four critical areas. These are: 1) policy and program design; 2) financing; 3) sustainability; and 4) evaluation.

A Call to Action

One clear way funders can help? Give program developers and leaders easy access to vital support. This involves creating a group of national and local organizations with specialized expertise in research, evaluation, training, tool development and technical assistance.

Following the Money

Here’s what we know about the funding sources of youth engagement programs: All leaders surveyed utilize in-kind donations, but their biggest budget contributors are foundation grants, which account for more than half of all program funding. Public sources play a smaller role — contributing to 31% of incoming funds — yet none of this support is in the form of federal grants.

Fiscal Realities

Most program leaders support youth engagement by focusing their efforts on three financing strategies: 1) making better use of existing resources; 2) building partnerships with key community stakeholders; and 3) developing new dedicated revenue.

Program Profiles

This report spotlights five real-life youth engagement programs that have implemented promising strategies to finance and sustain their work. For each program, readers will learn: how it operates and is financed, about its funding challenges and opportunities, and about its goals and costs.