How can Next Chapter projects be sustained in the long haul?
As Civic Ventures has worked with and learned from developing Next Chapter projects around the country, two factors are emerging as critical to long-term sustainability. The first is having strong institutional commitments – from lead agencies and partners. These commitments reflect the lead organizations’ view that The Next Chapter is an integral part of their missions. They are willing to commit resources to its success and have developed partners invested in its success over the long haul. Many are integrating The Next Chapter model into long-term organizational strategies. The second critical factor is laying groundwork for sustainable funding – from institutional commitments to developing revenue streams – from the beginning. While most projects have started with seed funding from a foundation or other institution, they are also thinking creatively about longer-term funding. Many are developing fee-based programs or memberships as one revenue source. Others are looking at how to u
