Practical Guidelines for Financial Sustainability for Transitions to Local Ownership

This resource provides practical guidance on financial sustainability in transitions to development, humanitarian, and peacebuilding practitioners at all levels. It was developed as part of the Stopping As Success: Locally Led Transitions in Development (SAS+) activity, implemented by a consortium consisting of CDA Collaborative Learning Projects, Peace Direct, and Search for Common Ground, with funding under the Local Works Program in the Bureau for Inclusive Growth, Partnerships, and Innovation (IPI) in the Local, Faith, and Transformative Partnerships Hub (USAID/IPI/LFT Hub). It draws from 19 case studies of transitions involving international and local entities, as well as the experiences accompanying and learning alongside 10+ SAS+ partnerships with transitioning organizations in nearly 30 contexts. Through this research and accompaniment, the topic of financial sustainability has remained critical to responsible transitions to local ownership. This set of practical guidelines will support financial sustainability planning for international and local entities involved in transitions.

Transitions at a programmatic or organizational level will find these guidelines relevant to their planning and implementation processes. This topic is critical to any conversation about successful transitions and true locally led development. After transition, raising funds as a new local entity can be difficult. SAS+ research highlights key decisions made before, during, and after a transition can have wide-ranging effects on a new organization’s ability to meet these challenges.