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Establishing: Leveraging Public- and Private-Sector Resources

Leveraging public- and private-sector resources is an administrative activity that involves a particular type of networking. These networking responsibilities may involve updating local officials regarding your unit’s work, grant writing, and other solicitations of funds and resources.

The MRC unit coordinator or director serves as an ambassador who strengthens the unit’s foundational administrative structure. Meeting and office space may need to be secured through funds or in-kind donations. Additional staff, supplies, and equipment may be needed. As always, the emphasis will remain on asking others to utilize medical and public health volunteers in a coordinated fashion.

When initially planning and forming your MRC, you may have developed a budget showing your mission’s requirements, its primary objectives, and the activities necessary to achieving the objectives. Budgeting is an ongoing administrative responsibility, and constitutes a form of information that also helps others understand how you plan to operationalize your vision with fiscal responsibility.

Your best approach is to clearly define how your budget relates to your objectives, define how your objectives will achieve your mission, and ensure your mission corresponds to the funding source’s mission. Most funding organizations clearly state what they fund, and do not fund, in their application guidance. Communicating with others about your resource budget and needs can strengthen your credibility and help others understand what they are contributing to and what they might be able to offer.

When soliciting grant or foundation funds, for example, you are typically asked to provide budgetary information in your application, both expenses and anticipated sources of revenue or other resources. Funding sources will want to confirm that your anticipated resource needs correspond to your proposed activities. Funding sources also may show an increased willingness to invest in a widely diversified effort. This demonstrates that others also support your idea or vision by contributing to it. Increasingly, funding sources seek community partnerships rather than single-agency initiatives. Showing that other agencies support your efforts gives funding sources concrete evidence of your partnerships.

Diversification of resources is accomplished in two principal ways:

Resource streams—Diverse resource streams refers to having as many sources of incoming resources as possible. If a particular resource is exhausted, your MRC can more easily adapt to this change without facing the disaster level that ensues when an organization loses its primary resource stream. This diversification strategy is well known to nonprofit organizations.
For example, your MRC may have been seeded with funds from a single source initially, perhaps from the Federal government or as part of a state-run program. If so, you may already have considered identifying future funding sources, particularly if the support from the first donor is for a limited time.
Resource types—Many times, support is not provided through funds. Many of your unit’s needs also may be met by resource acquisition. In-kind donations can range from receiving actual goods or supplies to using someone’s time and services. Some examples of resource types are as follows:

Individuals in your community may have bookkeeping or software programming skills you need on an ongoing, part-time basis. They may be willing to offer it to you for free or at a significantly reduced cost.
A computer or other office equipment donated by companies that have upgraded to newer machines.
Local media may be willing to broadcast your volunteer recruiting messages for free.
Communications professionals may be willing to develop your materials at little or no cost.

By showing funding sources, partners, and community champions what you are striving to accomplish and what you need to support these accomplishments, they may be able to help you acquire these resources.

Promoting your MRC unit’s success may require multiple champions. Some of these may be paid MRC staff, particularly those who manage daily operations.

Resource acquisition may encourage:

Those in community leadership positions to donate their time to the MRC.
Volunteers willing to function as spokespersons for the MRC.
Local government officials to understand how the MRC helps them achieve their visions for community well-being, to mention the MRC in public appearances, and solicit resources for the MRC.

Therefore, it is essential to update local officials of your MRC’s efforts and progress and involve them in planning. Local government budgets also may be funding sources and support for your MRC.

Another method of leveraging resources is to explore how to use some of the resources your response partners have access to.

These might include:

Funding streams designated for certain types of activities your MRC volunteers perform
Specialty expertise in law or training
Training opportunities your volunteers can access at little or no extra charge

See the MRC list of potential partners. Additionally, your community may have a broad array of organizations that might serve as potential MRC unit partners. Your local Citizen Corps council also may help you with partnering and resource opportunities.

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Last Updated on 8/23/2006