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Question:
My nsme is amina ridhwani from lift up the grassroots women and youth initiative as the national chairperson would like to know more on program development and funders
Answer:

Hi Amina,
 
Welcome, welcome to the Community Tool Box (CTB) and Ask an Advisor.  Thank you for asking about program development and securing funding for your cause, I think we have just what you're looking for here in the CTB, and for the hard work you are doing on behalf of women and youth in your community!  Shall we begin?  Okay, let's take them one at a time beginning with how to develop programs or as they are sometimes called, interventions or initiatives; here in the CTB programs, initiatives, and interventions are pretty much synonymous.  Before we get down to business, let me explain how Ask an Advisor works.  The advisor, in this case me, finds resources within the CTB in the form of chapters rich with information, toolkits with nuts and bolts how to get stuff done information with examples, and community stories from people just like you who have done what you want to do, while drawing upon her/his own community building work to help you come up with the answers you're looking for.  In short, the advisor provides links to information in the CTB or from elsewhere if necessary, it is then up to you to sort through and determine the information likely to be the most relevant and helpful.  If Ihe advisor thinks her/his own experience might be helpful too then that's added into the mix.  Make sense?  So, I have three resources directly related to program/intervention development, two chapters and one toolkit. 
 
The first program planning resource is Chapter 18 - Deciding Where to Start: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/analyze/where-to-start.  I suggest paying attention to section 1 which is about designing interventions and section 2 which is about a participatory approach to planning interventions, which I absolutely recommend; if you have time the other two sections will prove useful to you down the road. 
 
 
The second resource is Chapter 19 - Choosing and Adapting Community Interventions: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/analyze/choose-and-adapt-communi....  In this chapter I suggest reading all six sections because sometimes it is more efficient, feasible, and economical to adapt a proven intervention (or proven interventions) for what you want to do rather than coming up with them on your own; those that show up in the CTB have been proven to be effective so I always recommend starting here. 
 
 
If nothing in Chapter 19 appeals to you, then I offer Toolkit 7 - Developing an Intervention: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/developing-intervention. This toolkit provides you with all the resources necessary to develop your own interventions.  Do read the main section along with the related resources, and even more important, the examples, let others be your guide!  
 
Now, for fund raising I have three CTB resources for you, two chapters and one toolkit (and another one, just in case).  Just to be clear, the CTB doesn't offer a list of potential funders, but we do give you the tools you need to successfully obtain funds to build and sustain your cause.  You can go on-line for all manner of databases that list donors/sources of funding by cause (e.g., pregnancy prevention).  You might consider search terms such as "grant funding for..." or "donors who fund...."  I do wish we had such a database for you, alas, we do not so we must leave it to your initiative.  As a place to start, ask other organizations you know who receive extramural funding as that might give you some ideas.
 
 
The first resource is Chapter 42 - Getting Grants and Resources: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/finances/grants-and-financial-re....  I suggest really paying attention to the first section, definitely read all five sections, but before you do anything related to fund raising you need a plan, which is the purpose of section one.  If you have an excellent program/intervention that has been proven to be effective and you want it to continue then you want to create a sustainability plan. 
 
 
Related to Chapter 42 is Toolkit 14 - Applying for Grants: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/applying-for-grants. Do read the entirety of the main section, read the related resources, and for sure, the examples - people just like you who have successfully secured grant funding to sustain their programs/interventions.
 
 
Last, do read Chapter 46 - Planning for Sustainability: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/sustain/long-term-sustainability which pretty much pulls Chapter 42 and Toolkit 14 together for you, but do read through both before moving on to this chapter.  There is a related toolkit, Toolkit 16 - Sustaining the Work or Initiative: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/sustaining-work-or-initiative.  If you are really ambitious then do consider this toolkit, but I think with two chapters and a toolkit you pretty much have what you need.  Toolkit 16 can be held in reserve if you need it.   
 
 
With that Amina, I think we've pretty much covered program/intervention/initiative development and funding, at least with the resources we have here in the CTB.  If for any reason you don't find what you're looking for do visit us again and we'll press on and press in until you have exactly what you need, okay? Okay!  On behalf of the CTB and Ask an Advisor, thank you for the hard work you are doing in your community, your efforts DO make a difference, and I wish you the very best of success in all of your endeavors.
 
 
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Question Date: Fri, 07/31/2020