Programme Sustainability

Making sure that your sport programme is sustainable is no easy task! Particularly when programme sustainability is a dynamic concept with many different aspects and interpretations.

In this guide, programme sustainability refers to both the sustained viability of your programme beyond the initial start-up, and sustained impact of the programme on participants, coaches, leaders, and the community. Browse through these resources and toolkit to learn more.

OWLA Program, India

Key Aspects of Sustainability

This section will help you to understand the five key aspects to sustainability for girls sport programmes. You can click on any of the accordions to learn tips and strategies to incorporate these aspects in your programme design.

Girls’ families have a great influence in their lives and on their decisions. Connecting with the families from the beginning of the programme and listening to their perspectives is critical to ensuring the engagement of your participants and the impact of your programme is sustainable.

If the families of the participants are not aware of the programme or not convinced of the benefits, it is often a barrier for the girl to participate. If the families are not supportive of the programme activities, this could also generate a lack of sustained engagement from the girls. Including the families and getting their support can lead to the girls participating in the programme, being understood and, in the long-term, being supported in their search for future development opportunities.

Ways to involve families include:

  • Workshops to establish a relationship with families and address issues relevant to the lives of girls.
  • Meetings with family members to share information about the programme and listen to concerns.
  • Media coverage to sensitise families and/or promote their participation.
  • Home visits to meet and talk with the girls’ families and references.
  • Virtual communication (Calls, Facebook, WhatsApp, etc.) that allows you to listen, know, and respond to families’ concerns and questions remotely.
  • Family events to promote bonding with girls and offering families with opportunities to see their daughters/sibling in action.
  • Creation of a committee for families or caregivers in which they can meet and make recommendations for the programme.

Raising awareness about the programme and working with community leaders can help increase community support for the initiative, increase the chances for sustainable impact, and create an opportunity to continue the activities in the community in the case that funding for your programme ends.

A community leader is a person who plays a leading role in the community and has the power to influence the lives of others. They may be a leader because of political, educational, religious or economic reasons. It is also beneficial to engage leaders related to the sports environment, such as the leader of a club, a sports journalist, or a person with professional experience in the sports field.

In programmes aimed at the empowerment of girls and young women, women leaders should be particularly involved and empowered, as this contributes to breaking gender stereotypes and barriers. The programme itself should promote gender equality in terms of balancing the number of women leaders involved, offering them training related to leadership, sports, administration or other topics, and assigning them to leadership roles, such as coaches, referees, and administrative positions. For more tips on developing leadership opportunities for women in sport programmes, see Women in Leadership.

Ways to engage with community leaders include:

  • Generating spaces for dialogue with community leaders to involve them in the design, implementation, and evaluation of the programme.
  • Meeting individually with community leaders to discuss the programme before events or new activities.
  • Building networks between sports leaders/women leaders and girls through events, mentorship programmes, speaker series, tournaments, and community resource visits.
  • Training leaders on gender perspective and/or feminist lens.
  • If relevant, offering community leaders advisory positions in your organisation.

Identifying institutions that might be interested in supporting girls’ development and have the desire to get involved with or support your programme is a central aspect of designing a sustainable programme. When your programme can connect to or integrate into existing structures, such as schools, sports clubs, neighbourhood organisations, local government, etc., it can increase the sustainability of the programme. This also provides a chance to expand the network of opportunities for participants after their engagement in your programme, as well as an opportunity to influence other organisations, clubs, and public bodies in your community to make space for girls and women and support processes that stimulate their long-term empowerment.

Ways to collaborate with existing community infrastructure include:

  • Sharing methodologies and approaches with other actors (schools, organisations, governments) who can incorporate aspects of the programme in their ongoing work.
  • Creating a bridge between the programme and existing sports clubs and supporting girls’ access to them.
  • Integrating the project into the local school curriculum or extracurricular activities, or into existing neighbourhood structures, such as community organisations.

Generating leadership pathways for participants is essential to sustaining the impact of your sport programme and continuing to resource the programme with staff and coaches. This aspect is particularly important for adolescent girls and young women, as there are many cultural norms and patterns that lead to less development opportunities for them. For this reason, throughout your programme, girls should have the opportunity to develop skills that can be applied in different contexts of their lives.

Leadership development skills for girls include communication, self-confidence and decision-making. The opportunity to develop these skills is important to incorporate into your programme so that the girls can realise the benefits of your activities in their personal and professional lives. When girls have opportunities to practise taking on additional responsibilities and leadership roles in your sport programme, they develop these skills and can create opportunities for themselves in other aspects of their lives.

Additionally, creating development opportunities and leadership pathways within your programme can lead to the creation of peer leaders, coaches, and even staff members to support the future of the programme. The presence of positive female role models and coaches is important to attract more girls to your programme and demonstrate the programme’s success. Programmes can also be sustained by generating leaders from among the programme participants: this can be done by establishing leadership pathways, which start with being a player, continue to becoming a peer leader, and end with the possibility of being a coach or staff member.

Examples of developing leadership pathways for participants are:

  • Designing trainings, workshops, and leadership pathways for the participants to gradually take on greater leadership roles within the project.
  • Giving leadership opportunities to all girls during practices, games, and other activities (not just the best athletes or the most natural leaders).
  • Generating spaces or networks for girls that can be autonomous and self-sustaining.
  • Connecting girls with existing networks of girls and women for future professional opportunities.
  • Linking participants with new opportunities that may contribute to their economic empowerment in the future (e.g., scholarships, volunteering, internships).

Identifying the resources and funds that are necessary to sustain your programme will allow you to make realistic decisions about the possible activities to maintain. These resources can be obtained through grants, donations, loans, material or in-kind donations (e.g., tools, machinery, equipment) or purchases and payments from the organisation’s own funding or reserves. Diversifying the programme’s source of resources and funds increases the possibility of sustaining the project. Thus, it is preferable to have inputs and contributions from multiple organisations and individuals, rather than getting all resources from a single source.

Ways to identify additional funding or resources include:

  • Generating a budget for the programme components you want to continue.
  • Identifying the actors (companies, government agencies, international organisations, etc.) interested in promoting sport and / or gender equality.
  • Having a person or team in charge of fundraising.
  • Generating documentation that evidences the impact of the project (including quantitative and qualitative information).
  • Generating unrestricted funds. This could include contributions from individual donations, income from events, collaborative financing (crowdfunding), and sales of products or services, among others.

Programme Sustainability Self-Assessment

This tool allows you to assess the sustainability of your programme at any stage of its development, and can be used as a tool to promote dialogue on sustainability with your organisation, participants, or stakeholders. Additionally, it can help you identify where your programme’s strengths and areas of growth are related to sustainability.

Programme Sustainability Action Plan

This tool guides you through the process of creating a Program Sustainability Action Plan. Through practical exercises, you will reflect on your programme’s purpose and sustainability objectives, identify key actions and consider the resources needed to make them happen.