Talking Money
The most difficult part of establishing a new program is securing funding. What follows are some money-related lessons learned at the Harvard Green Campus Initiative (HGCI).
Case Studies to Evidence Savings
The hardest thing for a potential funding partner to accept is the risk that their investment may not generate enough of a return to justify itself. Case studies from other colleges and universities may be the only way to evidence the potential savings and convince administrators on your campus to make the investment. Be sure to identify and use studies that have meaning for your audience members. If they distrust a case study, look for others that meets their standards.
This manual may be a useful resource. For example, you can point out that the HGCI's Student Internship Program (SIP) and Green Living Program (GLP) have identified ways to increase operational efficiency and cut costs. You can then ask your audience, "Why not here?" Cite specific achievements that could be replicated on your campus. Such a reference might sound like: "Since Harvard began its program, the maintenance department has received drastically fewer calls by students who don't know how to control the temperature of their dorm rooms. We have a similar heating system. Maybe this could work for us, too."
Talk about the strides toward sustainability being made by other colleges and universities and ask the administrators at your school what they have done to keep pace. Show them direct evidence that instituting a GLP or SIP is a cost-effective way to get up to speed. A very effective way of easing the fears of potential funding partners is the trial-and-expand approach; that is, propose beginning the new program as a small-scale trial that can be expanded as it proves itself. For more tips on dealing with the money question, see the following pages:
Here we provide a few words about what to include in your budget request, with special attention to frequently overlooked line items.
Securing funding requires a good sense of timing. This section tells you how avoid missing out on available funds by carefully planning the timing of your approach to potential funders.
This section discusses the question of who pays for cost-saving measures, which does not always have a simple answer.
With enough time, a GLP or SIP will pay for itself. Here is an overview of how payback periods might factor into your talks with potential funders.