Sustainability Planning for Federal Grants: From Closeout to Continuity

Sustainability planning for federal grants is the disciplined process of ensuring a project’s goals, principles, and activities endure after the award period ends. Federal funders increasingly prioritize long-term impact; proposals and performance reports should demonstrate a credible plan for lasting success. We share guidance on sustainability planning to support your federal grant.

Start early. Treat sustainability as a design constraint from day one, not a scramble in the final quarter. Build time, roles, and budget for sustainability work into the management plan, and revisit it at every reporting cycle.

Use a sustainability assessment. At Shaffer Evaluation Group, we guide clients with the Program Sustainability Assessment Tool (PSAT). The PSAT helps teams score and prioritize capacity across eight domains: Environmental Support, Funding Stability, Partnerships, Organizational Capacity, Program Evaluation, Program Adaptation, Communications, and Strategic Planning. A quick PSAT baseline early in Year 1, a midpoint check, and a final assessment create a clear trajectory of capacity-building for your organization and evidence of progress for funders.

Build a sustainability plan. Your sustainability plan should be developed early in your grant term. Here are the core components a sustainability plan for a federally funded project should include, distilled from cross-agency best practices:

• Purpose & outcomes. A concise statement of your project's value proposition, intended outcomes, and beneficiaries, aligned to a logic model you will continue to monitor and adjust post-award.

• Core program model & operating protocols. A description of your core program model and what must be maintained (including workflows) so the project can persist with quality after grant closeout.

• Governance & ownership. Named post-award owner(s) and ongoing “champions” to anchor the work.

• Funding strategy (braided financing). Targeted mix of reallocated (internal) funding and external sources, with milestones, responsible leads, and cultivation plans (e.g., philanthropy, fee-for-service).

• Partnerships & MOUs. Roles, cost-shares, and data-sharing agreements with agencies, nonprofits, and community partners that are essential to sustain activities.

• Workforce continuity & knowledge transfer. Staffing map, cross-training to avoid single-points-of-failure, onboarding materials, and a schedule for refresher trainings.

• Communications & stakeholder engagement. A plan to keep sponsors, end-users, and other stakeholders informed and invested.

• Data, evaluation & learning. Post-grant metrics, feedback loops, and routines for using evidence in decisions.

• Policy & institutionalization. The specific policies, procedures, and standards that will embed the work into normal operations.

• Risk & scenario planning. Anticipated risks (funding gaps, turnover, vendor change), trigger points, contingencies, and “minimum viable operations” to protect continuity.

• Technology & infrastructure. Post-award requirements for platforms, equipment, licensing, accessibility/privacy, and support so services can run at steady state.

  
  

Operationalize it. Translate the plan into a 12–24 month roadmap with owners, milestones, and a lightweight dashboard, and budget explicitly for sustainability tasks (e.g., grantwriting time, partnership stewardship, training refreshers).

How we help. Shaffer Evaluation Group uses the PSAT to run a rapid diagnostic using the PSAT, co-facilitate strategy sessions with leadership and partners, and co-develop a sustainability roadmap that balances quick wins (policy changes, SOPs, cross-training) with longer-horizon plays (braided funding, institutionalization). A thoughtful sustainability plan signals stewardship, strengthens proposals, and, most importantly, keeps effective work alive for the communities it was designed to serve. For more information, contact us today at seg@shafferevaluation.com.