4.3: Assess Your Capacity & Funding Gap

Now that you have estimated the cost of your Powerhouse® model, the next step is to determine how much your organization can already support and what still needs to be funded. Your organization may already have staff time, space, administrative support, supplies, technology, or other resources that can contribute to Powerhouse®. Community partners may also be able to contribute resources without providing direct funding.

Start With What You Already Have. Review the budget you created in 4.2 and consider each cost:

• Covered Internally. What can your organization support through existing budgets, staff, space, or resources?
• In-Kind or Partner Support. What could be contributed through partnerships, such as donated space, supplies, food, activities, staff time, or other resources?
• Funding Needed. What costs remain after considering your internal and in-kind resources?

Consider not only whether a resource is available, but whether it can realistically be committed to Powerhouse® without creating unsustainable pressure elsewhere in your organization.

Calculate Your Funding Gap
A program’s total cost and the amount of new funding it requires may be different.

Your Funding Gap Formula: Use this simple equation to see how much funding your organization still needs to secure.

Total Powerhouse® Program Cost
– Existing Organizational Resources
– In-Kind & Partner Contributions
= Your Funding Gap

Your funding gap is the amount your organization still needs to secure to deliver the Powerhouse® model you have planned.

Activity: Complete Your Capacity Check

Return to your Powerhouse® Budget Builder and review each budget area. For each cost, identify whether it is:

✓ Covered Internally | 🤝 In-Kind/Partner Support | $ Funding Needed

This will help you move from knowing what Powerhouse® costs to understanding what you actually need to fund.

Think Beyond Cash
In-kind contributions can be an important part of your sustainability strategy. A community partner may not be able to fund Powerhouse® directly but could provide space, food, supplies, activities, staff expertise, or other resources that reduce the amount your organization needs to raise.
This also reinforces something from the partnership work earlier in the training: a valuable Powerhouse® partner does not always need to be a funder.