The pros and cons of external funding

The pros and cons of external funding

Introduction
	There are frequently strong opinions about whether or not external funding should be sought for a literacy program. Your agency or field entity may have policies on this matter.
	Before making a decision to seek and use external funding you should
	consider carefully the pros and cons, and consult with others in your agency or field entity who have already had experience in using external funding.

Pros and cons

Here are some pros and cons of external funding:

Pros
	External funding
	allows the program to move ahead as planned allows for confident planning and program implementation removes the funding burden from the local community which often has few, if any, resources of its own promotes local infrastructure development injects resources into the local economy, and permits a program to attain substantial size.

Cons
	External funding
	creates undesirable dependencies works against the program becoming self-sustaining and ongoing requires extra work to manage the funds, keep records, and write reports changes the economic order of things may inhibit local initiative and responsibility, and forces commitment on the part of the responsible party (agency, project team) which they may not want.

See also
	Sources of funding

Context for this page:

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 4.0, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 2 July 1998